The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report Thursday on what went wrong at a drone show in Florida last month, rendering some of the planes unreliable and seriously injuring a young boy.
The accident occurred during a Sky Elements Christmas light show Lake Eola Park in Orlando on December 21, 2024. Hundreds of people were watching the air show when several drones flew out of formation – some colliding with each other before falling to the ground.
One of the malicious drones hit a 7-year-old boy in the face and chest, rendering him unconscious. His parents told FOX 35 Orlando at the time that his injuries required open heart surgery.
The NTSB’s preliminary report found that “combined errors” led to a misaligned flight path just before the show’s start, causing chaos for a handful of the 500 drones during the performance.
DRONE ACCIDENT DURING ORLANDO HOLIDAY AIR SHOW SENDS CHILD TO HOSPITAL
A preliminary report on what went wrong during a drone show in Florida on December 21, 2024 has been released by the National Transportation Safety Board. There were 500 drones lined up to fly in the air show over Lake Eola in Orlando, Florida. (Sky Elements LLC via NTSB Report)
Before the show, a remote pilot confirmed that the setup was standard and “consisted of preflight checks” that ensured that “the software programming on all show computers matched and was updated, and the layout of the 500 drone grid on the ground”. according to the report.
About five of the drones initially “didn’t accept the launch data,” but troubleshooting the Wi-Fi access points led to all 500 drones appeared on the network five minutes before the show was scheduled to begin, the NTSB wrote.
A soft restart was then performed to ensure all drones were ‘show ready’. After the reboot, two drones were removed from the show because their systems were not green. Once they were taken out, the drones were armed and the countdown to launch began.
“Upon takeoff, it was noted that the ‘layers’ of the aircraft were not rising evenly,” the report said. “Further investigation revealed that the launch parameter file containing the final flight paths had not been sent and the show center was not fully aligned.”
Several drones malfunctioned during a drone show in Orlando, Florida, on December 21, 2024, causing the unmanned aerial objects to crash to the ground. (Credit – X/MosquitoCoFL)
Due to the misalignment, the drones changed position and altitude as they moved to the first frame of animation, causing a collision and loss of control. Numerous drones fell from the sky and hit the ground, while one headed towards the audience.
From the show remote pilot told the NTSB that he decided the safest course of action was to continue the show based on the steps needed to pause the show and take drones off the air. The remaining drones were able to complete the show and land safely.
A pilot’s review of the aircraft logs found that the show’s position had been rotated 7 degrees, causing the “geo-hard fence to be too close to the audience.” Moreover, the fencing was not set to the company standard of 1 meter, but to 5 meters.
“The combined errors resulted in a reduced safety area that fell outside the company’s standards,” the report said.
Each drone involved in the show contained an SD card with recorded data. About 42 affected drones were recovered by the operator, who sent their SD cards to be analyzed at the NTSB’s Vehicle Recorder Lab. Law enforcement personnel also located one drone and sent it to the NTSB. Five drones believed to have fallen into the lake were not recovered.
A handful of the 500 drones involved in the aerial light show crashed to the ground and five of them flew into the lake. (Credit – X/MosquitoCoFL)
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While the NTSB is still investigating the incident, additional safety actions were proposed by Sky Elements to the Federal Aviation Administration to prevent future problems, including more time on site prior to a show, which would require a lead pilot or second in command. to verify that all steps have been completed before the show, and additional training for all pilots.
The FAA imposed restrictions on Sky Elements, which stages shows across the country, by suspending the waiver that allows drone performances near crowds and at night.
