What happened
On December 21, 2024, at approximately 1830 EST, a drone light show at Lake Eola in Orlando, Florida, resulted in a mid-air collision among multiple small unmanned aircraft (sUA). The swarm, consisting of Uvify IFO drones, was operated by Sky Elements LLC under FAA Part 107 regulations and a Certificate of Waiver and Authorization.
During the launch, the remote pilot in command (RPIC) observed that the aircraft layers did not lift uniformly. An investigation into the launch revealed that the launch parameter file containing final flight paths had not been transmitted, causing the show center to be misaligned. As the aircraft moved into their first animation frames, they shifted in position and altitude, leading to collisions between the drones. Following these collisions, several aircraft fell from the sky and impacted the ground, with one aircraft observed moving toward the audience. One minor child sustained one serious injury after being struck in the face and chest by a drone.
While the collision event caused numerous drones to sustain substantial damage and impact the ground, the RPIC elected to let the remaining aircraft complete the show to avoid the risks associated with an immediate mid-show recovery. The remaining drones landed without further incident.
The investigation
Post-accident reviews of aircraft logs indicated that the show position had been rotated by 7°. This misalignment caused the geo-fence to be positioned too close to the audience. Additionally, the safety fence was set to a distance of 5 meters, rather than the operator's standard of 1 meter. The operator noted that these combined errors reduced the safety area below company standards.
Of the affected fleet, 42 drones were recovered by the operator, and their SD cards were sent to the NTSB for analysis. One aircraft was recovered by law enforcement and provided to the NTSB. Five drones were believed to have landed in the lake and were not recovered. The aircraft involved in the event were identified by the registration UNREG.