WASHINGTON — The Baltimore Ravens led the Pittsburgh Steelers 28-7 with 5:16 in the third quarter of the 2025 AFC Wildcard game, moments after Ravens running back Derrick Henry broke free for a 44-yard touchdown. The result seemed inevitable — until coaches waved their players to the sideline.
Officials stopped play, and the game was delayed for an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), or drone, hovering over the nearly 71,000 fans at M&T Bank Stadium.
It wasn’t the first time.
Three Ravens games have been delayed by drones in the past two years, according to Vernon Conaway, Jr., vice president of public safety and security for the Maryland Stadium Authority.
Public safety and law enforcement can detect them, but only federal agencies have the authority to take them down, according to Federal Aviation Administration rules.
Now lawmakers are considering whether to extend that power, and the training that comes with it, to local police and security — a debate that could shape how drones are mitigated at NFL stadiums, including in Baltimore.
Eight months after the playoff incident in January and two weeks into the 2026 NFL season, two separate drone violations are already under investigation, Conaway said.
He coordinated with M&T Bank Stadium security during these incidents and would not share details, but said no games were delayed.
“The game is paused when an unauthorized drone flies over the seating bowl or field of play, to allow public safety and law enforcement to evaluate the threat and mitigate the risk,” Conaway said.
“We dispatch law enforcement to the operator’s location, make contact, and explain they’re violating FAA rules and need to land,” he said. “The game resumes once the immediate threat is gone; the investigation continues.”
Flying a drone above a stadium could seem like a minor offense. Most fans leave unharmed, and if you walked to the concession stand and back, you might not even notice.
But even when drones aren’t launched with bad intent, many operators aren’t aware of the danger they create.
Drones pose collision hazards with stadium structures like poles and antennas, can lose control in the crowded radio-frequency environment, and risk midair conflict with authorized aircraft on game days, including military flyovers, police helicopters, stadium aerial operations and broadcast drones.
Conaway described the risk as “inherently dangerous,” which is why flying drones directly over crowds is prohibited by the FAA.
“On game days, the stadium authority operates detection systems and relays drone and pilot locations to the FBI and Maryland State Police, who handle investigations and coordinate with the FAA and U.S. Attorney’s Office for potential prosecution,” Conaway said.
He described unauthorized drone use as a “continuing problem” for stadiums, made worse by limited resources for law enforcement and a lack of education about the flight rules and restrictions among drone operators.
“We support the legislation giving state and local law enforcement agencies the authority to mitigate drones that present a credible threat to stadiums and large outdoor events,” Conaway said.
The NFL enforces temporary flight restrictions within three miles of stadiums for one hour before and one hour after games, but the rules are only effective if drone pilots choose to follow them.
According to Denver-based commercial photographer Vic Moss, a member of the FAA’s Drone Advisory Committee, the problem is easy accessibility to drones but no public education about their use.
“When it comes to drones, you’ve got 1500 bucks or less in the bank, you run down to Best Buy, and you can be in the air half an hour later with no training, no nothing,” Moss said.
FAA rules still require drone pilots to pass an FAA safety test, register their aircraft, and get special waivers for riskier flights, such as flying over crowds or at night.
Recreational pilots must pass the Recreational UAS Safety Test (TRUST), an FAA-approved 23-question exam that evaluates drone safety and regulations. The Part 107 test, for commercial pilots, is a 60-question multiple-choice exam based on rules of the sky, how weather affects drones, and what to do in an emergency, along with basic maintenance and safety checks.
Commercial pilots are required to score a minimum of 70 percent to earn a remote pilot certificate.
Moss, a commercial pilot, has photographed NFL and college football games and works with the FBI’s Denver office as a drone subject-matter expert. He also volunteers with the FAA’s safety team to educate new drone pilots.
“For some people, ‘Well, I just want to use my drone and take some photos.’ How do you divide that with letting the public be able to use it, but also making sure it’s safe for professionals to know what they’re doing?” he said.
Moss said his team has not figured that out yet.
That education gap extends to law enforcement. Stadium security can detect drones through remote ID signals, which broadcast a drone’s location and its control station, but only federal agencies are authorized to bring one down.
Drone risk extends well beyond sports stadiums. That was underscored last week when the House Judiciary Committee’s crime and federal government surveillance subcommittee held a hearing on malicious drone use.
Lawmakers outlined drone risks near airports, prisons and through illegal drug cartel operations, and asked whether local police should have more authority.
“The misuse of unmanned aircraft is not fundamentally a technology problem, but rather a people problem,” Dr. Ryan Wallace, professor of aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, said in written testimony.
Wallace grouped drone operators into five types: the compliant, the clueless, the careless, the criminal and “committed actors intent on using UAS (drones) as a weapon for terrorism.”
The “clueless” category — operators who don’t know the rules — mirrors Baltimore’s past incidents, which Conaway said often involved recreational users unaware of stadium restrictions.
Nationally, the House panel witnesses, from law enforcement, aviation academia and the drone industry, outlined the deliberate use of drones for smuggling, surveillance and even potential terrorist activity — risks beyond Baltimore’s recreational cases.
Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Robert Dooley, the statewide drone coordinator, urged granting state and local officers limited counter-drone authority under federal oversight, paired with national training and federal funding, so local agencies can afford detection technology.
“The ability to detect and mitigate rogue drones is no longer a futuristic concept—it is a present-day necessity,” Dooley told the House subcommittee.
Washington Rep. Rick Larsen, the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, last month introduced the bipartisan Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety and Reauthorization Act, which would reauthorize and expand federal counter-drone powers.
The measure was approved by the House panel on Sept. 3, and now awaits passage by the full House.
“As drones continue to emerge in the U.S. airspace, Congress must be proactive in addressing safety and security risks posed by these new entrants,” Larsen said in a statement.