New Orleans, Louisiana. (February 12, 2025): Every aircraft must take off at exactly the same time and arrive at their target at precisely the appointed moment in front of a worldwide television audience. In this photo by Sergeant Scott Jenkins, Marine Corps MV-22B Osprey aircraft perform a formation flight over the site of Super Bowl LIX. Prior to their dramatic flyover, the pilots and crew participated in a number of public events with locals and dignitaries from around the world.

The flyover concept originated in 1918 at the World Series in Chicago where a procession of sixty aircraft entertained crowds for the first time. Later in 1946, the Navy created its Blue Angels demonstration team and the Air Force followed with the Thunderbirds in 1953. The tradition of military flyovers at the Super Bowl began in 1968 with a roaring display by F-4 Phantom jets. Since then, these dramatic displays of flying skills have rendered honors after national disasters, the death of Presidents, and to celebrate Memorial and Veterans Day.

But what is it like to fly these missions?

The first thing is the absolute requirement that you arrive on time. In this worldwide event, the National Football League wants the demonstration team to cross over the fifty-yard line down to the second. Every Super Bowl is a highly scripted extravaganza where every second of the entire day is choreographed to match a strict timeline dictated by television. During combat missions, pilots must arrive on target in a plus or minus five-second window, but the NFL is even more rigid than that. This means that these Marine pilots had to time their takeoff perfectly while maintaining carefully crafted flight plans to ensure their appearance goes off without a hitch.

Incidentally, the Eagles beat the Chiefs 40 to 22 but it wasn’t that close. Better luck next year.