CLOSE CALL: Video Shows ESPN Drone Almost Colliding With Helicopter

College football fans expressed concern after watching what appeared to be a near-collision between aircraft before the Ole Miss-LSU game.

The tension in Oxford, Mississippi was palpable as the No. 8 Rebels welcomed the No. 7 Tigers in a renewal of their heated rivalry.

What made it all the more intense was the return of former Mississippi football coach Lane Kiffin, who abandoned the team before their appearance in the College Football Playoffs last year.

After a full day of build-up, fans packed in to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium to attend the game as ESPN showed a shot of the venue from the sky with a drone.

But as the drone flew by the stadium, another helicopter was seen buzzing by the aircraft which was a little too close for comfort.

Fans noticed the scary visual and posted about it on social media. One post, made by an account belonging to a helicopter pilot, read, ‘LSU vs. Ole Miss. Hard to judge the actual separation from this camera angle, but that helicopter and drone look too close for my comfort.’

‘I saw that and thought at first it was some CGI commercial lol,’ read one post.

A different user wrote, ‘I saw that. Now you are telling me it was real. Man. Thank God nothing bad happened.’

‘Did the helicopter pilot know about this or no? Wow, that was VERY close,’ another user wondered.

Another poster wrote, ‘Decent chance the helicopter is actually the one in the wrong airspace or the wrong altitude. ESPN is pretty vigilant on their drone protocols…’

Click to expand...

THAT WAS CLOSE!

Someone is getting fined and or fired#ESPNDrone pic.twitter.com/lqt6e576VF

— Russell Schaap (@77Testarossa) September 19, 2026

Click to expand...

BREAKING: TV news helicopter crashes during live shot of bus crash in Los Angeles.

The helicopter belongs to NBC Los Angeles (KNBC-TV). No word yet on casualties. pic.twitter.com/kXwgr5meOP

— BNO News (@BNONews) September 16, 2026

Click to expand...

Photojournalist Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw have been named as being among three people killed after an NBC Los Angeles helicopter crashed in the city’s suburbs, the station has confirmed.

NBC Los Angeles said its NewsChopper4, which also operated for Telemundo 52, was in the area on Tuesday reporting on a deadly bus crash which killed two people.
Fire officials said an unidentified pedestrian was also killed, and two others were taken to hospital.

Tributes, including from the local news community, have started to come in led by the station’s hosts, who called the victims “valued friends and colleagues”. One CBS editor said their “hearts are shattered”.

George Marciniw via CBS News Photojournalist Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw are hown taking a selfie. She is wearing a black puffy jacket and smiling and he is wearing a black puffy vest and smiling. They are stood in front of a helipcopter on the ground George Marciniw via CBS News

Photojournalist Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marciniw
“That helicopter community is a small group of people, and it’s just devastating to know that this has happened to one of those people, to our friends and our colleagues at NBC4,” said Mike Rogers, CBS Los Angeles assignment editor.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said she was “absolutely devastated by the loss of life in Chatsworth tonight”.
“My heart is with the families and loved ones of those we lost in the tragic bus collision and helicopter crash,” she wrote on X, while the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) similarly extended its “thoughts and prayers” to all those affected.

Click to expand...