The mother of a boy who was seriously injured at a Florida holiday drone show when the flying objects went awry and crashed into his chest, forcing him to undergo emergency heart surgery, has filed a lawsuit.
Adriana Edgerton and her family visited Lake Eola in downtown Orlando on December 21 to watch a holiday drone show. However, something went wrong during the show, and the drones flew out of control, crashing to the ground. One of the drones struck Edgerton’s seven-year-old son, Alezander, in the face and chest.
“God, please be with me! My baby is having emergency heart surgery as a result of trying to watch a drone show at Lake Eola Park!” she wrote on her Facebook page the day after the incident. “I am beyond words, beyond terrified!” The City of Orlando’s Government and Sky Elements Drones have some explaining to do. They will be held accountable for what happened to my son. “I hope he gets out of this!”
Edgerton is currently suing the City of Orlando, Sky Elements LLC, and others in connection with the incident. The show featured 500 drones that were lit up in green and red to match the holiday season and were supposed to fly in formation. However, during the show, “multiple drones malfunctioned, causing these drones to leave formation, deviate from the coordinated flight path, and breach the designated geofenced perimeter,” the lawsuit claimed.
One of the drones collided with a group of spectators, hitting Alezander. He “sustained traumatic, permanent injuries requiring medical treatment, and will continue to suffer physical, emotional, and financial harm,” the complaint stated.
The plaintiffs accuse the defendants of negligence.
“Defendant, City of Orlando, knew, or in the exercise of reasonable care should have known that the Subject Drone Show involved high-risk aerial equipment and that the Subject Drones posed a foreseeable and unreasonable risk of harm to the public, including spectators such as [Alezander].”
Edgerton’s lawsuit alleges that Orlando failed to properly vet the companies in charge of the show, nor did the city ensure that they followed all safety protocols. It also failed to ensure that the vendors had “an established track record of safety and reliability, particularly in light of known prior drone failures at past shows involving the same vendors and technology,” according to plaintiff lawyers.
Sky Elements “owed a duty” to confirm the drones were safe prior to the event and had the necessary staffing to ensure a safe show, according to the lawsuit. However, the company is accused of failing to monitor any “anomalies” and stopping the show once problems arose, as well as failing to “train, supervise, and manage the solo pilot in charge of the entire 500-drone” show.
Alezander spent about ten days in the hospital and is still recovering from his injuries.
Sky Elements said it couldn’t comment because of the ongoing litigation. The City of Orlando did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
