DJI Not Honouring Warranty - Claims it was user error

[parrajara]

Hi All,

I am going to copy and paste what I put on the DJI official forum. I am coming here because it is likely a larger, more active community, and I would like to know if any of you have experienced anything like this? If so, what did you do and what was the end result?

"

I bought a DJI Mavic Mini at the beginning of March, and one month after owning it the drone had a sensor error that caused it to take off on it's own, resulting in a crash that broke the gimbal in the drone. The drone took off uncontrollably and it was not responding to the signals from my RC. This resulted in the drone crashing and breaking. I sent my drone to DJI, and after they inspected it, they said I have to pay because it is not covered under warranty. I will paste the email I received from the support rep, where they refer to two different instances to support their diagnosis; one in March 13th, and the other in April 10th. From reading the email, it seems like they are trying to suggest that the issue that happened on April 10th is correlated to the issue on March 13th. I don't see how the two instances are related, because since the March 13th incident I had several succesful flights without any issues at all. Even on April 10th I completed flights without issue. Furthermore, when I go to look at my case status, I have an invoice asking me to pay the DJI Care Refresh replacement fee, and the only supporting evidence that for their case analysis diagnosis is a screenshot of my preflight that clearly shows everything is "Normal". I will attach that picture here. Here is the email "Incident date: 2020-04-10 Incident time: 498 seconds FLY051 1. The aircraft worked under Tripod mode, and responded to the pilot’s command well with a strong satellite signal. 2. Flight Time T=498s, Relative Height H=3.8m, Distance to Home Point D=30.2m, the aircraft struck an object and fell. Pilot commanded yaw right, roll right, throttle down and pitch down prior to impact. 3. The incident coordinate: 49.286864 -123.11494996 (PREVIOUS INCIDENT) Incident date: 2020-03-13 Incident time: 718 seconds FLY040 1. The aircraft worked under Sport mode, and responded to the pilot’s command well. 2. Flight Time T=718s, Relative Height H=0.4m, Distance to Home Point D=27.4m, the aircraft struck an object and fell. Pilot commanded pitch back and roll right prior to impact. 3. The incident coordinate: 49.318927 -123.056883 4. The aircraft could not avoid obstacles, user did not allow enough time for the unit to brake before impact. According to the analysis, the incident was not caused by any product malfunction. We can still proceed with the repair, however, you will cover the repair charges." It seems like DJI is suggesting that the incident on April 10th was due to user error. How is it that you are failing to recognize the "sensor error" message that I received ? Why is this not included in your analysis/diagnosis? Of course I was moving the throttle when my drone took off uncontrollaby, I was trying to avoid it from crashing or hitting another human being... luckily it hit a wall before the damage was worse than a broken drone. This leaves a very bitter feeling in me, I really feel like I cannot trust this company which is a shame because I was looking to upgrade to some of their professional drones later in the future.... not if they try to disguise workmanship defects as an operator error. Has anyone else encountered this? What did you do? How can I escalate this issue and get it further revised? Using my DJI Care Refresh replacement only one month into the ownership, due to a sensor error, doesn't sit well with me." I will also attach the picture that "Supports their analysis" here.

 

[sar104]

Without seeing the flight logs it's completely impossible to ascertain what happened. Do you have the txt and/or DAT file from the flight in question?

 

[parrajara]

Without seeing the flight logs it's completely impossible to ascertain what happened. Do you have the txt and/or DAT file from the flight in question?

Honestly, I am a complete rookie when it comes to drones. I don't want to take more of your valuable time than needed, so I will try to keep it concise. I found what looks like flight logs to me following these steps:

1) Open DJI Fly App
2) Click on "Profile"
3) Select "More"
4) I am now in the "Flight Data Center". This seems to have all my flights logged.

How can I extract this and share it as a .txt or .DAT?

I played the very last flight (where my drone crashed) and the end of the flight log you can clearly see "Sensor Error". I uploaded a screenshot from my phone until I can figure out how to get the Flight Log in a legible text format.

The log is dated April 9 on my Flight Data Center (instead of April 10), but this is likely just a time zone difference.

