Four A-10 pilots from the 74th Fighter Squadron at Moody AFB, Ga., were grounded this week after they flew over downtown Charlotte, N.C., at a low altitude. The aircraft buzzed Bank of America Stadium during a Carolina Panthers practice on Monday, but “were conducting routine navigation training from Charlotte to Moody AFB and not participating in the U.S. Air Force’s flyover support to the National Football League,” Moody said in a statement. The pilots will be restricted from flight as the incident is investigated. “As professional Airmen we take aviation safety very seriously,” 23rd Wing Commander Col. Thomas Kunkel said in a statement. “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.”
In the wake of a major Chinese military shakeup, the head of U.S. Space Command warned of China’s “breathtakingly fast” advances in space during visits to Japan and South Korea. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting’s trip to the Indo-Pacific is his first overseas visit since taking command of SPACECOM in January.