Drone Melts Getting an Incredible Aerial Shot of a Volcanic Eruption

Photographer’s Drone Melts Capturing an Incredible Aerial Shot of a Volcanic Eruption

By Emma Taggart on March 30, 2021

There are around 130 volcanoes in Iceland. Most of them are inactive, but the country has recently been experiencing a rare volcanic eruption in the southwest area of the Reykjanes peninsula. On March 20, 2021, a volcano known as Geldingadalur began erupting, and it’s still spewing out red-hot lava today. The active volcano is currently being monitored, but it’s not considered an immediate threat to the surrounding areas. Many people are flocking to the scene in order to enjoy the spectacular display from a safe distance. However, photographer Garðar Ólafs is one local who may have let his drone get a little too close.

Ólafs managed to fly his drone directly over the top of the volcano and capture footage that looks straight down into the fiery mouth of the fissure. The amazing shot came at a cost, though; the extreme heat caused Ólafs’s drone to melt! “I was flying my drone around the eruption and decided it would be cool to see it from straight above,” the photographer says. “I slowly lowered the drone until all I could see was erupting lava, and when I looked up, I didn’t see the drone anymore. Basically, I was inside the crater of the volcano.”

When he realized how close his drone was to the lava, Ólafs quickly called it back to the base. The drone still works—luckily—but the light and sensors were damaged by the heat. Despite this, Ólafs doesn’t regret what happened. “In the end, I would say that the shot was worth it.”

The Geldingadalir volcano is currently erupting close to Ólafs’s hometown of Reykjanes, but he never expected to see an event like this. “We are experiencing something historical in Iceland these days, watching and listening to the new landform in Reykjanes is something I thought I would never experience in my lifetime, literally in my backyard 15 minutes away from my home,” he writes on Instagram. “Forever grateful and proud of my country.”

Check out Ólafs’s incredible drone photos and videos below, and follow him on Instagram for more.