Malfunction sees drones plunge into Melbourne’s Yarra River before Matildas’ Marvel Stadium send off

July 15, 2023

A light display above the Melbourne Docklands in advance of the Matildas final warm-up game ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup ended prematurely last night as a malfunction led to hundreds of drones plunging into the waters of the Yarra River.

In videos posted to social media, more than 100 drones were seen falling out of formation and flashing as they fell into the Docklands’ harbour waters.

The Victorian Government had earlier announced that 500 drones would be performing a 10 minute display of “messages and images in support of our Matildas” as a send off before the tournament gets underway next Thursday.

However, the entertainment ended abruptly when the drones were seen to suddenly stop in mid-air before plummeting into the water.

No injuries were reported due to the falling drones and Victoria Police’s water patrols were soon on the scene.

The company responsible for the show, Australian Traffic Network, which has previously created drone shows for the State of Origin and Vivid Festival in Sydney, has reportedly hired professional divers to begin recovering the drones out of the river as of Sunday.

Visit Victoria confirmed an investigation into the failure had begun and that it had been informed a technical malfunction had taken place.

Reports noted that the Australian Traffic Network’s Vic Lorusso was unable to confirm how many drones fell into the water, but advised that 350 of the 500 devices did not return following the performance.

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It is not currently clear what caused the technical glitch with the drones.

Lorusso told The Age that the space under the drones was inaccessible during the performance and the business had adhered to all Civil Aviation Safety Authority regulations.

He went on to be quoted in Nine media outlets as saying “the drones, to their credit, did what it was supposed to do when they got into a malfunction or technical glitch, which was to auto-land.

“Unfortunately, when you’re over water, an auto-land is in the water.

“Obviously it’s upsetting to us, but we’ve just got to find out the reason why it happened ... but that said, I’m really happy because everyone’s safe, and that’s paramount to us.”

The Matildas went on to complete their preparations for the Women's World Cup by beating France in front of a sell-out crowd at Marvel Stadium.

Image: Vision from social media shows the drones falling into the Yarra River. Video shows a more successful Australian Traffic Network display.

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