Buyer Beware Never buy DJI again (Flyaway)

[Meta4]

Here is the txt file too. Thanks for the advice

You lost signal because you were only just above 100 ft and descended sdthrone the signal was blocked by the tree cover.
RTH should have brought the drone home after losing signal.
The battery level should have been sufficient to get home.
There are two common things that can cause a drone to fail to come home.
1. Wind too strong or the drone to fly home
2. Collision with an obstacle on the way home

When I look at your flight log at 2:10.4, I see the drone was at 76 ft but the VPS recorded tree tops 28 ft below the drone.
That indicates trees there were about 50 ft high.
This area is close to the RTH path.
How high were the trees a little further north and west?

You were descending at the time of signal loss.
The drone would have returned at very close to 100 ft.
If there are any trees on the RTH path 90+ ft high, they are where you should look to find your drone.

 

[Cyberpower678]

Not true.

It doesn't matter if you forget to check since it will never change in an update.
The only way that setting will change is i you change it.

Doing a FW update resets it to 30m.

 

[yann8301]

You lost signal because you were only just above 100 ft and descended sdthrone the signal was blocked by the tree cover.
RTH should have brought the drone home after losing signal.
The battery level should have been sufficient to get home.
There are two common things that can cause a drone to fail to come home.
1. Wind too strong or the drone to fly home
2. Collision with an obstacle on the way home

When I look at your flight log at 2:10.4, I see the drone was at 76 ft but the VPS recorded tree tops 28 ft below the drone.
That indicates trees there were about 50 ft high.
This area is close to the RTH path.
How high were the trees a little further north and west?

You were descending at the time of signal loss.
The drone would have returned at very close to 100 ft.
If there are any trees on the RTH path 90+ ft high, they are where you should look to find your drone.

The trees in the area are all around the same height. Nothing higher than 100 ft for sure. Does the txt file show it started to return home?

 

[Sniperfritz]

The drone is probably camping in a tree. Maybe use another drone to scout the area

 

[BossOlive]

Post your flight log here and let others examine it to determine the last known location and where it may have landed. You would be surprised to understand what these flight logs can uncover.

There have been similar instances in which a person has lost thier Mavic and recovered it by allowing other knowledgeable people on the forum to dissect and extrapolate data from thier flight logs. Just be aware that in the large majority of cases pilot error is determined.

You can find the process by following this link: DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload the .dat file to the forum.

Just wanted to post my experience with DJI with my Mavic Pro Flyaway issue... So Last Friday i decided i would fly my drone. I don't fry it as often as i should considering the money spent on it, but that besides the point. Right before i was going to flt it it had a firmware update that i needed to install. I didn't think anything of it since most times i take it out there is an update i need to install. Installed the update and went through the calibration and everything was good. Took off from a clearing so a home-point was sent and stated to fly around. Was about 100 ft in the air 2500 ft away from me with half battery when i lost connecting with the drone. Didn't think anything of it since they say if it loses connection it will just fly back to the home-point. Waited about 5 min and started to get worried so we hoped in the car to drive closer to get a better connection. We had no success. Then we walked to the point where it said my done was (thought the find my drone) and it was not anywhere to be found. We walked the entire field and could not find it anywhere. Went back the second day with another drone to try and locate it and we were still unsuccessful. Could not contact DJI customer service since they are close on the weekend so i contacted them first thing Monday and they just said the would not look into it since the drone was out of warranty. I get that is is out of warranty but if they really stood by there products they would have at least helped me out. The drone was basically brand new only flown about 15 times and the only time i lose connection with the drone it just disappears? and i just installed their firmware update and did the calibration. After this incident i would never buy DJI again and i would not recommend DJI drones to anyone.

Sounds like a battery issue. I got (lost connection to aircraft) a few days ago with my Spark and realized the battery fell out. Due to the mavic battery being on top maybe bad connection or sudden battery issue.
I’m really sorry to hear about your mavic.

 

[J-Dog]

The suspense is killing me

 

[Cyberpower678]

The trees in the area are all around the same height. Nothing higher than 100 ft for sure. Does the txt file show it started to return home?

It's very likely the drone RTH'd into a tree. Since you never regained signal, it's very likely it crashed early on. My best guess would be for you to search the trees and ground in the circled area below.

 

[Meta4]

The trees in the area are all around the same height. Nothing higher than 100 ft for sure. Does the txt file show it started to return home?

