Orlando drone show accident caused by wrong flight path: NTSB report
The National Transportation Safety Board on Thursday released its first report on a crash at a Florida drone show last month that led to some drones heading toward trespassers and seriously injuring a toddler.
The disaster occurred on December 21, 2024, during the Sky Elements Christmas Light Show at Lake Eola Park in Orlando. Hundreds of people were watching the air show as many of the drones took off from their creations – some crashing into each other. before falling to the ground.
One of the rogue drones hit a 7-year-old boy in the face and chest, leaving him with injuries. His parents told FOX 35 Orlando at the time that the injury required heart surgery.
An initial report from NTB said that “combined errors” led to incorrect flight paths before the show began and caused chaos for a handful of the 500 drones during the performance.
Orlando holiday airshow sends child to hospital
On December 21, 2024, the National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report on what went wrong with Florida drones. There were 500 drones set up to fly at the air show above Lake Eola in Orlando, Florida. (Sky Elements LLC in NTSB report)
Before the event, a remote pilot confirmed that the organization was regular and “included pre-flight checks” which ensured that “the software programming on all the show computers was matched and updated, and the positioning of the 500-drone grid on the ground”. According to the report.
The roughly five drones initially “did not receive the launch information,” but troubleshooting Wi-Fi access points allowed 500 drones to appear on the network five minutes before the show began, the NTSB wrote.
All drones undergo a soft reset to “show they are ready”. After the reboot, two drones were removed from the show because their systems didn’t show green. Once they were out, the drones were armed and the countdown began for take off.
The FA has placed restrictions on drone companies after a Florida boy was injured during a holiday airshow, and underwent heart surgery.
“During descent, it was found that the aircraft ‘layers’ did not lift uniformly,” the report said. “Further investigation revealed that the launch parameter file containing the final flight paths was not sent and the display center was not fully configured.”
In the year Several drones crashed during a drone show in Orlando, Florida on December 21, 2024, causing unmanned aerial objects to crash to the ground. (Credit – X/MosquitoCoFL)
Due to misalignment, the drones changed position and altitude as they moved to the first frame of the animation, causing collisions and loss of control. As several drones fell from the sky and hit the ground, one flew toward the audience.
The command’s remote pilot told NTB that the safest course of action was to pause the show and continue the show based on the actions taken to recover the drones from the air. The rest of the drones finished the show and landed safely.
According to the pilot’s review of the flight log, the position of the event was rotated by 7 degrees, resulting in “the geo-hard fence being too close to the audience.” In addition, the fence was not placed at the level of the company 1 meter, but instead it was 5 meters.
“The combined errors resulted in a security breach that fell outside the company’s standards,” the report said.
Each drone participating in the show contains an SD card with recorded data. About 42 of the affected drones were recovered by the operator, who sent their SD cards to be analyzed at the NTSB’s vehicle recording lab. Law enforcement personnel also found one drone and sent it to the NTSB. Five drones that crashed into the lake have not been found.
Some of the 500 drones that participated in the light show in the air crashed and five of them went into the lake. (Credit – X/MosquitoCoFL)
Click here to access the FOX NEWS app
While the NTSB is still investigating the incident, additional safety measures have been proposed to the Federal Aviation Administration by Sky Elements to prevent future problems, including allowing extra time on site before a show, requiring a chief pilot or second in command. To ensure all steps are completed before the event and additional training for all pilots.
The FAA has placed restrictions on Sky Elements, which hosts shows across the country, by banning the release that allows drone operations near people and at night.
