I see so many guys posting and asking why their Mavic crashed

[CDogg]

I see so many guys posting and asking why their Mavic crashed, or wont take off, or why this light is on.. And I'm wondering if everyone knows about this free resource. airdata.com I mean Its FREE. why would you not use it? If everyone did use it..the Posts would change from Why, to Hey Here is what happened.. Be careful guys. Dont make my mistake. If thats not enough.. Right now if you register you get 2 free weeks of the Pro acct.. upload all your back flight logs...Most folks will be surprised how many small issues they have run into.

 

[danman999]

Approximately 80% of all aircraft accidents are human error. I suspect Mavic/drone crash statistics are about the same.
By the way, the other 20% are weather, mechanical failure and fire (which is less than 3%).

 

[CDogg]

People ask why their mavic crashed because often the cause is not apparent and they rely on forums like this to find the knowledge they need, to either repair or avoid a similar re-occurrence.

Never heard of airdata, how will that stop mavics from malfunctioning?

Its not that it will stop a Mavic from crashing... But with time and everyone uploading flight logs to airdata. The process of predictive analyst can begin.. Imagine in time you get a notice from airdata that says. " previous Pilots have experienced cell number 3 failure on Battery # 2 within 2 powercycles" Another words..Guys who have had problems in the past...Airdata looks at what happened not only during the issue..But everything that happened running up to the issue. that data base is very valuable.

 

[namja]

We are talking about a rushed chinese manufactured drone in this thread sunshine, hardly a comparison to the stringent standards of parts precision required of the aircraft industry at every level.

I think your in the wrong forum.

While that is partly true, that doesn't mean it's a bad comparison since you can say the same about the pilots.

We are usually talking about a rushed "pilot" if we can call them that, someone who has zero education and experience flying a drone, hardly a comparison to the stringent standards of education and licensing required of the airplane pilots.

IMHO, I think 80% is generous. Probably closer to 90% pilot error when it comes to drones.

 

[danman999]

We are talking about a rushed chinese manufactured drone in this thread sunshine, hardly a comparison to the stringent standards of parts precision required of the aircraft industry at every level.

I think your in the wrong forum.

Don't call me sunshine. As somebody with decades of experience in actual aerospace I was simply pointing out the impact of human factors in flying aircraft; that humans not machines cause most accidents. This is not only true of aerospace, but many other industries as well. True the numbers may not translate equally when it comes to drone mishaps, but I think the majority of them are due to human error. FlyIng inside is one example, flying over water against a headwind with low battery is another, as is flying beyond visual range. All three examples are rife on this and other boards, and all are human error.
As far as your snide comments, I am used to it coming from pseudo-aviators such as yourself. Have a nice day.

 

[namja]

I still think it is a bad comparison.

Just because you can compare pilot ability between newb drone flyers and commercial pilots, it does not relate fairly to the claim that drone control failures happen quite often.

I think you're right. It's not really a good comparison. Because it's MUCH WORSE with drones than with airplanes.

If you have been reading all the Mavic crash threads here and in other forums, about 80% of the time, it's obviously pilot error. And among the 20% where they swear it's not their fault, I'd say about half the time, it's their fault. So at least 90% of the time, it's pilot error.

 

[butterflyslicer]

Don't call me sunshine. As somebody with decades of experience in actual aerospace I was simply pointing out the impact of human factors in flying aircraft; that humans not machines cause most accidents. This is not only true of aerospace, but many other industries as well. True the numbers may not translate equally when it comes to drone mishaps, but I think the majority of them are due to human error. FlyIng inside is one example, flying over water against a headwind with low battery is another, as is flying beyond visual range. All three examples are rife on this and other boards, and all are human error.
As far as your snide comments, I am used to it coming from pseudo-aviators such as yourself. Have a nice day.

Although I agree most malfunctions are human error, I think what Masheen is saying is humans build the machines.

 

[geigy]

Drones have, essentially, four moving parts. Much simpler and more reliable than an airplane. Flight times are brief, and many owners crash as part of their out of box experience.

So I would expect a much higher rate of human error, probably in the 95 percent range. I think the experiences of people here bear that out, but would be interested in a more qualitative assessment of anyone has done that..

 

[Skymaster]

Drones have, essentially, four moving parts. Much simpler and more reliable than an airplane. Flight times are brief, and many owners crash as part of their out of box experience.

