Hundreds of drones plunge into Yarra River in Matildas light show fail

Professional divers have fished out hundreds of drones from the city’s river after they suffered a ‘technical glitch’ and fell into the water.

Hundreds of drones have been fished out of the Yarra River after they suffered a mysterious technical glitch during a light display which sent them plunging into the water.

The special display on Friday night was supposed to light up the sky over Melbourne’s Docklands with messages in support of the Matildas ahead of the Football World Cup.

But social media videos show the drones suffering a technical glitch just moments into the display and going into “automatic land” mode.

Hundreds of drones were fished out of the Yarra River on Sunday. Picture: Valeriu Campan NCA NewsWire.

The drones suffered a technical glitch during a light display and plunged into the water. Picture: Valeriu Campan NCA NewsWire.

A team of five professional divers were deployed on Sunday to dive into the river and retrieve the droves.

Photos taken near North Wharf at Docklands on Sunday show the divers swimming into the river off small boats and collecting the drones.

Hundreds of drones were collected, put in the boats and taken to cars waiting nearby.

Drones were seen falling out of formation and into the Yarra River in Docklands on Friday night. Picture: Channel 9

The drones were seen falling into the river. Picture: Channel 9

Hundreds of drones had to be fished out of the water due to the malfunction. Picture: Valeriu Campan NCA NewsWire.

The retrieval operation occurred on Sunday. Picture: Valeriu Campan NCA NewsWire.

Footage posted to social media shows the moment the drones slowly dropped out of formation and lowering into the Yarra River.

In a media release ahead of the event, the state government said the drones were expected to fly in formation for ten minutes.

The drones suffered a technical glitch. Picture: Channel 9

Divers were seen with the drones on Sunday. Picture: Valeriu Campan NCA NewsWire.

The show was supposed to light up the sky “displaying a series of messages and images in support of our Matildas” ahead of a friendly match against France.

The Australian Traffic Network (ATN) operates the drones and said all flying regulations were being followed during the light display.

No one was injured during the incident and water police were on the scene on Friday night.

It is not yet known what caused the technical glitch or how many fell into the water but it is expected to be about 350.

Originally published as Hundreds of drones plunge into Yarra River in Matildas light show fail