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Radambrown

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Hi MP friends, apologies if this has been asked, but I searched and didn't see anything stand out that was a good summary help. Also, I humbly come to you after crashing my DJI Mavic 2 Pro after almost 4 years of flying (and having my Part 107 for around 3 years) in the US. What I'm curious to know, is what steps should one take when they crash? Is there a simple: "10 Steps to Know/Do/Take After Crashing Your Drone" or something similar? My drone is unfortunately no longer under warranty and since I was doing a neighbor a favor, I didn't have insurance on it...lesson learned?!? More Background (in case this helps beyond the usual steps one should take): I was flying in a farm/ranch area and brought my collapsable landing pad because I knew the area, and wasn't going to be doing a "Return to Home" since we were walking along a canal trail, and also due to some tree hazards and occasional telephone/power lines at the spread out homes we'd come across. That being said, I changed my RTH to not turn on until it had 10% left a while back (since I'm rarely further than required to safely land in time), and unlike the usual cancel of RTH so I can safely land where I know we'd be good to go, it didn't cancel!?! The other issue is that I was close to some trees...like they were only 10-20' away at most (this is part of what we were trying to get footage of that are supposed to get cut down), so it left little margin of error once the RTH automatically turned on, but I knew this and you cancel and land like usual...right? (I'm sure there are some potential "rookie" moves and settings here, but I'd like to think my flight intentions were planned and safe...assuming the RTH canceled like it normally does.) After trying to cancel RTH, I noticed it kept going toward the trees, so I frantically (I only had 1-2 seconds until the trees at this point) tried canceling again to no avail...it just kept going, crashing into branches on it's flight up until it finally fell from about 30' up. There's significant damage to my drone, so I'm hoping I can have DJI repair it (and I'll just have to use it as a back up drone and get a new one), but what didn't make sense is why the RTH didn't seem to work like it always has when I canceled??? Any input on this, and steps I should take? There is a chance in heat of the moment, that I may have pushed the wrong buttons or something, but it all happened in a matter of 2-4 seconds total it seemed like because of the proximity to the trees, and I'm pretty sure I canceled correctly the first time. I can't confirm after that because it was crazy time hearing my drone hit branches and slowly come to it's own potential death. Any suggestions? I noticed there are ways to get flight records, etc. that may help? Thanks again for any help and insight...
 
You should upload your flight log, there are some people on this forum that can analyze those logs in detail and most often tell you exactly what happened. Go here and follow instructions:
Then post the resulting link here.
 
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Hi MP friends, apologies if this has been asked, but I searched and didn't see anything stand out that was a good summary help. Also, I humbly come to you after crashing my DJI Mavic 2 Pro after almost 4 years of flying (and having my Part 107 for around 3 years) in the US. What I'm curious to know, is what steps should one take when they crash? Is there a simple: "10 Steps to Know/Do/Take After Crashing Your Drone" or something similar? My drone is unfortunately no longer under warranty and since I was doing a neighbor a favor, I didn't have insurance on it...lesson learned?!? More Background (in case this helps beyond the usual steps one should take): I was flying in a farm/ranch area and brought my collapsable landing pad because I knew the area, and wasn't going to be doing a "Return to Home" since we were walking along a canal trail, and also due to some tree hazards and occasional telephone/power lines at the spread out homes we'd come across. That being said, I changed my RTH to not turn on until it had 10% left a while back (since I'm rarely further than required to safely land in time), and unlike the usual cancel of RTH so I can safely land where I know we'd be good to go, it didn't cancel!?! The other issue is that I was close to some trees...like they were only 10-20' away at most (this is part of what we were trying to get footage of that are supposed to get cut down), so it left little margin of error once the RTH automatically turned on, but I knew this and you cancel and land like usual...right? (I'm sure there are some potential "rookie" moves and settings here, but I'd like to think my flight intentions were planned and safe...assuming the RTH canceled like it normally does.) After trying to cancel RTH, I noticed it kept going toward the trees, so I frantically (I only had 1-2 seconds until the trees at this point) tried canceling again to no avail...it just kept going, crashing into branches on it's flight up until it finally fell from about 30' up. There's significant damage to my drone, so I'm hoping I can have DJI repair it (and I'll just have to use it as a back up drone and get a new one), but what didn't make sense is why the RTH didn't seem to work like it always has when I canceled??? Any input on this, and steps I should take? There is a chance in heat of the moment, that I may have pushed the wrong buttons or something, but it all happened in a matter of 2-4 seconds total it seemed like because of the proximity to the trees, and I'm pretty sure I canceled correctly the first time. I can't confirm after that because it was crazy time hearing my drone hit branches and slowly come to it's own potential death. Any suggestions? I noticed there are ways to get flight records, etc. that may help? Thanks again for any help and insight...
I really do hate to come off as a grammar guy...but a few (several?) paragraph breaks would go a LONG way towards making this readable. I'm sorry you crashed. Sounds to me like you didn't actually cancel return to home? We'd need to see those logs, or we're all just spit-balling and not knowing.
 
