MAVIC CRASHED IN TO SEA IN IT'S FIRST FLIGHT

[m0j0]

Did you own a Chroma 4k and post on RC forums in the past? Just wondering..

No sir...

 

[m0j0]

That's harsh... on berk... rather loose it to the sea or lake.. then plummet into a crowded place with people
I maidened my Mavic over the sea.. but as I live on the coast and have flown nearly all my quads out to sea, It just seems natural to me...
How many people have crashed into trees or buildings.. loads... crashing into the sea or water.. a lot less.. 3 months on and still flying out to sea.. no problem

That is a matter of opinion. I just can't think of a scenario where I would want to take a 1K UAV and maiden it in a place where a failure would result in the loss of the unit. Just me I guess, I would at least fly it over land long enough to make certain that I don't have a factory defect....Fly it and test the systems first. I don't have any problem with folks that fly over water. That's a great idea and actually safer than flying over land. However, I would want to make certain that my Mavic was in working order before flying it over water..YMMV.

 

[mikee1554]

When you flew low to the water did you have obstacles avoidance turned off?

yes... never use it . That part over the water, went on for a kilometer

 

[mikee1554]

That is a matter of opinion. I just can't think of a scenario where I would want to take a 1K UAV and maiden it in a place where a failure would result in the loss of the unit. Just me I guess, I would at least fly it over land long enough to make certain that I don't have a factory defect....Fly it and test the systems first. I don't have any problem with folks that fly over water. That's a great idea and actually safer than flying over land. However, I would want to make certain that my Mavic was in working order before flying it over water..YMMV.

I agree.. I test hoovered for an hour in back garden, tweaking settings in app..

Thing is... don't throw $1k in the air on a windy day.. and hope to catch.............. if your not prepared to loose it.

It's all about Risk Assessment on the day or flight.

 

[Dragonfly]

This is my third drone so I considered my self as an experienced pilot. However, it was a sudden disconnection and mavic dissappeared

Weather its your first drone or twentyith, you still test it on its first flight to make sure all is in order and its not faulty. You dont fly it out over the sea on first flight.
And you say you are experienced?
Every drone is different like cars are, you have to get to know each one how it functions how to abort and how to respond to major messages on your screen, something you new nothing off.

 

[erkme73]

Sad. Really sad. Not just that the guy lost his MP, but that people take such joy rubbing his nose in it. It's neither cute, nor funny. Imagine the heartbreak any one of you would feel if you lost your MP. Hindsight being what it is, I'm sure no one needs to publicly shame the OP for the risk he took. He wants help figuring out why it went down - not a kick in the pants.

 

[CCDD]

Nearly all of my flying are over water, I wouldn't be quick to criticize him for his actions. It's a costly mistake however, any of us that choose to fly over water take this risk each and every time we fly. I would chalk it us as a loss, purchase another and do nothing different than before with the exception of double checking your "check list" to ensure all is secure and ready.

 

[geigy]

Beautiful video, Mike! I'd be so happy to do one like this. I hope they can verify a bad battery latch, or something similar, and that DJI will give you a refund.

As for the critics - this happens all the time on the net. People are reading their own fears and concerns into your situation, and responding in a rather severe way. Human nature, and, as they say, it says more about them than about yourself.

 

[debric france]

Any tips list when flying over water?

 

[mikee1554]

Any tips list when flying over water?

keep the light blue sky above you and the deep blue sea below you

 

[EJay]

When I got my Mavic I had heard about day one crashes and so was very determined not to be a statistic.
It was still my most "memorable uncertain moment" - did a little hover on one side of the house then carried around to the other side of the house. All good in beginner mode. Tried the Return To Home and next thing alarms beeping, couldn't see it - then a chimney in the viewer! High pulse, mild panic. Was I to be a day 1 victim? [emoji27]
Simple now, but at the time my RTH point was still on the other side of a tall two story house, so it headed off away from me over the roof and out of sight. [emoji102][emoji51] It reached the height limit of beginner mode at a chimney and stopped with obstacle warning beeping. [emoji599]
It didn't take long to learn ,but at the time I had no real idea of what to look at on the instrument panel or the controls to use. All the settings would have been at "out of the box". I had read lots but zero experience. Zero familiarity.

A pic at about the moment, or maybe next try.

I really feel for the guys that have a loss especially first up.

The take home message is....
In the beginning take it slow and steady for the good of man and machine. [emoji818]️

 

[berk]

Let me try to answer few questions:

a. It's not possible to retrieve the Mavic since there is a high current in the water. We spoke to a diver and it was not possible.
b. The area was where I flew my previous drones so it seemed natural.