So I would expect a much higher rate of human error, probably in the 95 percent range. I think the experiences of people here bear that out, but would be interested in a more qualitative assessment of anyone has done that..

It will be wise to remember that professional pilots are highly trained
As oppose to drone operators which many are amateur hobbyist.
That will count for many of the accidents you are hearing about
[emoji41]

 

[geigy]

It will be wise to remember that professional pilots are highly trained
As oppose to drone operators which many are amateur hobbyist.
That will count for many of the accidents you are hearing about
[emoji41]

Totally. There are zero requirements to be a drone pilot, and many of them show very little common sense. - I have great respect for manned pilots. They are flying much more complex machines, and they have much more at stake. One of the reasons I think it is an obligation for us to stay out of their way, whatever the official regulations, etc, may be. We risk the cost of a drone - they are risking their lives.

 

[moleza]

I think you're right. It's not really a good comparison. Because it's MUCH WORSE with drones than with airplanes.

If you have been reading all the Mavic crash threads here and in other forums, about 80% of the time, it's obviously pilot error. And among the 20% where they swear it's not their fault, I'd say about half the time, it's their fault. So at least 90% of the time, it's pilot error.

For sure is higher than 99% pilot error. Long guess is that if it was higher than it means a lot of faulty equipments and DJI wouldn't be able to deal with warranty and refresh programs.

Regular aviation requires a lot of money, long time preparation, studying, exams, certifications, continuosly.

Drone piloting requires USD 1k and a backyard.

 

[goldpoacher]

Like any RC things can go wrong, I have experienced two situations where I thought my MP might crash
First time happened during RTH why using Go 4, instead of descending the bird decided to ascend to max height, I restarted Go 4 with no luck, managed to regain control using GS Pro
Second time was on Salt lake when gust of strong wind hit and took the MP for a ride, only way I could protected the bird was fly with the wind why finding shelter behind a hill, I had to disengage RTH option and hope the MP would land safely when connection was lost
Lucky in both situations, amazing how quickly one can learn controls when such situation occurs
Now have radio tracker attached

 

[JeepDSL]

I see so many guys posting and asking why their Mavic crashed, or wont take off, or why this light is on.. And I'm wondering if everyone knows about this free resource. airdata.com I mean Its FREE. why would you not use it? If everyone did use it..the Posts would change from Why, to Hey Here is what happened.. Be careful guys. Dont make my mistake. If thats not enough.. Right now if you register you get 2 free weeks of the Pro acct.. upload all your back flight logs...Most folks will be surprised how many small issues they have run into.

I searched the AirData site, and, unless I missed something, it only accepts the TXT flight log file from a device running one of the supported apps; it won't take DAT flight logs from the drone. So, if you fly with just the controller or the app crashes or you lose connection with the bird, there will be incomplete or no data to upload. Assuming the drone is recovered more or less intact, the DAT file should have more complete telemetry information; isn't that what you would want to upload and analyze?

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Skymaster]

For sure is higher than 99% pilot error. Long guess is that if it was higher than it means a lot of faulty equipments and DJI wouldn't be able to deal with warranty and refresh programs.

Regular aviation requires a lot of money, long time preparation, studying, exams, certifications, continuosly.

Drone piloting requires USD 1k and a backyard.

Very True!

 

[AlexSP]

I'm not an aviator (though I have close friends who are good ones) but I'm a hobbyist and drone pilot. I'm not sure about percentages, but a few things I've noticed in all these yrs flying and piloting unmanned cars, helis and planes:

1. Things go wrong.

2. Accidents doesn't just happen, they're caused.

3. Machines do fail from time time, for various reasons. Humans build, operate and maintain (or not) machines. And humans f***-up.

4. Gravity is a ruthless lord. Anything that flyes is subject to fall down. Or crash into something. At some point.

5. Flying drones (or any other model) is like riding bicycles: if you do it, you'll crash. It's not a matter of if, or how or why, just "when". Always fly like it could happen now.

6. Can't tell about percentages. The list is long: GPS, obstacles, wind, interference. Rain, temperature, batteries. But yes, in all these yrs I've definitely seen more pilot errors - whether operational or judgmental - than all the rest combined.

As for DJI drones... these are the thoughest, more stable, reliable, fun and easy to fly/care quads to ever be produced IMHO. (hexes and octas being awesome too). Obvisouly I've not flown every drone, not even a fraction. But there has never been anything quite like LightBridge and Occusync out there, ever. It simply can't be touched.

