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

[trisen1981]

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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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]

I really really enjoyed that; nice video!

 

[Bad Santa]

Great video.

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

 

[Rohn]

WOW..... Close Call.

 

[MAVE (Little bird)]

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:

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

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

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

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]

Awesome!

 

[Rotorfreak]

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!!

 

[Capt KO]

Pucker up. Liked the quick look back to see h t h you got through

 

[MavicFlyer2]

Nice video, I just wonder how you were able to keep that little thing in sight ?

 

[trisen1981]

Nice video, I just wonder how you were able to keep that little thing in sight ?

Well, if you're talking about keeping VLOS of mini 4 Pro - obviously you can't see this little guy if you're going further than like 200 meters. Which in most cases just not enough to shoot what is planned.

So, I'm just always keeping the drone in direct line of sight to see any manned aircraft.

From what I understand, VLOS is mostly about avoiding collisions with manned aircraft, like planes or helicopters - and those you can easily see in drone operational distance,

On the other hand, when I am flying my Mavic 3 Pro - that one I am always keepin in VLOS. But that one is twice as big and black in color and much simpler to keep VLOS at further distances.

That is the log of that particular flight you are interested.

 

[Bad Santa]

Whenever I fly my drone, I lose sight of it.
It's not difficult to do. It's off-white and the sky can be off-white (cloudy) and all of a sudden it disappears. Happens all the time.
That's why I finally bought one when I did. I wanted some way of knowing where it was when it disappeared into the sky. Also knowing which direction "home" was from the drone perspective. Without that I would have lost my drone a dozen times by now.

 

[trisen1981]

Whenever I fly my drone, I lose sight of it.
It's not difficult to do. It's off-white and the sky can be off-white (cloudy) and all of a sudden it disappears. Happens all the time.
That's why I finally bought one when I did. I wanted some way of knowing where it was when it disappeared into the sky. Also knowing which direction "home" was from the drone perspective. Without that I would have lost my drone a dozen times by now.

I am most of the time relying on the compass - if I lose orientation relative to the drone, to get an idea of where the drone is . In default mode I think it is relative to the controller (you can switch it to drone perspective centric as well) - so rotating the controller until the drone icon on the top of the radar - that means you are facing directly at the drone location

 

[Bad Santa]

I am most of the time relying on the compass - if I lose orientation relative to the drone, to get an idea of where the drone is . In default mode I think it is relative to the controller (you can switch it to drone perspective centric as well) - so rotating the controller until the drone icon on the top of the radar - that means you are facing directly at the drone location

I don't have an internal compass. Usually, when I'm flying, I have zero idea of which way North is.
I have a friend with an amazing internal compass. He could be in a winding cave and tell which way North is. It's bizarre.

 

[trisen1981]

I don't have an internal compass. Usually, when I'm flying, I have zero idea of which way North is.
I have a friend with an amazing internal compass. He could be in a winding cave and tell which way North is. It's bizarre.

Not sure what you mean by internal compas

I am talking about this dji fly app builtin radar : In this case it is controller centric. You always see there where is the drone, so just by rotating controller so that drone became at the top of the radar will be its location in front of you.

 

[diversions]

Stunning video.

And I admit that second video... had me puckering up in all the wrong places. Happy to see you keep it out of the trees!

*D

 

[MavicFlyer2]

From what I understand, VLOS is mostly about avoiding collisions with manned aircraft, like planes or helicopters - and those you can easily see in drone operational distance,

There are various reasons for the VLOS rule, you're correct about aircraft, but it's also about lost connection between the controller and drone, fly away etc....
It bring back memories of a guy my wife and I meet at the Grand Canyon this spring.
We pulled over in a overlook spot just in time to see him getting ready to fly his drone over the Canyon.
I rolled down the window and asked if he knew it was illegal to launch, fly and land a drone in a National Park ?
He told us yes buttttttt...wait wait here it comes....there's nobody around !!!!

