Have you ever crashed your Mavic?

[TrayBoz]

Please check all that apply.

An Act of God/Nature: Birds, some freak accident that was NOT pilot error OR DJI malfunction.

Major damage: Something besides basic prop replacement was required. An actual repair was required by you or someone else

DJI Malfunction: Clearly a problem with the mavic hardware or DJI GO App or firmware.

Feel free to share:
What did you crash into?
Were you knowingly taking an "unnecessary risk" when it happened?
How far away was your mavic at the time it crashed?
Was it day or night?
Were you using DJI GO or Litchi or Other?
What version of firmware were you using?
Were you drinking at the time?
Did you make a DJI Refresh claim?
Was it repaired or replaced with insurance?
How much did your repair cost?
Is this your first drone?
Was anyone hurt or any property damaged from the crash?
Do you have video of your crash you'd like to share?

Most importantly: What did you learn from your experience? What would you do differently in the future to prevent another crash?

 

[TrayBoz]

On my very first flight I was standing in front of huge light pole in the middle of an empty soccer field. I brought the mavic racing back towards me (in sport mode) and under-estimated the braking distance and barely clipped the pole which I forgot was behind me. Mavic fell 60 feet to the ground - fortunately it was tall grass. Just minor scratches and had to replace 2 props. I bought State Farm insurance about 22 minutes later.

I learned to ALWAYS make a mental note of what's around me or above me when I launch. I try to never be standing close to anything when I launch now.

 

[2nckayakers]

Let me preface by saying that in each of the following instances, they were all due to pilot error. If we don't make errors then we don't learn anything.

#1) Was doing a pull back shot and watching the screen to get the perfect shot and didn't see the tree behind me. Hit a limb, did a tumble and down she went. Luckily I was only 2 feet off the ground and it landed in a soft patch of grass.

#2) I have some small "toy" quads that I fly everywhere just for the fun of it. I have tried them indoors on more than 1 or 2 or maybe a dozen times and every single time I ran into walls, furniture, ceiling fans, lights, etc. You name it and I have flown into it indoors. So when I got the Mavic one of my first self imposed rules was that I would never try to fly in the house. WELLLL how many times has someone made a New Year's resolution and, well you know how they go and so went the no indoors rule. All I had planned on doing was turning it on, lifting up just off the floor and then setting it back down and that was it. BUT, I turned it on, it immediately started to drift, I over compensated, ran into the wall, it turned over on it side and kept flying into the wall, slid down to the floor and landed upside down. Again, good thing I was less than 2 feet off the floor.

#3) I love flying at sunset and twilight. I can actually see the Mavic must more clearly and I get some great sunset shots. Problem is the dang obstacle avoidance gets annoying when you are flying around because it sees some shadows and abruptly stops the bird, or you fly towards the sun and out comes the brakes. So I turn it off most of the time when I am flying in low light. I got too complacent and was coming in fast to land in the front yard, miss judged my speed and made a hard landing. Ended up knocking the gimbal out of whack. Was really lucky on that one as it could have ended very badly but a little adjustment to the gimbal and things were back to normal.

#4) I have been flying out of an old abandoned grass airstrip lately and I was doing the takeoff fast and low, didn't realize some of the grass had gotten up to 2 to 3 foot high and I plowed into a few taller stalks doing about 30 knots and the bird went head over heels landing upside down. Picked it up, brushed it off and we were back in the air in seconds.

Was #4 the last time I will ever crash? I would be naïve to think that but the takeaway from each crash is that lessons were learned. First lesson, never move your bird in a direction that you can't see is clear. Knowing what is around you is very important. Next, if you say you aren't going to try something because you know it can not end well, then don't do it in the first place. Third, don't get complacent. It is very easy to let things become routine and that is when you get sloppy or you make mistakes. Last, always, always, always know your surroundings and realize that things can change from day to day. Just because you flew at 2 feet off the ground in a specific place last week doesn't mean the conditions are going to be the same today. Grass grows, especially after a lot of rain, and you can't always see it unless you get out and walk through it.

 

[Top Hat]

Had a very minor crashed 1st week w/ my MP.
MP clipped the wall in my bedroom on take off and crashed on soft carpet .
No damaged or body scratched just the props got some bruises on it w/c buffed right off.
That's when I discovered that using this cardboard nail pile is a good tool to sharpen your props and remove bruises/scratches.

 

[newnan3]

Never. But I have crashed my racers and toy quads dozens of times.

 

[2nckayakers]

Never. But I have crashed my racers and toy quads dozens of times.

Don't worry, your time will come with the Mavic. You can say all you want to (just like I did) that it won't happen, but it will.