Lost controls of Mavic Air while mid air

[JoeyT]

I had my MA for 2 months flew it almost everyday in all sorts of conditions, no wind mild wind & pretty strong winds & the drone flew just perfect. Obviously uses battery faster in windy conditions but once you’ve got some experience & understand how your drone works re RTH, auto landing etc you should be able to trust the systems built in, fly sensibly & not have your $1000 drone go swimming all by itself.. Mine did, in similar circumstances to yours (and 100’s of others if u read online) & DJI will do jack diddly squat to help you. They will say high wind is flying the drone contrary to recommendations & therefore it boils down to pilot error. They know about RTH failures with Mavic Air but will not play ball when push comes to shove.

Good luck mate, but I think you’re joining the list.

Yea makes sense. It's just unfortunate. Like you said, it looks like a common problem without them doing anything about it. They've shared their analysis of the last flight and offered 30% disc. I'm actually not satisfied yet since to them everything should've been fine...

 

[JoeyT]

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!

thanks for your support! Hope you still get to enjoy your drone. Meanwhile DJI offered 30% discount. Could be worse but the way they explain their analysis makes me wanting to dive deeper into this case before I spend another $700 or so. I actually made a pretty cool video on the beach the day before I lost it. That's the only memory I have before it took off.

 

[Meta4]

They've shared their analysis of the last flight and offered 30% disc.

DJI can be hopeless at communications and it sounds like they are in this case.
All they can say is that they have no evidence or data to be able to say what happened.
A few good drone data analysts here have wracked their brains trying to come up with a possible scenario, without much luck.
If DJI could inspect the drone's internal data recorder that would give them something to work with.
But without actual data even DJI has to guess.

 

[JoeyT]

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...

**** that's such a shame. Sorry for your loss too.

And you're right, I was on the bringe of buying the osmo pocket straight after my drone. But knowing how little support they actually give you, no other DJI products for me. I'm trying to see what I can get out of this case since their analysis didn't show any problems.

 

[JoeyT]

DJI can be hopeless at communications and it sounds like they are in this case.
All they can say is that they have no evidence or data to be able to say what happened.
A few good drone data analysts here have wracked their brains trying to come up with a possible scenario, without much luck.
If DJI could inspect the drone's internal data recorder that would give them something to work with.
But without actual data even DJI has to guess.

Yea I understand. It's just really frustrating that I exactly know what happened but I can't back it up, and all I hear is political bs (worked for Apple myself so I know how they play these games). I saw email replies from other support cases and it's pretty much copy and paste from the same 'Lydia from Tech support'. Even when I shared a screen recording with date and time from my DJI go app showing it was still lost since that last flight, they wouldn't take that into consideration.

 

[Meta4]

I'm trying to see what I can get out of this case since their analysis didn't show any problems.

Their analysis doesn't show that there were no problems.
Your flight data stops before there were problems so they have nothing to show work with.

Yea I understand. It's just really frustrating that I exactly know what happened but I can't back it up.

If you know exactly what happened, perhaps you can explain it to me because I've gone over the data and your description and I haven't got a clue what happened.

Even when I shared a screen recording with date and time from my DJI go app showing it was still lost since that last flight, they wouldn't take that into consideration.

A screen recording with date and time from my DJI go app showing it was still lost doesn't prove anything at all.
But even if it did, it still doesn't help DJI determine if the loss was due to a DJI issue which is what they need to be able to give a replacement.
If you recover the drone, the internal data recorder would show what happened and whether it was a warranty issue.
It might even get you a replacement.
But without data to show what happened, DJI can't do anything.
That's the chance you take when you fly somewhere that makes recovery difficult.

 

[JoeyT]

Their analysis doesn't show that there were no problems.
Your flight data stops before there were problems so they have nothing to show work with.
If you know exactly what happened, perhaps you can explain it to me because I've gone over the data and your description and I haven't got a clue what happened.
A screen recording with date and time from my DJI go app showing it was still lost doesn't prove anything at all.
But even if it did, it still doesn't help DJI determine if the loss was due to a DJI issue which is what they need to be able to give a replacement.
If you recover the drone, the internal data recorder would show what happened and whether it was a warranty issue.
It might even get you a replacement.
But without data to show what happened, DJI can't do anything.
That's the chance you take when you fly somewhere that makes recovery difficult.

