Found Mavic with FAA ID

[Premium2000]

A friend, who knew I am a long time rc enthusiast asked for my help locating the owner of a mavic which he recently found.

I am very familiar with FAA registration requirements as well as DJI's ability to assist by notifying the original registered owner.

At this point I have emailed the FAA with the pilot's ID, hoping they will respond. Apparently, the manufacturer's serial number is not legible but i have not verified that yet.

Recorded videos on the sd card were reviewed but nothing conclusive was found.

I understand that there may also be flight log's on board which should help identify the starting point (hopefully the owners property) of the last few flights.

My question is can we just power up the quad and then use the DJI4Go app to access the flight log or would we also need it's bound controller and owner's account information?

If a controller is required, does it have to be the original one or could another mavic contoller be used?

While i am a quad guy I only have a general familiarity with DJI products? I am hoping that for the experts here this is a simple puzzle to solve.

Thanks in advance for any advice provided,

Larry

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Have a look at

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

 

[Premium2000]

Thanks, that was the first thing I did but it did not seemt to answer my questions.

I went back again reread the post and the best i can tell is that without the original control device, access to the gps data is not possible.

There is a lot of great detail provided in the post and if I were a mavic owner/user than doing a deep dive would be worthwhile. However, since I am just a guy trying to return a lost drone then getting a Phd in flight telemetry and data managent is much more than I need.

Hopefully, the Faa comes through with some contact information, otherwise, it looks like the owner and his mavic may not be re-united.

Thanks,

Larry

 

[Deleted member 103366]

DJI flight assistant 2 can read the flight logs straight off a mavic 2 pro without the control device but that version id not applicable to all mavics and I believe the logs are encripted on some drones so there may be hassle in getting them decripted.
Do you know precisely which mavic it is?
To get the owner's likely location from logs that you can recover from the drone you will, I think, need to dive some what into using the DatCon program but I understand if that is going too deep

 

[Scottalmas]

I'll ask an obvious question just in case it hasn't been explored yet: have you looked at the onboard memory or microSD card for a .TXT file with the ID of the owner. Many of us put a .TXT file on the card or onboard member with our contact info just in case this exact thing happens.

 

[hiflyer201]

If The FAA registration number doesn't work a lot of us have spent our money for nothing. It will work of course but it's just slow dealing with the FAA. You can put the tail number of any aircraft that you see in the search line...as in N00000 and instantly know just about anything you would want to know about the aircraft, who owns it, who has owned it..etc..so I'm sure it will be the same with Drones eventually

 

[Premium2000]

Ok, I think I have it.

My friend dropped it off and I pulled the SD card and reviewed the files.

While there were no contact information in the txt files there were some photo's and a few short video's. After some time comparing the video footage and google maps sat images, I am 99.9% certain I know now where the owner lives.

So we'll stop by for a visit and see if he lost anything recently which he would like to get back. It apparently was lost a month ago so he should be pretty surprised (and releaved)

If, for some strange reason I'm wrong, I'll be back for more good advice.

Thanks,

Larry

 

[Premium2000]

So, good news. It turned out that the owner of the mavic did indeed live at the location we thought from the on-board video.

However, he didn't seem very appreciative nor that interested in its return. He said that he had already replaced it with " a better one".

Oh well. I shouldn't be surprised, this is not the first time.

Last fall, another friend brought me a Phamtom III 4k that he found resting in peacefully is his backyard.

Once again, no contact information or FAA ID. Like the mavic, there was some video but nothing to nail down it's owner. Although, it did show that it was operating beautifully and conducted a nice smooth fail-safe landing.

I contacted DJI with the serial number and a photo. They notified the registered owner who ultimatey contacted me. Well, as it turned out, this guy lived in California ( i live in Fla) and he lost this drone 2 years ago, out west. Not two days ago in Florida.

After an extensive search locally for the current owner, we came up empty. So i offered to send it back to the original owner for the cost of shipping ($24). I even sent him photos of the drone showing that it was indeed in great condition and with his serial number. It was clear that my offer was legitimate.

To my surprise, his response was that he was thankful, he wanted it back but he was saving his money for Christmas and would get back to me in January.

You guessed it, i never heard from him again.

Frankly, if anyone brings me another found drone i probably won't bother with it.

Larry

 

[naiku]

Sorry you've experienced that when trying to help return lost drones to their owners. Any time i read one of these threads of someone finding a drone and attempting to find the owner, I'm always hopeful that should i ever lose mine, someone like you will come along, find it and attempt to return it to me.

So, on behalf of all the pilots here who would absolutely appreciate someone trying to reunite them with a lost drone. Thank you.

 

[Premium2000]

I sincerely appreciate the complement.

Larry

 

[Mavic Mac]

@Premium2000

If you find another one PLEASE pm me - I will take it !!

 

[Premium2000]

Will do.

 

[Deleted member 103366]

It's a pity they weren't more appreciative

 

[itsneedtokno]

You should buy a controller!

 

[ven]

It’s unfortunate humans can be unappreciative A holes, but don’t let that ever change your integrity . Hats off and it is very refreshing to read there are some good guys out there. You can only treat others how one would like to be treated , always a good way to be.

 

[Richiebricker]

A friend, who knew I am a long time rc enthusiast asked for my help locating the owner of a mavic which he recently found.

I am very familiar with FAA registration requirements as well as DJI's ability to assist by notifying the original registered owner.

At this point I have emailed the FAA with the pilot's ID, hoping they will respond. Apparently, the manufacturer's serial number is not legible but i have not verified that yet.

Recorded videos on the sd card were reviewed but nothing conclusive was found.

I understand that there may also be flight log's on board which should help identify the starting point (hopefully the owners property) of the last few flights.

My question is can we just power up the quad and then use the DJI4Go app to access the flight log or would we also need it's bound controller and owner's account information?

If a controller is required, does it have to be the original one or could another mavic contoller be used?

While i am a quad guy I only have a general familiarity with DJI products? I am hoping that for the experts here this is a simple puzzle to solve.

Thanks in advance for any advice provided,

Larry

If Its bright ORANGE and from forest falls, Ca, Its mine and there is a REWARD

 

[Cymruflyer]

@Premium2000

If you find another one PLEASE pm me - I will take it !!

And I'd like to take responsibility for the next two you find, they will be mine!!!

 

[Richiebricker]

Is it an orange Mavic Air from southern California?

 

[Richiebricker]

Im still looking for my Mavic Air, lost in forrest falls north of Yucaipa,CA