Crash while Landing in RTH-Mode

[drdiggler111]

Problem?
On RTH the drone returned to home point, then started to descend from 870ft in Auto-landing, and suddenly began to move away from the landing position and crashed into nearby trees. There was a sligth wind, and the battery was at 17%. Air temperature 18°C. Can wind have that much effect, when battery is low?

Was unit in a crash?
Yes

What have you tried so far?
none

What device are you using ( iphone , ipad, Samsung , etc)?
iphone 7

What firmware are you running ( aircraft, remote controller)?

What Go app version are you using?
dji Go4

Any modification? (if so what)
no

Did you change anything or install any apps? (if so what)
no

Do you have a video or pictures of the problem? (if so post link)

 

[Meta4]

On RTH the drone returned to home point, then started to descend from 870ft in Auto-landing, and suddenly began to move away from the landing position and crashed into nearby trees. There was a slight wind, and the battery was at 17%. Air temperature 18°C. Can wind have that much effect, when battery is low?

That flight record ends at 13:59.5 with the Mavic still up at 525 ft, 2337 feet away and under your control (not in RTH).
DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com
But a gentle wind should have no effect on descent and as long as the drone is still flying battery level shouldn't be a factor.
If you have another flight record for the rest of the flight, that may help to explain what happened.

 

[drdiggler111]

If you have another flight record for the rest of the flight, that may help to explain what happened.

Where can I find another flight record?

 

[Meta4]

Where can I find another flight record?

In the same place that one came from.
That one was from October 8th.
Do you have more after that one?

 

[drdiggler111]

In the same place that one came from.
That one was from October 8th.
Do you have more after that one?

Unforunately it crashed into the top of some trees and is still broken. I am just wondering wether I should have the problem checked, when I send the drone in for repair

 

[Aww@Mavic]

The records requested are on your phone, tablet or whatever you used to connect to the RC to view camera etc. The go4 app wrote a record on your device so in the root you should have a DJI folder. The flight record is within one of the folders

 

[drdiggler111]

The records requested are on your phone, tablet or whatever you used to connect to the RC to view camera etc. The go4 app wrote a record on your device so in the root you should have a DJI folder. The flight record is within one of the folders

Thanks for your help, but there is no other data in the folder. The moment the data ends 8m 32.9s is the moment of the crash, and where I found the drone afterwards. The hight is due to the topography of the landscape, as it crashed up the mountain.

 

[Meta4]

Unforunately it crashed into the top of some trees and is still broken. I am just wondering wether I should have the problem checked, when I send the drone in for repair

Disregard my earlier post - it was wrong.
I was traveling and using the laptop and must have made a mistake..
Now that I look again, I'm seeing a different flight record.
Here's what it looks like:
DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

On RTH the drone returned to home point, then started to descend from 870ft in Auto-landing, and suddenly began to move away from the landing position and crashed into nearby trees.

Here's what's in the flight data.
Your drone returned to 870 feet above the home point and started to autoland at 7:30.7
At 7:55.9 when at 690 ft, the data shows the right joystick pulled full back until 8:26.9 (except for two brief times when it was centred)
This had the effect of sending the Mavic over 1000 ft from the home point while it was autolanding
At 8:27.6 the VPS started sensing trees (?) 20 ft below
And the crash occurred at 8:28.9 as shown by sudden big changes in the pitch, roll and yaw values.

Wind had no effect.
The cause was either:
You accidentally pulled the right stick backwards during the descent ... or
A controller malfunction that caused the joystick sensor to stick at full back (but release at 8:06.5 & 8:11.1 and go back to full back again)
It's hard to imagine a controller malfunctioning that way.

 

[drdiggler111]

The cause was either:
You accidentally pulled the right stick backwards during the descent ... or
A controller malfunction that caused the joystick sensor to stick at full back (but release at 8:06.5 & 8:11.1 and go back to full back again)
It's hard to imagine a controller malfunctioning that way.

Actually I did pull the joystick, as It looked to me, that the drone was flying away and I wanted to bring it back, unfortunately in the wrong direction. So probably then it must have been my fault. But anyway thanks for your analysis.
I'll get the drone repaired now, and hope, it won't happen again.

 

[Davzone]

Actually I did pull the joystick, as It looked to me, that the drone was flying away and I wanted to bring it back, unfortunately in the wrong direction. So probably then it must have been my fault. But anyway thanks for your analysis.
I'll get the drone repaired now, and hope, it won't happen again.

Don't believe your eyes.
Before you make any stick movements, look at the screen on the remote, and check the distance and height numbers. Also speed. If the drone was drifting, you could see horizontal speed. While landing horizontal speed should be 0. If the distance and height numbers are decreasing the drone is getting closer to you, even though your eyes might say differently.

It only takes 2 seconds to check the numbers, before you make any rushed decisions.

The first thing I do when I detect any anomalies, is releasing the sticks and look at the numbers changing to see what is actually happening(drift,spin,movement,speed gain etc), so I can react with proper input.

 

[drdiggler111]

Don't believe your eyes.
Before you make any stick movements, look at the screen on the remote, and check the distance and height numbers. Also speed. If the drone was drifting, you could see horizontal speed. While landing horizontal speed should be 0. If the distance and height numbers are decreasing the drone is getting closer to you, even though your eyes might say differently.

It only takes 2 seconds to check the numbers, before you make any rushed decisions.

The first thing I do when I detect any anomalies, is releasing the sticks and look at the numbers changing to see what is actually happening(drift,spin,movement,speed gain etc), so I can react with proper input.

Thanks, I'm not that experienced, yet. But after the crash, I'll be certainly more careful

 

[mavicman3]

I had a similar issue. The Mavic took off when RTH was disabled. It was like someone had just activated both sticks on the controller.

 

[Turn11]

It only takes 2 seconds to check the numbers, before you make any rushed decisions.

Bit late to the party but PAUSE is your best friend in a situation like that OR fly it home instead of RTH in some cases

 

[DanMan32]

Don't believe your eyes.
Before you make any stick movements, look at the screen on the remote, and check the distance and height numbers. Also speed. If the drone was drifting, you could see horizontal speed. While landing horizontal speed should be 0. If the distance and height numbers are decreasing the drone is getting closer to you, even though your eyes might say differently.

It only takes 2 seconds to check the numbers, before you make any rushed decisions.

The first thing I do when I detect any anomalies, is releasing the sticks and look at the numbers changing to see what is actually happening(drift,spin,movement,speed gain etc), so I can react with proper input.

And yet we're supposed to fly practically exclusively VLOS.

 

[Meta4]

And yet we're supposed to fly practically exclusively VLOS.

Flying within visual range doesn't preclude looking at your screen.
There's nothing in any rules to say you must maintain a fixed gaze, never looking away from your drone.

 

[DanMan32]

That's why I said practically.

 

[Meta4]

That's why I said practically.

And the word exclusively?