I've sent you a direct message with a step by step explanation. Thanks Meta

 

[InvisibleName]

I've sent you a direct message with a step by step explanation. Thanks Meta

How is that going to help the rest of us understand how you brilliantly managed to diagnose the reason you lost your drone, when nobody else could?

 

[JoeyT]

How is that going to help the rest of us understand how you brilliantly managed to diagnose the reason you lost your drone, when nobody else could?

What are you on about? You can see the details in the flight log yourself. Meta did some research again and I provided him with a step-by-step breakdown of the event.

 

[InvisibleName]

What are you on about? You can see the details in the flight log yourself. Meta did some research again and I provided him with a step-by-step breakdown of the event.

That’s my point - you sent your “step by step breakdown” only to Meta, why not share it with us all?

 

[Meta4]

That’s my point - you sent your “step by step breakdown” only to Meta, why not share it with us all?

There wasn't any new information.
Just a re-statement of what's already in this thread.

 

[JDawg]

There wasn't any new information.
Just a re-statement of what's already in this thread.

Kind of figured.

 

[JoeyT]

That’s my point - you sent your “step by step breakdown” only to Meta, why not share it with us all?

as Meta said, I just simplified the event in loss of my drone so Meta had the right details which I explained throughout this thread.

 

[JDawg]

as Meta said, I just simplified the event in loss of my drone so Meta had the right details which I explained throughout this thread.

You stated you know exactly what happened. Enquiring minds want to know?

Yea I understand. It's just really frustrating that I exactly know what happened but I can't back it up.

 

[JoeyT]

Outcome for now: DJI offered a 30% discount to replace my drone. They couldn't find the root problem of the RTH function not working which resulted in a fly-away since the got disconnected due to an unknown reason, which will leave me with no proof of what happened after the disconnect. Their answer was basically a copy/paste answer to cases like mine. See email answer below.

I'm still awaiting their full analysis which I will share once I have it.

See email below.
-----------------------------------
Dear Customer,


Thanks for your patience.

This is Lydia from data analysis team, and I will be assisting you on this case from now on for related inquiries about data analysis.

For your case CAS-2615324-H1L7N6, we have finished the data analysis, and the result is as follows:
1. The GPS signal was fine and the aircraft worked under GPS mode;
2. At t=02:06, h=-3.9 m, d=340.3 m, the pilot moved the aileron stick rightwards;
3. At t=02:07, h=-3.9 m, d=341.5 m, the aircraft flew to the right direction after the pilot moved the aileron stick rightwards, then the app record ended. The takeoff point: -36.8352513 175.8000026; The last recorded point: -36.8343023 175.8036441.

With the record ended, the root reason of the incident cannot be verified.

We truly appreciate your support for DJI. If you could not recover the product and consider to purchase another one, we can offer you a 30% off discount for Mavic Air (Onyx Black) without the charger and remote controller. Please kindly send us the following information if you would like to accept the offer:
Shipping address:
Contact name:
Phone number:

----------If the model is incorrect, please let us know.
----------We're sorry to tell you that the discount cannot be applied to any other model other than the original one, or be credited to your account.

Should you have more questions about the result of the data analysis, please reply to this email directly within 15 calendar days. Then we will contact you via email in 2-3 working days.

Thanks for your support. Have a nice day.


Best regards,

Lydia
DJI Tech Support

 

[JoeyT]

You stated you know exactly what happened. Enquiring minds want to know?

Yea I understand. It's just really frustrating that I exactly know what happened but I can't back it up.

Here's the breakdown I gave Meta which Is the exact information I gave throughout this thread but then in short.

1. I started up the drone and connected my phone to the RC. Every device was fully charged at the start. Firmwares were all up to date.
2. The drone asked to perform a compass calibration, which I performed accordingly
3. I put the drone on a flat open surface so it could take off without any obstacles and set RTH as I always did with every flight
4. The antennas from my remote were facing straight upwards as advised by DJI for the direction I was flying towards
5. You can recall the flight route from the the flight log in the thread.
6. I flew over a bunch of trees and bushes which were at a lower point than I was since I was standing nearby a declining cliff side
7. I wanted to record a little bit of footage from the cliff from just above water. As the flight logs show, I'm turning my drone when it's above water facing my position
8. At all times I had clear sight on the drone which hovered around a height level the same as my position. Possibly a little lower but still without any obstacles and perfectly clear sight on the aircraft
9. after a minute or 3, the recording stops due to a disconnect. This happened right before I wanted to fly closer to my position to eventually get the drone safe on the ground and head to the beach.
10. I did not panic during this time and waited for the drone to kick in the RTH feature by itself.
11. After several minutes I saw the drone gaining altitude to around 20-30 meters above my head, and it easily flew back to where I was standing (the RTH location)
12. It hovered right above me for 1-2 minutes or so without showing any movement or any decline in altitude.
13. Then it suddenly flew back out on the sea towards the location the flight logs knows as the last known location and slowly declined altitude, to eventually go out of sight never to be seen again.
14. After the AC lost connection to my RC, I did not touch any buttons on the RC since I did not want to mess with any settings. The connection never returned on it's own so step 9 to 12 are not recorded and only based on my experience.

