The Dec. 21 show, put on by Sky Elements, saw several drones collide and plunge into a crowd of hundreds at Lake Eola Park. A 7-year-old boy was hit by a falling drone in the face and chest, and reportedly had to undergo emergency open-heart surgery due to his injuries the following day.
The NTSB’s report, released Thursday, concludes that “combined errors” before the start of the show led to a misaligned flight path for the aircrafts, causing some of the 500 drones to crash into each other and plummet.
In the report, it is also noted that several drones were not receiving launch data up until five minutes before the show started. Video of the show confirmed the aircraft did not launch in uniform layers as intended, causing them to shift position and altitude, which contributed to the collisions and loss of control.
The aircraft operator also reported the show position was rotated by 7 degrees — a misalignment that led to the “geo hard fence being too close to the audience.” This fence was set at 5 meters rather than the industry standard of 1 meter.
The NTSB says its investigation will continue.
According to a GoFundMe page, the 7-year-old struck by a drone came through his surgery successfully, as of Dec. 23. The page has raised more than $36,000 since publication.
Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
Related Stories
FAA opens investigation into crashing drones at weekend Lake Eola holiday show
This article appears in Jan 15-21, 2025.
