Lost controls of Mavic Air while mid air

[Photo Booth]

What don't you understand boy, worry about your own posts.

Ditto!



Mark

 

[JDawg]

Ditto!



Mark

My bad, I did not realize you're a troll. Continue on.

 

[GadgetGuy]

 

[Indyvil]

To get back to the OP asking why his mavic disconnected, I noticed that the antennas were folded on the OP picture from the previous day. If they were indeed folded, that would explain the disconnection at such a short distance.

 

[Static8]

I lost my Mavic Pro this summer , I am a experienced DJI RC enthusiast and had at one time 4 products, Phantom 3 pro, Mavic Pro, The MA and I built a hexacopter years ago. I sold them all after I had a complete disconnect from my MPro to controller at about 150 meters away , the Mavic never returned home. This is was after a firmware update , and I ‘ve never ever had a controller disconnect , the only thing I saw before I lost complete connection was compass error 5 mins in my flight then controller disconnect...Mavic Pro never returned but flew out 1 mile into the ocean and obviously landed for no reason in the water. DJI would’t have a look at my data or anything because I was just over year passed warranty. , which is fine but I know this was a firmware glitch 100 percent..whose responsibility is that...How can I prove it...?? I don’t trust DJI , after the thousands of dollars I spent with them, they wouldn’t give me a penny off another drone. They said , “We will offer you 10 percent off repairs “. Hahaha Now did they hear anything I said, NOPE..I had no Mavic it was at the bottom of English Bay Vancouver BC.....So long story.>. I’ve been reading dozens of Mavic Controller disconnects from their Mavic Air, Mavic Pro and 90 percent of them could not find reason for the disconnects. , many of them did not return home like it supposed to...compass error midflight is worse thing that can happen becuase now the computer chip in its little brain now probably told my MAVIC RTH was middle of the darn ocean. So all i’m Saying I would bet a large sum of money it was a glitch in the software or firmware.I never had a complete disconnect like this ever and not connect back to my bird..So today unless DJI offers me a decent discount on my next drone.I’m looking and or waiting for the next best drone US or China made , but prefer to be back yard made drone. But unlikely will compete with DJI....I’m still upset today because how I was treated by DJI... I would have bought a new Mavic right there if they would have offered me at least 25 percent discount. , especially with my return business...sorry for the long post...

 

[Meta4]

the only thing I saw before I lost complete connection was compass error 5 mins in my flight then controller disconnect...Mavic Pro never returned but flew out 1 mile into the ocean and obviously landed for no reason in the water.
DJI would’t have a look at my data or anything because I was just over year passed warranty.
I know this was a firmware glitch 100 percent.
whose responsibility is that...How can I prove it...?? I don’t trust DJI
So long story.>. I’ve been reading dozens of Mavic Controller disconnects from their Mavic Air, Mavic Pro and 90 percent of them could not find reason for the disconnects. , many of them did not return home like it supposed to...compass error midflight is worse thing that can happen becuase now the computer chip in its little brain now probably told my MAVIC RTH was middle of the darn ocean. So all i’m Saying I would bet a large sum of money it was a glitch in the software or firmware.

DJI might not have analysed your data but that doesn't mean you couldn't have had your data looked at.
Without looking at your data, you can't say what the cause of the incident was, but it's highly unlikely to have been caused by software or firmware.
You experienced a disconnection which under normal circumstances would initiate RTH.
But you mention a compass error during the flight and that's possibly a key point that might help explain the loss of the drone.
If you are interested to find out more about the incident or at least eliminate some possible scenarios, post the flight data from the flight.
There won't be any way to see what happened after the disconnection but there might be enough clues to help solve the mystery.

To post your flight data ...
Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.

