Ocala contract for drone shows canceled after Orlando child injured

Photo: Drones set up before the show at Lake Eola Park that resulted in the injury of a child [National Transportation and Safety Board].
The city of Ocala has canceled its contract for Fourth of July drone shows after the company’s drones crashed and injured a child at an Orlando holiday show in December.
The Ocala City Council voted unanimously to terminate its contract with the Sky Elements drone show company on Jan. 21.
In December, less than a week after the City Council approved a $300,000 contract with Sky Elements to put on July Fourth drone shows for the next two years, the company put on a drone show in Orlando that went drastically wrong and severely injured a young boy.
Minutes into the show, several drones collided, sending one drone into the audience, striking a 7-year-old boy. The boy suffered an injury to his heart and lacerations on his face and had to undergo emergency heart surgery, according to his family.
After the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration began an investigation to determine the cause of the accident. An FAA spokesperson told the “Gazette” that the investigation is still ongoing as of Jan. 21.
The National Transportation Safety Board issued a preliminary report on the accident, detailing what went wrong to cause the drones to fall from the sky.
“Show video confirmed that the aircraft did not lift off in uniform layers and as they illuminated and moved to their first frame of animation, they shifted position and altitude which resulted in a collision with other aircraft and a loss of control,” according to the NTSB. “After the collisions occurred numerous aircraft could be seen falling from the sky and impacting the ground. One aircraft could be seen streaking towards the audience.”
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.
In the meantime, the FAA suspended Sky Elements’ Part 107 waiver, which authorizes the company to operate multiple drones simultaneously at night and over crowds.
City Chief of Staff Christopher Watt told the council before its vote that if they wished to keep the contract, city staff likely wouldn’t have enough time to prepare for the show before the Fourth of July.
“The Patriotic Skies event requires months of preparation by staff and given the facts that are currently available, the city cannot make the required preparations for the event as it is unable to determine if Sky Elements will be able to perform its obligations under the agreement,” Watt said.
Mayor Ben Marciano, who contested the drone show contract in the first place, told council he believed the agreement should be terminated.
“You all know how I felt about it before. I think this is just the icing on the cake,” Marciano said.
The city is not currently planning any alternative options for a Fourth of July display, such as fireworks.