Dramatic or dangerous? Flyover at Titans game draws scrutiny

It's portion of the excitement of a Titans location crippled — the melodramatic subject flyover timed precisely for the extremity of the National Anthem.

But present NewsChannel 5 Investigates has discovered 1 caller flyover by the 101st Airborne Division astatine Fort Campbell whitethorn person crossed the enactment — from melodramatic to dangerous.

"General reaction, yeah, it was unsafe," said Larry Williams, a retired aviation information inspector with the Federal Aviation Administration. "It was precise dangerous."

A spokesperson for the bureau told WTVF, "The FAA is pursuing up with the subject astir this overflight."

Lt. Col. Kari McEwen, 101st Airborne Division spokesperson, downplayed the concerns.

“The portion that conducted the flyover is successful interaction with the FAA Nashville," McEwen said. "At this time, determination is nary scheduled review.”

The Nov. 14 flyover was portion of a "Salute to Service" that was intended to grant the men and women who've served our nation.

The flyover occurred earlier the Titans faced the New Orleans Saints.

But this salute, involving 4 combat helicopters from the 101st Airborne, was a salute that Tennessee Titans fans volition apt ne'er forget.

On its social media, the Titans posted a video from wrong the cockpit of 1 of those helicopters.

Instead of flying implicit Nissan Stadium, the choppers went done astatine oculus level with fans successful the precocious decks.

Multiple videos posted to societal media showed however the flyover turned into what 1 seasoned aviator called a "fly-in."

"Some radical were ABOVE the flyover," 1 idiosyncratic posted to Twitter.

Another remarked, "That flyover was a small [too] adjacent to knocking down the flags and camera."

Another called it "spooky."

"Don't retrieve immoderate different flyover erstwhile they flew that low."

Larry Williams, the retired aviation information inspector, noted that FAA rules for subject flyovers "should beryllium accomplished astatine 1,000 feet supra the highest obstacle."

What happened present was thing Williams had ne'er seen.

Video changeable from a adjacent high-rise shows however the 4 helicopters flew down into the stadium and among the fans.

Another video changeable from a adjacent barroom shows the steep ascent of the choppers retired of the stadium.

But what disquieted the erstwhile FAA inspector was thing we spotted that was overmuch harder to see.

When NewsChannel 5 Investigates slowed down the video, the helicopters walk close beneath what appears to beryllium a cablegram of immoderate benignant stretched crossed the stadium.

"They went nether that cable," Williams said. "It appeared conscionable a fewer feet from there. So if they had conscionable gotten disconnected from altitude a fewer feet, it would person been a disaster."

From different angle, the cablegram is intelligibly visible.

But from the cockpit camera, it's not arsenic casual to see.

"I wonderment whether they saw the cablegram earlier they got there," Williams said.

NewsChannel 5 Investigates asked, "What is the imaginable with that cablegram crossed the stadium?"

"Well," Williams answered, "if you deed the cable, particularly with a helicopter, much than apt it would crash."

Just earlier this communicative aired, a spokesperson for the Titans responded to WTVF's petition for comment, claiming that what appears to beryllium a cablegram is really an "optical illusion" associated with cabling for the netting deployed during tract goals.

Regardless, what happened astatine Nissan Stadium connected that time with the helicopters flying done the stadium itself, the FAA seasoned says, is thing that ne'er would person been tolerated by civilian pilots.

If they had been civilians, "most apt those pilots would person had their licenses suspended oregon revoked," Williams said.

Phil Williams astatine WTVF archetypal reported this story.