Investigations Underway After Drone Flies Over CU Crowd

By Jeff Todd

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4) - Several investigations are underway after a video posted to YouTube shows a drone flying over Folsom Field during a CU Buffaloes football game.

"We were aware of the drone during the game. We were watching it," said Scott Pribble with the CU Boulder Police Department. "We were made aware of it by people on the ground and we were able to watch and make sure it wasn't doing anything it wasn't supposed to be doing."

On Tuesday, the video was posted to the internet and investigators started working to verify it. The video has since been deleted from YouTube.

CU Boulder Police are leading the investigation. The FAA also said an investigation is underway.

"Any type of event where we have a large number of people, it's not safe to be flying over that," Pribble said.

"You can make a simple mistake and the drone could come down. There could be a malfunction and the drone could come down. And you're talking about a fairly large size device landing in the field of people," said Pribble.

The FAA establishes a "Temporary Flight Restriction" for almost all major sporting events -- CU football games included -- to keep drones away.

Drone regulations also say pilots shouldn't fly over crowds, and shouldn't lose sight of their aircraft.

The person who posted the video told CBS4 they didn't know there were any problems flying over the filled stadium.

If the FAA determines there were violations, they could result in fines in the tens of thousands of dollars.

CDOT also offers guidance on how to operate a drone.

LINK: City of Boulder Rules On Drones

Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he's been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.