Following a months-long court struggle, the cancellation of numerous New Year’s drone concerts, and a drone crash at a Lake Eola Christmas celebration that left a little boy gravely injured, the show’s producer is now hosting big holiday festivities in Florida.
According to the firm’s website, Sky Elements, a Texas-based drone show company that was established in 2021, will do two shows over the Fourth of July weekend in South Florida and two close to Tampa. Additionally, nightly flyovers over the Universal Orlando Resort are once again being held.
Despite what he dubbed the anamoly, Rick Boss, the company’s president and CEO, stated that business had returned to normal since the incident in December. According to him, Lake Eola’s Christmas concert continues to be the company’s lone incident out of its more than 2,000 performances.
Although he expressed confidence that this incident would never occur again, he acknowledged that everything has some risk.
According to public records, three drones departed from the computer-programmed flight plan, collided, and fell from the sky about 23 seconds into the Dec. 21 show, a $75,000 extravaganza that included figurines and moving formations in the sky. The incident injured a 7-year-old boy and struck two other people.
The Federal Aviation Administration halted the company’s drone display operations two days later. In February, after taking the matter to the appellate court, the business was granted a waiver that allowed it to resume operations. Later, Universal consented to let Sky Elements keep running its late-night performances.
His parents, who could not be reached for comment, posted on social media that the injured youngster had open heart surgery and spent Christmas in the hospital after one of the drones hit him in the mouth and chest.
Drone shows in Central Park in New York City, as well as those in Austin and Dallas, Texas, were canceled nationally on New Year’s Eve due to the Orlando tragedy. Later that week, Universal Orlando—which also had a deal with the company—canceled the usage of drones during Universal CineSational, its late-night show.
Even though the drones used in these displays are computer-programmed, human pilots are still required to establish certain settings, height, and location for the shows to function properly.
A pre-flight checklist contains all of the necessary actions. However, according to Preston Ward, the company’s legal counsel, the pilot at the Lake Eola show did not finish the checklist.
Ward said in a letter to the FAA on December 30 that the show’s pilot had neglected to update the geofence, a virtual firewall failsafe designed to keep the gadgets in check, establish the drone’s travel parameters, and properly position the show over its assigned site.
As a result, there was no longer a buffer zone between the drones and the audience. According to the Sky Elements website, none of its drone displays fly over people.
According to Ward, Sky Elements no longer employs that pilot.
Ward requested that if the company implemented safety measures, such as requiring two pilots every show, making pilots to complete a new training program, and required pilots to complete a physical checklist instead of the digital one that was previously in use, the FAA would reevaluate permitting the company to operate drones.
Additionally, the firm stated that future concerts will have a buffer zone of 155 feet, which is 50 feet more than the Lake Eola show, and that the setup for shows would be extended by two hours.
In the end, Sky Elements was given permission by the FAA to resume drone operations.
According to the Unofficial Guides, the company’s drones made a comeback to the Universal CineSational exhibition on June 16.
