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Drones crash at Orlando holiday show, injuring young boy: What happened?

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Updated  December 23, 2024 6:54am EST
Orlando
FOX 35 Orlando

Drones crash at Orlando holiday show: 7-year-old undergoes surgery

A 7-year-old boy underwent open-heart surgery after drones came crashing down during a holiday light drone show at Lake Eola Park in Orlando, Florida.

The Brief

    • One person was hurt when drones at a holiday light show appeared to malfunction, crashing down into a crowd at Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando on Saturday.
    • FOX 35 News spoke with the parents of Alexander, a 7-year-old boy who suffered a chest injury after being hit by a drone. He underwent open-heart surgery the following day.
    • The Federal Aviation Administration has launched an investigation.

ORLANDO, Fla. - A holiday drone show at Lake Eola Park in downtown Orlando took an unexpected turn over the weekend. 

What began as a festive display on Saturday, with red and green-lit drones illuminating the sky, quickly turned into chaos as several drones collided and plummeted into the crowd, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The mishap resulted in one person, later identified as a child, being rushed to a local hospital for medical treatment. 

What we know

The incident happened during the City of Orlando's 6:30 p.m. holiday drone show, the first of two scheduled for the evening.

A video shared with FOX 35 News captured drones crashing into the lake and veering close to spectators. Shortly after, the city canceled the 8 p.m. show, citing technical difficulties in a statement on X.

"Due to technical difficulties, the 8 p.m. Holiday Drone Show at Lake Eola has been canceled. We apologize for any inconvenience," the post read.

A spokesperson for the City of Orlando confirmed that the FAA is leading the investigation. "We are in contact with the vendor to determine what occurred," the spokesperson said.

Possible causes explored

Typically, during a synchronized drone show, the drones are linked up by GPS. Experts suggested various potential causes for the malfunction. 

Drone expert, Dr. Vivek Sharma of Florida Institute of Technology, speculated that the failure might stem from GPS interference, programming errors, or drone collisions.

"It could be a GPS failure, or it could be a programming failure, or it could be a potential collision where one of the drones might have collided with multiple drones. And that's when they might have offshoot from the designated locations," he said. "There could be multiple possibilities."

It is not yet clear what led to the drone malfunctions. Authorities said it is the second year of using Sky Elements Drones as its vendor to operate the drones. 

Sky Elements Drones released the following statement:

"Sky Elements Drones wants to extend our sincere hope for a full and speedy recovery to those impacted at our Lake Eola show in Orlando on Saturday, Dec. 21. The well-being of our audience is our utmost priority, and we regret any distress or inconvenience caused. We are diligently working with the FAA and City of Orlando officials to determine the cause and are committed to establishing a clear picture of what transpired. Millions of people see our shows annually, and we are committed to maintaining the highest safety regulations set forth by the FAA."

7-year-old boy hurt after drones crash

At least one person was taken to an area hospital for a "minor injury" following the incident at the holiday drone show, according to the Orlando Fire Department.

FOX 35 News spoke with the family of Alexander, a 7-year-old boy, who was taken to the hospital following the incident. His parents, Adriana Edgerton and Jessica Lumsden, said one of the drones knocked him out on impact, causing a chest injury.

Alexander, 7, underwent open-heart surgery after suffering an injury during the City of Orlandos holiday drone show at Lake Eola Park on Saturday, his parents told FOX 35 News. (Credit: Adriana Edgerton)

Alexander underwent open-heart surgery the following day. FOX 35 News is working to learn his condition.

FAA investigating 

The FAA confirmed several small drones collided and fell into the crowd on Saturday around 6:45 p.m. during the synchronized holiday light show.

Drone arrays and light shows are subject to FAA regulations, a FAA spokesperson said in a statement. Officials said these events typically require a waiver to the regulation that prohibits operating more than one drone at a time.

"We thoroughly review each drone-show application to make sure the flying public and people on the ground will be safe," the FAA said.

Before a show like this can be held, the FAA said it reviews several things, including:

  • The software controlling the drones
  • Procedures on setting up safe and restricted areas to keep people a safe distance from the show
  • Procedures in the event a single or multiple drones fail
  • Procedures if an aircraft gets too close to the show
  • How the operator keeps the drones within a confined area using GeoFencing
  • Whether the operator has an adequate number of people to run the show

Now, the FAA is investigating what went wrong.

Licensed drone pilot Andrew Whitehall said synchronized drone displays are still an evolving technology. 

"It's multiple vehicles in very close proximity. Several areas where they could be a source of error," Whitehall said. "We're still talking about vehicles that don't have regular pilots on board making a decision on the spur of the moment when something goes wrong." 

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The Source: Information provided for this article came from the Federal Aviation Administration, the City of Orlando, the Orlando Fire Department, drone experts, as well as details provided by Adriana Edgerton and Jessica Lumsden, whose son was hurt during the drone show.

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