The scourge of dirty small tin birds is threatening to become hard to govern in the US sports arena.
It is barely two days since we reported that two men had appeared in courted charged with breaking the law for flying their drones over ongoing sporting events, two more sporting events were disrupted at the weekend.
The football game between the Seattle Seahawks and Atlanta Falcons was stopped and delayed on Sunday when a drone was reportedly spotted near or over Lumen Field.
Sadly, this was a second drone citing in just one weekend; a day before, another rogue drone forced play to be interrupted when it flew over the Husky Stadium in Seattle during a match between the University of Washington and Stanford.
Sunday’s stoppage occurred with about seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Geekwire reported that Referee Tra Blake announced that he was stopping play due to “NFL security” and players from both teams were asked to clear the field.
The delay lasted about eight minutes.
Players and coaches could be seen looking up at the sky, but the drone was never shown on TV. When play resumed, Atlanta ended up winning 27-23.
The drone at Husky Stadium was caught on camera during the fourth quarter of Saturday’s 40-22 UW win.
“I kind of feel like I’m looking at a UFO, even though I’m not,” Fox analyst Petro Papadakis said at one point during a delay that lasted for more than ten minutes.
Fox Sports field reporter Jennifer Hale said during the Seahawks broadcast that the Washington Athletic Department was responsible for the drone on Saturday, which “lost connection and went rogue.”
In the US, aviation regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), has strict laws against flying drones in or around stadiums with a capacity of 30,000 or more. Drone use is prohibited beginning one hour before and one hour after the scheduled time of NFL, MLB, NCAAF or NASCAR events.
The NFL’s head of security told Bloomberg earlier this month why the league worries about the devices.
“I’m concerned about the nefarious actor, quite honestly,” Chief Security Officer Cathy Lanier said. A malicious operator could cause “catastrophic outcomes,” she added.
Violations can result in civil penalties up to $37,377 and potential criminal prosecution.