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I'm just wondering why you never touched the sticks to save your aircraft? I never fully trust autonomous flight and I'm always ready on the sticks. The sticks will override RTH.
 
1) post the log, instructions are given on the linked-to page in post #2, you may find the real reason you crashed.
2) DO NOT, as a general rule, fly the drone to 10% battery ..... unless its over the landing site. I forget 'where' the M2P's forced landing percentage threshold is but once you are in the forced landing phase you options are limited and available horizontal speeds may be SEVERELY limited.
3) post details of the damage, including photos. If you have the tools, skill and patience they are not that difficult to DIY repair, the biggest problem is likely to be your inability to see or recognise ALL the damage.
I tree'd a zoom, with a similar subsequent fall and it took three rebuilds to find and fix all the damage. In my case I did fix some of the damage but generally "fix" means "replace" the damaged parts.
 
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...after crashing my DJI Mavic 2 Pro... what steps should one take when they crash?... My drone is unfortunately no longer under warranty... I didn't have insurance on it
This would be exactly the same as if you smashed your old car into a tree... either you DIY or you send your drone to either DJI or another repair shop & pay. Being out of the warranty period & not having some kind of insurance (DJI care or another 3:rd party) even makes proven drone HW or SW failure fall on you.

...I changed my RTH to not turn on until it had 10% left
Those percentage settings you've changed were only for the warning levels (when the RC will start to beep)... they will not delay anything.

You have 2 battery percent thresholds that you can't change & which are dependent on either the height or distance from the HP. These 2 battery thresholds regulate a forced low voltage auto landing & a low battery RTH.

Here below a chart that demonstrates how both the battery % for the low battery auto landing & the battery % for the low battery RTH change with either height above & distance from the HP.

-The low battery RTH can be cancelled in the app 10sec before it is about to start...
-The low battery auto landing can't be cancelled... but it can be fought by constantly applying throttle for ascending so you can continue to fly horizontally for a short while & find a suitable emergency landing spot .

-The red graph is the height in meters which correlates to the green graph which tells on which % it will start to land.
-The blue graph is the distance in meters from the HP, that correlates to the purple graph which say at which % it will RTH.

(Click on the chart to make it larger)
1631910594407.png

... any help and insight
For this the .TXT log from the mobile device you flew with is needed... read post #2.
 
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I'm just wondering why you never touched the sticks to save your aircraft? I never fully trust autonomous flight and I'm always ready on the sticks. The sticks will override RTH.
Oh trust me...I was touching my sticks and it wasn't overriding! I just watched the flight on my iPad and it's a trip...what it doesn't show is how I'm pushing on my iPad several times to cancel on the RTH (while trying to keep the sticks down so it wouldn't ascend into the trees)...but you do see what it's saying about obstacles and it then flying out of control as it ascends into trees!
 
1) post the log, instructions are given on the linked-to page in post #2, you may find the real reason you crashed.
2) DO NOT, as a general rule, fly the drone to 10% battery ..... unless its over the landing site. I forget 'where' the M2P's forced landing percentage threshold is but once you are in the forced landing phase you options are limited and available horizontal speeds may be SEVERELY limited.
3) post details of the damage, including photos. If you have the tools, skill and patience they are not that difficult to DIY repair, the biggest problem is likely to be your inability to see or recognise ALL the damage.
I tree'd a zoom, with a similar subsequent fall and it took three rebuilds to find and fix all the damage. In my case I did fix some of the damage but generally "fix" means "replace" the damaged parts.
Working on posting log instructions. Just watched the flight footage from the flight list on my iPad. I flew to 10% because I can just land right away on the path I was on which had plenty of room, at that point in time when it got to the 10% battery level, but the RTH literally took over and it's difficult to keep both hands on the joysticks and push cancel multiple times on the iPad...ugh...where's that third arm/hand when we need it!?! :) Totally get it on the DIY fixing...I think because I have some projects lined up, I need to get another drone sort of ASAP, and was planning on getting another prior to this so I had a back up and different options...but that's proving to be difficult in itself after about 10 hrs of research. Wish I could afford the Mavic 3 Cine...but I don't only do drone flying, it's part of what I do, but do fly several times every month. Thanks for the insight and stand by on the records...
 
