OCALA, Fla. – The Ocala City Council will decide Tuesday whether to terminate its contract with the company behind its Fourth of July drone show.
The company, Sky Elements, is the same one that was behind the show at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando last month when drones collided during the holiday event and one of them struck a young boy.
The National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report that said several of the drones in the show had not been receiving data up until five minutes before the show, which led to some of the drones not launching in a uniform fashion and causing them to collide with other drones.
Documents obtained by News 6 last month show the drones were supposed to be positioned directly over Lake Eola for the show, a safe distance from the crowd. According to the NTSB report, a review of aircraft logs showed there was a 7-degree misalignment with the show position, which led to the drones getting too close to the audience.
Some Ocala leaders now want to end the deal with Sky Elements since the NTSB investigation won’t be done by the Fourth of July show.
Sky Elements responded to the city council saying it’s made safety changes, including requiring two drone pilots on site who each will have to approve a 55-item pre-safety checklist before any show.
Tuesday’s meeting is set for 3 p.m.
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