 

[sar104]

I lost my Mavic Pro this summer , I am a experienced DJI RC enthusiast and had at one time 4 products, Phantom 3 pro, Mavic Pro, The MA and I built a hexacopter years ago. I sold them all after I had a complete disconnect from my MPro to controller at about 150 meters away , the Mavic never returned home. This is was after a firmware update , and I ‘ve never ever had a controller disconnect , the only thing I saw before I lost complete connection was compass error 5 mins in my flight then controller disconnect...Mavic Pro never returned but flew out 1 mile into the ocean and obviously landed for no reason in the water. DJI would’t have a look at my data or anything because I was just over year passed warranty. , which is fine but I know this was a firmware glitch 100 percent..whose responsibility is that...How can I prove it...?? I don’t trust DJI , after the thousands of dollars I spent with them, they wouldn’t give me a penny off another drone. They said , “We will offer you 10 percent off repairs “. Hahaha Now did they hear anything I said, NOPE..I had no Mavic it was at the bottom of English Bay Vancouver BC.....So long story.>. I’ve been reading dozens of Mavic Controller disconnects from their Mavic Air, Mavic Pro and 90 percent of them could not find reason for the disconnects. , many of them did not return home like it supposed to...compass error midflight is worse thing that can happen becuase now the computer chip in its little brain now probably told my MAVIC RTH was middle of the darn ocean. So all i’m Saying I would bet a large sum of money it was a glitch in the software or firmware.I never had a complete disconnect like this ever and not connect back to my bird..So today unless DJI offers me a decent discount on my next drone.I’m looking and or waiting for the next best drone US or China made , but prefer to be back yard made drone. But unlikely will compete with DJI....I’m still upset today because how I was treated by DJI... I would have bought a new Mavic right there if they would have offered me at least 25 percent discount. , especially with my return business...sorry for the long post...

As has been pointed out to you before - you posted about that event but refused to supply any logs. There have been very few reported disconnects that did not return home - when it happens it's almost always due to high winds blowing the aircraft away, compass errors throwing it into ATTI mode as a result of not checking for magnetic interference on launch, or improperly installed batteries (very rare on the MA). The log files generally show the problem.

Can you even point to any lost MA reports where the cause was not apparent in the logs? I'm sure there are one or two, but a quick check doesn't turn up any in my notes. This incident, for example, was clearly wind-related.

 

[Static8]

As has been pointed out to you before - you posted about that event but refused to supply any logs. There have been very few reported disconnects that did not return home - when it happens it's almost always due to high winds blowing the aircraft away, compass errors throwing it into ATTI mode as a result of not checking for magnetic interference on launch, or improperly installed batteries (very rare on the MA). The log files generally show the problem.

Can you even point to any lost MA reports where the cause was not apparent in the logs? I'm sure there are one or two, but a quick check doesn't turn up any in my notes. This incident, for example, was clearly wind-related.

I did alll this before and all the data is gone as I deleted everything , but what was only found was compass error and yes that was the key but nothing else...It should have returned home but it didint’, it showed on the data it flew the opossite direction towards the water for another 15 mins plus and last data showed it about a mile away. The data was quite straight forward.. I’ve heard this many times, ore than a dozen RTH was not initiated. , yes some because of the settings...Mine was set perfectly as I have been doing this for many years, not new at this. BIG problem why it did not come home when completel disconnection, I even ran after the drone in site and tried to reconnect and nothing. , did everyting I could.

 

[Static8]

As has been pointed out to you before - you posted about that event but refused to supply any logs. There have been very few reported disconnects that did not return home - when it happens it's almost always due to high winds blowing the aircraft away, compass errors throwing it into ATTI mode as a result of not checking for magnetic interference on launch, or improperly installed batteries (very rare on the MA). The log files generally show the problem.

Can you even point to any lost MA reports where the cause was not apparent in the logs? I'm sure there are one or two, but a quick check doesn't turn up any in my notes. This incident, for example, was clearly wind-related.

By the way i did not refuse, the data was gone....when dji wouldnt look at it, i deleted everything and sold my tablet, my profile etc...just saying I looked at the data myself and couldn’t find anything else reason I wanted DJI to have the data, the refused on the fact my warrranty expired and again I said I understood this piece....

