Before the Denver Broncos beat the Kansas City Chiefs 22-19 on Nov. 16, the game at Empower Field at Mile High was preceded by a tense showdown between an air traffic controller and the pilot of a Cessna single-engine aircraft. The plane was circling the stadium as four military fighter jets were headed for the stadium at more than 400 mph, according to a CBS News Colorado investigation.
Denver Broncos 22, Kansas City Chiefs 19
Denver Broncos 22, Kansas City Chiefs 19 14 photos
According to interviews and audio tapes obtained by CBS Colorado, the Cessna, belonging to a company called Winged Vision, was orbiting the stadium before the NFL game, under contract, to provide live aerial footage for the CBS Sports broadcast.
"The aerials give it a sense of being a big event," said Winged Vision owner Bob Mikkelson. His company deploys small planes with specialized photography and video equipment to football games, golf tournaments and other events across the country to capture live aerials that are part of network broadcasts.
Mikkelson said his crews are provided waivers which allow them to fly within airspace that is under a TFR or temporary flight restriction. He said the TFR orders typically are imposed an hour before a game begins and end an hour after the conclusion of the event to limit air traffic above major sporting events. The Federal Aviation Administration can issue waivers to allow aircraft to be inside a TFR zone. Mikkelson said his crew at the Broncos game had obtained an FAA waiver and had also called and made contact with air traffic controllers prior to the game.
Four F-35 fighter jets were scheduled to do a flyover of the stadium as the national anthem was ending. But minutes before the flyover, an air traffic controller was heard speaking to another pilot saying "There is traffic over the stadium ... we're not talking to him."
That traffic was the Winged Vision Cessna.
"We did try to call you," said the Cessna pilot to the controller. "You said 'unable,'" according to the audio tapes of the incident.
The air traffic controller responded with the following: "That doesn't mean you can go into the TFR that goes up to 8,300 feet and you're in it at 7,400 feet ... so like that's not OK. You need to exit because four F-35s are going in."
The Cessna pilot, who was still circling the stadium, responded "I do have a waiver to be in the TFR. I'm here on a job ..."
The conversation appeared to get more tense as the controller said, "Being at work does not mean you can just go into a TFR. You need to exit to the west."
Kansas City Chiefs v Denver Broncos - NFL 2025
Planes fly overhead during the game between Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High on Nov. 16, 2025. Jamie Schwaberow / Getty Images
"I need you to exit faster," urged the controller. "I have four F-35s 15 miles south of the stadium at 400 knots."
The Winged Vision pilot did leave the stadium headed west to avoid the fighter jet flyover.
The aircraft returned after the military flyby and continued feeding live video to the broadcast team.
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CBS Sports
"There was nothing we could have done differently that would have made a difference in the outcome," said Mikkelson.
He said he had listened to the tapes of what happened and called it "a high pressure thing." He said air traffic controllers are professionals "there to help us" and are great to work with.
"The controller on duty didn't have the piece of paper," theorized Mikkelson... "was preoccupied with the flyover and you know all that, so -- honest mistake."
He said due to the confusion, and the order to leave the area, his crew missed capturing shots of the F-35 flyover. "The FAA told us later that it shouldn't have happened and apologized for the mixup," said Mikkelson.
The FAA did not respond to multiple inquiries from CBS Colorado about what happened.
Mikkelson said confusion like what occurred thousands of feet above the stadium is "rare-very rare." He said Empower Field at Mile High is considered one of the easier NFL stadiums to do aerial photography at as it's not in controlled airspace and there are no tall downtown city buildings right nearby to worry about.