And I'm not even talking about the affordability and availability, which is incredible in itself. The motors are good standard, the HW/FW integration is unequaled, the camera is excellent throughout the whole range. From the tiny Spark to the great I2 or the mighty Matrice series, it's really really hard to go wrong equipment-wise or find a serious fault.

I'm not saying it's perfect, just very tight and incredibly advanced. Yes, the customer care kinda sucks. But life's like that, in that sense DJI is a victim of their own amazing success. Can't have it all.

 

[Skymaster]

I'm not an aviator (though I have close friends who are good ones) but I'm a hobbyist and drone pilot. I'm not sure about percentages, but a few things I've noticed in all these yrs flying and piloting unmanned cars, helis and planes:

1. Things go wrong.

2. Accidents doesn't just happen, they're caused.

3. Machines do fail from time time, for various reasons. Humans build, operate and maintain (or not) machines. And humans f***-up.

4. Gravity is a ruthless lord. Anything that flyes is subject to fall down. Or crash into something. At some point.

5. Flying drones (or any other model) is like riding bicycles: if you do it, you'll crash. It's not a matter of if, or how or why, just "when". Always fly like it could happen now.

6. Can't tell about percentages. The list is long: GPS, obstacles, wind, interference. Rain, temperature, batteries. But yes, in all these yrs I've definitely seen more pilot errors - whether operational or judgmental - than all the rest combined.

As for DJI drones... these are the thoughest, more stable, reliable, fun and easy to fly/care quads to ever be produced IMHO. (hexes and octas being awesome too). Obvisouly I've not flown every drone, not even a fraction. But there has never been anything quite like LightBridge and Occusync out there, ever. It simply can't be touched.

And I'm not even talking about the affordability and availability, which is incredible in itself. The motors are good standard, the HW/FW integration is unequaled, the camera is excellent throughout the whole range. From the tiny Spark to the great I2 or the mighty Matrice series, it's really really hard to go wrong equipment-wise or find a serious fault.

I'm not saying it's perfect, just very tight and incredibly advanced. Yes, the customer care kinda sucks. But life's like that, in that sense DJI is a victim of their own amazing success. Can't have it all.

Accidents doesn't just happen, they're caused.

 

[Kilrah]

I see so many guys posting and asking why their Mavic crashed, or wont take off, or why this light is on.. And I'm wondering if everyone knows about this free resource. airdata.com I mean Its FREE. why would you not use it? If everyone did use it..the Posts would change from Why, to Hey Here is what happened..

Most people who post about their crash on here do so becasue just like they had no idea what was happening when they crashed they have no idea how to interpret the logs and/or other data they have at their disposal. So it's not gonna change a thing.

The process of predictive analyst can begin.. Imagine in time you get a notice from airdata that says. " previous Pilots have experienced cell number 3 failure on Battery # 2 within 2 powercycles" Another words..Guys who have had problems in the past...Airdata looks at what happened not only during the issue..But everything that happened running up to the issue. that data base is very valuable.

Until it can analyze pilot behavior it's not going to help much and stay confined to those single digit percentage of cases where the machine is actually at fault. And the day it's able to say "most pilots who have tried to fly the way you did crashed" people will promptly ignore and stop using it becasue they'll feel insulted and insist they know better anyway (whether correct or not).

 

[PDXteriors]

Don't call me sunshine. As somebody with decades of experience in actual aerospace I was simply pointing out the impact of human factors in flying aircraft; that humans not machines cause most accidents. This is not only true of aerospace, but many other industries as well. True the numbers may not translate equally when it comes to drone mishaps, but I think the majority of them are due to human error. FlyIng inside is one example, flying over water against a headwind with low battery is another, as is flying beyond visual range. All three examples are rife on this and other boards, and all are human error.
As far as your snide comments, I am used to it coming from pseudo-aviators such as yourself. Have a nice day.

Brain AIDS.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

While discussions are welcome, snide comments are not. A couple of you have come close to earning a warning.
Let's try to keep it friendly in here... Thank you.

 

[JeepDSL]

// We risk the cost of a drone - they are risking their lives.

And that's why chicks dig pilots, and why chicks don't dig droners.

I used to work in an organization where about 70% of the personnel were pilots - mostly ex-military with thousands of hours in fixed- and/or rotor-wing aircraft. The favorite joke was:

Q: What's the difference between a pilot and a pig?

A: A pig won't get drunk and stay up all night trying to get in bed with a pilot.