 

[sar104]

Honestly, I am a complete rookie when it comes to drones. I don't want to take more of your valuable time than needed, so I will try to keep it concise. I found what looks like flight logs to me following these steps:

1) Open DJI Fly App
2) Click on "Profile"
3) Select "More"
4) I am now in the "Flight Data Center". This seems to have all my flights logged.

How can I extract this and share it as a .txt or .DAT?

I played the very last flight (where my drone crashed) and the end of the flight log you can clearly see "Sensor Error". I uploaded a screenshot from my phone until I can figure out how to get the Flight Log in a legible text format.

The log is dated April 9 on my Flight Data Center (instead of April 10), but this is likely just a time zone difference.

You are not wasting anyone's time. That's not the file that you need however - what you want to start with is the flight txt log that is on your phone in the Fly app FlightRecord directory. Instructions on how to find it are in the link below:

Mavic Flight Log Retrieval and Analysis Guide

With the introduction of the Mavic Mini there has been a noticeable uptick in the number of posts requesting help with lost or crashed aircraft. While there is plenty of help and advice available on this forum, and detailed guidance and options on several other websites, I thought that perhaps a...

mavicpilots.com

 

[parrajara]

You are not wasting anyone's time. That's not the file that you need however - what you want to start with is the flight txt log that is on your phone in the Fly app FlightRecord directory. Instructions on how to find it are in the link below:

Mavic Flight Log Retrieval and Analysis Guide

With the introduction of the Mavic Mini there has been a noticeable uptick in the number of posts requesting help with lost or crashed aircraft. While there is plenty of help and advice available on this forum, and detailed guidance and options on several other websites, I thought that perhaps a...

mavicpilots.com

I'd just like to say that I appreciate the syntax in your thread. I really didn't understand a lot of what I was reading, but I did try my best...

I managed to get the Flight Logs (attached in this post). I appreciate your help very much!!

 

[Lurch003]

I'm not trying to bash you and I hope you get your MM sorted but ****, that's a sketchy area to fly in !

 

[parrajara]

I'm not trying to bash you and I hope you get your MM sorted but ****, that's a sketchy area to fly in !

Hehe, I know what it looks like, but the area wasnt bad. I was just getting footage of some beautiful cherry blossoms we have here, at midnight when there was no one else around The area was pretty open and there was no ceiling or wiring in the air, so fairly safe and easy to navigate in.

 

[Lurch003]

Hehe, I know what it looks like, but the area wasnt bad. I was just getting footage of some beautiful cherry blossoms we have here, at midnight when there was no one else around The area was pretty open and there was no ceiling or wiring in the air, so fairly safe and easy to navigate in.

Was thinking more interference than legalities- that's a whole lotta highrises around there!

And looks great in 3d on google maps

 

[Garpaul]

Hi All,

I am going to copy and paste what I put on the DJI official forum. I am coming here because it is likely a larger, more active community, and I would like to know if any of you have experienced anything like this? If so, what did you do and what was the end result?

"

