Dealing with dji over drone replacement

[OldGoatMTB]

I am looking for advice on what to do. I was flying with a friend over a lake at a city park about 12 days ago and lost my drone in the water. Here is how it happened:

1) While flying my Mavic Air over the lake the message came up on my goggles that RTH would begin if I did not hit cancel.
2) When I attempted to cancel using the track pad on the goggles the goggle processor 'crashed'. The image on the screen froze.
3) I powered off the goggles and restarted them but they did not reconnect with the drone.
4) I disconnected the cable connecting the goggles to the remote and reconnected the mobile to the remote (The Mavic Air only lets you to connect to one visual interface at a time, either the mobile phone or the goggles through a USB cable connected to the port on the bottom of the remote).
5) I never really connected with the drone again, at least not to the point that I was receiving telemetry or an image on the mobile. I was getting a anxious at the point so my memory isn't perfect, but these are my honest recollections.
6) When the Mavic Air didn't return home I realized that it probably was in the water.
7) My friend/visual observer who was with me and I searched along the lake shore closest to where the drone was without success as best we were able.

As I felt the drone was lost because of the faulty interaction with the goggles I contacted dji support about the situation. They were sympathetic and opened a "fly away" ticket. I was asked to export files/folders from my mobile device several times for analysis. Ultimately dji came back with a "sincere apology", no admission that their equipment was at fault, and the offer of a 30% discount for a Mavic Air, battery and propellers. The price they quotes was $769 before the discount, almost as much as I paid for my fly-more combo (without goggles). I calculate that the discounted price would be $538.30.

Honestly I was hoping for a little more consideration from dji because I assert that the drone was lost because of the crashed goggles. The drone and goggles are both under warranty. I have had the drone return to home multiple times in the past because of low battery or lost signal and it performed perfectly. I can only guess that the goggles did cancel return to home before freezing up and so the drone eventually just "landed" in the water. The battery was at 17% capacity and the drone was about 1000 feet away when I lost contact with clear line of sight and perfect flying conditions, it should have easily made the return flight. I only went to cancel return to home because it I knew it would be faster for me to fly it back then to wait for it to ascend to the preset return-to-home height of 100 meters. Also, I did check the compass calibration before taking off as I was several miles from the location of my last flight. The Go4 software showed that the compass did not need to be calibrated, so I didn't. I was on my second flight, I had already flown one sortie without incident.

I assume that dji wants to sell me a refurbished drone, though it might be new. The cost of a new Mavic Mini, a very similar drone, is much less than dji wants to charge me, even for the fly-more combo. I did pay for dji refresh insurance, though that does not apply since I do not have the drone. I am wondering if dji would transfer the insurance to the replacement drone.

Does anyone have advice as to how I should proceed, either in negotiating a better deal with dji or in general? As it is I now have a controller, 2 batteries, a charger, goggles and no drone. If I were starting over I might buy this again, but I might buy another drone or wait to see what comes out in January (according to rumors). Money is a consideration which is why I'm trying to determine the best course of action and seeking the advice of the drone community. Thanks a lot for your help.

James / OldGoatMTB

 

[BigAl07]

First of all the Goggles crashing should have zero effect on the flight of the aircraft. It's just a visual display and when the display goes blank the aircraft should still be "Flyable" using the transmitter and automated things like RTH are still hardcoded in the Flight Controller on the aircraft itself. So that rules out Goggles causing the crash.

What did your VO see that could have been happening during this? Did they see the aircraft near anything? Could it have struck a power line or pole or bird? It's up to your VO to be watching those things for this very reason. If your VO didn't have constant eyes on the aircraft you should have removed the Goggles and got eyes on the aircraft ASAP.

What do the flight logs indicate? It's possible some of those here who are "Fluent" in interpreting the Log Data can give a better idea of what went wrong and how to "present it" to DJI with more than "I think"....

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[PhantomFandom]

Agree with @BigAl07 in that the Goggles have nothing to do with the MA disappearing, other than perhaps a mitigating factor that distracted and perhaps overloaded the pilot. We can't know for sure what happened without flight logs, but based solely on your description I see a few pilot errors and it leads to many more questions.

