Geo Fence Tragedy

[radiowaves]

I have lost all patience with The DJI big brother stuff. I just received my Mavic replacement back, fortunately I had I had insurance on it and DJI replaced it quickly with a new one for almost no money. I leave in a location surrounded by water. I fired it up and brought it up around 30 feet before receiving a message about entering restricted air space , or something like that, and was told
'landing" and it did.. Just like a few weeks ago, you loose control, the software takes over and down it comes. I kept trying to manually keep it up a few feet so I could grab but no go!
I was fortunate it landed in the bushes, flipped over but no damage except to my nerves.
Where I live is around 50 miles from Palm Beach and yes there was VIP air restriction which for a 10-15 mile radius around Palm Beach. I just don't understand why such drastic action as forcing an automatic landing is called for. Since I am responsible, not DJI, why not a simple notification or alarm?
I have been flying DJI drones for years but this is getting ridiculous.
Fred
Lighthouse Point Florida

 

[dronerdave]

Are you saying that Airmap or Kittyhawk is saying you're OK to fly but you're being restricted (the VIP restriction has been lifted)? Responsible drone operators don't fly in restricted areas w/o proper authorization but I'm sure DJI knows some owners won't follow the rules and why they implement Geo Fencing. Probably just CYA on the part of DJI. Myself, I've found it more useful than a burden. Checking for flight restrictions before takeoff is probably just as important as making sure your IMU and compass are in order. However if there are no restrictions and the aircraft does something to cause a crash I'd suggest posting your flight logs so some of the more experienced members can show you what is going on.

 

[radiowaves]

Thanks for the reply
I was allowed to fly but shortly there after I received the "Landing" message.
Now that the "VIP" restriction has been lifted I received the message
'you may unlock" when I go to take off, but then I get the message "unable to unlock" error
As I said this sure does try your patience! Especially considering that all I want to do is go up 50 feet in my own back yard a try different camera settings. No need to have big bro there is no legal requirement for all this, other manufactures don't impose this on their customers. I keep coming back to the same issue if the wish I would be happy with helpful notifications but not controlling my drone. You receive notifications in you car or boat but the manufactures don't take over the controls
Fred

 

[dronerdave]

It doesn't sound right but then I don't even know where you're flying. The logs will show what happened. No reason to risk crashing your bird so let one of the pros help you out. As far as DJI products, there's no sense complaining about geofencing...it is what it is but I've never had my MP just land if I already am able to take off. I have flown into a no-fly zone and I got a warning not to enter so I just turned back.

 

[GFields]

When you're unable to unlock the zone within the DJI Go 4 app, you can go to DJI's fly safe portal and do a custom unlock. You can also select "self-unlocking.

 

[kcfyrproof]

I too am a subject of the Geo Fence every time POTUS is in town. I've learned to be patient and not get too upset about it. There are too many other, great weather days, here in south Florida to fly. It would be nice if there was a way to turn off the GPS locator completely and you could fly within the line of site only

 

[kcfyrproof]

It's too bad that it only takes one bad or criminal pilot to have the gov. impose these restrictions on the rest of the responsible pilots but I understand the need to protect The Commander In Chief.

 

[dronerdave]

When you're unable to unlock the zone within the DJI Go 4 app, you can go to DJI's fly safe portal and do a custom unlock. You can also select "self-unlocking.

I've had to do that while flying on a government runway. But there were no NOTAM's or TFR's and in class G airspace. My MP wouldn't even lift off until I unlocked it. But the last thing I want to do is bypass a TFR if it's possible. It's one of the reasons the FAA is trying to restrict rec fliers.
What I'd want to know is why does the OP's quad lift off and then kick into auto landing on its own? Without the logs and knowing where/when the flight took place I guess it will remain a mystery. Or is this a normal operation while inside a no fly zone?

 

[kcfyrproof]

When I was fenced out, my mini would not even start.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

My understand is that this should never happen (allowed to take off, forced to land) unless one takes off before a scheduled TFR starts, then said TFR becomes active while in the air and in the zone.

If you live in an area where this happens a lot (or is frequent enough), I would always have the appropriate app on the phone (or at least on the desktop at home) to check before you fly and know where the TFRs might be that day.

