ATTENTION ALL PILOTS! Mavic Mini falls from sky into the water! LOG READER NEEDED!

[LoweLilliehorn]

Hi there!
Today, me and my father went to our beach here in Onsala, Gothenburg (Sweden).
We started off starting the motors with pushing the two sticks in to the middle. Everything went as it should. We did check the wind "meter" before taking off, and it was around 2.6 m/s. No problem.
After a while when we drove our drone, the drone fell from the sky into a tree and 0,0000001 cm from a big stone. We wondered for ourselves, "wtf". How? We changed the battery, calibrated all the settings and started to lift off once again. This time, no problem.... yet.
We started to lift up to 17m and we got a message saying that the drones maximum capacity was reached. I was in sport mode, yes. Then, after a couple of seconds the message disappeared and we continued to fly. We flew over the water as you can see in the footage below. Suddenly, when we started to drive home again, the drone started to fly backwards and down to the water. Quick. I started to panic and pressed the RTH. It lifted again. Then, the drone didn't respond to my commands from the controller and down it goes to the sea. At that time, the drone crashed to the water and the drone crashed. We were unable to do anything. The drone is now on the bottom of the sea.

Now, what do we do next?
I got the flight log , but I can't read it. Maybe some of you can? Is it possible to get a refund? We bought it in November 2019.

What should we do?

We need every help we can get!

Lowe Lilliehorn

 

[Lastrexking]

Hi. When you posted this earlier you attached the .dat file. It would probably help to attach it again to this post.

 

[Thomas B]

Recommend only one post for the best analysis and lack of confusion.

 

[LoweLilliehorn]

Recommend only one post for the best analysis and lack of confusion.

Yes, I am sorry about that! Although, my other post got removed for some reason... weird..

 

[Fly Dawg]

before taking off, and it was around 2.6 m/s. No problem.

Once you took off it was a problem. The aircraft could not handle the wind for RTH, first off. The max wind that the mini can handle is 8m/s.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Sad to watch the video, total lack of control would be very disheartening.
Post up txt / dat files you have from the flight, it may be an aircraft / systems fault and DJI may replace the aircraft and battery.
Did you stay in sports mode after your first warning ?
It seems a problem for the mini to ‘keep up’ under pressure like sports mode and fighting wind.
Your flight looked like perfect conditions so hard to accept this sort of thing can happen to your new machine.

 

[LoweLilliehorn]

Sad to watch the video, total lack of control would be very disheartening.
Post up txt / dat files you have from the flight, it may be an aircraft / systems fault and DJI may replace the aircraft and battery.
Did you stay in sports mode after your first warning ?
It seems a problem for the mini to ‘keep up’ under pressure like sports mode and fighting wind.
Your flight looked like perfect conditions so hard to accept this sort of thing can happen to your new machine.

Hello! Yes, I totally agree w/ you. My aircraft is unfortunately on the bottom the sea right now, and I can't find it.
Although, I really can't understand why the drone flew away. The wind was around 3 m/s. Thank you!

 

[LoweLilliehorn]

Once you took off it was a problem. The aircraft could not handle the wind for RTH, first off. The max wind that the mini can handle is 8m/s.
View attachment 91321

View attachment 91322

Well.. That is not true. The wind was at 3 m/s, but as with every sea, there is some gust here and there... Also, whatever I did, the drone didn't seem to get those signals either.

 

[Fly Dawg]

@LoweLilliehorn You can see from the plot below how the aircraft was struggling and moving backwards at times during the flight. Especially so during the 3 instances of RTH. This does not directly present an answer for you regarding the sudden altitude drop.

 

[LoweLilliehorn]

@LoweLilliehorn You can see from the plot below how the aircraft was struggling and moving backwards at times during the flight. Especially so during the 3 instances of RTH. This does not directly present an answer for you regarding the sudden altitude drop.

View attachment 91324

Thank you so much! I don't really know why it did what it did. I mean, the wind conditions was pretty ok in my regards. 3 m/s is really not that much, I mean, look at the flag in the clip. Do you have an idea why it did what it did? Why did it struggle? Why did it move backwards? Why was it unable to take actions, even if I continued to control the drone? I mean, I can see on PhantomHelp.com that whatever I did, the drone didn't seem to pickup those stick/joystick movements I "sent" out....

 

[m80116]

I do believe your Mini succumbed to high winds. You've got many ESC notices once the battery started going below 50%, considering the temperature and the windy conditions you should have brought down your Mini earlier. I am wondering why you didn't get notified about strong winds.

