Air 3S drifting from take-off

carlovian38 · Jan 31, 2026

Hi all, I bought an air 3s 15 months ago. I love it but I've had an issue with it on two occasions and im just checking has anyone had the same issue as me. The issue ive had is that when I take off the drone has drifted to the right, not responded to the controls and hit a tree or a pole. On both occasions I replaced the blades and the drone performed as per afterwards. Im now extremely nervous about using the drone over these occurrences. The second occasions this happened it was near an very high river that i was wishing to get footage of. The drone drifted right and if it had drifted to the left it would have been in the river. I have care protect cover and I returned the drone to dji after the first incident and they said they couldn't see any issue in the flight log. Is this just part of the life of having a drone or is this something that warrants my concerns? Thanks for any advice/help

FLDave · Jan 31, 2026

What about the flight data from the flight log? Details matter. How far did it drift to the right? What were the wind conditions? When did it achieve best GPS connections?

MS Coast · Jan 31, 2026

I'm assuming you had a good GPS fix and a home point had been established before takeoff.

Before takeoff, did you confirm that the compass heading shown on the screen agreed with the actual direction the drone was pointed? If the drone is started in the presence of ferrous metal or a magnetic field, it's possible for the compass to be biased. Then, on takeoff, the drone will do something similar to what you described.

carlovian38 · Jan 31, 2026

FLDave said:
What about the flight data from the flight log? Details matter. How far did it drift to the right? What were the wind conditions? When did it achieve best GPS connections?

Thanks for the reply. The area was very open with a tree line to the right of the drone. Wind was minimal, if any. I waited and the gps changed from waiting for gps signal to safe to fly. I waited 5 seconds or so afterwards that to make sure and I raised the drone avout 1m and it instantly started drifting. I tried using the controls to come back towards me, go down or turn it and it just kept leaning to the right.. it drifted about 5m until it hit a tree. I replaced the blades and it just hovered at 1m with zero issues from the exact same take off location

carlovian38 · Jan 31, 2026

MS Coast said:
I'm assuming you had a good GPS fix and a home point had been established before takeoff.

Before takeoff, did you confirm that the compass heading shown on the screen agreed with the actual direction the drone was pointed? If the drone is started in the presence of ferrous metal or a magnetic field, it's possible for the compass to be biased. Then, on takeoff, the drone will do something similar to what you described.

I didnt check the compass before take off. I will do this in future, but it had good gps yes.

MS Coast · Jan 31, 2026

carlovian38 said:
I didnt check the compass before take off. I will do this in future, but it had good gps yes.

It's highly likely compass bias was your problem. I've had issues starting the drone in certain places on the patio, which has embedded rebar. I've avoided the issue there by holding the drone at waist level while starting it. But I conscientiously verify the compass accuracy for every flight, regardless of whether any ferrous metals or magnetic fields are likely to be present.

You might post your flight log if you want more information. There are some very skilled folks on the forum who are very generous with their time in diagnosing flight issues.

BossBob · Sunday at 3:14 AM

The data is really the only way you are going to find out what caused these accidents. Then you’ll know if the fault is with the drone or your operation of it.

Cafguy · Sunday at 8:26 AM

carlovian38 said:
I replaced the blades and it just hovered at 1m with zero issues from the exact same take off location

Perhaps the props you were using were Damaged or out of balance ...It Happens from time to time with DJI Drones.
You could also have done the IMU calibration incorrectly...Try it again.

msinger · Sunday at 9:14 AM

@carlovian38 please upload your TXT flight log here and share the link so we can review the flight data.

Dbez1 · Sunday at 10:17 AM

In your initial post, you asked “Is this just part of the life of having a drone or is this something that warrants my concerns?”. You have received some very good feedback above and I’ll answer this question with a simple NO. This shouldn’t happen unless one of the above scenarios is present. If you were near people or animals, something very bad could have happened. I urge you to post your flight log. Best wishes!

FLDave · Sunday at 10:40 AM

carlovian38 said:
Hi all, I bought an air 3s 15 months ago. I love it but I've had an issue with it on two occasions and im just checking has anyone had the same issue as me. The issue ive had is that when I take off the drone has drifted to the right, not responded to the controls and hit a tree or a pole. On both occasions I replaced the blades and the drone performed as per afterwards. Im now extremely nervous about using the drone over these occurrences. The second occasions this happened it was near an very high river that i was wishing to get footage of. The drone drifted right and if it had drifted to the left it would have been in the river. I have care protect cover and I returned the drone to dji after the first incident and they said they couldn't see any issue in the flight log. Is this just part of the life of having a drone or is this something that warrants my concerns? Thanks for any advice/help

Is this normal? No. Does sit warrant concern? Absolutely.
It is the pilot's responsibility to understand aircraft operation and to fly in a safe manner. You need to be evaluating all flight and especially those that don't go right. This means evaluating the flight detail in the flight log; it's your first place to look for details.

YVRGUY · Sunday at 10:52 AM

carlovian38 said:
Hi all, I bought an air 3s 15 months ago. I love it but I've had an issue with it on two occasions and im just checking has anyone had the same issue as me. The issue ive had is that when I take off the drone has drifted to the right, not responded to the controls and hit a tree or a pole. On both occasions I replaced the blades and the drone performed as per afterwards. Im now extremely nervous about using the drone over these occurrences. The second occasions this happened it was near a very high river that i was wishing to get footage of. The drone drifted right and if it had drifted to the left it would have been in the river. I have care protect cover and I returned the drone to dji after the first incident and they said they couldn't see any issue in the flight log. Is this just part of the life of having a drone or is this something that warrants my concerns? Thanks for any advice/help

Is it possible you have a touchy controller? Try another controller.

msinger · Sunday at 11:05 AM

@YVRGUY there are quite a few possibilities here. The flight data will likely show what happened and should be the easiest way to track down the cause with minimal troubleshooting.

