DJI almost sank my Mavic.

[SabrToothSqrl]

Went to fly somewhere I have flown before. Take off permitted and then flew out over water. Then suddenly not authorized and 90 seconds until forced to land. I'm no expert, and very luckily I was able to get back over land before the forced landing. Which only after the count down then allowed me to unlock the zone. Would DJI have landed my drone in water? Why was I able to take off only to have to force land 90 seconds later?! I'm not exactly happy here... if it sank I'd be disputing the CC purchase for sure. I'm aware of unlock zone and have not had this issue before. Had the drone been farther away over water... would it have landed and sank?

Feel like I got lucky here, and so did DJI for me not having to go off on them...

 

[elborak]

What was your GPS satellite count when you took off?

 

[Meta4]

Went to fly somewhere I have flown before. Take off permitted and then flew out over water. Then suddenly not authorized and 90 seconds until forced to land. I'm no expert, and very luckily I was able to get back over land before the forced landing. Which only after the count down then allowed me to unlock the zone. Would DJI have landed my drone in water? Why was I able to take off only to have to force land 90 seconds later?! I'm not exactly happy here... if it sank I'd be disputing the CC purchase for sure. I'm aware of unlock zone and have not had this issue before. Had the drone been farther away over water... would it have landed and sank?

Feel like I got lucky here, and so did DJI for me not having to go off on them...

I wouldn't be too quick to blame DJI when you aren't sure why this happened.
I have an idea of the probably cause but would need to see the flight data to confirm.
Post your flight data and it will probably show exactly what caused the incident.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Went to fly somewhere I have flown before. Take off permitted and then flew out over water. Then suddenly not authorized and 90 seconds until forced to land. I'm no expert, and very luckily I was able to get back over land before the forced landing. Which only after the count down then allowed me to unlock the zone. Would DJI have landed my drone in water? Why was I able to take off only to have to force land 90 seconds later?! I'm not exactly happy here... if it sank I'd be disputing the CC purchase for sure. I'm aware of unlock zone and have not had this issue before. Had the drone been farther away over water... would it have landed and sank?

Feel like I got lucky here, and so did DJI for me not having to go off on them...

Yes , Forced landing are one of the Reasons why so many Drones end up in the water.

Forced Landing even for seasoned pilots can be tricky, you have to be ready and alert and quick on the sticks to negotiate and even than you might not be successful.

Its one of the reasons why we created the Rescue Jackets so you can sustain those incidents.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on the Water.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

What was your GPS satellite count when you took off?

I do not recall. It allowed me to take off. this was my first forced landing.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Yes , Forced landing are one of the Reasons why so many Drones end up in the water.

Forced Landing even for seasoned pilots can be tricky, you have to be ready and alert and quick on the sticks to negotiate and even than you might not be successful.

Its one of the reasons why we created the Rescue Jackets so you can sustain those incidents.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on the Water.

If forced landings are such a problem... why not solve the problem?

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

I wouldn't be too quick to blame DJI when you aren't sure why this happened.
I have an idea of the probably cause but would need to see the flight data to confirm.
Post your flight data and it will probably show exactly what caused the incident.

DJI "allowed" the drone to take off, only to force a landing shortly after. Yes I blame them.

I will look into how to pull the data.

I just read that switching between S and P mode and back will cancel a forced landing. Is that accurate?

 

[cgmaxed]

Yes , Forced landing are one of the Reasons why so many Drones end up in the water.

Forced Landing even for seasoned pilots can be tricky, you have to be ready and alert and quick on the sticks to negotiate and even than you might not be successful.

Its one of the reasons why we created the Rescue Jackets so you can sustain those incidents.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on the Water.

I have several DJI drones. Whenever "forced Landing" starts, for me it's usually at the end of the battery power,I just hold the altitude stick up and it freezes the decent. Then I fly it home as far as it will go. I have flown 2-3 minutes while the battery read zero percent. But I had to hold the altitude stick up the whole way while it was trying to force land itself. Or, is the forced landing for battery power different?

 

[cgmaxed]

DJI "allowed" the drone to take off, only to force a landing shortly after. Yes I blame them.

I will look into how to pull the data.

I just read that switching between S and P mode and back will cancel a forced landing. Is that accurate?

I have had forced landings due to insufficient battery. But, I could halt the decent by holding the altitude stick up. I've flown at 0 percent for 3 minutes once. Did you try holding the altitude stick up? If so, did the descent hault. It won't climb, but it halts the descent for me until I find a safe place to land.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

I have several DJI drones. Whenever "forced Landing" starts, for me it's usually at the end of the battery power,I just hold the altitude stick up and it freezes the decent. Then I fly it home as far as it will go. I have flown 2-3 minutes while the battery read zero percent. But I had to hold the altitude stick up the whole way while it was trying to force land itself. Or, is the forced landing for battery power different?

It sure looked different to me - it said it would allow it to move horizontally, but not up. which would have been fine, but to force land on water, after allowing take off?!

Playing back the flight on my phone just says "auto landing" which is NOT what it said at the time.

Looking at the flight, take off had zero satellites. then 11. then forced landing. I get it. It didn't know where it was, but that's BS to force a landing that could cause more harm. At least just limit speed/altitude! I unlocked the location shortly after landing, but **** if this thing was any farther out, it could have sank! Why did DJI allow the take off then?! How this is handled is all wrong.

Looks like the problem goes back to 2017 even.

Why do DJI products AUTO LAND in no fly zone? Unsafe!

