I crashed my Mavic Air after 1 hour

[Jamielee96]

Hey guys, I'm new to drones and new to this forum.

Today I had a bad day due to making a bad decision. With only 1 hour and 30 minutes flight time with my brand new Mavic Air, I tried to get an under a bridge shot. Plenty of clearance and water was flowing slowly, no risk of splashing.
Travelled through the bridge perfectly but as I got to the other side I panicked, tried to throttle up and accidentally flicked the stick the wrong way. Throttled down at 100% straight into the river. I heard the splash and instantly throttled up and the drone managed to get up out of the water. There was immediate damage as the gimbal was moving uncontrollably but I could still control the actual drone itself. I was trying to bring the drone into land instantly to get the battery out, but as it was coming into land it started malfunctioning, became uncontrollable, flipped over and flew upside down into the ground doing a fair amount of damage.

Stupid move getting so close to water being so inexperienced I know....

Luckily for me I have DJI Care Refresh. Now my only concern is how long the refresh service is going to take (Europe) and what condition the replacement drone is going to come in. I'm scared its going to be a much older drone than the 1 hour 30 minute drone that I own.
If anyone has any previous experience with DJI Care refresh and the Mavic Air, I would appreciate it if you could share it with me.

Thanks

 

[Starz]

Good guess as to what you may end up with.
Hope you don’t mind the word “refurbished”.
Time frame? Another guess.

 

[rickw]

why don't you call them and check turnaround times?

 

[mavic 999]

Hey guys, I'm new to drones and new to this forum.

Today I had a bad day due to making a bad decision. With only 1 hour and 30 minutes flight time with my brand new Mavic Air, I tried to get an under a bridge shot. Plenty of clearance and water was flowing slowly, no risk of splashing.
Travelled through the bridge perfectly but as I got to the other side I panicked, tried to throttle up and accidentally flicked the stick the wrong way. Throttled down at 100% straight into the river. I heard the splash and instantly throttled up and the drone managed to get up out of the water. There was immediate damage as the gimbal was moving uncontrollably but I could still control the actual drone itself. I was trying to bring the drone into land instantly to get the battery out, but as it was coming into land it started malfunctioning, became uncontrollable, flipped over and flew upside down into the ground doing a fair amount of damage.

Stupid move getting so close to water being so inexperienced I know....

Luckily for me I have DJI Care Refresh. Now my only concern is how long the refresh service is going to take (Europe) and what condition the replacement drone is going to come in. I'm scared its going to be a much older drone than the 1 hour 30 minute drone that I own.
If anyone has any previous experience with DJI Care refresh and the Mavic Air, I would appreciate it if you could share it with me.

Thanks

I am in UK took 8 days from pickup to receiving replacement ,mine got sent to Netherlands.Very pleased with service and replacement.

 

[Decal Josh]

It’s been a while for me but when I used my Refresh I received a refurbished unit (US). My original UAS was just over six months old and had under 4 hours of flight and I totally expected a brand new replacement but the warranty expired for the gimbal control board, very disappointing to say the least. I have read stories of some receiving brand new in the box and others who get refurbished so it may be hard to predict what they will do for you. Good Luck with that!

 

[Jamielee96]

It’s been a while for me but when I used my Refresh I received a refurbished unit (US). My original UAS was just over six months old and had under 4 hours of flight and I totally expected a brand new replacement but the warranty expired for the gimbal control board, very disappointing to say the least. I have read stories of some receiving brand new in the box and others who get refurbished so it may be hard to predict what they will do for you. Good Luck with that!

Even though yours was refurbished, was it still 'as new' as they claim they are all refurbished to that standard or were you disappointed with the condition of it.

 

[rickw]

doesn't really make a difference,you have to take what they give you

 

[Jamielee96]

They claim refurbished models are as new so anything less and I'd be chasing them up about it.

 

[Decal Josh]

Even though yours was refurbished, was it still 'as new' as they claim they are all refurbished to that standard or were you disappointed with the condition of it.

Here’s what happened next.... I powered up my replacement and the first thing I noticed was the gimbal slamming and clunking into the bulkhead during startup. I immediately contacted DJI with a short video and they told me everything was normal and dismissed my case.

To raise a little awareness, I posted my video on You Tube and after a few weeks comments started pouring in. Most agreed that I had an issue and that the behavior during start up was not normal.

I then turned back to DJI and they had me perform all of the calibrations before they admitted that it was not right and I had to send it back for repair, after the warranty ran out of course. So they basically lied to my face and had no interest from there in helping me out. Sorry (about my luck) is all I got out of them.

I still fly the thing when I can and it still takes pictures but by no means I have faith in their products. If anything happens from here on out I believe I saw a Thunderdrones that perform repairs?

To answer your question, yes I am very disappointed in DJI products and services. My whole experience has left me feeling nothing but ripped off and full of regrets.

 

[Mavic_Dan]

Hey guys, I'm new to drones and new to this forum.

