SEATAC — It was supposed to be a brand-new Fourth of July experience, having a drone light show at Angle Lake in SeaTac, a body of water squeezed in between Interstate 5 and Highway 99. The lake is just off the international airport associated with the city’s name.
It turned into a disaster for which the city had paid $40,000, and in which 55 of 200 drones, each valued at $2,600, dropped into the lake.
The city says there were no reported injuries.
Let’s save you using a calculator: 55 times $2,600 is $143,000.
The drones are owned by the Great Lakes Drone Co., of Coloma, Mich., which puts on 150 to 200 drone light shows a year across the country.
“There was nothing wrong with the drones, nothing wrong with the software,” said company founder and CEO Matthew Quinn. “So, it’s pointing to outside interference of some type. We don’t know what it is or what it could be. There could be a cell tower that’s off-frequency. It could be somebody with a drone jamming gun.”
He said “select drones” suffered a sudden loss of the GPS signal and they “didn’t know where home was.” It was safer to let them drop into the lake. He said nothing like it has happened in any previous drone shows.
Quinn said he had filled out the necessary Federal Aviation Administration paperwork. “Everybody who’s supposed to know about it, knows about it.”
On its website, the Port of Seattle lists FAA “operation rules” for drones, with operators needing to provide notice of planned flights within a 5-mile radius of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
As for the possibility of the drones having been jammed, the Federal Communications Commission says on its website that such devices are prohibited by federal law. It says they’re only allowed “in certain limited exceptions” for use by federal law enforcement agencies.
But a March 20 story on NBC News said it found more than a dozen companies marketing jammers online.
The city of SeaTac said it “is connecting the drone vendor with volunteer rescue divers to see if they can pull the lost drones from the lake.”
Quinn said they won’t be used again. “Water and electronics tend not to go well together.”
He said the company has insurance, “for something like this to happen, with the idea it never happening.” Quinn said the FAA and other agencies are investigating the incident.
The L-shaped, 102-acre lake is known for its pristine water, and on the night of July 4, you could see drones at its bottom, some with their lights still glowing. Angle Lake is surrounded by homes and has a city park .
Matt Markovich, who lives at Angle Lake, watched the drone show.
“Thirty seconds in, you saw one or two dropping into the lake. I didn’t think anything of it,” he said. Markovich at first thought the drones were programmed to do some kind of special effect.
Then more kept dropping into the water. Markovich got his smartphone out.
“Drones falling from the sky. Oh, my gosh,” he says in the video.
This was the first year for the drones at the lake.
The city had sponsored fireworks there until it encountered a messy interpretation of a 1932 state Supreme Court ruling on navigable waters in lakes, according to the B-Town Blog.
It all came about because of a resident who complained about the noise of hydroplane races that had been permitted there, and cited the court ruling.
The city decided to cancel not only the hydro races but its part in the fireworks show. Better to be safe, legalwise.
However, this year, the Angle Lake Shore Club put on its own, privately funded, $30,000 fireworks show, which on July 4 preceded the drones.
The city of SeaTac, meanwhile, to do something for its July 4 events at the lake’s park, contracted with the drone company. It was supposed to be the highlight of a full day of festivities.
Then the drones descended.
What next?
“I’m not sure what the next steps will be,” said interim City Manager Kyle Moore.