• If your battery was at 17% then you were already in peril. I always try to have my craft on the ground by the time my battery is at 30%. If you don't leave this sort of safety margin, then you have zero time to react and fix things when/if there is a problem. This is especially true on smaller drones with less air time, like the MA. I might push my battery to 20% with my P4P but never with my MA or Spark.
• Why did the MA start a RTH procedure? Was it for low battery? If so, that means the battery was critically low and any small issue could result in tragedy. You also mentioned that in the past the MA has successfully RTH due to low battery. Sorry, but to me that is a game of Russian roulette. It works...until it doesn't. If the MA gets stuck in a headwind, the calculation is off, or any other factor comes up then it won't make it home. Always plan on landing before battery hits 30%.
• What was the VO doing when this happened? How was sight of the MA lost? It is imperative that the VO have eyes on the craft at all times since you could not see it.
• It is always important to know your equipment and plan for emergencies whenever you fly. In this case, you needed to plan for all of the normal failure scenarios AND for failure of the goggles. Knowing that the remote controller still has full control of the MA even with goggle failure is important. You could have removed the goggles, established visual contact (since the VO should have eyes on the craft) and fly it back home.
  Since you were most likely in a low-battery time crunch, you did not have time to restart the goggles or another device and re-establish a connection. What may have been the right course of action here would be to manually initiate a RTH immediately by using the button on the controller.

So without the logs, I can only guess that the goggles froze after you cancelled the low-battery RTH. The MA hovered until it got to the critically low point and just landed, into the lake. Sorry that you lost the craft but if that ends up being what happened then I see no mechanical failure and no warranty claim with DJI.

 

[OldGoatMTB]

I understand that everyone likes to play Monday morning quarterback, but really I was just looking for the best way to deal with DJI or otherwise I get a replacement drone. If anyone has helpful suggestions on that I would really appreciate it. Thanks

 

[old man mavic]

sorry for your loss but i have to agree with@ PhantomFandom you should not have been a1000 ft away over water and with only 17% battery left, when a battery gets to around 30% the speed of the voltage drop actually increases as it drops lower and lower compared to a fully charged battery, when you are flying with goggles on it is very easy to get immersed in what you are seeing and forget about battery levels and exactly where you are i hope you get things sorted out

 

[BigAl07]

We were trying to get to the root of the cause to better prepare you how to address DJI. You don't like the advice given that's fine but it was solid and knowledgeable advice given from a LOT of experience.

 

[RayOZ]

I think the general consensus is this was more of a pilot error than malfunction. I would take up their 30% discount offer if you plan to get another MA.
my impression is that you regularly run till the battery level is really low, which is usually not good for battery health. Since neither you or your VO had visual of the MA itself, for all we know one cell might have collapsed and the MA had already fallen into the water while you were still busy trying to reconnect with your googles.
You can’t drive your car too fast and/or hit the brakes too late, hit a hit a tree and claim warranty from the manufacture cos the car didn’t stop in time.

 

[BigAl07]

I think the general consensus is this was more of a pilot error than malfunction. I would take up their 30% discount offer if you plan to get another MA.
my impression is that you regularly run till the battery level is really low, which is usually not good for battery health. Since neither you or your VO had visual of the MA itself, for all we know one cell might have collapsed and the MA had already fallen into the water while you were still busy trying to reconnect with your googles.
You can’t drive your car too fast and/or hit the brakes too late, hit a hit a tree and claim warranty from the manufacture cos the car didn’t stop in time.

Well said Ray. That's solid guidance.

 

[Bigbird48]

I agree the crash was Pilot error take the 30% on a new air, don't go with the mini as its not even close to the air.

 

[AnzacJack]

I understand that everyone likes to play Monday morning quarterback, but really I was just looking for the best way to deal with DJI or otherwise I get a replacement drone. If anyone has helpful suggestions on that I would really appreciate it. Thanks

normally i dont like to add comment about poor airmanship as Im sure you already know where you have gone wrong, but your description of the inccident is just not going to gain much sympathy from a community that in most part, fly and recommend flying safely and within local regs.
Your case seems to be a clear case of having no VLOS and no situational awareness and opperating your craft beyond its, and your capabilities.
Advice for dealing with DJI is pretty simple. I dont see they need to offer you anything if the information you gave us is the same as you gave them. You say " I was asked to export files/folders from my mobile device several times for analysis". did you do this? The only way you would get more advice here would be to supply that data here also for the experts to interpret for you.
I also cant imagine they would transfer the insurance onto a different replacement drone.
Best advice would be to take the 30% discount and continue your flying a little wiser now.

