Mavic Mini Crashed into the Fjord

[ALan_m10]

Hi Guys,

Seems I'm not the only one who has had this happen to them! Basically, I had my drone up over a nice harbor area here in Oslo and I wanted to get some video footage flying in towards the shore. All was well for a few minutes, I received a high wind warning so I descended but started to notice the drone drifting out to the harbor.

This seems to be where everything went wrong. The RC lost connection, I had skippy footage on my controller and everything I seemed to do would not resolve the problem. My drone started to descend and a RTH sequence was initiated, however I was powerless to stop the drone plunging into the water.

I am a new pilot and so I'm unsure if it was a mistake or negligence on my part. I have uploaded the flight logs here, there seems to be two logs for some reason, one for the flight right up until a few seconds before the drone hit the water, and another for a few seconds just before it went down.

DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com (Main Flight)

DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com (Just before crash)

Can you guys have a look at the logs and tell me if I should contact DJI or just suck it up and buy a new drone?

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Meta4]

Can you guys have a look at the logs and tell me if I should contact DJI or just suck it up and buy a new drone?

Your flight went well until 4:03.8 when you descended from 61 metres.
At 4:11.4 (53 metres) you returned the left stick to the centre position but the Mini continued to descend to 38 metres at 4:21 and then started to climb withthe right stick still in the centre position.
It climbed to 51 metres at 4:32.1 before you pulled the left stick down and started the drone descending and brought it down to 31 metres but the descending continued after you centred the left stick.
The Mini regained altitude holding again at 4:52.8 but started descending again at 5:42, briefly recovered and started sinking again shortly after.
This is just another case of the Mini making an uncommanded descent.

A drone that cannot maintain altitude is not safe to fly.
DJI have ignored hundreds of similar cases and still not fixed this serious problem.

They should replace your Mavic under warranty if they see the data (but whether you want to risk flying one of these again is another question).

 

[ALan_m10]

Your flight went well until 4:03.8 when you descended from 61 metres.
At 4:11.4 (53 metres) you returned the left stick to the centre position but the Mini continued to descend to 38 metres at 4:21 and then started to climb withthe right stick still in the centre position.
It climbed to 51 metres at 4:32.1 before you pulled the left stick down and started the drone descending and brought it down to 31 metres but the descending continued after you centred the left stick.
The Mini regained altitude holding again at 4:52.8 but started descending again at 5:42, briefly recovered and started sinking again shortly after.
This is just another case of the Mini making an uncommanded descent.

A drone that cannot maintain altitude is not safe to fly.
DJI have ignored hundreds of similar cases and still not fixed this serious problem.

They should replace your Mavic under warranty if they see the data (but whether you want to risk flying one of these again is another question).

Hi!

Thanks for looking into this for me, it's a huge help for me to understand what actually happened. Unfortunately as a student and amateur photographer I can't afford one of the more expensive drones and I was in love with the Mavic Mini to this point.

How can I go about claiming the warranty?

 

[Meta4]

How can I go about claiming the warranty?

The easiest way is to first synch your flight data to DJI's server.
Then find DJI's online help and start a chat with one of their people who will take it from there.

Good luck dealing with them.

 

[Dakarenduro]

Wow. So many threads about this software/hardware problem. Is it just me or is it mainly when over water?

Sorry for your crash/loss. That sucks. If I were in the market for a drone in that price range, I would be looking at a used Mavic Air or Mavic Pro. Both of those units are much more reliable and proven.

 

[ALan_m10]

Wow. So many threads about this software/hardware problem. Is it just me or is it mainly when over water?

Sorry for your crash/loss. That sucks. If I were in the market for a drone in that price range, I would be looking at a used Mavic Air or Mavic Pro. Both of those units are much more reliable and proven.

I suspect there is more instances of it over water as it is not recoverable. If this happened over land at least I would have a chance to find it. There is a chance that the glare on the water confused the optical sensor but I was not low enough for that to be the case I don't think!

The main reason I went for the air was to use it as a travel drone. I will be going travelling on a budget with a backpack soon and I don't have much space!

 

[Dakarenduro]

Understood. The Mavic Air is still pretty small and packable. Yes, its larger than the Mini, but with that you have much better wind resistance as well as optical avoidance sensors which the Mini does not have. Downside is the shorter battery life. It is a toss up, but in my opinion the reliability factor is a no brainer.

 

[ALan_m10]

Yeah another deciding factor for me is the weight. As I'll be travelling through many many countries in a short space of time I didn't want to have to worry about permits everywhere I go as a hobbyist!

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

There is a chance that the glare on the water confused the optical sensor but I was not low enough for that to be the case I don't think!

Not in your case though, and if it was that would not be deemed an aircraft fault by DJI.
You should get a new Mini body and battery under warranty, just start that process and they should see the uncommanded descent.

 

[ALan_m10]

You should get a new Mini body and battery under warranty, just start that process and they should see the uncommanded descent.

I was in touch with them this morning, I need my RC S/N to fill out the claim so I will do that after work and hope for the best! Thanks for the help guys!

 

[umanbean]

The main reason I went for the air was to use it as a travel drone.

Not that it makes any difference, but I'm confused. Your thread title says Mini?

 

[ALan_m10]

Not that it makes any difference, but I'm confused. Your thread title says Mini?

Sorry, it was a long day! I meant the Mini!

 

[umanbean]

Sorry, it was a long day! I meant the Mini!

Unfortunately, with the mini, there are many incidents that end like yours.

I'm very sorry for your loss and hope DJI will make it right! From the analysis by Meta4 it certainly sounds like it was no fault of yours. Hopefully you can get a replacement before your trip.

Good luck

 

[ALan_m10]

Hi All,

Just wanted to update you all on the status of this case. I contacted DJI on Thursday the 23rd of April and received confirmation that they would review my case as a flyaway the following day.

This morning, at approximately 5:00 CET DJI contacted me to say that they had analysed the data and had concluded that it would be covered under warranty and they would ship me out a new aircraft.

Just want to thank you all for the help, especially @Meta4 for the analysis that I was able to put in front of them straight away!

Hopefully the replacement doesn't have a similar issue!

Many thanks again!