---

To begin with Lee recalled that the very idea of flying a helicopter into a stadium full of people is, to say the least, not a brilliant idea from a health and safety point of view. Planning and preparation was exhaustive with every stakeholder involved having to be satisfied that their interests were being protected.

Those parties included the operator, the NFL, their events management company, local emergency services, federal aviation authorities and of course, Diana Ross.

Every possible eventuality had to be covered too, including the possibility of engine failure, security threats relating to what to do in the event of a sniper or bomb attack and how to avoid items being thrown from the crowd, as well as ensuring smoke from flares during halftime wouldn’t effect visibility.

Running alongside all of this air traffic control would have to inform all operators that no flights could pass through the surrounding area of the stadium during Lee’s flight. All of this was eventually co-ordinated successfully.

At one point during proceedings cushions were thrown from stadium seats to test if objects thrown from the crowd would inhibit the flight! Lee would also go on to entrust his teenage son to manage ground operations on the basis that he was used to travelling with his father to air shows and was well versed in planning for trade shows and marquee aviation events.

When the moment finally arrived to fly into the stadium, two key incidents occurred that almost led to the mission being aborted. In the first instance, flight tests had been conducted with only an empty stadium, now as Lee entered, at the point of descending, his collective pitch or pressure usually exerted to let the helicopter descend smoothly made no impact because of the heat created by a stadium full of 70,000 people.

Additionally, thousands of camera flashes went off as soon as the helicopter got to the stadium. ‘It felt like I was inside a giant diamond,’ Lee explained.

To his great relief, as he continued on his set course, the middle of the stadium produced a corridor of cold air which eventually allowed Lee to land as planned. In the end, without being able to see his landing spot, Lee had touched down four inches from where he was expected to.

---