 

[Shivers]

Have you sent the files they wanted? I have a question, might have been asked. When you lost the vision on the goggles, what did you do with the sticks of the remote? Did you touch those by chance!? Just a question. You should be able to see the log files and know what the unit did.
Wait, does this one have a log consumers can see?
I bought an extended plan from DJI, if I crash, or dump into water, they will replace, but... I must return the drone to them! They must get a bird back, and camera! Or I only will get 30% off a replacement. Sounds like DJI offered you the package I had to pay 159.99 dollars for, so you won man. Call it a day!

 

[AnzacJack]

Have you sent the files they wanted? I have a question, might have been asked. When you lost the vision on the goggles, what did you do with the sticks of the remote? Did you touch those by chance!? Just a question. You should be able to see the log files and know what the unit did.
Wait, does this one have a log consumers can see?
I bought an extended plan from DJI, if I crash, or dump into water, they will replace, but... I must return the drone to them! They must get a bird back, and camera! Or I only will get 30% off a replacement. Sounds like DJI offered you the package I had to pay 159.99 dollars for, so you won man. Call it a day!

he stated in his post that he has DJI refresh.

 

[Thomas B]

he stated in his post that he has DJI refresh.

Then he just needs the hulk and use it.

 

[Shivers]

he stated in his post that he has DJI refresh.

Dang it, I missed that! Ok, then he paid and knew about the 30% of no bird gets returned.

Wait till spring, go diving in the lake. .

 

[Thomas B]

Dang it, I missed that! Ok, then he paid and knew about the 30% of no bird gets returned.

Wait till spring, go diving in the lake. .

...or something like a Getterback with a 100’ cord to a floatation device for getting it now... next time....

 

[GotLift?]

The OP's story is a good illustration of why I jumped into a river to retrieve my crashed M2P. After opening a ticket & sending the drowned bird off, I got a brand new M2P, battery & propeller set. Sorry for your loss, but DJI did right by me.

 

[AnzacJack]

At the end of the day, DJI are a business and they need to look after their intrests. I would hate to think how many drones they have replaced due to absolute stupidity of pilots with the DJI Care refresh program. I can certainly understand them needing the drone before replacing it. Ive read of people deliberatly tashing their craft at the end of the refresh life, just so they can get a new drone. Can you image how many would make fake claims to recieve free drones. As it is i think the refresh program is very good and a sign of good marketing fromDJI, but they do need to hold a line somewhere on the claims.

The OP lost his drone through neglegence on his part, I cant imagine to many companies any where in any industry that would just cough up a replacement

 

[Shivers]

...or something like a Getterback with a 100’ cord to a floatation device for getting it now... next time....

Ha ha ha ha ha... If a row boat was near by, I prob would have went.

 

[OldGoatMTB]

Hey, if I knew any scuba divers that went to that lake I would call them up. I did comply with dji's request for files and all other information that they asked for. One problem when using goggles with the Mavic Air is that the goggles do not record log files that are usable for the end-user like a phone does. I don't recall messing with the sticks at all but it is possible that I did touch them. I do realize that I made mistakes during this flight and I would love the chance to do it over again but first have to get a new drone. My issue is that I think DJI is asking a pretty high price for a (probably) refurbished drone. I would gladly pay the $150 deductible that DJI refresh requires, if I had the drone in hand. I like my Air, but I think the Mini looks pretty good and don't really understand why people are saying that the Mavic Air is so much better. it does have sensors and 4K but the battery life of the mini is pretty sweet. The reviews I have seen have all been pretty positive, I think the Mini looks like a great drone at a great price.

 

[Bigbird48]

hey then go for the mini but don't come back and cry about the mistake you made