FLYAWAY, CRASH AND SURPRISE RECOVERY

[GFields]

So glad you were able to get your drone back. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Little bird]

So glad you were able to get your drone back. Thanks for sharing!

So glad you got your drone back, and plus you got a tour of the facility. ?

 

[icecoldgin]

Warranty as in standard warranty or the extra DJI Care Refresh?

It was a full warranty as we do not have DJI refresh in our neck of the woods

 

[Squidinc]

I live on the south shore of Long Island and the south of town is on the water. There is a triad of a marina/boat ramp, a golf course and a huge 20 acre sewage treatment plant.

I was on flight #178 with a Mini 2 at the marina filming a friend launching his new boat at the boat ramp. I finished and was returning home to land when all of a sudden, my drone took off toward the sewage plant and at 111 feet spun out of control and crashed just on the other side of a 2 foot thick, 15 foot high concrete wall erected around the plant after it was ravaged by high tides in 2012 by hurricane Sandy. There is still major construction happening with bulldozers, cranes, backhoes, etc.

I thought, “that’s it, it’s long gone, they’ll never let me search for it inside the high security compound.” But I decided with nothing to lose… why not ask, drove to the main security gate and mentioned what happened. They called a supervisor over in a colored vest and hard hat and I showed him the flight path on my iPad and that it crashed just on the other side of the wall in the southwestern most corner of the facility. The guy seemed fascinated! We drove in my truck through the whole facility to that area and for an hour we looked everywhere, climbed to the roof of 3 different 4 story buildings, etc. The last photo received was of my drone on top of some bright yellow rolled hose so we kept looking for that, but to no avail. He was obsessed with figuring out where that yellow hose could be… (see photo)

He asked for my info, took a screenshot of the yellow hose from my iPad and said he was going to e-mail everyone at the facility asking, “who knows where this hose is?”. I left figuring that was the end of that.

Two hours later he calls me saying, “we found your drone, come and get it, you won’t believe where it was”. One of the last images I saw before it crashed was a square white street sweeper cleaning along the perimeter of the property just inside the wall near where my drone crashed. (bottom left in photo) It ends up my mini 2 came spiraling in and hit his windshield. He got out, picked it up, and put it in the back of his sweeper on the yellow hose used to fill his tank from a fire hydrant. The only damage was a broken right front motor arm and some broken props which I can replace for $24.00 on amazon. But the most amazing part was the eagerness of everyone at the facility to help me find my drone. They could have just as easily said, “Look this is a secure facility with 100 construction workers operating all kinds of heavy equipment. We don’t have time to help you.” Instead, they really went above and beyond anything I could have imagined.

Great result. Fantastic story. Personally, I would write a note of appreciation to the plant manager for the help you received.

 

[SteCee]

Great you retrieved it.

It's nice to be nice, drop them in a couple crates of juice or nice cold water along with a few tubs of chocolates.

 

[66427cobra]

That's exactly where it was Mark. 10 feet inside the wall!! I'm wondering if they have any anti-drone transmitters (2.4 and 5.8Mhtz)there? Post 911 its a very secure facility. I may go back with a frequency analyzer and stand outside the wall to see if there are any transmissions.

Ew...that would be a dirty bomb. ?

 

[Skurfer]

Yep definitely go back with some cookies or doughnuts for the people there.

 

[Luckyguy9]

I live on the south shore of Long Island and the south of town is on the water. There is a triad of a marina/boat ramp, a golf course and a huge 20 acre sewage treatment plant.

I was on flight #178 with a Mini 2 at the marina filming a friend launching his new boat at the boat ramp. I finished and was returning home to land when all of a sudden, my drone took off toward the sewage plant and at 111 feet spun out of control and crashed just on the other side of a 2 foot thick, 15 foot high concrete wall erected around the plant after it was ravaged by high tides in 2012 by hurricane Sandy. There is still major construction happening with bulldozers, cranes, backhoes, etc.

