OCALA, Fla. — The city of Ocala has officially terminated its contract with the drone show company Sky Elements.

This comes exactly one month after a drone show malfunction at Lake Eola sent one child to the hospital.

That’s why the decision to part ways with the Texas-based drone show company, Sky Elements, came easy for Ocala city council members who say the priority is the safety of its residents and saving the city money.

What You Need To Know

  • Ocala cancels contract with Sky Elements following the Dec. 21 drone incident at Lake Eola that left one child hospitalized

  • Both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the incident, which led to the suspension of Sky Element’s Part 107 Waiver

  • The Part 107 Waiver authorizes Sky Elements to operate multiple drones at night and over people, remotely and simultaneously

  • Without the authorization, the drone show company cannot perform the duties under its former $300,000 contract with the city

  • City council members say its safer and more cost effective to terminate the agreement and “look at other options”

“I think it’s an easy decision to move on and look at some other options,” Ocala Mayor Ben Marciano said.

On Tuesday, city council members unanimously voted to exercise their Termination for Convenience clause, which grants the city the right to end its agreement at any time and without early notice.

The city OK’d a two-year renewal of its contract with the Texas-based drone show company on Dec. 17, just four days before the Lake Eola incident.

But ever since Sky Elements had its Part 107 waiver suspended, as part of an investigation led by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) into the incident, city officials do not want to take chances.

“We thought the drone show was a good idea originally the first year we had it because of the effect that fireworks have on animals and things of that nature, but there’s some challenges that are, you know, are just insurmountable for us to handle and we just need to go and try and find another venue,” District 5 councilman James Hilty expressed.

The Part 107 waiver gives Sky Elements the green light to operate multiple drones both remotely and simultaneously at night and over people.

But without this authorization, the company cannot perform the duties under its agreement with the city.

“The fact that they can’t guarantee they can get their license back, we need to be making a plan and all that, so it was a wise move for us to cancel the contract. Unfortunate for the company, but a wise move for us and the citizens.”

Not to mention, another investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board is also underway. 

A preliminary report found that the aircraft layers did not lift uniformly during liftoff and a launch file document containing the final flight paths had not been sent. 

According to the report, drone positions were rotated by about 7 degrees, causing a misalignment, which resulted in the geo hard fence being too close to the audience.

Even though they provided a unique form of entertainment, Hilty says drone shows were not cost effective for Ocala residents.

The city’s contract with Sky Elements cost $300,000 for the next two years.

According to documents from the Procurement and Contracting Department dated back to Jan. 9, “for 2024, Sky Elements was paid $74,415 for a 15-minute, 300 drone show. For 2025 and 2026, Sky Elements is due to receive $150,000 each year for an 18-minute, 600 drone show.”

“But that does not include the cost of police department, fire department, parks and recs for cleaning up, and traffic and everything of that nature, so the cost is really much higher than 300,000 to be borne by the citizens,” Hilty explained.

Sky Elements said in a statement that it “respects the city of Ocala’s decision regarding its 4th of July celebration plans. We understand that cities must carefully consider various factors when planning their events, and we appreciate the thorough evaluation process Ocala has undertaken.

Our company is unwavering in delivering safe, innovative, and spectacular drone light shows. We will continuously refine our technology and safety protocols to ensure the highest performance and reliability standards. Last month’s Orlando incident was an isolated event. To prevent similar occurrences in the future, we have conducted a comprehensive review of our systems and implemented additional safeguards.

Sky Elements remains open to future collaborations with Ocala, and we wish the city a successful 4th of July celebration in 2025.”

On Jan. 10, Sky Elements told the city of Ocala’s leadership staff in an email that it had made various safety enhancements including:

  • Implementing a two-pilot system for redundancy in the human element

  • 55-item pre-flight checklist now verified by two people

  • Addressing potential issues like incorrect show heading, positioning

  • The termination of a digital checklist, now requiring co-pilots to complete a paper checklist, confirming that the pilot performed each item on the list

  • Training that includes a review of the NTSB Advisory on drones dated July 29, 2016

  • Two additional hours of setup time for drone shows

For now though, the city says its 4th of July show will be both firework and drone free.