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

Professional divers will plunge into the city’s river after hundreds of drones suffered a ‘technical glitch’ and fell into the water.

Hundreds of drones will be fished out of the Yarra River after they suffered a technical glitch during a light display and plunged 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.

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

Footage shows the drones slowly dropping 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 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 drones suffered a technical glitch. Picture: Channel 9

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.

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