 

[sar104]

I did alll this before and all the data is gone as I deleted everything , but what was only found was compass error and yes that was the key but nothing else...It should have returned home but it didint’, it showed on the data it flew the opossite direction towards the water for another 15 mins plus and last data showed it about a mile away. The data was quite straight forward.. I’ve heard this many times, ore than a dozen RTH was not initiated. , yes some because of the settings...Mine was set perfectly as I have been doing this for many years, not new at this. BIG problem why it did not come home when completel disconnection, I even ran after the drone in site and tried to reconnect and nothing. , did everyting I could.

By the way i did not refuse, the data was gone....when dji wouldnt look at it, i deleted everything and sold my tablet, my profile etc...just saying I looked at the data myself and couldn’t find anything else reason I wanted DJI to have the data, the refused on the fact my warrranty expired and again I said I understood this piece....

You haven't reported anything about what was in the logs either, which tells me that you didn't understand what you were looking at. I cannot even begin to count the number of posters who come here with stories just like yours. If and when they ultimately provide the logs, then in overwhelming majority of cases the cause is clear. Pilot error is by far the most common, with equipment failure much less frequent. But it's just not credible to say that you examined the logs, found nothing, and it was aircraft failure. That's the least likely explanation. And, by the way, if it ended up in ATTI mode due to a compass error then no - it's not coming home. And almost all compass errors result from a lack of pre-flight checks to ensure that the takeoff point is free from magnetic interference.

You still haven't pointed to any other comparable cases either. Just asserting that it's a common event doesn't make it so. All you are doing is unnecessarily confusing new users with misinformation.

 

[aokusman]

Sorry to hear about your loss.

I am a new MA owner too and I totally agree with what @vanderzyde0 mentioned. I was overwhelmed by the amount of features in that little bird, so I took some time to understand by flying over wide open fields for a few days before I even got the confidence to fly it near a beach. Even then, I wasn't confident to venture out to the sea as I realized the winds were much stronger than I thought.

Still learning something new every time I bring it out for a flight. Warning messages popping up usually freaks me out and I realized I have to stay calm and decide what to do next. When you panic, disorientation sets in...

Anyway, hope you hear good news from DJI.

Happy New Year!

This. When I first got mine I stayed within 400ft at all times. The more I flew the more mistakes I made and the more I was learning. Took me dozens of flights in open areas over land before venturing thousand of feet away. I only fly in ideal wind conditions and try not to take risks.

 

[WWMav]

This. When I first got mine I stayed within 400ft at all times. The more I flew the more mistakes I made and the more I was learning. Took me dozens of flights in open areas over land before venturing thousand of feet away. I only fly in ideal wind conditions and try not to take risks.

Dear community,

I guess I can hit the queue of devastated Mavic air owners. 23-12-18 I treated myself on a Mavic Air combo pack for Christmas after saving up for a year.

Today was my second actual day of using it. We hit the beach to record some fun footage. I calibrated the drone per usual, made sure I selected 'return to home' and took off without any hassle. 3 minutes into the flight we were flying above water and just as I wanted to return the aircraft, my RC lost connection on a 341m distance. I've waited patiently, did not restart the RC or app. Battery of aircraft was fully charged when I took off (85% charge when i lost connection). During the flight I was connected to 15-20 satellites. Since we were on a cliff, the drone was actually flying -3.91m below my position. Nothing was standing in between me and my drone, I had clear sight on this sunny day. The connection was never restored.

Here's where it gets interesting. After I almost gave up on the drone. It showed up high right above me (note: this happened without any form of connection to the RC). The return to home mode kicked in. It lowered in altitude and then all of the sudden drifted off back above the water where it kept declining and eventually disappeared out of sight. The replay of the flight won't show the last event. It will just show me flying the drone until I got a message of high wind velocity, return to home asap and lost connection while it was above water. I pressed RTH straight after, but the connection got lost before I could do so. I've already opened a case with DJI right after it happened, but I figured this friendly community might show so insight too. My guess it that it got caught up in unexpected wind and had a hard time to return to home. Which still raises my question; why did it return right above my (return to home) location but drifted off?

