Mini 4 Pro Almost Crashed My DJI Mini 4 Pro in Sport Mode - But Got Stunning Lake Champlain Footage!

trisen1981 · 2025-09-01T23:38:48-0400

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share a little behind-the-scenes moment from my recent shoot at La Motte Passage on the New York / Vermont / Canada border. While flying my DJI Mini 4 Pro in Sport Mode (with obstacle sensors off), I got a bit too close to a tree and almost ended the flight early with a crash

.

Luckily, I managed to save it - and the footage turned out incredible. I put together a full cinematic aerial edit of the area, paired with an original Suno soundtrack created just for this video.

Here’s the finished cinematic video:

And for those curious, here’s the near-crash clip I mentioned:

Location: La Motte Passage - Lake Champlain Region

Drone: DJI Mini 4 Pro

At the end of the day, we pilots are always taking some level of risk every time we fly - pushing limits and trusting our skills - all in the pursuit of capturing that one breathtaking shot. This one definitely gave me a reminder of that.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Fly safe.

mavic3usa · 2025-09-01T23:54:03-0400

I really really enjoyed that; nice video!

Bad Santa · 2025-09-02T01:46:06-0400

Great video.

And, yeah, you got very lucky with that tree. That might have been costly.

Rohn · 2025-09-02T08:13:15-0400

WOW..... Close Call.

MAVE (Little bird) · 2025-09-02T09:27:31-0400

trisen1981 said:
Hey everyone,

I wanted to share a little behind-the-scenes moment from my recent shoot at La Motte Passage on the New York / Vermont / Canada border. While flying my DJI Mini 4 Pro in Sport Mode (with obstacle sensors off), I got a bit too close to a tree and almost ended the flight early with a crash .

Luckily, I managed to save it - and the footage turned out incredible. I put together a full cinematic aerial edit of the area, paired with an original Suno soundtrack created just for this video.

Here’s the finished cinematic video:

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And for those curious, here’s the near-crash clip I mentioned:

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For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Location: La Motte Passage - Lake Champlain Region
Drone: DJI Mini 4 Pro

At the end of the day, we pilots are always taking some level of risk every time we fly - pushing limits and trusting our skills - all in the pursuit of capturing that one breathtaking shot. This one definitely gave me a reminder of that.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

Fly safe.

Nice save, you're a lucky guy.

GFields · 2025-09-02T11:46:29-0400

Awesome!

Rotorfreak · 2025-09-02T12:37:57-0400

Wow........that brings back alot of memories. I'm Cdn, living in Mtl and know the Champlain Islands very well. I had to check out your videos when I saw Isle La Motte in the title. Good stuff, thanks for sharing. You are very lucky the drone missed hitting any branches. Whew!!