This is how it starts, and how it does not help our lobbyists and drone communities that are trying to keep our hobby alive and well !
Justifying why we don't have to follow the rules isn't how we should represent ourselves to the public, IMO !

 

[trisen1981]

There are various reasons for the VLOS rule, you're correct about aircraft, but it's also about lost connection between the controller and drone, fly away etc....
It bring back memories of a guy my wife and I meet at the Grand Canyon this spring.
We pulled over in a overlook spot just in time to see him getting ready to fly his drone over the Canyon.
I rolled down the window and asked if he knew it was illegal to launch, fly and land a drone in a National Park ?
He told us yes buttttttt...wait wait here it comes....there's nobody around !!!!

This is how it starts, and how it does not help our lobbyists and drone communities that are trying to keep our hobby alive and well !
Justifying why we don't have to follow the rules isn't how we should represent ourselves to the public, IMO !

It’s definitely a broad topic, but here’s my perspective:


When it comes to link loss, whether at 200 meters (within VLOS) or 500 meters in direct line of sight, the likelihood of this happening with today’s transmission systems - assuming no interference and not flying in a dense urban environment - is very low. In most cases, a complete loss of connection would indicate a hardware failure. In such a scenario, VLOS doesn’t change the outcome, since you can’t control the drone either way. That’s precisely why we have Return to Home (RTH), which, if set correctly, provides a safety mechanism to prevent the drone from falling and potentially causing harm, regardless of whether it’s within VLOS or not.


As for National Parks, I fully respect those restrictions and personally do not fly where it is prohibited.


That said, I think there’s a larger discussion to be had about how these rules are structured. The main justification for banning drones in National Parks is that they disturb wildlife and visitors. I agree with that concern - but the same logic should also apply to low-altitude manned aircraft, which arguably cause much greater disruption. The key difference, of course, is scale: far more people are likely to bring drones into a park than manned aircraft. Still, this raises the question of whether a more adaptive framework could exist - such as allowing limited flights by certified drone pilots (for example, those holding at least a Basic Certificate in Canada), perhaps with daily caps and designated time windows.


I’ve personally tried to obtain permissions several times, but most applications were either ignored or denied outright.


For context, I once saw a video on Facebook of someone flying extensively over Niagara Falls - an area classified as Class F restricted airspace, with both heavy tourist presence and active helicopter traffic. That’s exactly the kind of place where strict enforcement makes sense. By comparison, some locations like the Grand Canyon could potentially be managed in a more balanced way.


In short, I do respect and follow current restrictions, but I believe the framework could evolve to be more flexible and pragmatic, rather than simply “allowed” or “forbidden.”

 

[Chrislaf]

Nice video!

The main point that I want to make is that the rules for sub 250g drones in the US and Canada vary significantly. Although, it is not a recommended practice you can fly your Mini 4 Pro BVLOS in Canada and higher than 122m (400ft) as long as you do not fly in a "…reckless or negligent manner as to endanger or be likely to endanger aviation safety or the safety of any person." (CAR 900.06)

Here is a good article that explains where and what you can do with a micro drone in Canada.

Chris

 

[trisen1981]

Nice video!

The main point that I want to make is that the rules for sub 250g drones in the US and Canada vary significantly. Although, it is not a recommended practice you can fly your Mini 4 Pro BVLOS in Canada and higher than 122m (400ft) as long as you do not fly in a "…reckless or negligent manner as to endanger or be likely to endanger aviation safety or the safety of any person." (CAR 900.06)

Here is a good article that explains where and what you can do with a micro drone in Canada.

Chris

Good article.

yes - In Canada, sub-250 drones generally fall under the ‘common sense’ or ` don't be stupid`rule.
However, as of April, an SFOC is now required for advertised event flights even with sub-250 drones, reflecting a tightening of the regulations.

In US - I passed that TRUST certificate test as well - but honestly not much rules there as well - mostly - common sense

 

[Letmefly]

Luck is nice to have!