Since the RTH event has not been recorded I don't have anything to prove other than explaining it in detail myself. I'm just not convinced that it's just the wind's fault for it to fly off. It flew back against the wind with ease and hovered steadily above my location but it never bothered to land.

 

[sar104]

Here's the breakdown I gave Meta which Is the exact information I gave throughout this thread but then in short.

1. I started up the drone and connected my phone to the RC. Every device was fully charged at the start. Firmwares were all up to date.
2. The drone asked to perform a compass calibration, which I performed accordingly
3. I put the drone on a flat open surface so it could take off without any obstacles and set RTH as I always did with every flight
4. The antennas from my remote were facing straight upwards as advised by DJI for the direction I was flying towards
5. You can recall the flight route from the the flight log in the thread.
6. I flew over a bunch of trees and bushes which were at a lower point than I was since I was standing nearby a declining cliff side
7. I wanted to record a little bit of footage from the cliff from just above water. As the flight logs show, I'm turning my drone when it's above water facing my position
8. At all times I had clear sight on the drone which hovered around a height level the same as my position. Possibly a little lower but still without any obstacles and perfectly clear sight on the aircraft
9. after a minute or 3, the recording stops due to a disconnect. This happened right before I wanted to fly closer to my position to eventually get the drone safe on the ground and head to the beach.
10. I did not panic during this time and waited for the drone to kick in the RTH feature by itself.
11. After several minutes I saw the drone gaining altitude to around 20-30 meters above my head, and it easily flew back to where I was standing (the RTH location)
12. It hovered right above me for 1-2 minutes or so without showing any movement or any decline in altitude.
13. Then it suddenly flew back out on the sea towards the location the flight logs knows as the last known location and slowly declined altitude, to eventually go out of sight never to be seen again.
14. After the AC lost connection to my RC, I did not touch any buttons on the RC since I did not want to mess with any settings. The connection never returned on it's own so step 9 to 12 are not recorded and only based on my experience.

Since the RTH event has not been recorded I don't have anything to prove other than explaining it in detail myself. I'm just not convinced that it's just the wind's fault for it to fly off. It flew back against the wind with ease and hovered steadily above my location but it never bothered to land.

However, as I mentioned in post #16, the wind speed at ground level close to the cliff was over 40 km/hr. The fact that it came back at higher altitude doesn't mean that it didn't again encounter those wind speeds as it descended. That's not an uncommon wind profile. And since that would completely account for what happened at the end, I think it is the most likely explanation.

 

[JoeyT]

However, as I mentioned in post #16, the wind speed at ground level close to the cliff was over 40 km/hr. The fact that it came back at higher altitude doesn't mean that it didn't again encounter those wind speeds as it descended. That's not an uncommon wind profile. And since that would completely account for what happened at the end, I think it is the most likely explanation.

Unfortunately I think so too.

 

[InvisibleName]

Unfortunately I think so too.

So why do you think that DJI should do anymore for you? the 30% discount seems very generous considering you seem to accept the cause of the loss was high winds??

 

[Jblah]

so i was flying my drone yesterday and something similar happened (i did not lose my drone) and i think i might know why yours did what it did. There was snow everywhere, so i cleared a relatively flat rock area and used that spot to take off with the drone. After I was done and brought the drone back and was landing it manually back onto the rock, the drone drifted off the rock and landed straight in the snow. I think it detected the rock as an obstacle even though it had taken off from that location. As such, it drifted out of the way. Did you use a landing/takeoff pad?

I had forgotten to bring my landing/takeoff pad but after this incident i used a car sunblocker and this worked very well on the snow and was even able to autoland correctly.