$100,000 worth of drones crash into the water during Australian Christmas event
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A Perth Christmas event has taken a turn for the worse after AUD $100,000 (£55,815) worth of drones crashed into the water.
Well, that’s one way to absolutely demolish the festive spirit.
9News reported that during a Christmas celebration in the City of Light, around 50 drones, each costing around AUD $2,000 (£1,116), plummeted into the Swan River in Elizabeth Quay shortly after being released into the sky.
City of Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas admitted ‘some of the drones weren't doing what they were supposed to’, but luckily, they did not harm the public.
The highly-anticipated City Of Light Christmas drone show didn’t go exactly as planned last night...
— 9News Perth (@9NewsPerth) November 21, 2022
Multiple drones began malfunctioning and falling from the sky throughout, crashing into the Swan River below as crowds watched on. #9News pic.twitter.com/oThMMvUEYf
"I accept that the drone show on Sunday night fell short of expectations," he said, as per 9News.
Josh Van Ross from Drone Sky Shows explained to 7NEWS why something like this might have happened.
"This technology is still evolving," Josh said. “I did cry a little bit last night and I try not to think about it,”
Let’s please light a candle for poor Josh and commemorate those lost.
He also said according to Daily Mail: “If there is any wind interference drones do hit each other, that does happen, propellers snap, there are things that go wrong ... two to three drones [falling] per show is actually normal ... last night was not.”
No official reason was given for the tech mishap; however, Drone Sky Shows and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority are investigating the matter.
Divers are currently searching through the river, trying to retrieve the damaged drones.
Similarly, last year, a light show in China’s central city of Zhengzhou went south as hundreds of drones fell from the sky, according to VICE.
The drones even struck buildings and vehicles while plunging to the ground.
With over 5,000 people in attendance, many videos were captured on social media showing members of the crowd fleeing the area as soon as the show ran into technical issues.
Some staff members even let the public seek refuge inside a shopping centre close by.
A 20-year-old resident in attendance, who only gave his surname Li, described how the chaos unfolded to VICE.
“More and more drones came off,” Li said.
“Some flew very far away, and some hit the trees.”
According to the outlet, an event organiser told China News Services that ‘operation errors’ led to the drones falling that night; however, no injuries had been recorded.
