Barracks Rumor Mill cover: full-frame photo of a Soldier in OCPs at the open door of a UH-60 Black Hawk over Seattle, with the headline "Seahawks Fireworks Nearly Tag Army Black Hawk" over a dark band and a small CLOSE CALL stamp.

Seahawks Fireworks Nearly Tag Army Black Hawk

November 5, 2026

Four Army UH-60M Black Hawks flew over Lumen Field before the Seahawks-Bears game on Monday night, Nov. 2. Fireworks went off over the stadium while the last helicopter was still overhead.

What happened

The four-ship came from the 2-158th Assault Helicopter Battalion, 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
The helicopters crossed the stadium as the national anthem played.
The fireworks came from the tower above the Hawks Nest on the north end of the stadium right as the fourth helicopter came over.
Fans in the stands reacted out loud. Phone videos of the near miss went viral.

What the Army said

JBLM public affairs: “We can confirm that no fireworks struck the aircraft, no aircraft were damaged, and no members of the aircrew were injured.”
The base did not immediately say whether there is a local investigation or any action by the command.
The Seahawks did not respond to a request for comment.

The scoreboard

Black Hawks: zero hits, zero damage, zero injured crew.
Seahawks: lost to the Bears, 34-17.

Rough season for game-day demos

Last month an airman died after a fall during a pregame rappelling demo at a football game in San Antonio. The airman’s unit paused all rappel and ropes demos until further notice.
The Defense Department gets hundreds of flyover requests a year for games, holidays and other events.

For the bay

Next time you get volunteered for a game-day flyover, ask who has the pyro button.

Shop patches, flags and tees at e4mafia.shop. This week’s pick for the trail bird: the If You Can Read This You Are Too Close Funny Embroidered Morale Patch.

Cover photo: A Soldier assigned to the 7th Infantry Division (Multi-Domain Command, Pacific) films from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter during a flyover of the Seattle Seahawks Salute to Service game, Seattle, Wash., Nov. 2, 2026. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Michael Majors, via DVIDS (ID 10067794), https://www.dvidshub.net/image/10067794/16th-combat-aviation-brigade-salute-service-flyover. The appearance of U.S. Department of War (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement.