ORLANDO, Fla. — Reports of multiple drones fell out of the sky during a holiday performance in downtown Orlando on Saturday.
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City officials held a one-night holiday drone show on Saturday night in Downtown Orlando at Lake Eola. The performance featured synchronized drones flying in formation to create holiday-themed designs in the sky.
Two drone performances were scheduled at Lake Eola: 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
A video posted on social media showed multiple drones falling mid-performance.
So apparently they had to cancel the 2nd drone show at #LakeEolaPark tonight and I wonder if the drones that got knocked out during the 1st show was the cause 😬 #Orlando pic.twitter.com/xxySjbkohy
— MosquitoCoFL Podcast (@MosquitoCoFL) December 22, 2024
Officials said one person was taken to the hospital after the event.
The Federal Aviation Administration said several small drones collided and fell into a crowd during the holiday drone show over Lake Eola.
According to the FAA, the incident happened around 6:45 p.m.
The City of Orlando posted on social media, “Due to technical difficulties, the 8 p.m. Holiday Drone Show at Lake Eola has been canceled. We apologize for any inconvenience.”
Due to technical difficulties the 8 p.m. Holiday Drone Show at Lake Eola has been canceled. We apologize for any inconvenience.
— City of Orlando (@citybeautiful) December 22, 2024
The FAA said it will be investigating the incident.
Several small drones collided and fell into a crowd during a holiday drone show over Eloa Lake in Orlando, Florida. The incident occurred around 6:45 p.m. local time on Saturday, December 21. The FAA will investigate.
Background
Drone arrays and light shows are subject to FAA regulation. Typically, these events 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. Among other things, we review:
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
— Federal Aviation Administration
Channel 9 has reached out for a comment to the drone operated by Sky Elements.
Channel 9 will keep you updated with the latest.
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