I thought, “that’s it, it’s long gone, they’ll never let me search for it inside the high security compound.” But I decided with nothing to lose… why not ask, drove to the main security gate and mentioned what happened. They called a supervisor over in a colored vest and hard hat and I showed him the flight path on my iPad and that it crashed just on the other side of the wall in the southwestern most corner of the facility. The guy seemed fascinated! We drove in my truck through the whole facility to that area and for an hour we looked everywhere, climbed to the roof of 3 different 4 story buildings, etc. The last photo received was of my drone on top of some bright yellow rolled hose so we kept looking for that, but to no avail. He was obsessed with figuring out where that yellow hose could be… (see photo)

He asked for my info, took a screenshot of the yellow hose from my iPad and said he was going to e-mail everyone at the facility asking, “who knows where this hose is?”. I left figuring that was the end of that.

Two hours later he calls me saying, “we found your drone, come and get it, you won’t believe where it was”. One of the last images I saw before it crashed was a square white street sweeper cleaning along the perimeter of the property just inside the wall near where my drone crashed. (bottom left in photo) It ends up my mini 2 came spiraling in and hit his windshield. He got out, picked it up, and put it in the back of his sweeper on the yellow hose used to fill his tank from a fire hydrant. The only damage was a broken right front motor arm and some broken props which I can replace for $24.00 on amazon. But the most amazing part was the eagerness of everyone at the facility to help me find my drone. They could have just as easily said, “Look this is a secure facility with 100 construction workers operating all kinds of heavy equipment. We don’t have time to help you.” Instead, they really went above and beyond anything I could have imagined.

FOLLOW-UP TO THIS CRASH AND RECOVERY

I sent the drone to DJI for repair. It is a pretty simple process and they e-mailed me almost every day telling me when it was received, when they were examining it, etc. I got the itemized bill by email today.

Item List

Aircraft GPS & IMU Module
Quantity: 1
Net Price : $8.00

Gimbal Axis Arm Module
Quantity: 1
Net Price : $33.00

Front Left Aircraft Module (Global Excluding JP)
Quantity: 1
Net Price : $6.00

Front Right Aircraft Arm Module (Global Version; Excluding JP)
Quantity: 1
Net Price : $6.00

Aircraft Lower Cover Module (Global Excluding JP)
Quantity: 1
Net Price : $1.00

Rear Right Aircraft Module (Global Excluding JP)
Quantity: 1
Net Price : $5.00

CCW Propellers (Pair) (Yellow)
Quantity: 2
Net Price : $3.00

CW Propellers (Pair) (Yellow)
Quantity: 2
Net Price : 3.00

Repair Service Fee
Quantity: 2
Net Price : 65.00 x 2= $130.00

Total Amount
$201.00

Discount
$201.00

Total Payment (USD$)
$0.00

Dear Customer,

This message is from DJI Support. The data analysis determined that your product qualifies for a free warranty repair/replacement. The repair is expected to be finished within 3 to 6 business days, after which the product will be sent back to you. Thank you for choosing DJI.

THAT WAS A NICE SURPRISE!!! I just got the tracking number a few minutes ago. It should arrive Saturday. Total time... 8 days!

 

[aeciolemos]

I actually crashed my first Mini due to engine not being able to rotate. I was RTH when battery was low and at about 10m above the landing site, it just stopped and dropped to the ground. I tried to catch it even, but I was not fast enough. Luckily, the guys I had bought it from analyzed the logs and saw it was NOT a pilot error and honoured the warranty.

HOWEVER, they did tell me that I must have pressed the RTH a couple times or more (I don't recall) and that might have caused strain on the battery life, resulting in the crash, so TECHNICALLY it might be considered a pilot error, but I think this is a SOFTWARE error, where it should not accept a new RTH command once one has been issued.

Anyway, at least my story had a happy ending.

 

[Luckyguy9]

I actually crashed my first Mini due to engine not being able to rotate. I was RTH when battery was low and at about 10m above the landing site, it just stopped and dropped to the ground. I tried to catch it even, but I was not fast enough. Luckily, the guys I had bought it from analyzed the logs and saw it was NOT a pilot error and honoured the warranty.

HOWEVER, they did tell me that I must have pressed the RTH a couple times or more (I don't recall) and that might have caused strain on the battery life, resulting in the crash, so TECHNICALLY it might be considered a pilot error, but I think this is a SOFTWARE error, where it should not accept a new RTH command once one has been issued.

Anyway, at least my story had a happy ending.

What was the damage?