I bought a DJI Mavic Mini at the beginning of March, and one month after owning it the drone had a sensor error that caused it to take off on it's own, resulting in a crash that broke the gimbal in the drone. The drone took off uncontrollably and it was not responding to the signals from my RC. This resulted in the drone crashing and breaking. I sent my drone to DJI, and after they inspected it, they said I have to pay because it is not covered under warranty. I will paste the email I received from the support rep, where they refer to two different instances to support their diagnosis; one in March 13th, and the other in April 10th. From reading the email, it seems like they are trying to suggest that the issue that happened on April 10th is correlated to the issue on March 13th. I don't see how the two instances are related, because since the March 13th incident I had several succesful flights without any issues at all. Even on April 10th I completed flights without issue. Furthermore, when I go to look at my case status, I have an invoice asking me to pay the DJI Care Refresh replacement fee, and the only supporting evidence that for their case analysis diagnosis is a screenshot of my preflight that clearly shows everything is "Normal". I will attach that picture here. Here is the email "Incident date: 2020-04-10 Incident time: 498 seconds FLY051 1. The aircraft worked under Tripod mode, and responded to the pilot’s command well with a strong satellite signal. 2. Flight Time T=498s, Relative Height H=3.8m, Distance to Home Point D=30.2m, the aircraft struck an object and fell. Pilot commanded yaw right, roll right, throttle down and pitch down prior to impact. 3. The incident coordinate: 49.286864 -123.11494996 (PREVIOUS INCIDENT) Incident date: 2020-03-13 Incident time: 718 seconds FLY040 1. The aircraft worked under Sport mode, and responded to the pilot’s command well. 2. Flight Time T=718s, Relative Height H=0.4m, Distance to Home Point D=27.4m, the aircraft struck an object and fell. Pilot commanded pitch back and roll right prior to impact. 3. The incident coordinate: 49.318927 -123.056883 4. The aircraft could not avoid obstacles, user did not allow enough time for the unit to brake before impact. According to the analysis, the incident was not caused by any product malfunction. We can still proceed with the repair, however, you will cover the repair charges." It seems like DJI is suggesting that the incident on April 10th was due to user error. How is it that you are failing to recognize the "sensor error" message that I received ? Why is this not included in your analysis/diagnosis? Of course I was moving the throttle when my drone took off uncontrollaby, I was trying to avoid it from crashing or hitting another human being... luckily it hit a wall before the damage was worse than a broken drone. This leaves a very bitter feeling in me, I really feel like I cannot trust this company which is a shame because I was looking to upgrade to some of their professional drones later in the future.... not if they try to disguise workmanship defects as an operator error. Has anyone else encountered this? What did you do? How can I escalate this issue and get it further revised? Using my DJI Care Refresh replacement only one month into the ownership, due to a sensor error, doesn't sit well with me." I will also attach the picture that "Supports their analysis" here.

Hi I just lost my mini yesterday,the flight started as normal I calibrated and was good to go 3 minutes into the flight I got a high wind warning to descend which I did and all was well about 30 sec later I was 300 meters out and got a sensor error message and message that remote had lost connection so fail safe would kick in and no matter what I could not reconnect looked for an hour but it went down in a swampy area so could not find it so it's gone and I have sent an email to dji refresh as I have that but as of yet have not heard back,dont know if they will cover it without having the mini,any advice

 

[sar104]

I'd just like to say that I appreciate the syntax in your thread. I really didn't understand a lot of what I was reading, but I did try my best...

I managed to get the Flight Logs (attached in this post). I appreciate your help very much!!

I think I need more details. Are you saying that on the April 10 flight that the aircraft took of on its own? The log indicates that you initiated takeoff with the app auto-takeoff command. And after that it appears to have responded correctly to control inputs - right up until the end of the flight when, at 415 seconds you put applied full down throttle, full backwards elevator, full right aileron and full right rudder. It appears that the aircraft responded as expected and crashed.

 

[parrajara]

I think I need more details. Are you saying that on the April 10 flight that the aircraft took of on its own? The log indicates that you initiated takeoff with the app auto-takeoff command. And after that it appears to have responded correctly to control inputs - right up until the end of the flight when, at 415 seconds you put applied full down throttle, full backwards elevator, full right aileron and full right rudder. It appears that the aircraft responded as expected and crashed.

Thank you for taking your time to look at this. The flight on March 13 was for sure my fault, but the one in question on April 10th was due to a sensor error. I did take off with the aircraft without any issues, and I was flying it for a little while. At the end of the flight, the drone took off and gave me a sensor error. 340 seconds into the flight the 'sensor error' message appeared, followed by a 'compass calibration required' message 3 seconds later. They switched back and forth until 353 seconds. At 354 seconds a 'No GPS. Fly with caution' message appeared for 1 second before switching back to sensor error. You can see in the screenshots attached that from 356 to 358 seconds there is a dramatic increase in velocity (or distance traveled, I'm not sure what the proper term is). The flight ends at 363 seconds. That is the only thing that I don't understand, how the flight log you are looking at is 415 seconds.

When I followed the instructions that you kindly provided to me, I selected the second last flight log on April 9 (10th in DJI's timezone), because the very last one was a very 'flight' that I attempted after the crash, just to see what the hell was going on with the sensor - as I was already planning to send the drone back for repair. I'm afraid that last little test may not have been a wise decision, as DJI may try to argue about that... Moving forth, I went into my Android's file folder to make sure that the second last flight on my Flight Data Center is also listed in the same sequence in the Flight Record, but the only thing I was able to verify was that the size of the file made sense in correlation to the other files - and it did, i think (626kb for 7 mins). So after all this, I do believe I provided the correct log to you, but I can't figure out why there is a discrepancy in the length of my flight in the Flight Data Center and the flight log.

