Found Mavic Air 2 at Guernsey Reservoir in Wyoming.

[shrinkingmedic]

I have recovered a drone: it was found at the Guernsey Reservoir in Guernsey State Park in Wyoming, last footage August 1, 2020. I would like to reunite it with its owner. I have the serial number, model number, the contents of the SD card, FAA registration number. It is the same model as I have. How do I at least reunite the video with the owner, if not the (presumeably) dead drone.

It's a Mavic Air 2, it (briefly) turns on with MY battery, but then shuts down quickly without the beeps and boops. I've cleaned the contacts for the battery, SD-card, USB-C slot, but the drone may be unrecoverable (scale all over it). The entire drone is sitting in a ZipLock bag with a ton of dessicant. Footage shows the reservoir full, but not a crash, and it was found at the bottom of the now drained reservoir at: 42°18'31.60"N, 104°48'24.06”W.

I was, however, able to recover all data off the SD card.

Armed with this information, how do I go about finding the owner? (Or IS THE OWNER HERE?)

Thanks,
Dave

 

[BigAl07]

That one looks pretty well done for but the owner may want the DATA etc.

Only Law Enforcement and the FAA can work with the FAA Reg#. If you send me a PM with your contact information I'll call you tomorrow and start the process to get the owner contacted. I'm an FAA Safety Team Representative (Charlotte NC region) but I can get you going on this one.

KUDOS to you for trying to help another Mavic owner get their bird back.

Allen

 

[jmorales71]

With the s/n DJI knows exactly who the owner is , so best thing to do is contact DJI customer support

 

[shrinkingmedic]

With the s/n DJI knows exactly who the owner is , so best thing to do is contact DJI customer support

I posted on the DJI forums as well. They seem to pop up to reunite drones with their owners from time to time.

 

[shrinkingmedic]

That one looks pretty well done for but the owner may want the DATA etc.

Only Law Enforcement and the FAA can work with the FAA Reg#. If you send me a PM with your contact information I'll call you tomorrow and start the process to get the owner contacted. I'm an FAA Safety Team Representative (Charlotte NC region) but I can get you going on this one.

KUDOS to you for trying to help another Mavic owner get their bird back.

Allen

I PMed you the details.

 

[BigAl07]

I PMed you the details.

I'm working on it now. I'll let you know what they release and I'll update this thread as well. Again THANK YOU for going to this effort.

Allen

 

[hiflyer201]

Welcome to the Forum from California...right away i can tell that you're one of the good guys!!
You'll fit right it!

 

[Tufargon]

I can't imagine how happy the owner will feel when he gets it back. Kudos for being a good person!!

 

[jmorales71]

I posted on the DJI forums as well. They seem to pop up to reunite drones with their owners from time to time.

Not DJI forums , DJI customer service, the DJI website, they have every single s/n linked with customer so they know 100% who the owner is by the s/n

 

[Thomas B]

Not DJI forums , DJI customer service, the DJI website, they have every single s/n linked with customer so they know 100% who the owner is by the s/n

But won’t tell others.
Wonder if they will relay/send a message.

 

[BigAl07]

We are waiting on the Atlanta FSDO to verify the FAA# and get back to us.

 

[shrinkingmedic]

I have contacted DJI via support (e-mail) and via PM on the forums (as expected, DJI *did* pop into their forums to help). @BigAl07 is working on the FAA side (my direct e-mail to FAA did not get the reply I expected). Somehow we'll get 'er done.

I have uploaded the entire SD contents on Google Photos so I can instantly share with the owner once I get his e-mail. The drone is sitting in a sealed ZipLock bag in a window with a metric ton of dessicant. I think that's about all I can do for now.

Cheers,
Dave

As a side note: I have put a file on EVERY one of my electronic devices at the top level of the SD card with my contact information due to this experience. This includes drones, cameras, etc. Labels and permanent marker can be removed by weather, fortunately SD cards seem robust. This has been a valuable learning experience for me.

 

[floridakilos]

Very curious how this one ends up. Tomorrow morning I’m also popping my contact info onto my SD cards. Thanks for the idea.

 

[BigAl07]

Very curious how this one ends up. Tomorrow morning I’m also popping my contact info onto my SD cards. Thanks for the idea.

Definitely put a TXT file on there Just In Case!

We have ours named "If Found Read Me". It has my full contact information. May or may not help but it's cheap, easy, and who knows we might get lucky

 

[Thomas B]

Consider putting a written label with the information for contact on it.

 

[Emanáku]

But won’t tell others.
Wonder if they will relay/send a message.

DJI contacts the owner and asks them if they are willing to contact you.
That way data privacy is secured.
I read of several rescues like this here and in other message boards.
Good luck and thank you!

 

[shrinkingmedic]

The drone owner has been found. He's from Cheyenne! He called me today.

 

[Thomas B]

The drone owner has been found. He's from Cheyenne! He called me today.

Great job!