Army says fireworks missed its Black Hawk during Seahawks-Bears flyover

Four U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopters flew over Lumen Field before the Seahawks hosted the Bears on Monday night, and pregame fireworks went off while the last of them was still over the stadium. Fan videos of the moment spread fast on Tuesday. The Army says none of the fireworks hit the helicopter.

"We can confirm that no fireworks struck the aircraft, no aircraft were damaged, and no members of the aircrew were injured," Lt. Col. Cynthia Holuta, a public affairs officer at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, said in a statement reported by The Seattle Times and KOMO, Seattle's ABC affiliate.

What happened

The four UH-60M Black Hawks came from the 2-158th Assault Helicopter Battalion of the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, according to The Seattle Times. They approached from the south end zone. MyNorthwest reported that the first three had passed over the Hawks Nest in the north end when fireworks fired from the tower above it and burst in the path of the fourth.

From some angles the trailing helicopter looks like it flew right through the bursts, and fans in the stands can be heard reacting. The aircraft kept flying and followed the other three out of the stadium, and no damage was visible in the fan footage MyNorthwest published.

Flyovers are usually timed to the end of the national anthem. MyNorthwest reported that on Monday the anthem had finished just before the helicopters reached the stadium.

The game went on as planned

The Chicago Sun-Times reported there was no sign of danger in real time inside the stadium, and the game started on time. Chicago won 34-17 over the defending champions.

A Seahawks spokesperson did not respond to The Seattle Times before its story ran. As of Wednesday morning, neither the team nor the NFL had publicly explained why the fireworks went off with a helicopter still above the stands, and no review had been announced.

What to watch

The open questions are who gave the fireworks cue and whether the Seahawks, the league or the Army will look at how flyovers and pyrotechnics are timed at future games. Any statement from the team would be the next real development.