Vivid Sydney drone show cancelled after 'catastrophic failure' as drones fall into harbour
Quick Look
- Vivid Sydney's drone show was cancelled after a technical malfunction caused nearly 90 drones to fall into Sydney Harbour during Monday's "star-bound" performance.
- An operator cited an "unforeseen change in the radio frequency" as the cause, leading to failsafe landings.
- No injuries were reported, but subsequent shows were cancelled pending a full assessment.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The Vivid Sydney festival is a popular annual event featuring light installations, music, and ideas. The drone show was a new addition intended to be a highlight. The incident occurred during a performance over Cockle Bay.
Vivid Sydney festival's drone show has been cancelled for now after a technical malfunction saw drones fall from the sky, in what one eyewitness described as a "catastrophic failure".
The incident occurred not long into Monday's 7.30pm "star-bound" show when almost 90 drones began falling out of formation and into the harbour around Cockle Bay.
One Darling Harbour worker, who wanted only to be identified as Robert, told the ABC he saw the drones "crashing" into the marina and almost hitting some workers.
"Everything seemed normal and then very shortly after that first image was displayed, on the southern side of Cockle Bay you started seeing drones dropping in the water and then from there it was a cascading failure of the drones," he said.
Robert said while the size of the drones themselves was hard to distinguish at night, they were big enough to make large splashes in the harbour upon impact, approximately a metre or so in size.
"They did look like they were well and truly outside their flying zones. They're not meant to fly over anyone or even close to anyone and it fell within metres of people I was with."
Vivid Sydney said to their knowledge no drones landed outside the designated exclusion zone.
Robert said it was "remarkable no one was hurt".
Radio frequency change prompted issue, says operator
Operator SkyMagic said the 89 drones landed in the water after an "unforeseen change in the radio frequency".
"This anomaly caused a number of drones in the fleet to enact failsafe landing procedures in response to compromised positional accuracy," their statement read.
A Vivid Sydney spokesperson apologised to attendees, saying the decision to discontinue the show was "in line with standard safety protocols".
"Public safety is always the number one priority and a full assessment is now underway with the specialist operators and relevant government agencies advising on next steps," they said.
Following Monday night's technical issue, the later 9:30pm show was also cancelled by organisers.
Vivid Sydney has since cancelled the drone shows scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday to allow time for a full assessment.
No decision on the show scheduled for Sunday May 31 and beyond had been made yet.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Further drone shows will be cancelled until a thorough investigation is completed and safety measures are confirmed.
Very likely · Within days
The drone shows may be permanently altered or replaced if the technical issues are deemed too complex to resolve quickly.
Possible · Within weeks
Open Questions
- What specific radio frequency change occurred and why?
- What is the extent of the damage to the drones?
- Will the drone shows be reinstated later in the festival?
- What measures will be put in place to prevent future incidents?
