Help finding crashed drone

eukaryote · Sep 8, 2019

Hi All,

Got distracted by someone nearby, and didn't pay attention to drone crashing into a mountain.

I've loaded the dat file into phantomhelp, got the GPS Co-ordinates 60.88300552, 6.85502426, but after 2 x 3 hour expeditions, have been unable to find the drone around these co-ordinates. Due to the tricky nature of the terrain, it's been a difficult retrieval effort. The drone definitely crashed and fell onto a rock. I tried using findmydrone on the smart controller, but could never hear or see it unfortunately, and then battery time ran out and it died. I'm wondering if I've been searching for the wrong place, or is it on a sheer cliff face and hence cannot be retrieved.

I've attached the txt file for reference.

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

Any help much appreciated. Thanks!

sar104 · Sep 8, 2019

The aircraft had poor GPS reception for most of the flight, and switched to ATTI near the end. The final coordinates that you have are probably close, but there will be later updated coordinates in the DAT file GPS record - perhaps worth a look. You want the mobile device DAT file FLY057.DAT

Mobile device DAT file: How to retrieve a V3.DAT from the tablet

eukaryote · Sep 8, 2019

sar104 said:
The aircraft had poor GPS reception for most of the flight, and switched to ATTI near the end. The final coordinates that you have are probably close, but there will be later updated coordinates in the DAT file GPS record - perhaps worth a look. You want the mobile device DAT file FLY057.DAT

Mobile device DAT file: How to retrieve a V3.DAT from the tablet

Attached Below
The last Dat file is too large, so here's a drop box link: 19-09-08-03-38-29_FLY057.DAT

sar104 · Sep 8, 2019

There is some positional uncertainty in the flight log (the first file) and the second file that was generated later with the aircraft on the ground.

The radius of the red circle (it is a circle projected onto the hillside) is 35 meters, to give you some idea of the area involved. I would focus on the green pins that were generated from DAT file GPS data.

eukaryote · Sep 8, 2019

So it's likely the drone is literally on a cliff face?

eukaryote · Sep 8, 2019

And what altitude would it be at?

Thanks

MAGA · Sep 8, 2019

eukaryote said:
Hi All,

Got distracted by someone nearby, and didn't pay attention to drone crashing into a mountain.

I've loaded the dat file into phantomhelp, got the GPS Co-ordinates 60.88300552, 6.85502426, but after 2 x 3 hour expeditions, have been unable to find the drone around these co-ordinates. Due to the tricky nature of the terrain, it's been a difficult retrieval effort. The drone definitely crashed and fell onto a rock. I tried using findmydrone on the smart controller, but could never hear or see it unfortunately, and then battery time ran out and it died. I'm wondering if I've been searching for the wrong place, or is it on a sheer cliff face and hence cannot be retrieved.

I've attached the txt file for reference.

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

Any help much appreciated. Thanks!

Never get distracted. Had similar thing happen to me .side of a mountain. Very different terrain mid Summer bugs steep loose rocks never thought I would find it but I did 15 feet from the spot on the map. Keep trying

eukaryote · Sep 8, 2019

MAGA said:
Never get distracted. Had similar thing happen to me .side of a mountain. Very different terrain mid Summer bugs steep loose rocks never thought I would find it but I did 15 feet from the spot on the map. Keep trying

This mountain literally has sheer cliff faces covered in wet moss. It is extremely difficult to climb it safely, hence sussing out of its dooable to go where it's actually located, hence altitude question.

But yes, very bad to get distracted by another drone user

sar104 · Sep 8, 2019

eukaryote said:
So it's likely the drone is literally on a cliff face?

eukaryote said:
And what altitude would it be at?

Thanks

Google Earth doesn't resolve the terrain well enough to see cliffs. The final height of the aircraft above the takeoff point appears to be between 55 and 65 meters.

eukaryote · Sep 8, 2019

What's the best software you guys use to get correct gps bearings on the phone during searching?

eukaryote · Sep 8, 2019

Currently on holiday in Norway so tomorrow AM would be my last chance to try get this drone back!

eukaryote · Sep 8, 2019

sar104 said:
Google Earth doesn't resolve the terrain well enough to see cliffs. The final height of the aircraft above the takeoff point appears to be between 55 and 65 meters.

It's strange, because google maps is telling me that this is 110m, and the place I started flight being 0m, hence why I tried going at 110m to find it initially.

The green points on the topo graph still correlate to 110m though?

eukaryote · Sep 8, 2019

So after analysis by sar, it's 129M on a cliff that I can't get up to - way too steep and sheer cliff faces for me to ascend safely. Well, every one knows where it is now. If they find it, I'll pay ya a $100 bounty [emoji14]

Good bye old friend. Great while the times lasted

RayOZ · Sep 8, 2019

Was the person who distracted you good looking?

eukaryote · Sep 9, 2019

Was a dude

RayOZ said:
Was the person who distracted you good looking?

InvisibleName · Sep 9, 2019

eukaryote said:
Was a dude

Gender wasn't the question

Citizen Flier · Sep 9, 2019

I crashed mine in a similar situation awhile back. Not a sheer cliff face, but very steep with dense tall trees and sections of impassable brambles. I left the Smart Controller on and navigated towards the last point of transmission (which of course remained static). The SC screen indicated the Home (liftoff point) which also remained static. My position -with the Smart Controller was indicated on the screen which refreshed frequently. I was able to triangulate between the 3 points. I assume the beeping I heard was the SC telling me power was low. I located the bird before the power ran out.

Having been a rock climber, I know that gear falling from a rocky cliff can fall & bounce far from an impact point. My suggestion would be to search the cliff face from the ground with the best binoculars you can get. Climbers do this to inspect new routes. Also look for the bird, or debris below the impact point. If you have the footage from your Smart Controller -or smart phone, perhaps you can watch the flight path. I was not able to view the video from my flight as it was terminated abruptly. I have heard it might be possible to salvage bad footage like this. If you can pinpoint the point of impact, you could possibly ask a climber friend to rappel the cliff for a search -if it's safe. If so, use walkie talkies to communicate so you can direct the climbers to the location. I was close to giving up, as my search took about 2 hours in STEEP, rough terrain, but I was determined not to lose the bird. Good luck!