Thank you once again

 

[parrajara]

Hi I just lost my mini yesterday,the flight started as normal I calibrated and was good to go 3 minutes into the flight I got a high wind warning to descend which I did and all was well about 30 sec later I was 300 meters out and got a sensor error message and message that remote had lost connection so fail safe would kick in and no matter what I could not reconnect looked for an hour but it went down in a swampy area so could not find it so it's gone and I have sent an email to dji refresh as I have that but as of yet have not heard back,dont know if they will cover it without having the mini,any advice

Hey friend,

I am sorry to tell you that based on my research, DJI will likely not help you at all. This is exactly how I came into this forum, looking for answers about various topics - including warranty. From my research, it seems that no matter what situation (even if it's a workmanship defect that made the drone take off on its own into neverland) DJI does not fulfill warranty or the DJI Care Refresh or DJI Care Refresh Plus protection. The only way to protect your drone in the event of it going missing is with property insurance. I am not from the US, so I am **** out of luck. In Canada the price was outrageous, but in US people were able to get the coverage through StateFarm for a reasonable price. The specifics of this is beyond my memory's capacity however. Basically, DJI will help you with a broken drone, crushed up and battered up; but when there is no drone, regardless of the circumstance, DJI will not do anything. With this in mind, may you be the exception. Good luck!

 

[RayOZ]

After you’ve crashed the first time, which you admit was your fault, your second incident comes into question. The crash could’ve affected the internals. It’s not known for sure. Saying it was flying ok doesn’t quite cut it. Internals might have been compromised but took a while to manifest itself.
DJI might see is as you have damaged your drone, brushed it off and continue to fly until it falls out of the sky, then claim manufacturer fault and want a new one as replacement.

 

[Meta4]

The flight on March 13 was for sure my fault, but the one in question on April 10th was due to a sensor error.

The flight record you posted is from April 9th rather than the 10th.
It looks like this: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com
That looks like a very risky place to be flying a drone, for several reasons.

It's another flight where you brought the drone down.
Again you brought the joysticks down and in which is not good practice and is likely to tip the drone on landing.
You should simply pull the elft stick down and hold it there.

 

[sar104]

Thank you for taking your time to look at this. The flight on March 13 was for sure my fault, but the one in question on April 10th was due to a sensor error. I did take off with the aircraft without any issues, and I was flying it for a little while. At the end of the flight, the drone took off and gave me a sensor error. 340 seconds into the flight the 'sensor error' message appeared, followed by a 'compass calibration required' message 3 seconds later. They switched back and forth until 353 seconds. At 354 seconds a 'No GPS. Fly with caution' message appeared for 1 second before switching back to sensor error. You can see in the screenshots attached that from 356 to 358 seconds there is a dramatic increase in velocity (or distance traveled, I'm not sure what the proper term is). The flight ends at 363 seconds. That is the only thing that I don't understand, how the flight log you are looking at is 415 seconds.

When I followed the instructions that you kindly provided to me, I selected the second last flight log on April 9 (10th in DJI's timezone), because the very last one was a very 'flight' that I attempted after the crash, just to see what the hell was going on with the sensor - as I was already planning to send the drone back for repair. I'm afraid that last little test may not have been a wise decision, as DJI may try to argue about that... Moving forth, I went into my Android's file folder to make sure that the second last flight on my Flight Data Center is also listed in the same sequence in the Flight Record, but the only thing I was able to verify was that the size of the file made sense in correlation to the other files - and it did, i think (626kb for 7 mins). So after all this, I do believe I provided the correct log to you, but I can't figure out why there is a discrepancy in the length of my flight in the Flight Data Center and the flight log.

Thank you once again

Okay - it's the correct flight, and the same one that DJI was referring to in their response to you - it just didn't match your first description of the event. The flight doesn't end at 363 seconds - even your log list shows it as a 7 minute flight. The flight log stops at 416.2 seconds.