Oh trust me...I was touching my sticks and it wasn't overriding! I just watched the flight on my iPad and it's a trip...what it doesn't show is how I'm pushing on my iPad several times to cancel on the RTH (while trying to keep the sticks down so it wouldn't ascend into the trees)...but you do see what it's saying about obstacles and it then flying out of control as it ascends into trees!
Ya depending on the model sometimes you have no stick control during RTH. I do with my Phantom 3 but according to Manual for my Mavic 3 depending on the type of RTH you may or may not have stick control during RTH.
In any case, particularly yours here, where you had no intention to RTH to the takeoff point anyway, your best course of action would have been to set RTH action to hover only prior to flight.
 
This would be exactly the same as if you smashed your old car into a tree... either you DIY or you send your drone to either DJI or another repair shop & pay. Being out of the warranty period & not having some kind of insurance (DJI care or another 3:rd party) even makes proven drone HW or SW failure fall on you.


Those percentage settings you've changed were only for the warning levels (when the RC will start to beep)... they will not delay anything.

You have 2 battery percent thresholds that you can't change & which are dependent on either the height or distance from the HP. These 2 battery thresholds regulate a forced low voltage auto landing & a low battery RTH.

Here below a chart that demonstrates how both the battery % for the low battery auto landing & the battery % for the low battery RTH change with either height above & distance from the HP.

-The low battery RTH can be cancelled in the app 10sec before it is about to start...
-The low battery auto landing can't be cancelled... but it can be fought by constantly applying throttle for ascending so you can continue to fly horizontally for a short while & find a suitable emergency landing spot .

-The red graph is the height in meters which correlates to the green graph which tells on which % it will start to land.
-The blue graph is the distance in meters from the HP, that correlates to the purple graph which say at which % it will RTH.

(Click on the chart to make it larger)
View attachment 161609


For this the .TXT log from the mobile device you flew with is needed... read post #2.
I would've preferred it just to auto-land at that point vs. RTH...you can see in the flight list video on my iPad that I'm trying to descend and fight the RTH while also wishing I had a 3rd arm/hand to keep canceling the RTH...this is good to know though about the battery thresholds...that's new to me and I appreciate the insight so I can be aware of it in the future now. I also didn't know about it allowing one to fly horizontally...at that point and freaking because it was going into the trees, I was mostly trying to descend and you see a little of my trying to horizontal, but nearly enough (as I'm also trying to frantically cancel the RTH on the iPad by letting go of the throttle...ugh!).
 
Ya depending on the model sometimes you have no stick control during RTH. I do with my Phantom 3 but according to Manual for my Mavic 3 depending on the type of RTH you may or may not have stick control during RTH.
In any case, particularly yours here, where you had no intention to RTH to the takeoff point anyway, your best course of action would have been to set RTH action to hover only prior to flight.
I'll need to research that in hopes that I can get this fixed and have it as a back-up option. I didn't know I could change the RTH to hover...good to know, thank you!
 
I'll need to research that in hopes that I can get this fixed and have it as a back-up option. I didn't know I could change the RTH to hover...good to know, thank you!
My mistake, you can set control signal lost to hover only. RTH should be able to be disabled altogether. I'm not familiar with the app settings for the Mavic 2 Pro, but I'm sure there is something you could have set to mitigate this scenario.
 
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You should upload your flight log, there are some people on this forum that can analyze those logs in detail and most often tell you exactly what happened. Go here and follow instructions:
Then post the resulting link here.
Not sure those instructions work anymore via iTunes...it appears with Mac OS Ventura upgrade I have on my Mac, there's no iTunes...now it's only via Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Podcasts, and Apple Books apps, so I'm trying using Finder now...stand by.
 
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I really do hate to come off as a grammar guy...but a few (several?) paragraph breaks would go a LONG way towards making this readable. I'm sorry you crashed. Sounds to me like you didn't actually cancel return to home? We'd need to see those logs, or we're all just spit-balling and not knowing.
Ha, ha...I usually am a stickler for paragraphs and things...glad you noticed! Copy that.

