A $450,000 Flyover?

The US Naval Air Force are defending the mission on Super Sunday, saying it was a standard one

The cost of four Naval Air Force jets flying over Cowboys Stadium prior to Super Bowl XLV is considerable, but the United States Navy has come out in defense of their participation in the big game.

Byron Harris, a reporter for WFAA TV here in Dallas, recently estimated the cost to be $450,000, a big number, especially considering that the roof at Cowboys Stadium was closed. This number has since been repeated by many an outlet (including this one, we guess), but the Navy wants to make clear that not only was the flyover visible to everyone via television or the JerryTron, but that the mission was a standard one, written into the annual budget.

Mike Maus, a deputy public affairs officer for the Naval Air Force’s Atlantic division recently spoke to CNBC about the mission, which sent pilots from Virginia to North Texas.

“These missions are included in the annual operating budget of all branches of the military and they are used as training,” Maus said. “There was no additional money provided to us, Congress did not cut us a special check to do this flyover. This is considered a training mission whether they were to fly over the Super Bowl or not."

Maus continued that the only calculatable cost of the mission was fuel, which ran to $109,000. As for the idea that no one in the stadium could see the flyover, except for on the big screen, Maus believes that the effect was still there.

“Everyone in the stadium saw it on the big television screen and everyone else saw it their TV. From an exposure standpoint it was huge for us.”

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