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Sydney: A spectacular light show over Sydney Harbour ended in disarray on Monday evening when dozens of drones plunged from the sky, with some crashing very close to onlookers at a marina. Following the drone malfunction, which led to the tragic incident, Vivid Sydney has cancelled its drone performances scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, citing “unforeseen technical difficulties” during the display. The incident occurred at around 7.30 pm local time as the illuminated aircraft took off above Cockle Bay.

According to British company Skymagic, which runs the show, 89 drones were affected by a sudden shift in the radio frequency used during take-off. The onlookers witnessing the spectacle of the drone show stated that they could hear the devices hitting both the water and the concrete below as the fleet began to fail mid-performance.

Footage of the display shows hundreds of the bright drones attempting to move into formation above the harbour before several start to fall. The show normally involves up to 1000 aircraft, said to be the brightest available on the market, and runs for about 12 minutes.

A worker at Darling Harbour stated that the sequence started normally, saying, “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 added that the sound of the crashes was “considerable” even from around 65 feet away, noting he could hear them “physically crash and smash onto the cement”. Robert also claimed that the drones appeared to stray from their designated airspace. “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,” he said.

Another harbour worker stated that he saw the drones “crashing into the marina wharf and nearly hitting workers”.

In a statement, Vivid Sydney confirmed the cancellations of the show and apologised to festival-goers. The festival organisers said that the shows planned for Tuesday and Wednesday had been called off “following the unforeseen technical difficulties experienced during Monday night’s performance".

“Public safety remains our absolute priority, and we apologise for the disappointment,” the statement read. The organisers added that, to their knowledge, no drones landed outside the planned exclusion zone.

Later, Skymagic said that the malfunction was triggered by an unexpected change in the radio frequency the drones rely on when launching. The incident has reignited concerns about the reliability of large-scale drone shows in busy public spaces. In July 2023, hundreds of drones were lost at Melbourne’s Victoria Harbour during a similar display after connection issues, with several ending up in the water.