Why do your products auto land in no fly zone? This has to be the most unsafe thing you can possibly do. The location where it is auto landing could be over water, over buildings, cars, and even worse over people!!! Why not just have it return to home along the same path it took to get to the no...

forum.dji.com

With all the tech built into this thing, I'd rather it simply not allow take off without GPS than risk this crap. or some pop up "do you really want to take off without GPS"... something better than, ohh, we are sorry, we are going to land in water now for your benefit.

I get it, I took off with too few satellites, however the way DJI handles the event is entirely wrong...

 

[awagner109]

DJI "allowed" the drone to take off, only to force a landing shortly after. Yes I blame them.

I will look into how to pull the data.

I just read that switching between S and P mode and back will cancel a forced landing. Is that accurate?

I have 3 DJI drones and I can fly any of them without a gps signal. Do it all the time at work inside the building. If I take them outside and they get a gps signal I can’t fly because it’s in a no fly zone. And it will automatically land.

 

[Rattydude77]

It sure looked different to me - it said it would allow it to move horizontally, but not up. which would have been fine, but to force land on water, after allowing take off?!

Playing back the flight on my phone just says "auto landing" which is NOT what it said at the time.

Looking at the flight, take off had zero satellites. then 11. then forced landing. I get it. It didn't know where it was, but that's BS to force a landing that could cause more harm. At least just limit speed/altitude! I unlocked the location shortly after landing, but **** if this thing was any farther out, it could have sank! Why did DJI allow the take off then?! How this is handled is all wrong.

Looks like the problem goes back to 2017 even.

Why do DJI products AUTO LAND in no fly zone? Unsafe!

Why do your products auto land in no fly zone? This has to be the most unsafe thing you can possibly do. The location where it is auto landing could be over water, over buildings, cars, and even worse over people!!! Why not just have it return to home along the same path it took to get to the no...

forum.dji.com

With all the tech built into this thing, I'd rather it simply not allow take off without GPS than risk this crap. or some pop up "do you really want to take off without GPS"... something better than, ohh, we are sorry, we are going to land in water now for your benefit.

I get it, I took off with too few satellites, however the way DJI handles the event is entirely wrong...

Flight logs im curious about this to guessing dont get answers

 

[Phantomrain.org]

If forced landings are such a problem... why not solve the problem?

Forced landing are a necessary evil as is landing on the water

This is a built in Fail Save : Imagine if you will a guy named Hickadiado is wanting to capture some footage of his wife boarding the plane. He gets his drone out launches it and before GPS can capture his signal he is flying over the air field. Thank fully he has to fly over a lake , so this is where it gets tricky , DJI is trying to stop flight as soon as it Recognized and therefore the reason for the Forced Landing as quickly as possible. Letting it fly back and fourth across the lake could be a disaster so best option is to land as fast as possible Lake or no lake.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on the Water.

 

[Meta4]

DJI "allowed" the drone to take off, only to force a landing shortly after. Yes I blame them.

I will look into how to pull the data.

Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a report of the flight.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you .. even if the report looks to be empty..
Or .. just post the txt file here.

I just read that switching between S and P mode and back will cancel a forced landing. Is that accurate?

That would depend on what forced the landing.
In this case, probably not.

Your flight data will answer several of the questions you are asking.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

I'll pull the data if I get a chance, my understanding is I took off without GPS. Once GPS was aquired, and it found itself in an authorization zone it forced landing... the manual does not contain the word 'forced' that I could find. I will forever be verifying full GPS before take offs now... shame that's not a simple check box in settings to 'require GPS before take off'. I guess I could see people trying to circumvent to fly in areas, but that's certainly not my case. It was Wilson Point Park in MD. There is a small airport nearby. I never flew over 30' or so above the water. If a manned aircraft was 30' off the water within 500' of me, they have bigger problems than my drone

 

[Rattydude77]

I'll pull the data if I get a chance, my understanding is I took off without GPS. Once GPS was aquired, and it found itself in an authorization zone it forced landing... the manual does not contain the word 'forced' that I could find. I will forever be verifying full GPS before take offs now... shame that's not a simple check box in settings to 'require GPS before take off'. I guess I could see people trying to circumvent to fly in areas, but that's certainly not my case. It was Wilson Point Park in MD. There is a small airport nearby. I never flew over 30' or so above the water. If a manned aircraft was 30' off the water within 500' of me, they have bigger problems than my drone

Just down load it bro lol

 

[Thomas B]

Really need to have flight log posted for expert analysis for any further discussion to have useful meaning.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Just down load it bro lol

my laptop is at 6% and the couch is comfy! I should have some time tomorrow.

 

[cgmaxed]

Forced landing are a necessary evil as is landing on the water

This is a built in Fail Save : Imagine if you will a guy named Hickadiado is wanting to capture some footage of his wife boarding the plane. He gets his drone out launches it and before GPS can capture his signal he is flying over the air field. Thank fully he has to fly over a lake , so this is where it gets tricky , DJI is trying to stop flight as soon as it Recognized and therefore the reason for the Forced Landing as quickly as possible. Letting it fly back and fourth across the lake could be a disaster so best option is to land as fast as possible Lake or no lake.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain and Land on the Water.

Suppose the drone made it to the tarmac. It lands on the planes wing?
LOL

 

[cgmaxed]

my laptop is at 6% and the couch is comfy! I should have some time tomorrow.

I have launched my Mavic 2s with no Gps. It launches in Atti mode and will only allow the drone to fly around 20-50 ft high. Then only lets me fly horizontally for maybe 100 feet. That's my experience with no GPS signal.