Orlando drone mishap grounds New Year's shows from Texas to NYC

Skyler Swisher, Orlando Sentinel on Dec 30, 2024

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ORLANDO, Fla. — A horrifying mishap at Orlando’s holiday drone show that severely injured a boy is grounding New Year’s Eve displays from Texas to New York City and sparking further scrutiny into what went wrong.

Drone shows planned for New York’s Central Park and Austin and Dallas, Texas, have been canceled. Those events planned to use drones from Sky Elements, the same Texas-based vendor that operated Orlando’s holiday show, according to organizers.

Two Central Florida tourist spots also halted drone shows in recent days as Orlando’s botched event put the safety of such synchronized spectacles into question. The shows feature drones flying in formation and creating dazzling light displays in the sky.

The Federal Aviation Administration restricted Sky Elements’ operations as it investigates the drone mishap at Orlando’s Lake Eola Park. Footage captured during the Dec. 21 display showed drones falling from the sky as spectators watched. One of the drones appeared to shoot toward the crowd of spectators and struck a 7-year-old boy in the chest, sending him to the hospital, according to a Dec. 22 GoFundMe post from his mother.

The boy is recovering from emergency heart surgery, she wrote the next day.

The FAA on Friday said it suspended a Sky Elements permit known as a Part 107 waiver, which allows for the operation of more than one drone at a time, as it conducts its probe. Without that waiver, the company apparently is unable to stage drone shows in the U.S.

The National Transportation Safety Board is reviewing the processes and standards the FAA uses to evaluate and approve drone shows as part of its investigation.

Drone shows can be conducted safely, but it requires keeping spectators at a safe distance, said Ryan Wallace, a professor of aeronautical science at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The incident at Lake Eola will force both operators and regulators to take a hard look at the industry’s spectator safeguards, he said.

“The challenge we have is drones are a new technology,” Wallace said. “We don’t have a full understanding of all the risk involved when we apply that new technology to new applications. At the end of the day, they are going to want to review the procedures they use, the technology they use to ensure they can continue to conduct their operations safely.”

Sky Elements did not respond to a request for comment on Monday. In a previous statement, company officials said they are “diligently working” with the FAA and Orlando city officials to determine the cause of the mishap and establish a “clear picture of what transpired.”

On its website, the company wrote that drone shows are “completely safe when professional teams follow proper safety guidelines and regulations.”

“Sky Elements does not allow anyone to go under the show,” the website states. “The drone crew creates a perimeter around the grid to protect onlookers from stumbling below the show. Additionally, the pilot creates geofences before the show to prevent drones from straying away from the designated flight zone.”

New York Road Runners had planned a drone show for its New Year’s midnight run in Central Park but called it off “due to circumstances out of our control,” group spokeswoman Crystal Howard said.

The city of Austin nixed its New Year’s Eve drone show, which was operated by Sky Elements, city spokeswoman Maggie Holman said.

Sky Elements was also dropped from a New Year’s Eve show in Dallas as company officials “carefully review their processes for future shows” following the Orlando incident, Texas media outlets reported.

Universal Orlando last week suspended the use of drones during “Universal CineSational,” its end-of-night show at Universal Studios theme park. Drone shows scheduled at Orlando World Center Marriott were also canceled.

Organizers dropped drones from a New Year’s celebration in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, according to a report from WMBF News.

It’s unclear whether Sky Elements or another company was under contract for the planned Orlando and Myrtle Beach displays.

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