4 Air Force pilots on restricted duty after low pass over stadium

U.S. Air Force officials say four Georgia-based pilots are restricted from flight duties after their military jets swooped low over a football stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the Carolina Panthers practiced.

Four A-10C Thunderbolt IIs flew at low altitude over Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte on Monday, and the pilots will be on restricted duty pending results of an inquiry into the incident, officials at Moody Air Force Base in south Georgia said.

“As professional airmen we take aviation safety very seriously,” Air Force Col. Thomas Kunkel said in a statement to The Associated Press. “As we look into the circumstances of this incident we are working with the FAA to ensure both civil and military aviation instructions were complied with.”

The pilots were low enough that they were able to wave at the players, Panthers coach Ron Rivera said.

“I like the fact that they waved at us as they went over,” Rivera said.

The team was “most certainly caught off-guard,” as players wondered what was happening. But Rivera said it was “pretty awesome” to see.

Some Air Force pilots do flyovers at NFL games, but the Panthers had no knowledge of any practice flyovers, team spokesman Steven Drummond said.

The pilots from the Georgia base on Monday were “conducting routine navigation training from Charlotte to Moody” and were not participating in the Air Force’s partnership with the NFL to provide flyovers, the Air Force statement said.

The planes had taken off from Charlotte Douglas International Airport moments before flying over the stadium, Air Force officials said. They are part of the 74th Fighter Squadron at Moody Air Force Base, which is near Valdosta, Georgia.