Today I had a bad day due to making a bad decision. With only 1 hour and 30 minutes flight time with my brand new Mavic Air, I tried to get an under a bridge shot. Plenty of clearance and water was flowing slowly, no risk of splashing.
Travelled through the bridge perfectly but as I got to the other side I panicked, tried to throttle up and accidentally flicked the stick the wrong way. Throttled down at 100% straight into the river. I heard the splash and instantly throttled up and the drone managed to get up out of the water. There was immediate damage as the gimbal was moving uncontrollably but I could still control the actual drone itself. I was trying to bring the drone into land instantly to get the battery out, but as it was coming into land it started malfunctioning, became uncontrollable, flipped over and flew upside down into the ground doing a fair amount of damage.

Stupid move getting so close to water being so inexperienced I know....

Luckily for me I have DJI Care Refresh. Now my only concern is how long the refresh service is going to take (Europe) and what condition the replacement drone is going to come in. I'm scared its going to be a much older drone than the 1 hour 30 minute drone that I own.
If anyone has any previous experience with DJI Care refresh and the Mavic Air, I would appreciate it if you could share it with me.

Thanks

You sure are one brave soul... I only tried a under bridge attempt over water recently, after a few weeks of owning the Mavic Air. No mishaps but I told myself never to attempt it again, at least not for the near future. DJI Care Refresh is not available in my country so if anything goes wrong, I'd have to buy a brand new one...

@BDOG warned me of the risks involved like the possibility of losing GPS signal while under the bridge and even wifi interference due to the metal in the bridge structure.

Btw, any videos of that flight to share? It should be very interesting to watch.

 

[Jamielee96]

You sure are one brave soul... I only tried a under bridge attempt over water recently, after a few weeks of owning the Mavic Air. No mishaps but I told myself never to attempt it again, at least not for the near future. DJI Care Refresh is not available in my country so if anything goes wrong, I'd have to buy a brand new one...

@BDOG warned me of the risks involved like the possibility of losing GPS signal while under the bridge and even wifi interference due to the metal in the bridge structure.

Btw, any videos of that flight to share? It should be very interesting to watch.

It wasn't brave it was stupid hahaha....

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

It was a tiny little pathetic bridge, no chance of losing gps.

You can see in the video I pulled up way too high after but that was out on panic. You can see the drone become uncontrollable in the air and then the video cuts out before the drone hits the ground.

 

[Mavic_Dan]

It wasn't brave it was stupid hahaha....

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

It was a tiny little pathetic bridge, no chance of losing gps.

You can see in the video I pulled up way too high after but that was out on panic. You can see the drone become uncontrollable in the air and then the video cuts out before the drone hits the ground.

Wow! That is one interesting video!

Question: Did your MA drift downwards on it's own or you accidentally pulled down on the left joystick?

I'm asking because I did a similar pass under a bridge over water, and noticed that the MA drifted slightly downwards on it's own. Only difference is I was flying in tripod mode and had time to adjust the altitude. I believe it's because the downward sensors can't make sense of the water below.

 

[davemorts]

Hey guys, I'm new to drones and new to this forum.

Today I had a bad day due to making a bad decision. With only 1 hour and 30 minutes flight time with my brand new Mavic Air, I tried to get an under a bridge shot. Plenty of clearance and water was flowing slowly, no risk of splashing.
Travelled through the bridge perfectly but as I got to the other side I panicked, tried to throttle up and accidentally flicked the stick the wrong way. Throttled down at 100% straight into the river. I heard the splash and instantly throttled up and the drone managed to get up out of the water. There was immediate damage as the gimbal was moving uncontrollably but I could still control the actual drone itself. I was trying to bring the drone into land instantly to get the battery out, but as it was coming into land it started malfunctioning, became uncontrollable, flipped over and flew upside down into the ground doing a fair amount of damage.

Stupid move getting so close to water being so inexperienced I know....

Luckily for me I have DJI Care Refresh. Now my only concern is how long the refresh service is going to take (Europe) and what condition the replacement drone is going to come in. I'm scared its going to be a much older drone than the 1 hour 30 minute drone that I own.
If anyone has any previous experience with DJI Care refresh and the Mavic Air, I would appreciate it if you could share it with me.

Thanks

Hi Jamie, I have used my care refresh on two occasions. The first was my own fault when I attached a locating device on the tail of my mavic pro too close to the rear compass and the drone flew straight into a tree. I sent it to DJI Europe where they fixed my ORIGINAL drone in a turn around time of approx 2 weeks and charged me £80. The second occasion was a malfunction of the drone and they sent be back a brand new Mavic pro and no charge.

 

[apowen8976]

Hi Jamie
I got mine for Christmas and 1st flight outside it caught a branch whilst RTH and fell from about 30m, broke all props within 1st 2 min of flying it....gutted!. Fixed it up but it had 'ESC error' and wouldn't take off

I did take the refresh so called support they sent me a UPS returns label and sent it off (4KM from my house) they evaluated the damage and offered two options (you can track all this on line too)

- Pay £57 to repair (Broke a circuit board)
- Use one of my replacement £79

I took the 1st option and with VAT & P&P was £103 total

However I received a brand new drone even with all the yellow stickers on etc. Whole process was about 1.5 weeks but I did post back 28th Dec.

