Nearly 90 drones crashed into Sydney’s Darling Harbour during a popular light show, with footage showing them falling into the water near crowds of spectators, BBC reports.
Organisers of the annual three-week Vivid Sydney light festival said the failure of the drones on the evening of the 25th of May was due to unforeseen technical problems, and several planned shows have been cancelled.
The show’s creator, the British company Skymagic, said the failure was caused by radio frequency changes and all the drones fell into a safe zone. A company spokesman said a technical incident occurred during the light show, which resulted in 89 drones falling into the harbour waters. The main cause of the incident was previously unpredictable changes in radio frequencies after the drones took off, and in response to incorrect location data, the drones made an emergency landing.
A representative for the Festival of Light apologized for the inconvenience and disappointment experienced by spectators, adding that
the drone pilots canceled the show in accordance with standard safety regulations.
Festival organizers said that Skymagic and state authorities would conduct a full assessment before making a decision on the conduct of the remaining shows.
The Star-Bound drone light show is made up of up to 1,000 specially designed drones and lasts about 12 minutes. The first shows took place on the 24th of May, and 22 more were planned over the next three weeks. The drone shows were included in the festival of lights for the first time in 2024, and attracted large crowds. Last year, due to concerns about large crowds, the flying robot show was not held. Vivid Sydney has been running since 2009 and calls itself “the southern hemisphere’s largest festival of light, music, ideas and food”. It consists of a 6.5-kilometre walk with 43 light installations.
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