I do mostly real estate videos and photos, so it can be anywhere from 2-10 times of flying per month. Right now because of the economy, it's a little less, but still consistent with other business.

Working on the logs now...stand by since I can't do it via iTunes, so using Finder...
 
You should upload your flight log, there are some people on this forum that can analyze those logs in detail and most often tell you exactly what happened. Go here and follow instructions:
Then post the resulting link here.
Hopefully I did this correctly: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

So this is really cool to see this side of it! It looks like around 18m 23.9s is the beginning of the end... :(

I also did a screen video from the DJI GO 4 app of the flight and fast forwarded it, but I think it's either too large of a file to upload, or the wrong format as an attachment.
 
Well... out from the log no signs is found that indicate that you tried to cancel the low battery RTH, neither during the 10sec count down (purple graph in the chart further below) or after that the RTH had started... you there only applied throttle for descend intermittently & on top of that rudder, no elevator or aileron commands at all. In general switching back & forth to another flight mode (Sport) with the RC HW button will cancel automated flight modes.

The last bit of the flight path was very low under trees... a bit audacious considering the low battery percentage & the expected upcoming low battery RTH... not much time to react until the disaster is a fact.

Here the flight path... drone ended up in the tree marked with a red X...
1678919790155.png

And here below the interesting data from the log, have placed the chart marker just where the low battery RTH count down starts at 1103,9sec into the flight... the threshold is there 22% & the battery had just reached that level (Blue background color means RTH active).

Can't see anything that indicate anything else than a plain pilot error... & we have seen many similar cases in the forum where pilots thought that they could fly low under trees down to the last percentages as they were so close to the HP.

(Click on the chart to make it larger)
1678919857395.png
 
Well... out from the log no signs is found that indicate that you tried to cancel the low battery RTH, neither during the 10sec count down (purple graph in the chart further below) or after that the RTH had started... you there only applied throttle for descend intermittently & on top of that rudder, no elevator or aileron commands at all. In general switching back & forth to another flight mode (Sport) with the RC HW button will cancel automated flight modes.

The last bit of the flight path was very low under trees... a bit audacious considering the low battery percentage & the expected upcoming low battery RTH... not much time to react until the disaster is a fact.

Here the flight path... drone ended up in the tree marked with a red X...
View attachment 161639

And here below the interesting data from the log, have placed the chart marker just where the low battery RTH count down starts at 1103,9sec into the flight... the threshold is there 22% & the battery had just reached that level (Blue background color means RTH active).

Can't see anything that indicate anything else than a plain pilot error... & we have seen many similar cases in the forum where pilots thought that they could fly low under trees down to the last percentages as they were so close to the HP.

(Click on the chart to make it larger)
View attachment 161640
First of all, that is so cool to see all of that and what you did...thank you for taking the time! Yeah, I noticed that it didn't show (even on the flight video in the app) that I canceled the RTH...but that's not the first time this has happened...it's like it just completely takes over, and the second I take a finger off the stick(s), it proceeds to go up to go back home. Maybe it has something to do with my iPad...but I keep it updated software/app-wise.

I fly near and under trees often for where we live in Oregon, and know there's the obvious risk, and this particular job was focusing on...you guessed it...trees that were spray painted recently, and so I was flying over a dry canal to show the trees on each side that were painted [these painted trees are supposed to be getting cut down in the next several months over 9 miles, and it's not in line with what the irrigation district said they'd be cutting down (long story)].

So I'm still baffled...I pushed cancel for sure once, but more than likely multiple times on my iPad. After that and because of the proximity to the trees (as you can see I had 1-3 seconds maybe before the hazards), it just got frantic so there's probably some stick and other action at that point that was just not my MO for flying because I was in the trees and listening to it hit branches and things...hoping I could maybe catch it when it finally fell, but I wasn't able to even do that.

I guess it doesn't matter at this point because it's out of warranty and insurance at this point, but super cool to see all this you and others were able to bring to light, as well as all the other insight people have offered...I really appreciate this community...thanks!
 
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I have had on screen buttons not work before so I generally use the RTH button on the controller, I can say that there is one on the RC1A & RC1B controllers and I would assume there is one on any applicable smart controller.
t does away with the gremlins that guard screen buttons.
 
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