Go Home (RC Disconnected)

samysys · Jan 27, 2025

Meta4 said:
Before the problem happened, was it planned to hand catch on the boat?
What was the plan to end the flight if there were no problems?

How big was the boat?

Yes it was.

samysys · Tuesday at 5:32 AM

hi all,

first of all, thank you for your input and interest in the post.

I further looked into the incident and double checked the log. It was revealed that the M300 had been connected to 2 controller before.

The pilot was using the main controller (controller A) to take off the drone and unknown to him the controller B was switched on and connected to the drone too.

As such, when the RC disconnect and reconnected, it triggered the special fail-safe mechanism. DJI manual stated the following:

For some reason the pilot did not take over the control when prompted and the default failsafe logic was initiated and thus the subsequent events. He did press the RTH button (as recorded in the log) but unable to stop the failsafe action... yet the "correct" way to stop the failsafe was not specified in the manual...

Lesson Learnt:

DJI drone failsafe system operates a bit different when connected to dual controller.
Be familiarize with emergency procedure of the drone before take-off.

BaldyBoyBilly · Tuesday at 7:29 AM

GadgetGuy said:
"And more importantly, any better way to prevent and response to such situation?"

Nothing paradoxical about properly dealing with the RC being disconnected, whatever the reason, which results in the drone still being landed back on the boat, just like under pilot control, where you slowly descend from a hover, after maneuvering the boat to the hovering drone. Two entirely different issues. There is no excuse for deliberately drowning the $10,000+ Matrice M300 under these circumstances! You keep deliberately ignoring this fact.

Exactly why it disconnected is really academic. The answer lies in the log files which you refuse to share for proper analysis. The drone drowned due to pilot error. Every experienced pilot has encountered RC disconnections, for whatever reason, and knows how to still safely recover the aircraft from a hover. Clearly, the RTH was set to the location of the hover, and it finally descended at that location due to critical battery level, since the foolish pilot deliberately abandoned it, after the RC disconnection.

It seems the drone was flying from a substantial “boat”, perhaps a significant one, with “more expensive equipment”. Every boat is subject to wind, wave and current activity. Bigger boats are slow to respond to throttle and steerage. Having extensive first hand experience flying my Mavic 3 pro from and to my own boat (22’), landing is, well, “exciting”. And that’s with full control of the drone. I’d never consider your suggestion. To attempt landing a drone of that size amongst other equipment could NEVER end well. If there was a helipad…then sure.