The poor Mini fought all it could but there seem to be a rapid of wind just outside the catwalk that caught your Mini and dragged it down, you can notice the creases in the water at T6:12, before that point the water is calmer, after is creased but not as much, that seems to coincide with the position where the video transmission from the MM ends.

 

[LoweLilliehorn]

I do believe your Mini succumbed to high winds. You've got many ESC notices once the battery started going below 50%, considering the temperature and the windy conditions you should have brought down your Mini earlier. I am wondering why you didn't get notified about strong winds.

The poor Mini fought all it could but there seem to be a rapid of wind just outside the catwalk that caught your Mini and dragged it down, you can notice the creases in the water at T6:12, before that point the water is calmer, after is creased but not as much, that seems to coincide with the position where the video transmission from the MM ends.

Aight.. I actually Didnt get Any warning about the wind what I can remember.. what is more weird is that the drone didnt respond to my joystick movements.

 

[Prismatic]

Hi there!
Today, me and my father went to our beach here in Onsala, Gothenburg (Sweden).
We started off starting the motors with pushing the two sticks in to the middle. Everything went as it should. We did check the wind "meter" before taking off, and it was around 2.6 m/s. No problem.
After a while when we drove our drone, the drone fell from the sky into a tree and 0,0000001 cm from a big stone. We wondered for ourselves, "wtf". How? We changed the battery, calibrated all the settings and started to lift off once again. This time, no problem.... yet.
We started to lift up to 17m and we got a message saying that the drones maximum capacity was reached. I was in sport mode, yes. Then, after a couple of seconds the message disappeared and we continued to fly. We flew over the water as you can see in the footage below. Suddenly, when we started to drive home again, the drone started to fly backwards and down to the water. Quick. I started to panic and pressed the RTH. It lifted again. Then, the drone didn't respond to my commands from the controller and down it goes to the sea. At that time, the drone crashed to the water and the drone crashed. We were unable to do anything. The drone is now on the bottom of the sea.

Now, what do we do next?
I got the flight log , but I can't read it. Maybe some of you can? Is it possible to get a refund? We bought it in November 2019.

What should we do?

We need every help we can get! ...

Lowe Lilliehorn

@sar104

 

[Antaire]

I’m no expert but looking at the footage I can’t see anything that would indicate winds.It’s look quite a calm day.

 

[sar104]

@sar104

On it, as Siri likes to say.

 

[LoweLilliehorn]

On it, as Siri likes to say.

Thank you!

 

[sar104]

This is another case of the Mini failing to achieve specified tilt. At the end of the flight it did not consistently even manage 10° tilt, when the specification is 20° for a wind resistance of 8 m/s.





While that led to multiple wind warnings (see below), those are moot if the aircraft can't reach 10° tilt. I suspect that the DAT file (FLY062.DAT) will show that one of the rear motors was maxed out at 8°. Worth a look if you can retrieve it:

Flight log retrieval and analysis guide

0.0 0.0 IN FLIGHT0
0.0 0.2 6.2 0HOMEPOINT UPDATED. RTH ALTITUDE ADJUSTED TO 39 M!^RZ
9.2 39.2 XSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME (CODE: 30149)
39.2 STRONG WIND WARNING
39.2 JSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME!
47.2 47.2 IN FLIGHT0
47.2 107.8 AIRCRAFT MAX POWER LOAD REACHED. DECREASE ALTITUDE AND FLY WITH CAUTION. IF THIS ISSUE PERSISTS, LAND IMMEDIATELY (CODE: 30168)
107.8 (MAX POWER LOAD REACHED. FLY WITH CAUTION
118.2 118.2 JSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME!LC)
122.3 XSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME (CODE: 30149)
125.2 125.2 IN FLIGHT0
125.2 153.2 XSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME (CODE: 30149)
153.2 STRONG WIND WARNING
153.2 JSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME!C
157.3 163.2 AIRCRAFT MAX POWER LOAD REACHED. DECREASE ALTITUDE AND FLY WITH CAUTION. IF THIS ISSUE PERSISTS, LAND IMMEDIATELY (CODE: 30168)
163.2 (MAX POWER LOAD REACHED. FLY WITH CAUTION
163.2 163.5 163.5 IN FLIGHT0
207.2 XSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME (CODE: 30149)
207.2 STRONG WIND WARNING
207.2 JSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME!-
225.2 225.2 IN FLIGHT0
225.2 239.2 XSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME (CODE: 30149)
239.2 STRONG WIND WARNING
239.2 JSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME!
302.2 302.2 IN FLIGHT0
302.2 406.2 XSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME (CODE: 30149)
406.2 STRONG WIND WARNING
406.2 JSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME!R
439.2 439.2 IN FLIGHT0
439.2 454.6 AIRCRAFT MAX POWER LOAD REACHED. DECREASE ALTITUDE AND FLY WITH CAUTION. IF THIS ISSUE PERSISTS, LAND IMMEDIATELY (CODE: 30168)
454.6 (MAX POWER LOAD REACHED. FLY WITH CAUTION
475.1 475.1 IN FLIGHT0
538.2 XSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME (CODE: 30149)
538.2 STRONG WIND WARNING
538.2 JSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME!
545.4 546.2 AIRCRAFT MAX POWER LOAD REACHED. DECREASE ALTITUDE AND FLY WITH CAUTION. IF THIS ISSUE PERSISTS, LAND IMMEDIATELY (CODE: 30168)
546.2 (MAX POWER LOAD REACHED. FLY WITH CAUTION
546.2 564.2 564.2 JSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME!