I live 4KM from where I had to sent it in Nuth also in Netherlands ..... but the replacement was sent from the north Netherlands from the main HQ which took 4 days to get to me.

All in all happy with their service.

 

[aokusman]

Always try and get used to the controls before attempting high risk flying.

 

[sky355]

Posts like this that remind us new pilots what not to do. Sorry about your luck but your helping out a lot of new pilots by learning from your mistakes. So that's a positive spin you can put on this.

 

[freefaller500]

Hey guys, I'm new to drones and new to this forum.

Today I had a bad day due to making a bad decision. With only 1 hour and 30 minutes flight time with my brand new Mavic Air, I tried to get an under a bridge shot. Plenty of clearance and water was flowing slowly, no risk of splashing.
Travelled through the bridge perfectly but as I got to the other side I panicked, tried to throttle up and accidentally flicked the stick the wrong way. Throttled down at 100% straight into the river. I heard the splash and instantly throttled up and the drone managed to get up out of the water. There was immediate damage as the gimbal was moving uncontrollably but I could still control the actual drone itself. I was trying to bring the drone into land instantly to get the battery out, but as it was coming into land it started malfunctioning, became uncontrollable, flipped over and flew upside down into the ground doing a fair amount of damage.

Stupid move getting so close to water being so inexperienced I know....

Luckily for me I have DJI Care Refresh. Now my only concern is how long the refresh service is going to take (Europe) and what condition the replacement drone is going to come in. I'm scared its going to be a much older drone than the 1 hour 30 minute drone that I own.
If anyone has any previous experience with DJI Care refresh and the Mavic Air, I would appreciate it if you could share it with me.

Thanks

Good guess as to what you may end up with.
Hope you don’t mind the word “refurbished”.
Time frame? Another guess.

my guess is it will be in better condition than the one you have but cheaper as you have refresh, it will need setting up as new but you may know that, good luck new flyer be more aware of yours and your drones capabilitys.

 

[swings16]

Wow! That is one interesting video!

Question: Did your MA drift downwards on it's own or you accidentally pulled down on the left joystick?

Hey guys, I'm new to drones and new to this forum.

Today I had a bad day due to making a bad decision. With only 1 hour and 30 minutes flight time with my brand new Mavic Air, I tried to get an under a bridge shot. Plenty of clearance and water was flowing slowly, no risk of splashing.
Travelled through the bridge perfectly but as I got to the other side I panicked, tried to throttle up and accidentally flicked the stick the wrong way. Throttled down at 100% straight into the river. I heard the splash and instantly throttled up and the drone managed to get up out of the water. There was immediate damage as the gimbal was moving uncontrollably but I could still control the actual drone itself. I was trying to bring the drone into land instantly to get the battery out, but as it was coming into land it started malfunctioning, became uncontrollable, flipped over and flew upside down into the ground doing a fair amount of damage.

Stupid move getting so close to water being so inexperienced I know....

Luckily for me I have DJI Care Refresh. Now my only concern is how long the refresh service is going to take (Europe) and what condition the replacement drone is going to come in. I'm scared its going to be a much older drone than the 1 hour 30 minute drone that I own.
If anyone has any previous experience with DJI Care refresh and the Mavic Air, I would appreciate it if you could share it with me.

Thanks

O my lOrd what a drag !

First i must say that i feel your pain

i too am a novice and i still mistake up + down and L + R

it has to become natural as driving a car or any other activity you could do without ever thinking about it

I guess it all comes down to experience...without a thought you make the right moves

i have 15/20 flights with my MP and i still hunt and peck with the controls

give one to a teenager....fuhgettabout it !



































I'm asking because I did a similar pass under a bridge over water, and noticed that the MA drifted slightly downwards on it's own. Only difference is I was flying in tripod mode and had time to adjust the altitude. I believe it's because the downward sensors can't make sense of the water below.

 

[Jamielee96]

Wow! That is one interesting video!

Question: Did your MA drift downwards on it's own or you accidentally pulled down on the left joystick?

I'm asking because I did a similar pass under a bridge over water, and noticed that the MA drifted slightly downwards on it's own. Only difference is I was flying in tripod mode and had time to adjust the altitude. I believe it's because the downward sensors can't make sense of the water below.

No I accidentally pulled down on the stick unfortunately. All my fault!

 

[MavicManic]

It wasn't brave it was stupid hahaha....

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

It was a tiny little pathetic bridge, no chance of losing gps.

You can see in the video I pulled up way too high after but that was out on panic. You can see the drone become uncontrollable in the air and then the video cuts out before the drone hits the ground.

Beautiful shot until it hit the water