I can't even begin to tell ou guys how devistated I am. I've been talking about buying a drone for ages and right into day 2 of flying I lost it to reason unknown. Peep the last photo of me
Being happy editing my first day flight into a little highlight reel. :-(

Ps. How do I provide you guys with a flight log?

So, it is clear the failure to return home was the MA's inability to overcome the headwind it encountered. I believe most everyone who has read these forums for more than a few months should be aware of the variance in wind speed at different altitudes. I have also noted a number of these RTH "failures" appear to occur in locations with significant topographic elevation changes, especially over water - that is, they seem to frequently take place on the leeward side of an island. As a former small boat sailor, I'm keenly aware of what surface topography and structures can do to disturb the wind near shore on the leeward side of an island or shoreline. Not only do we need to consider the potential impact of altitude on wind speed but also the impact on wind speed and pattern in the lee of any major structure or topographical feature.

 

[Meta4]

I did alll this before and all the data is gone as I deleted everything , but what was only found was compass error and yes that was the key but nothing else...It should have returned home but it didint’, it showed on the data it flew the opossite direction towards the water for another 15 mins plus and last data showed it about a mile away. The data was quite straight forward.. I’ve heard this many times, ore than a dozen RTH was not initiated. , yes some because of the settings...Mine was set perfectly as I have been doing this for many years, not new at this. BIG problem why it did not come home when completel disconnection, I even ran after the drone in site and tried to reconnect and nothing. , did everyting I could.

In the absence of data, I'll do a little guessing like you have (but unlike you, I have investigated the flight data from hundreds of incidents and understand how the drone works).
RTH is extremely reliable and if the drone is working normally, the only things that stop it from bringing the drone back are strong winds and obstacles.
But your compass error (probably due to a magnetically dirty launch point) resulted in your drone finding itself in atti mode and drifting off with the wind.
Perhaps the compass error was related to a yaw error which would cause it to the drone to look like it was flying away.
Either way, your drone would not have been able to RTH because it was forced into atti mode with the compass error.

You might not be new to this, but your comments strongly suggest that your understanding is lacking.
Having your settings perfect makes no difference when a compass error causes your drone to give up on GPS position holding.
And if you also had a yaw error, it's even worse.

 

[DanMan32]

I encountered the phantom obstacle on RTH today for the first time. No written warning, just the OA beeps and obvious stop in motion in the video feed. Weird sensation, like a new car driver constantly hitting the brakes hard. When I took it off RTH and flew manually to use different angles, then I got the brake messages.

It was a windy day and got warnings but I've flown in worse. I tended to get wind messages when hovering or moving slow.
If I was moving then I didn't get the wind messages.

 

[hiflyer201]

I've lost connection many times and the drone just climbs and returns home or starts home. Once it re-connects I cancel or cancel when I get the drone in sight high overhead. I do think that at one time my controller needed calibrating because I did just that, and drifting problems that I had been having ceased. It's a bummer to have a drone drift and have no one believe it. I live in the desert and I get high wind warnings all the time. I don't exactly ignore them but I don't get too excited when they do pop up. I always expect the winds aloft to be quite a bit higher than at the surface because of friction. I have to add that I think my air is flakier than my spark as far as connection problems go even though it can fly further by a wide margin on some days.

 

[JoeyT]

support.

So, it is clear the failure to return home was the MA's inability to overcome the headwind it encountered. I believe most everyone who has read these forums for more than a few months should be aware of the variance in wind speed at different altitudes. I have also noted a number of these RTH "failures" appear to occur in locations with significant topographic elevation changes, especially over water - that is, they seem to frequently take place on the leeward side of an island. As a former small boat sailor, I'm keenly aware of what surface topography and structures can do to disturb the wind near shore on the leeward side of an island or shoreline. Not only do we need to consider the potential impact of altitude on wind speed but also the impact on wind speed and pattern in the lee of any major structure or topographical feature.

thank you for your explanation. In the last few days I've had email communication with dji. The wind was not part of the problem when they sent their analysis. However, they simply do not take ownership in the drone flying off on its own after disconnecting to my RC.