 

[new2mavic]

There were so many strong-wind warning messages in the log. Wondering if the OP has seen any on the DJI FLY app ?

 

[LoweLilliehorn]

This is another case of the Mini failing to achieve specified tilt. At the end of the flight it did not consistently even manage 10° tilt, when the specification is 20° for a wind resistance of 8 m/s.

View attachment 91398

View attachment 91399

While that led to multiple wind warnings (see below), those are moot if the aircraft can't reach 10° tilt. I suspect that the DAT file (FLY062.DAT) will show that one of the rear motors was maxed out at 8°. Worth a look if you can retrieve it:

Flight log retrieval and analysis guide

0.0 0.0 IN FLIGHT0
0.0 0.2 6.2 0HOMEPOINT UPDATED. RTH ALTITUDE ADJUSTED TO 39 M!^RZ
9.2 39.2 XSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME (CODE: 30149)
39.2 STRONG WIND WARNING
39.2 JSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME!
47.2 47.2 IN FLIGHT0
47.2 107.8 AIRCRAFT MAX POWER LOAD REACHED. DECREASE ALTITUDE AND FLY WITH CAUTION. IF THIS ISSUE PERSISTS, LAND IMMEDIATELY (CODE: 30168)
107.8 (MAX POWER LOAD REACHED. FLY WITH CAUTION
118.2 118.2 JSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME!LC)
122.3 XSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME (CODE: 30149)
125.2 125.2 IN FLIGHT0
125.2 153.2 XSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME (CODE: 30149)
153.2 STRONG WIND WARNING
153.2 JSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME!C
157.3 163.2 AIRCRAFT MAX POWER LOAD REACHED. DECREASE ALTITUDE AND FLY WITH CAUTION. IF THIS ISSUE PERSISTS, LAND IMMEDIATELY (CODE: 30168)
163.2 (MAX POWER LOAD REACHED. FLY WITH CAUTION
163.2 163.5 163.5 IN FLIGHT0
207.2 XSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME (CODE: 30149)
207.2 STRONG WIND WARNING
207.2 JSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME!-
225.2 225.2 IN FLIGHT0
225.2 239.2 XSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME (CODE: 30149)
239.2 STRONG WIND WARNING
239.2 JSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME!
302.2 302.2 IN FLIGHT0
302.2 406.2 XSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME (CODE: 30149)
406.2 STRONG WIND WARNING
406.2 JSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME!R
439.2 439.2 IN FLIGHT0
439.2 454.6 AIRCRAFT MAX POWER LOAD REACHED. DECREASE ALTITUDE AND FLY WITH CAUTION. IF THIS ISSUE PERSISTS, LAND IMMEDIATELY (CODE: 30168)
454.6 (MAX POWER LOAD REACHED. FLY WITH CAUTION
475.1 475.1 IN FLIGHT0
538.2 XSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME (CODE: 30149)
538.2 STRONG WIND WARNING
538.2 JSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME!
545.4 546.2 AIRCRAFT MAX POWER LOAD REACHED. DECREASE ALTITUDE AND FLY WITH CAUTION. IF THIS ISSUE PERSISTS, LAND IMMEDIATELY (CODE: 30168)
546.2 (MAX POWER LOAD REACHED. FLY WITH CAUTION
546.2 564.2 564.2 JSTRONG WIND WARNING. AIRCRAFT UNABLE TO FLY STABLY. LOWER ALTITUDE IMMEDIATELY AND MANUALLY RETURN TO HOME!

Ok. I understand. But I didn’t even get these warnings when flying..? Fifteen minutes earlier it fell from the sky, but inside my house

 

[LoweLilliehorn]

There were so many strong-wind warning messages in the log. Wondering if the OP has seen any on the DJI FLY app ?

No, we didn’t get them