Drone dropped out of sky into the ocean

[Zoe H]

Hi All,
My son and I had a DJI Mavic Pro which we used while travelling around Australia. I am at a complete loss with how to deal with DJI after months of going backwards and forwards with them. The incident actually happened back in April 2019. No errors came up on the controller - my son was taking photos and then all of a sudden it disconnected and the drone freefalled out of the sky into the water. We were not able to retrieve it despite our efforts at both low and high tide. The best I have managed from DJI is an offer of 30% discount on a replacement. They say they cannot figure out the cause of the incident. The flight record ended at T=02:58 with no more flight record after ie the flight record does verify that the drone dropped out of the sky. "The interuption of the flight record didnt indicate that the aircraft stopped functioning in the mid-air as there were many possible reasons which would lead to the interuption".
They then go onto to say that "due to the interuption of the record, the cause for this incident was not recorded, but it was verified from the record that there was no malfunction found before the record was cut off. The aircraft was under our control and responded well, it worked normally before the flight record ended........"
The only thing that did happen before we watched it drop out of the sky with the message on the controller "aircraft disconnected" was a message with "cache space full" in a green box with a green tick.
The drone was 6 months old so under warranty.
I know this is something that has happened to other pilots and that it can be pilot error but the flight record doesnt show that either and Im sure it was nothing we did...I dont know where to from here?
Can anyone help?
Thank you
Zoe

 

[sar104]

The most common cause of that type of event is an incorrectly installed battery that becomes dislodged during flight - i.e. operator error. That is one reason why the 30% discount is the default offer from DJI if the aircraft cannot be recovered and its onboard logs examined. Unless the mobile device logs point to a different failure then that is going to be their position.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Hi Zoe, welcome to the forum, even though a terrible way to join up following up with the incident.

If you have the txt and or dat files from the flight, maybe post them up ?
It could give people an idea of the circumstances and distances etc that the M1P was to your position etc, or maybe other clues to confirm probable battery disconnect / ejection.

Did you see the aircraft come down clearly, and was it possible to see another object (the battery) falling too ?

If you have them and want to post the logs, follow the thread link in sar104 post sig line above, or go here and follow that process . . .

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

 

[old man mavic]

welcome to the forum ,sorry it is not under happier circumstances

 

[flybigR1]

I fly a mavic platinum pro and while my experience was not the same as yours , it did have something to do with the warning ( cache space full ) . I was in the process of launching my bird when all at once it flagged cache space full . Then instead of hovering to set home point , it started ascending rapidly .
I immediately tried to gain control and land it but it reached about 20m before it started descending . After I landed it I cleared the cache and tried launching again . Had no problems after that .
Sorry about your loss.

 

[JAW]

Does the 30% discount give you a completely new drone set up, or just the body, battery and propellers? If it’s just the latter, US $800 (30% off regular full setup price) seems to be on the high side

 

[sar104]

Does the 30% discount give you a completely new drone set up, or just the body, battery and propellers? If it’s just the latter, US $800 (30% off regular full setup price) seems to be on the high side

30% off the price of a replacement aircraft.

 

[Meta4]

I fly a mavic platinum pro and while my experience was not the same as yours , it did have something to do with the warning ( cache space full ) . I was in the process of launching my bird when all at once it flagged cache space full . Then instead of hovering to set home point , it started ascending rapidly .
I immediately tried to gain control and land it but it reached about 20m before it started descending . After I landed it I cleared the cache and tried launching again .

The cache space issue has no effect on controlling your drone.
It just means that the app won't be saving any (useless) cached video because it's run out of space to store it.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

If it’s just the latter, US $800 (30% off regular full setup price) seems to be on the high side

We might pay relatively more for DJI products normally here (Care Refresh excepted for some reason) than the US, scale of economy and all . . .

If an aircraft / battery / prop replacement with 30% discount is US$800 in the States, that = about AUD$1187 . . .
Looks like the OP had an M1P, but a new MPP flymore can be bought here new for around AUD$1900, or a refurb MPP AUD$1300.

So the OP is probably better off getting a refurb MPP, and having a spare controller / batteries etc (the 2nd controller can be used as a slave for new pilots for dual control, so not a bad deal).

 

[dirkclod]

Sorry bout that guys i have cleaned this up.
Carry on. ?​

 

[Endeavor]

I just did a litchi mission in Mazatlan to Wolfe Island which is about a mile out to sea and it's a bit scary as that's a deal where if it goes down you just get on eBay and buy another. Needless to say thanks to VLM and lot's of planning all went well. Going down or crashing is unfortunately the risk one takes.

 

[shb]

The most common cause of that type of event is an incorrectly installed battery that becomes dislodged during flight - i.e. operator error. That is one reason why the 30% discount is the default offer from DJI if the aircraft cannot be recovered and its onboard logs examined. Unless the mobile device logs point to a different failure then that is going to be their position.

That's what happened to me. I was flying with a swollen battery, and it came off in flight, and it crashed into the ocean. All I got on the controller was "searching for connection". Fortunately, it crashed in shallow water and some kids found it. I have a thread about the whole thing. I'm trying to fix it now. It flies, but gimbal is bad.

