Vivid Sydney cancels drone shows after dozens plummet into harbour

Vivid Sydney has scrapped its remaining drone shows after a mass mid-air failure sent about 90 drones into Darling Harbour.

Vivid Sydney announced the cancellations on Saturday, adding fireworks displays would replace the drone shows from Sunday.

“Following Monday night’s unforeseen technical issue at the Vivid Sydney ‘Star-Bound’ drone performance, Vivid Sydney can confirm the remaining drone shows scheduled for this year’s festival will not proceed,” a statement read.

“Fireworks displays will now complement the Laser Lightfall experience in Darling Harbour at the times previously scheduled for drone shows, adding another layer of spectacle to Vivid

Sydney’s harbour celebrations.

“We understand this will be disappointing for audiences and appreciate the public’s understanding.”

Almost 90 drones plummeted into the water at Darling Harbor as Vivid Sydney’s ‘Star-Bound’ Drone Show experienced “technical difficulties” on Monday, May 25. Credit: Oindrila Mitra via Storyful

The shows were scheduled to run every Sunday to Wednesday night during Vivid Sydney at 7.30pm and 9.30pm until the festival’s end on June 13.

Vivid Sydney organisers said the decision was “guided by expert technical and regulatory advice” with public safety an “absolute priority”.

At the 7.30pm Star-Bound drone show near Cockle Bay in Darling Harbour on Monday, hundreds of drones ascended to the sky.

As the show went on, about 90 drones broke formation, plummeting into the harbour below.

Operator SkyMagic advised at the time the issue was caused by an “unforeseen change in the radio frequency” environment after takeoff, although assured no drones escaped the safety boundaries.

“This anomaly caused a number of drones in the fleet to enact failsafe landing procedures in response to compromised positional accuracy,” it said in a statement.

However, SkyMagic now claimed to be working with authorities to identify what external interference caused the failure.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has launched an investigation into the incident.

Efforts to collect the drones are ongoing.

Vivid Sydney is owned, managed and produced by Destination NSW, the NSW government’s tourism and major events agency.