Orlando drone show crash caused by combined errors that led to misaligned flight path: NTSB report
The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report on Thursday into what went wrong at a Florida drone show last month that caused some of the aircraft to go rogue, leaving a little boy seriously injured.The mishap took place during a Christmas light show put on by Sky Elements at Lake Eola Park in Orlando on Dec.21, 2024.Hundreds of people were watching the aerial show when several of the drones flew out of formation – some colliding with one another before falling to the ground.One of the rogue drones struck a 7-year-old boy in the face and chest, knocking him out upon impact.His parents told FOX 35 Orlando at the time that his injuries required open-heart surgery.The preliminary report from the NTSB revealed that “combined errors” right before the show’s start led to a misaligned flight path, causing chaos for a handful of the 500 drones during the performance.Before the show, a remote pilot in command confirmed the setup was standard and “consisted of preflight checks” that ensured “the software programming matched and was updated on all show computers, and the layout of the 500-drone grid on the ground,” according to the report.Approximately five of the drones were “not accepting the launch data” initially, but troubleshooting of the Wi-Fi access points led to all 500 drones showing up on the network five minutes before the show was set to start, the NTSB wrote.A soft reboot was then conducted to ensure all drones were “show ready.”After the reboot, two drones were removed from the show because their systems were not showing green.
Once they were taken out, the drones were armed and the countdown to liftoff was initiated.“At liftoff it was noted that the aircraft ‘layers’ did not lift uniformly,” the report stated.“Further investigation revealed that the launch parameter file that contained the final flight paths had not been sent, and that the show center was not completely aligned.”Because of the misa...