Nexus Dragoon · Sunday at 1:57 PM

carlovian38 said:
Hi all, I bought an air 3s 15 months ago. I love it but I've had an issue with it on two occasions and im just checking has anyone had the same issue as me. The issue ive had is that when I take off the drone has drifted to the right, not responded to the controls and hit a tree or a pole. On both occasions I replaced the blades and the drone performed as per afterwards. Im now extremely nervous about using the drone over these occurrences. The second occasions this happened it was near an very high river that i was wishing to get footage of. The drone drifted right and if it had drifted to the left it would have been in the river. I have care protect cover and I returned the drone to dji after the first incident and they said they couldn't see any issue in the flight log. Is this just part of the life of having a drone or is this something that warrants my concerns? Thanks for any advice/help

I'm off to bed because it's a late where I am but I can take a look at your logs for you they will tell me if the problem is the control or the drone but there is a possibility it's neither and it could be your batteries if you're having a cell deviation the flight controller will prioritize stability over control this is the drones attempt to stop it dropping out of the sky on you you were usually able to command it to return home during this i had deviation in two out of the three batteries I got with the drone and it caused a similar issue these are detectable in the logs keep note of when it happened last because I will need the log for that particular flight

Nexus Dragoon · Sunday at 1:59 PM

Nexus Dragoon said:
I'm off to bed because it's a late where I am but I can take a look at your logs for you they will tell me if the problem is the control or the drone but there is a possibility it's neither and it could be your batteries if you're having a cell deviation the flight controller will prioritize stability over control this is the drones attempt to stop it dropping out of the sky on you you were usually able to command it to return home during this i had deviation in two out of the three batteries I got with the drone and it caused a similar issue these are detectable in the logs keep note of when it happened last because I will need the log for that particular flight

I'm off to bed because it's a late where I am but I can take a look at your logs for you they will tell me if the problem is the control or the drone but there is a possibility it's neither and it could be your batteries if you're having a cell deviation the flight controller will prioritize stability over control this is the drones attempt to stop it dropping out of the sky on you you were usually able to command it to return home during this i had deviation in two out of the three batteries I got with the drone and it caused a similar issue these are detectable in the logs keep note of when it happened last because I will need the log for that particular flight i will check this thread tomorrow before work and if you're still in need i will take a look at your logs for you flight logs have so much data in them it's conceivable that DJI didn't even notice the issue

Mrktn · Sunday at 2:05 PM

Nexus Dragoon said:
I'm off to bed because it's a late where I am but I can take a look at your logs for you they will tell me if the problem is the control or the drone but there is a possibility it's neither and it could be your batteries if you're having a cell deviation the flight controller will prioritize stability over control this is the drones attempt to stop it dropping out of the sky on you you were usually able to command it to return home during this i had deviation in two out of the three batteries I got with the drone and it caused a similar issue these are detectable in the logs keep note of when it happened last because I will need the log for that particular flight i will check this thread tomorrow before work and if you're still in need i will take a look at your logs for you flight logs have so much data in them it's conceivable that DJI didn't even notice the issue

There’s some guys on here who are expert and helpful at analysing flight data. They should be able to give an explanation if you post your logs etc. on here

Nexus Dragoon · Sunday at 11:29 PM

Mrktn said:
There’s some guys on here who are expert and helpful at analysing flight data. They should be able to give an explanation if you post your logs etc. on here

I don't need any logs explained and I suspect I know what the problem is with this drone and it would take a couple of minutes to confirm or deny it and I'm really not surprised that DJI didn't find the problem because I had to show them where the problem was on mine I actually doubt the most people would even pick up on it and the thing is if the issue isn't addressed it will actually damage the flight controller and power management systems on the drone Op free to do whatever they want with their logs if they don't need my help I won't hear back from them it honestly doesn't bother me either way i just saw the post while I was heading to bed and left a reply in case you guys still couldn't find an issue

YVRGUY · Monday at 11:15 AM

msinger said:
@YVRGUY there are quite a few possibilities here. The flight data will likely show what happened and should be the easiest way to track down the cause with minimal troubleshooting.

It’s only drifting right from take off. Not being able to calibrate your controller while in flight makes sense, but, swapping controllers in my opinion would eliminate my idea. There is what we call “drift” with faulty controllers…the spring on the port /starboard toggle could be that tiny bit weaker. These controllers are sensitive to very fine movements with very little pressure.

BossBob · Monday at 12:25 PM

The OP may not have access to another controller to try.
Anyway, he was only on the forum for about 30 minutes, never to be seen again, so not really interested in finding out the real reason his drone was drifting to the right!

msinger · Monday at 12:37 PM

YVRGUY said:
swapping controllers in my opinion would eliminate my idea. There is what we call “drift” with faulty controllers…the spring on the port /starboard toggle could be that tiny bit weaker. These controllers are sensitive to very fine movements with very little pressure.

That's not an issue I've commonly seen with DJI remote controllers, but it's certainly possible. The flight data should clearly show whether that was happening.