A city-sponsored Christmas show featuring hundreds of high-flying drones turned life-threatening after a young boy was badly injured when several “dive-bombed” him following a failed aerial stunt.
The New York Post reported on injuries from the Christmas lights show, which featured hundreds of drones synchronized high in the night sky as they moved in a pack and changed from red to green and back. Sunday night’s 6:30 p.m. show was put on by Sky Element Drones and sponsored by the city of Orlando, Florida, which hosted crowds in Lake Eola Park who later fled for safety when some of the elaborate patterns and robotic choreography began to break down.
According to witnesses, some of the drones began to “break rank” and flew down to earth, dive-bombing the crowd of hundreds in startling video captured by attendees. One angle shows the crowd reacting with a chorus of “whoas” while a child off-screen can be heard asking, “What’s happening?” The show continued, but an 8 p.m. repeat show was canceled, according to News 6
On Facebook, two concerned parents posted a photo of their young son who was seen resting in a hospital bed with a bloody upper lip. He is expected to undergo emergency heart surgery, his mother stated. “Pray for my son, we went to the Drone show at Lake Eola and one of the drones hit him in the face,” Jessica Lumedge wrote. “I have never been so scared. I can’t believe a drone show at Lake Eola Park turned into this. I’m scared terrified for my baby,” mother Adriana Edgerton added. In a second post photographing her son, Edgerton said, “My baby is going into emergency heart surgery off of just trying to watch a drone show … I am beyond words beyond terrified! “[The City of Orlando] and Sky Elements Drones really have some explaining to do. They will be held accountable for what was done to my son. I pray he makes it out of this!”
The city’s public information manager, Andrea Otero, told Good Morning America, “We are in contact with the vendor to determine what occurred with the operation. FAA is handling the investigation.” A spokesperson for Sky Elements said, “We are diligently working with the FAA and City of Orlando officials to determine the cause and are committed to establishing a clear picture of what transpired.”
Mothers Jessica Lumedge and Adriana Edgerton shared a picture on Facebook of their son in a hospital bed with a bloody upper lip, and now say the boy is undergoing emergency heart surgery. Jessica Lumedge/Facebook
“Pray for my son, we went to the Drone show at Lake Eola and one of the drones hit him in the face,” Lumedge wrote.
“I have never been so scared. I can’t believe a drone show at Lake Eola Park turned into this. I’m scared terrified for my baby,” Edgerton added.
In another post a short time later, Edgerton posted another photo of the child, writing, “My baby is going into emergency heart surgery off of just trying to watch a drone show … I am beyond words beyond terrified!” the anguished mother wrote.
“[The City of Orlando] and Sky Elements Drones really have some explaining to do. They will be held accountable for what was done to my son. I pray he makes it out of this!”
