Early word is out and the National Transportation Safety Board has released some results from its ongoing investigation into what caused the malfunctions at the 2024 Downtown Orlando Holiday Drone Show on December 21.
The event, which featured drones-on-hire from a company called Sky Elements, had two separate show times. During the launch of the first show time, drones were seen falling from the sky and crashing into the lake and in one case, into a little boy’s chest who had to be taken to the hospital for emergency surgery.
According to the report, the crashes occurred following a number of “combined errors” that led to incorrect flight paths for some of the aircraft. Specifically, a number of the drones were not updated with launch data before the show, so they didn’t launch on the appropriate cues, which led to collisions, which led to them losing control.
That, coupled with a last-minute realignment of the show’s position over the lake shifted the drones closer to the audience than they should have been.
As earlier stated, the investigation is ongoing.