A drone, once again, paused a Ravens game at M&T Bank Stadium.

Game play stopped during the third quarter of Baltimore’s home playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and a drone was the culprit, Maryland Stadium Authority Vice President for Public Safety and Security Vern Conaway Jr. confirmed. The drone flew above the seating bowl, he said in a text message, which prompted a temporary stoppage of the game.

“Law enforcement is investigating,” he added.

The pause lasted only a few minutes before play continued, with the Ravens ultimately winning 28-14 and advancing to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. Given that there are often media timeouts during games, players were not aware that the pause was drone-related, Ravens tackle Patrick Mekari said after the game.

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There were two similar drone interruptions last season during home Ravens game, but none this year. A drone (a small, unmanned aircraft) caused a pause during a 2023 Ravens night game against the Cincinnati Bengals and then in the AFC championship against the Kansas City Chiefs in January 2024. Although drones have been spotted around M&T Bank Stadium this season, there had not been an in-game pause until Saturday.

Due to safety concerns, the Federal Aviation Administration places a temporary flight restriction on sporting events played in venues with a capacity of more than 30,000, disallowing drone activity. If a drone were to fall on someone, it could cause injury or death.

The Maryland Stadium Authority’s security team intercepted two drones in 2021 and three in 2022, but during last year’s Bengals game alone, for example, five drones were noticed in the area. That prompted Conaway to describe drone activity at the time as a “growing problem.”

He has said that discouraging drone activity is a matter of education. Oftentimes, people want to take bird’s-eye-view photos of games (especially night games) without realizing the danger a drone can present.

A Pennsylvania man, who took six photos of himself and the stadium, faced felony charges for flying a drone over M&T Bank Stadium during the Ravens vs. Chiefs AFC title game last year.

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Given the recent drone activity, a local FBI social media account on Friday reminded residents not to fly their drones near the stadium, stating: “leave the drones at home.”

Saturday marked the first time that the Steelers played an NFL playoff game in Baltimore since 1976, when the Colts hosted at Memorial Stadium. That day had a much scarier aerial threat: a single-engine airplane crashed into the upper deck shortly after the game ended. Fortunately, no one was killed.

This story has been updated.