The warnings that you saw were all related to poor GPS reception due to lack of sky view and multiple reflections off the surrounding buildings:

52.4 52.4 IN FLIGHT
54.6 /HOMEPOINT UPDATED. RTH ALTITUDE ADJUSTED TO 76M)
57.6 122.0 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)
122.0 SENSOR ERROR
125.0 IN FLIGHT
322.4 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)
322.4 SENSOR ERROR
325.4 IN FLIGHT
391.6 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)
391.6 SENSOR ERROR
393.7 XCOMPASS ERROR. ENSURE THERE ARE NO METAL OR MAGNETIC OBJECTS NEAR THE AIRCRAFT AND CALIBRATE IT BEFORE USE.(CODE: 30060)
394.6 COMPASS CALIBRATION REQUIRED
395.6 XCOMPASS ERROR. ENSURE THERE ARE NO METAL OR MAGNETIC OBJECTS NEAR THE AIRCRAFT AND CALIBRATE IT BEFORE USE.(CODE: 30060)
396.0 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)XCOMPASS ERROR. ENSURE THERE ARE NO METAL OR MAGNETIC OBJECTS NEAR THE AIRCRAFT AND CALIBRATE IT BEFORE USE.(CODE: 30060)
396.0 SENSOR ERROR
396.7 XCOMPASS ERROR. ENSURE THERE ARE NO METAL OR MAGNETIC OBJECTS NEAR THE AIRCRAFT AND CALIBRATE IT BEFORE USE.(CODE: 30060)
399.0 COMPASS CALIBRATION REQUIRED
405.0 IN FLIGHT
405.6 AGPS SIGNAL WEAK. HOVERING UNSTABLE. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30002)
405.6 NO GPS. FLY WITH CAUTION
406.8 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)AGPS SIGNAL WEAK. HOVERING UNSTABLE. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30002)
406.8 SENSOR ERROR
407.5 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)
409.0 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)AGPS SIGNAL WEAK. HOVERING UNSTABLE. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30002)
410.1 AGPS SIGNAL WEAK. HOVERING UNSTABLE. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30002)
410.4 XCOMPASS ERROR. ENSURE THERE ARE NO METAL OR MAGNETIC OBJECTS NEAR THE AIRCRAFT AND CALIBRATE IT BEFORE USE.(CODE: 30060)
411.6 XCOMPASS ERROR. ENSURE THERE ARE NO METAL OR MAGNETIC OBJECTS NEAR THE AIRCRAFT AND CALIBRATE IT BEFORE USE.(CODE: 30060)
411.8 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)XCOMPASS ERROR. ENSURE THERE ARE NO METAL OR MAGNETIC OBJECTS NEAR THE AIRCRAFT AND CALIBRATE IT BEFORE USE.(CODE: 30060)
412.6 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)
415.7 IN FLIGHT
416.0 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)
416.0 SENSOR ERROR
416.2 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)AGPS SIGNAL WEAK. HOVERING UNSTABLE. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30002)
OK

The compass errors were not a problem, and the other errors did not cause any real issues until right at the end of the flight, when the IMU velocity solution began to diverge from the GNSS solution:



Those values should generally remain ≤ 1 m/s. In position, rather than velocity space, you can see the resulting deviation:



The aircraft still responded to stick inputs though, and it was the extreme stick inputs at the end, as noted by DJI, that resulted in the crash:



I'm sure that it felt like it was responding slightly strangely because of the GNSS issues - at the end the satellite count went down to 7:



So unfortunately the problem was, arguably, pilot error, in flying in a location with very poor GNSS and not understanding the resulting behavior of the aircraft. You could try to argue that it should have switched to ATTI mode but I suspect that the result would have been the same.

 

[parrajara]

Okay - it's the correct flight, and the same one that DJI was referring to in their response to you - it just didn't match your first description of the event. The flight doesn't end at 363 seconds - even your log list shows it as a 7 minute flight. The flight log stops at 416.2 seconds.

