On the left: A holiday drone show in downtown Orlando (Felix Young). On the right: Alezander Edgerton after a drone struck him in the chest (Adriana Edgerton).
The mother of a young boy who was severely injured during a holiday drone event in Florida has initiated legal action after the drones went awry, crashing into her son’s chest and necessitating emergency heart surgery.
Adriana Edgerton and her family were gathered at Lake Eola in downtown Orlando on December 21 to enjoy a holiday drone show. However, the event took a turn when the drones went out of control and plummeted to the ground. One drone collided with Edgerton’s 7-year-old son, Alezander, impacting his face and chest.
“Oh God, please watch over us! My child is heading into emergency heart surgery just from watching a drone show at Lake Eola Park!” she expressed on her Facebook page the day following the accident. “I am at a loss for words and utterly terrified! City of Orlando – Government and Sky Elements Drones must explain themselves. They will be held responsible for what happened to my son. I pray he pulls through this!”
Edgerton has now filed a lawsuit against the City of Orlando and Sky Elements LLC, among others, regarding the incident. The performance had 500 drones intended to illuminate in red and green hues, flying in coordinated patterns for the holiday display. Nevertheless, the lawsuit claims, “several drones malfunctioned, causing them to veer off course, violate the intended flight path, and breach the designated secure perimeter.”
One of these drones crashed into the audience, striking Alezander. The boy “endured traumatic and permanent injuries necessitating medical intervention and will continue to experience ongoing physical, emotional, and financial distress,” the lawsuit explained.
The plaintiffs are accusing 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 suit claims Orlando failed to properly vet the companies in charge of the show, nor did the city make sure they followed all safety protocols. It also did not ensure 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,” plaintiff lawyers wrote.
As for Sky Elements, the company “owed a duty” to confirm the drones were safe prior to the event and had the proper staffing to ensure a safe show, the lawsuit said. But the company allegedly failed to monitor any “anomalies” and stop the show once problems began and did not “train, supervise and manage the solo pilot in charge of the entire 500-drone” show.
Alezander spent roughly 10 days in the hospital and continues to recover from his injuries.
In a statement, Sky Elements said it could not comment because of the pending litigation. The City of Orlando did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
