Eighty-nine drones crashed into Darling Harbour in Sydney, Australia, during an annual light show on Monday, May 25
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Organizers cited unforeseen technical difficulties caused by changes in the radio frequency environment after takeoff
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The incident led to the cancellation of multiple shows
Nearly 90 drones crashed into Darling Harbour in Sydney, Australia, during an annual light show.
On Monday, May 25, 89 drones were captured falling into the Darling Harbour during Vivid Sydney's Star-Bound show at around 7:30 p.m., according to theBBCand theAustralian Broadcasting Corporation(ABC).
Vivid Sydney is a three-week festival that showcases large light installations, per the BBC.
Organizers of the event, which has since been canceled, told PEOPLE that the mishap was due to "unforeseen technical difficulties.”
Meanwhile, a SKYMAGIC drone spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement that the issue was caused by a change in the radio frequency environment after takeoff.
“During the performance on the evening of May 25, SKYMAGIC experienced a technical issue that resulted in 89 drones landing in the water around Cockle Bay,” the spokesperson said. “The root cause of the issue was an unforeseen change in the radio frequency (RF) environment occurring after take-off.”
They added, “This anomaly caused a number of drones in the fleet to enact failsafe landing procedures in response to compromised positional accuracy.”
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The pilot “immediately performed a stop command rendering the fleet stationary in the air, enabling time to safely assess the issue. Once stability had been evaluated, the team then activated the return to home protocol bringing the unaffected drones to a safe landing.”
In footage shared on social media, drones could be seen falling from the sky before colliding with the harbor.
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"You could hear them physically crash and smash onto the cement marina,” Darling Harbour worker, Robert, told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
"They did look like they were well and truly outside their flying zones,” the man added. “They're not meant to fly over anyone or even close to anyone and it fell within feet of people I was with."
ABC also reported that Robert, who only wanted to be identified by his first name, said the drones "almost hit" some workers, adding that it was "remarkable" that no one was hurt.
In a statement to PEOPLE, Vivid Sydney said, “We apologize for the disappointment and inconvenience caused to attendees. The specialist operators identified a technical issue and made the decision to safely discontinue the show in line with standard safety protocols.”
They added, “Public safety is always the number one priority and a full assessment is now underway with the specialist operators and relevant government agencies advising on next steps.”
Following the incident, the 9:30 p.m. show was canceled, as well as shows for Tuesday, May 26 and Wednesday, May 27.
“To our knowledge no drones landed outside the designated exclusion zone,” the company said.
Star-Bound showcases around 1,000 purpose-built drones putting on a light show for up to 12 minutes, per the BBC.
The initial shows began on Sunday, May 24 and were set to continue over three weeks with 22 shows displayed over 11 nights, the outlet reported.
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