View attachment 100090

The warnings that you saw were all related to poor GPS reception due to lack of sky view and multiple reflections off the surrounding buildings:

52.4 52.4 IN FLIGHT
54.6 /HOMEPOINT UPDATED. RTH ALTITUDE ADJUSTED TO 76M)
57.6 122.0 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)
122.0 SENSOR ERROR
125.0 IN FLIGHT
322.4 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)
322.4 SENSOR ERROR
325.4 IN FLIGHT
391.6 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)
391.6 SENSOR ERROR
393.7 XCOMPASS ERROR. ENSURE THERE ARE NO METAL OR MAGNETIC OBJECTS NEAR THE AIRCRAFT AND CALIBRATE IT BEFORE USE.(CODE: 30060)
394.6 COMPASS CALIBRATION REQUIRED
395.6 XCOMPASS ERROR. ENSURE THERE ARE NO METAL OR MAGNETIC OBJECTS NEAR THE AIRCRAFT AND CALIBRATE IT BEFORE USE.(CODE: 30060)
396.0 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)XCOMPASS ERROR. ENSURE THERE ARE NO METAL OR MAGNETIC OBJECTS NEAR THE AIRCRAFT AND CALIBRATE IT BEFORE USE.(CODE: 30060)
396.0 SENSOR ERROR
396.7 XCOMPASS ERROR. ENSURE THERE ARE NO METAL OR MAGNETIC OBJECTS NEAR THE AIRCRAFT AND CALIBRATE IT BEFORE USE.(CODE: 30060)
399.0 COMPASS CALIBRATION REQUIRED
405.0 IN FLIGHT
405.6 AGPS SIGNAL WEAK. HOVERING UNSTABLE. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30002)
405.6 NO GPS. FLY WITH CAUTION
406.8 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)AGPS SIGNAL WEAK. HOVERING UNSTABLE. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30002)
406.8 SENSOR ERROR
407.5 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)
409.0 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)AGPS SIGNAL WEAK. HOVERING UNSTABLE. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30002)
410.1 AGPS SIGNAL WEAK. HOVERING UNSTABLE. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30002)
410.4 XCOMPASS ERROR. ENSURE THERE ARE NO METAL OR MAGNETIC OBJECTS NEAR THE AIRCRAFT AND CALIBRATE IT BEFORE USE.(CODE: 30060)
411.6 XCOMPASS ERROR. ENSURE THERE ARE NO METAL OR MAGNETIC OBJECTS NEAR THE AIRCRAFT AND CALIBRATE IT BEFORE USE.(CODE: 30060)
411.8 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)XCOMPASS ERROR. ENSURE THERE ARE NO METAL OR MAGNETIC OBJECTS NEAR THE AIRCRAFT AND CALIBRATE IT BEFORE USE.(CODE: 30060)
412.6 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)
415.7 IN FLIGHT
416.0 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)
416.0 SENSOR ERROR
416.2 MGPS SIGNAL WEAK. POSITIONING ACCURACY AFFECTED. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30049)AGPS SIGNAL WEAK. HOVERING UNSTABLE. FLY WITH CAUTION(CODE: 30002)
OK

The compass errors were not a problem, and the other errors did not cause any real issues until right at the end of the flight, when the IMU velocity solution began to diverge from the GNSS solution:

View attachment 100092

Those values should generally remain ≤ 1 m/s. In position, rather than velocity space, you can see the resulting deviation:

View attachment 100091

The aircraft still responded to stick inputs though, and it was the extreme stick inputs at the end, as noted by DJI, that resulted in the crash:

View attachment 100093

I'm sure that it felt like it was responding slightly strangely because of the GNSS issues - at the end the satellite count went down to 7:

View attachment 100094

So unfortunately the problem was, arguably, pilot error, in flying in a location with very poor GNSS and not understanding the resulting behavior of the aircraft. You could try to argue that it should have switched to ATTI mode but I suspect that the result would have been the same.

I've said it numerous times, but once more cannot harm... thank you very much! If you don't mind me asking, what is your profession? You're clearly a very intelligent individual, which raises my curiosity as to which career propels you to learn these type of things...