Here are the logs of the flight again:
DJI Phantom & Mavic Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com
https://app.airdata.com/main?fli ... 16e98a1defedcef5567

Here is the log of stick movements to prove I did not do anything wrong as well:

Drone Log - Google Drive

 

[CCDD]

FWIW, DJI did honor a claim for a Phantom I lost in the water and never asked for its return. Flight records provided enough information or lack thereof and I was sent a brand new unit.

 

[Brie]

I lost my Mavic into the ocean as well. It was a little windy but only about 12mph. What happened was I set my home point, flew up about 30 ft and out over the ocean but very close to shore. I was in Maui and wanted a quick video of the shoreline. About 1 min 52 sec into flight, just after I turned the drone around to head back home, it started drifting up and away to sea. The Mavic didn't respond to any commands EXCEPT for the gimbal. I was able to move the camera around in an effort to find my location on the shore. I had 75% battery left when the drone flew away. I tried RTH but it didn't respond at all. It only kept flying farther out to sea. At one point, it moved (against the wind) about 1-1 1/2 miles south over land and just as i moved the camera downward to make sure I wasn't over a cliff so I could land it...it took off to sea again. I tried both RTH and manual controls several times but nothing was working. I finally got a message that I only had enough battery life left to get home but still...the RTH function did not work. It finally lost all connections which was obviously the Mavic crashing into the ocean with no battery life left.
I uploaded all of the flight logs to DJI where I bought it from. They reviewed it, said they don't know why RTH did not work. They then promptly said there was no malfunction so they will not cover my loss. Really? They admit they don't know why RTH didn't work but they absolved themselves of any malfunctions? Has anyone else ever had this type of response from DJI?
I am asking them to look into it further. They say they will and now its a waiting game.

 

[ge0kas]

Just wondering.. is it possible to build sort of tubes that could hold the drone to the surface? Like the GoPro ones..

 

[Hexagon]

sorry for your loss. I also fly above sea, half of my flights at least and at some cases very far away. There are a few people here who can help you with the logs. It seems like a loose battery since it is not new, but you never know.

 

[CrownSeven]

I lost my Mavic into the ocean as well. It was a little windy but only about 12mph. What happened was I set my home point, flew up about 30 ft and out over the ocean but very close to shore. I was in Maui and wanted a quick video of the shoreline. About 1 min 52 sec into flight, just after I turned the drone around to head back home, it started drifting up and away to sea. The Mavic didn't respond to any commands EXCEPT for the gimbal. I was able to move the camera around in an effort to find my location on the shore. I had 75% battery left when the drone flew away. I tried RTH but it didn't respond at all. It only kept flying farther out to sea. At one point, it moved (against the wind) about 1-1 1/2 miles south over land and just as i moved the camera downward to make sure I wasn't over a cliff so I could land it...it took off to sea again. I tried both RTH and manual controls several times but nothing was working. I finally got a message that I only had enough battery life left to get home but still...the RTH function did not work. It finally lost all connections which was obviously the Mavic crashing into the ocean with no battery life left.
I uploaded all of the flight logs to DJI where I bought it from. They reviewed it, said they don't know why RTH did not work. They then promptly said there was no malfunction so they will not cover my loss. Really? They admit they don't know why RTH didn't work but they absolved themselves of any malfunctions? Has anyone else ever had this type of response from DJI?
I am asking them to look into it further. They say they will and now its a waiting game.

Disclaimer: I'm a complete newb and its very possible that I have no idea what I'm talking about here, but is it possible that your take off point was near concrete or metal throwing off your compass? I read about a scenario where this happened (can't recall if it was here or on dji's forums), and in that case it inverted the compass so that when RTH was initiated it was flying away from the RTH point?

 

[pics4u]

Disclaimer: I'm a complete newb and its very possible that I have no idea what I'm talking about here, but is it possible that your take off point was near concrete or metal throwing off your compass? I read about a scenario where this happened (can't recall if it was here or on dji's forums), and in that case it inverted the compass so that when RTH was initiated it was flying away from the RTH point?

I agree with the concrete and metal causing compass problems. A few weeks ago I launched off the leather tonneau cover over the bed of my pickup truck. Mavic took off and went crazy in the wrong direction until it met with an immovable object. Moral of the story is stay away from anything that may have metal in it. I was lucky all I lost was a couple of props

 

[CrownSeven]

Yeah on the post I read a video was included explaining on how to identify the issue before take off. The poster said that prior to take off, if the heading indicator is not pointing in the same direction your mavic is facing prior to take off, thats a good sign your take off point is messing with the internal compass.

That may not be what happened here, but its definitely something I'll be adding to my pre flight check list.

 

[mcDRONIN]

Lol