 

[sar104]

That's what happened to me. I was flying with a swollen battery, and it came off in flight, and it crashed into the ocean. All I got on the controller was "searching for connection". Fortunately, it crashed in shallow water and some kids found it. I have a thread about the whole thing. I'm trying to fix it now. It flies, but gimbal is bad.

Platinum ocean crash.

Platinum crash ocean. On Dec 30th, 2018, I was flying my Mavic Pro Platinum in the vicinity of Catbalogan harbor, Samar Philippines. I flew 15 minutes with no problems.6 minutes of that was in tripod mode, because I was flying around people and boats. I noticed the battery was 30%, so I...

mavicpilots.com

 

[bapp1236]

Hi All,
My son and I had a DJI Mavic Pro which we used while travelling around Australia. I am at a complete loss with how to deal with DJI after months of going backwards and forwards with them. The incident actually happened back in April 2019. No errors came up on the controller - my son was taking photos and then all of a sudden it disconnected and the drone freefalled out of the sky into the water. We were not able to retrieve it despite our efforts at both low and high tide. The best I have managed from DJI is an offer of 30% discount on a replacement. They say they cannot figure out the cause of the incident. The flight record ended at T=02:58 with no more flight record after ie the flight record does verify that the drone dropped out of the sky. "The interuption of the flight record didnt indicate that the aircraft stopped functioning in the mid-air as there were many possible reasons which would lead to the interuption".
They then go onto to say that "due to the interuption of the record, the cause for this incident was not recorded, but it was verified from the record that there was no malfunction found before the record was cut off. The aircraft was under our control and responded well, it worked normally before the flight record ended........"
The only thing that did happen before we watched it drop out of the sky with the message on the controller "aircraft disconnected" was a message with "cache space full" in a green box with a green tick.
The drone was 6 months old so under warranty.
I know this is something that has happened to other pilots and that it can be pilot error but the flight record doesnt show that either and Im sure it was nothing we did...I dont know where to from here?
Can anyone help?
Thank you
Zoe

Mavic Air has had battery issues from day 1. DJI claims to have fixed those but I have two and both have went down several times over battery issues. Luckily, I have a Marco Polo tracker on them and have been able to retrieve them. Forget DJI, they will always tell you pilot error or high wind or some other BS. I don't trust the Air on long flights. It's not so bad to have a problem, but the fact the DJI seldom admits to well documented problems is the problem.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Mavic Air has had battery issues from day 1.

I don't trust the Air on long flights.

This was a Mavic Pro, not sure why you mention the Air, as far as I know the M1P / MPP has never had battery issues in general.

 

[shb]

This was a Mavic Pro, not sure why you mention the Air, as far as I know the M1P / MPP has never had battery issues in general.

Are you kidding me! The mavic pro/platinum definitely has battery issues. They swell up so their attachment is compromised. I've had 3 that swelled up.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Are you kidding me! The mavic pro/platinum definitely has battery issues. They swell up so their attachment is compromised. I've had 3 that swelled up.

Some M1P / MPP pilots have battery issues.
But then, ALL lipos swell eventually, the M2P is having this issue also, some at VERY early stage in life . . . quite a few crashes in this forum section due to instant power loss etc.
I think a lot is related to geographic location too, heat is bad !!

Mine (M1P) are well over 3 years old now (plus whatever before my purchase of the flymore), they are showing no signs of swelling while charging, or if inspected immediately after a flight.
Flight times are still right up there like new.

 

[Zoe H]

Hi Mavic South Oz,
Thank you for your reply and welcome to the site! I fear it maybe shortlived as don't feel particularly motivated to go and spend another +$1000 for possibly the same thing to happen again. Though if I ever got another drone I don't think we would fly over the sea again- which is a shame because travelling Australia you get amazing shots as Im sure you know!
I will upload what I have later on tonight and will be keen to get feedback. We clearly saw the aircraft come down. There were 3 of us watching it from a cliff overlooking the sea. And nothing came down first. Im pretty sure we would have seen it. Mind you the battery is small. The batteries were not swollen and were definitely clicked into place. We checked that every single time.
Thanks again for your help.
Zoe

Hi Zoe, welcome to the forum, even though a terrible way to join up following up with the incident.

If you have the txt and or dat files from the flight, maybe post them up ?
It could give people an idea of the circumstances and distances etc that the M1P was to your position etc, or maybe other clues to confirm probable battery disconnect / ejection.

Did you see the aircraft come down clearly, and was it possible to see another object (the battery) falling too ?

If you have them and want to post the logs, follow the thread link in sar104 post sig line above, or go here and follow that process . . .

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

 

[Zoe H]

Platinum ocean crash.

Platinum crash ocean. On Dec 30th, 2018, I was flying my Mavic Pro Platinum in the vicinity of Catbalogan harbor, Samar Philippines. I flew 15 minutes with no problems.6 minutes of that was in tripod mode, because I was flying around people and boats. I noticed the battery was 30%, so I...

mavicpilots.com

The batteries weren't swollen....and unfortunately retrieval wasn't a good option. I did go out with a snorkel at different tide levels - aside from nearly getting bashed on the rocks I didn't manage to achieve a thing
At least you got yours back!

 

[Zoe H]

We are sure that it was not a battery issue. The DJI position is very disappointing and just feels like a complete rip off to be honest. Will upload the flight logs later on today