Since RTH was triggered by the loss of signal, there is nothing tin the log to show it and we just have to go by knowledge of the programmed behaviour of the drone.
Your flight data looks like this: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

There appear to be some trees on the RTH path (yellow line) that are higher than the average. (red arrows)
I would be looking along that line particularly any taller trees. Anything above 80 ft is suspect.

I don't see anything to suggest that the wind was a factor.

Not true.
Doing a FW update resets it to 30m.

Yes, it does .. but that's not what was suggested in post #17 where this was said:

One of them is what do u want aircraft to do if connection lost. I bet it reverted back to the Hover setting.

Sounds like a battery issue.

There's absolutely nothing to suggest that is the cause of the incident.
It's usually a good idea to look for evidence rather than making guesses.

 

[4wd]

Not true.

Doing a FW update resets it to 30m.

Correct answer.

 

[Milo187]

Don't blame DJI for pilot inexperience. By your own admission you don't fly enough and I can tell that 100' up and 2500' down range is likely to produce poor signal quality unless your over water or in the desert.

 

[basophil]

At 2500 ‘ distance and 100’ above take-off altitude, I doubt you could have had it visual. If you maintained line of sight, we might not be having this discussion.

 

[Cyberpower678]

At 2500 ‘ distance and 100’ above take-off altitude, I doubt you could have had it visual. If you maintained line of sight, we might not be having this discussion.

Or if you keep a TRACKIMO on it, searching for it would be easy.

 

[Vader869]

There is zero chance of that.
The default setting is RTH.
That never changes with an update.
I think it's most unlikely that the update had anything to do with the incident at all.

Incorrect.... Anyone who has experience with magic and firmware updates will tell you the settings go back to default most of the time.
I have magic 1 and 2 and mine had default settings after update.
Going by your reply it doesn't sound like you checked that returned to home setting.

 

[Starz]

What’s a “magic”?

 

[Meta4]

Incorrect.... Anyone who has experience with magic and firmware updates will tell you the settings go back to default most of the time.
I have magic 1 and 2 and mine had default settings after update.
Going by your reply it doesn't sound like you checked that returned to home setting.

Thanks for your opinion.
Despite what several have suggested here already, it's not correct though and I'm sticking by what I said.
The default action for Loss of Signal is RTH as it should be since that's the most appropriate action most of the time.
It is the default setting and it only ever changes if you change it.

All these suggestions about this are irrelevant though.
If somehow the setting reverted back to the default value, that is RTH - not what was suggested in post #17.

 

[FLPilotshark]

I have read everyone's comments on the terrible accident but at least no one got hurt, on a positive note. The drone can replace a person can't be! Don't feel bad I had put on in the Mavic Pro a few months ago in the ocean - live and learn and you move on as I did! I agree with Cyberpower678 unless someone shot it down as he said. Also, I agree with - Starz being 100-foot elevation from home point at 1/2 miles out may have been part of the issues but unfortunately will never know! If you don't mind me asking how long have you had your Mavic SUAS and how long have you been flying Dji products? I know you probably don't want to hear this but it seems like it was a pilot error mate! If you ever decided to buy another Dji Mavic make sure you get drone insurance from State Farm, so if things like this were to ever happen again, you're covered - you would just need to pay your deductible to get a new drone. I think just about every Drone MFG would have told you the same thing when your SuAS is out of warranty your SOL! I'm not sure if I would have labeled the subject buyers beware when you have no idea what exactly took place to the drone. Wish all the best on your next bird!!!!

 

[Cyberpower678]

Incorrect.... Anyone who has experience with magic and firmware updates will tell you the settings go back to default most of the time.
I have magic 1 and 2 and mine had default settings after update.
Going by your reply it doesn't sound like you checked that returned to home setting.

Let's clear some things up here. The defaults settings for loss of signal is RTH at 30m. A FW update will reset it to that. That is what @Meta4 is saying when another poster claimed a FW update resets it to Hover and to NOT RTH on loss of signal.

 

[madkaw]

Yann8301, Use Meta4 illustrations as guidance The time is now to look for your drone before the tree foliage begins.

 

[J-Dog]

Yann8301, Use Meta4 illustrations as guidance The time is now to look for your drone before the tree foliage begins.

Or before it rains? Pack a lunch and go hiking. Get dat bird!

 

[sgrinavi]

Best of luck finding your drone, I wouldn't let it sour me on DJI, I don't think they would have covered you even if your warranty was still in effect. For that matter I don't think any other drone company would cover that loss either.