Conditions were great, blue skies, direct line of sight, no obstacles, and they simply won't go into detail about why the drone did returned to home but didn't bother to land as it should. I've now asked for their report details to find out what details they are working with.

Any advice?

 

[JoeyT]

I think that you underestimated the variability of the wind in that location. You mentioned that wind conditions were "perfect" at takeoff, but just 40 m out the computed wind speed was 40 km/hr. You must have been in a particularly sheltered position. With no data for the return flight this is somewhat speculative, but it's likely that due to the cliff, the offshore wind speed at the cliff elevation had an unusual profile. You see similar effects on the lee side of ridges. I would guess that as it descended it encountered > 50 km/hr wind speed, and was pushed offshore.

Notice in the plot of aircraft tilt during the outbound segment at the cliff elevation that during the periods when no elevator or aileron was applied that it was at around 25° to hold position. That's right at the limit of pitch for RTH.

View attachment 57033

I surely believe that wind strength might have been challenging for this drone on that location. However, the RTH location was completely open on a street with a sidewalk. Unfortunately my words about the RTH event can't be backed by actual data other than me 2 friends who witnessed the event. It did hover right above my head for a while, I'm just trying to understand why it never lowered in altitude while it still could've had sufficient battery life to RTH safetly.

 

[JoeyT]

If you fly below your artificial horizon (the cliff top in this example) you have to adjust the antenna to compensate for the drone not being overhead. The antenna are somewhat directional and that could have been the reason for loss of connection. It probably returned to your position as a RTH function but how much time elapsed between loss of signal and it appearing overhead? At that point it may have not had enough battery power to stay put in the wind and drifted out to the water and emergency landed due to critical battery. That’s my take on it.

Words of advice when you get your next drone - practice several flights in an open field in calm weather. Get the hang of drone behavior when you hit RTH and practice practice practice before doing any flying over water or at the beach because the wind behaves differently over bodies of water and at the shoreline.

Good luck sorry you lost your drone.

I'm with you on that one. Thanks. Of course I'm a newbie pilot that can underestimate a situation. Actually DJI offered me 30% discount on a new drone and they don't mention any wind issues in their analysis.

They woudn't want to discuss analysis about the events after the loss of connection so that's the offer I have on the table now.

 

[JoeyT]

^^^
This!

When I got my Mavic last year, I spent several days going through 4 batteries each day just doing test flights above my own property. As I became more and more accustomed to controlling the drone, only then did I raise it to higher altitudes.

If I'm thinking about flying at any location where wind might be a factor, I always check the UAV Forecast App on my iPhone. By selecting the Wind Profile tab, the wind velocity at various altitudes can be seen:

UAV Forecast isn't perfect, and wind velocity can change very quickly without much notice at ground level, but the more information a pilot has the better.

Mark

Thanks. I'll keep this app in mind next time.

 

[JoeyT]

Hi all,

I've been in contact with DJI by email about my case. They are offering 30% on a new drone. Would there be anyone kind enough to

Until you have built up a number of flight hours and got to know your drone you should fly as if you have no insurance. So you have $1000 of drone and if you mess it up then you will lose it, no refunds, no second chances. This should affect where you fly. Choose a wide open area with no water and preferably no trees. Get to know your drone, fly it backwards and forwards, try doing a figure of eight and that means using left and right at the same time as yaw. Practise sending it out and then bringing it back in and landing it.
Until you know your drone then there are far too many things to go wrong. It may not be your fault if you have an accident but at least if you are over land then you can try various options. Switch to Sports mode if the wind is too high, descend to where the wind is less, practise spinning the drone with yaw and then bringing it right back to you. using both visual and indications from your phone which will show you the direction in which it is pointing.
Your flight plan was ambitious for an experienced pilot and should never be attempted by someone still getting used to your drone.

I hear you. I've had a succesful day of flying before that day and simply wanted to show my friends and record a little. It was just out of my control that it did not respond and RTH as it should.