SUPER BOWL XXX / Cowboys 27, Steelers 17 : Spotlight : FLIGHT TO REMEMBER

Few future missions are likely to have as much significance to Air Force Capt. Richard Scobee as his flight over Sun Devil Stadium before the Super Bowl kickoff.

Scobee, 31, is the son of Francis “Dick” Scobee, who died along with six others when the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after takeoff 10 years ago Sunday.

Scobee led a flight of four F-16s. As the planes roared overhead, Scobee pulled back the control stick, and his fighter screamed straight up. The other three members of his team from the 78th Fighter Squadron of Shaw AFB in South Carolina continued on in a missing-pilot formation.

Scobee’s fighter, riding 25,000 pounds of thrust, left a vapor trail as it headed west toward the setting sun.

“I am honored to be part of the Super Bowl, and I feel this flyover is a fitting tribute to my dad,” Scobee said. “He was a great American to me, not because of the way he died, but because of how he lived.”

Born in Tucson, Scobee was a cadet at the Air Force Academy when the Challenger blew up.

Scobee said his father, who died at 46, was an avid football fan. Twenty-two years ago, they watched as Miami defeated Minnesota, 24-7, in Houston’s Rice Stadium.

“I know my dad would have loved it,” Scobee said.