I've encountered active NFZs before and that has never caused a forced landing. The AC just stops at the edge of the zone. But those are generally not temporary restrictions. That's what "fencing" means, keeping one out.

Chris

 

[Troy.Spark]

If memory serves me right I remember that a pilot was fly once and his UAV crossed geofencing for a airport and it cause the drone to land which happened to be over water at the time and like you could not over right it with the controls. I have always wondered why not simply make it return to home or maybe just hover at 30 foot and then give you the choice to fly at minimum speed to a safe landing spot why DJI chooses to simply let’s just go straight down

 

[pross]

why DJI chooses to simply let’s just go straight down

This has been discussed a lot, basically the drone finds itself in a no fly zone, it is not allowed to fly home as that would be flying in a no fly zone so its only option is to land.

 

[AntDX316]

Why did it you even send it in, in the first place? You probably lack a common procedure list to follow before flight.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I have lost all patience with The DJI big brother stuff. I just received my Mavic replacement back, fortunately I had I had insurance on it and DJI replaced it quickly with a new one for almost no money. I leave in a location surrounded by water. I fired it up and brought it up around 30 feet before receiving a message about entering restricted air space , or something like that, and was told
'landing" and it did.. Just like a few weeks ago, you loose control, the software takes over and down it comes. I kept trying to manually keep it up a few feet so I could grab but no go!
I was fortunate it landed in the bushes, flipped over but no damage except to my nerves.
Where I live is around 50 miles from Palm Beach and yes there was VIP air restriction which for a 10-15 mile radius around Palm Beach. I just don't understand why such drastic action as forcing an automatic landing is called for. Since I am responsible, not DJI, why not a simple notification or alarm?
I have been flying DJI drones for years but this is getting ridiculous.
Fred
Lighthouse Point Florida

Was this caused by a difference in FW versions between your new replacement aircraft and the one it replaced?

 

[BullDoggBoyz]

I have read a scenario on this forum or another, where a guy in my neck of the woods in Philadelphia, was flying his M2P over the Delaware river near the ports. Apparently a TNFZ was imposed during his flight for the Phillies game that started at 7pm five miles away. Once that happened, he got a warning and a countdown from about 20 seconds I believe. He was LOS but much too far to get back in 20 seconds, and she auto landed right in the river. He borrowed a friend's M2P and went back the next night, as at the time he was unsure what the heck had happened. This time he stayed over the parking lot and at the same time on this night, the same thing happened but without the loss of the bird. Turns out he figured out it was the baseball game.

'Nt sure how I feel about this on behalf of DJI. I get it, but perhaps it's a bit extreme to basically take a person's hard earned thousands of dollars and say "F-You"! The man was already in flight, and while there are some real idiots who are illegal, dangerous, and up to no good with their flights, the vast majority of people are just enthusiastic hobby pilots trying to film cool things and enjoy the $ they spend in this hobby. JMHO

 

[Thomas B]

Always check FAA for TFRs before you fly. It’s an aircraft and TFR knowledge around your flight path is pilot responsibility to check.
If you are in one when it’s activated your drone will just land. There is a current list at this link.

TFR Data Elements

 

[firstbase]

I too am a subject of the Geo Fence every time POTUS is in town. I've learned to be patient and not get too upset about it. There are too many other, great weather days, here in south Florida to fly. It would be nice if there was a way to turn off the GPS locator completely and you could fly within the line of site only

From up here in Jupiter, FL you could fly your drone straight at POTUS residence and you would run out of battery before you got anywhere near him. I know the rules are for airplanes and drones but geez....excessive.

 

[Thomas B]

From up here in Jupiter, FL you could fly your drone straight at POTUS residence and you would run out of battery before you got anywhere near him. I know the rules are for airplanes and drones but geez....excessive.

Or safe... look at the size of the NFZ the prez gets... way bigger than airports, etc.

 

[firstbase]

Or safe... look at the size of the NFZ the prez gets... way bigger than airports, etc.

Yes, that's what we are talking about. The NFZ when he comes to West Palm Beach.

 

[Thomas B]

Wonder if the prez can fly a drone?