After reading your analysis' interpretation, I have no problem paying the cost of replacement if that is DJI's final decision (since the escalation team is currently reassessing my claim). I am completely ignorant when it comes to drones, so I clearly did not understand the severe implications of flying in high frequency areas. I thought that by flying at a relatively low altitude and within close proximity of the drone it wouldn't matter - I couldn't be any more wrong. Lastly, as @RayOZ pointed out, DJI has no way of confirming if the internals were damaged in my first crash on March 13th. This is another valid point.

I am willing to pay for my mistake, but I am also looking to learn from it. However, when you don't know what you don't know, it's hard to educate yourself efficiently. This leads me to the following question; what is the best way to gain the most amount of knowledge about drones in a sequential manner that makes sense? In other words, what are the topics/areas that I need to study, and is there a particular order that you suggest? Perhaps a curriculum I can follow? There is so much to this.... I started listening to a podcast on my spare time called "Ask Drone U" and that has helped scratch the surface, but this experience taught me that there is a plethora of information that I am yet to learn - specially regarding satellites, GPS, frequency, etc.

Thank you all for your time

 

[sar104]

I've said it numerous times, but once more cannot harm... thank you very much! If you don't mind me asking, what is your profession? You're clearly a very intelligent individual, which raises my curiosity as to which career propels you to learn these type of things...

After reading your analysis' interpretation, I have no problem paying the cost of replacement if that is DJI's final decision (since the escalation team is currently reassessing my claim). I am completely ignorant when it comes to drones, so I clearly did not understand the severe implications of flying in high frequency areas. I thought that by flying at a relatively low altitude and within close proximity of the drone it wouldn't matter - I couldn't be any more wrong. Lastly, as @RayOZ pointed out, DJI has no way of confirming if the internals were damaged in my first crash on March 13th. This is another valid point.

I am willing to pay for my mistake, but I am also looking to learn from it. However, when you don't know what you don't know, it's hard to educate yourself efficiently. This leads me to the following question; what is the best way to gain the most amount of knowledge about drones in a sequential manner that makes sense? In other words, what are the topics/areas that I need to study, and is there a particular order that you suggest? Perhaps a curriculum I can follow? There is so much to this.... I started listening to a podcast on my spare time called "Ask Drone U" and that has helped scratch the surface, but this experience taught me that there is a plethora of information that I am yet to learn - specially regarding satellites, GPS, frequency, etc.

Thank you all for your time

All good questions. To be honest, I would say that very few users have the level of understanding that you are envisaging. There are classes on piloting, but none that I'm aware of even touch on the more technical aspects. Hanging around on this forum may be one of the best ways to learn, since the discussions include pretty much all aspects of the technology and just about everything that can go wrong. It certainly goes way beyond anything that I've seen elsewhere. Your case is a good example of where the limitations of the aircraft are not well communicated by DJI.

I'm a physicist, which gives me a significant head start in understanding the flight control systems to begin with, and then I have a specific interest in an area of mathematics that is very closely related. It's an unusual combination.

 

[Meta4]

I clearly did not understand the severe implications of flying in high frequency areas. I thought that by flying at a relatively low altitude and within close proximity of the drone it wouldn't matter

Interference from other sources wasn't the problem in this incident.
It was that flying close to tall buildings reduces the number of satellites available for calculating position data.
To have good positioning, your drone needs to receive data from enough satellites and the satellites must be well spread in the sky.
Out in the open with a 100% sky view, you'll always get good GPS.
But in inner city canyons, you lose a lot of sky and a lot of satellites, which can lead to problems as you encountered.

 

[bigswifty]

Perhaps a curriculum I can follow? There is so much to this.... I started listening to a podcast on my spare time called "Ask Drone U" and that has helped scratch the surface, but this experience taught me that there is a plethora of information that I am yet to learn - specially regarding satellites, GPS, frequency, etc.

IMO by far the best way to increase your knowledge regarding avoiding crashes and problems is to monitor the Crash And Fly Away Assistance forum. Personally I read every single post on it and consider it time well spent. I'd go further and say that monitoring that forum constitutes "due diligence" for operating a DJI drone. Even more so if you're conducting operations in an urban environment.

I continue to learn a lot from that forum.

 

[JSM]

I have found signal enhancers (Mini, Pro 2) make quite a difference with better connectivity when flying in "risky" areas................