The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report on Thursday into what went wrong at a Florida drone show last month that caused some of the aircraft to go rogue, leaving a little boy seriously injured.
The mishap took place during a Christmas light show put on by Sky Elements at Lake Eola Park in Orlando on Dec. 21, 2024. Hundreds of people were watching the aerial show when several of the drones flew out of formation – some colliding with one another before falling to the ground.
One of the rogue drones struck a 7-year-old boy in the face and chest, knocking him out upon impact. His parents told FOX 35 Orlando at the time that his injuries required open-heart surgery.
The preliminary report from the NTSB revealed that “combined errors” right before the show’s start led to a misaligned flight path, causing chaos for a handful of the 500 drones during the performance.
Before the show, a remote pilot in command confirmed the setup was standard and “consisted of preflight checks” that ensured “the software programming matched and was updated on all show computers, and the layout of the 500-drone grid on the ground,” according to the report.
Approximately five of the drones were “not accepting the launch data” initially, but troubleshooting of the Wi-Fi access points led to all 500 drones showing up on the network five minutes before the show was set to start, the NTSB wrote.
A soft reboot was then conducted to ensure all drones were “show ready.” After the reboot, two drones were removed from the show because their systems were not showing green. Once they were taken out, the drones were armed and the countdown to liftoff was initiated.
“At liftoff it was noted that the aircraft ‘layers’ did not lift uniformly,” the report stated. “Further investigation revealed that the launch parameter file that contained the final flight paths had not been sent, and that the show center was not completely aligned.”
Because of the misalignment, the drones shifted positions and altitude when moving 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 went in the direction of the audience.
The show’s remote pilot in command told the NTSB that he determined the safest course of action was to continue the show based on the steps involved in pausing it and recovering drones from the air. The remaining drones were able to complete the show and land safely.
A review by the pilot of aircraft logs revealed that the show’s position had rotated by 7 degrees, resulting in the “geo hard fence being too close to the audience.” On top of that, the fence was not set to company standards of 1 meter and was instead at 5 meters.
“The combined errors resulted in a reduced safety area that was outside of the company’s standards,” the report noted.
Each drone involved in the show contained an SD card with recorded data. Approximately 42 impacted 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.
While the NTSB is still investigating the incident, additional safety actions were proposed to the Federal Aviation Administration by Sky Elements in order to prevent future problems, including allowing more time on site prior to a show, requiring a chief pilot, or second in command, to verify all steps are completed before the show, and additional training for all pilots.
The FAA placed restrictions on Sky Elements, which puts on shows across the country, by suspending its waiver that allows for drone performances near crowds and at night.
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