Lost Drone

[peterc4]

DJI will not take notice and will not aknowlede 3rd party software data

 

[Ol' Sparky]

Most of my flying is over water. No people to complain or hit if it falls out of the sky. I've lost signal a couple times when I flew too low. Fortunately, it did it's RTH thing. 10 feet above water is too low. I now make 20 to 25 feet above water my minimum and have had no further incidents. I have no need or desire for 3rd party software while still under warranty.

 

[MaxE1955!]

Not knowing the entire reason for it’s failure, I’m a little skeptical that DJI wasn’t more helpful. If I purchased a brand new car and in a few weeks drove it into a retention pond I would never expect the automobile manufacturer to replace my vehicle. Even if it was due to manufacturing failure. I would however expect my insurance company to assist in the replacement. That’s why a large percentage of drone owners have insurance of one sort or another to cover a catastrophic loss of their drone. Insurance is something that protects your investment. I have read multiple dozens of instances where DJI has happily replaced crashed drone when it has proven to be an error on DJI’s part. Perhaps negligence or operator error was proven in the read outs You supplied. Without additional information I Would have to give DJI the benefit of doubt on this one!

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Here our a few reason why flying over the Water is not so easy.

You are much more likely to go past visual line of sight.
You are more likely to have to negotiate birds.
There is no room for error when determining battery life
A forced landing can and some times occur.
Most will find they also have to negotiate wind.
Depending where you take off from magnetic interference can mess with the compass.

Your going to $$$$ for those mistakes over the water.

Its not a walk in the park, no matter how experienced you are .


Phantomrain.org
Gear to float your drone.

 

[shutterup]

I've found dji very black and white, awaiting the logs

 

[Ol' Sparky]

Why flying over land is worse:

VLOS is greatly reduced due to buildings and trees
regulations and restrictions for flying over/near people and roadways
Drone eating trees and power lines
Birds can come out of nowhere
There is no room for error when determining battery life
A forced landing can occur
The wind over land acts more unpredictably than over water
Depending where you take off from, magnetic interference can mess with the compass.
Paranoid people call the authorities on you...or worse, take matters into their own hands
Flying over water is an incentive to MAKE SURE everything is up to date and in good working order
Your going to lose $$$$ for those mistakes if it drops on a person, house, car, traffic or private property

Quite frankly...if there is an incident, I would rather lose my drone to the water and deal with insurance than have it fall from the sky on top of people, buildings or traffic and deal with police/lawyers.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Why flying over land is worse:

VLOS is greatly reduced due to buildings and trees
regulations and restrictions for flying over/near people and roadways
Drone eating trees and power lines
Birds can come out of nowhere
There is no room for error when determining battery life
A forced landing can occur
The wind over land acts more unpredictably than over water
Depending where you take off from, magnetic interference can mess with the compass.
Paranoid people call the authorities on you...or worse, take matters into their own hands
Flying over water is an incentive to MAKE SURE everything is up to date and in good working order
Your going to lose $$$$ for those mistakes if it drops on a person, house, car, traffic or private property

Quite frankly...if there is an incident, I would rather lose my drone to the water and deal with insurance than have it fall from the sky on top of people, buildings or traffic and deal with police/lawyers.

No one should be flying over people , traffic or building anyway.
Thus why the water so popular but carries a heavy price tag.

 

[Ol' Sparky]

No one should be flying over people , traffic or building anyway.
Thus why the water so popular but carries a heavy price tag.

I agree....but in a case of a fly away, malfunction or loss of control....that baby's coming down eventually....anywhere it happens to be.

 

[Florida Drone Supply]

Unfortunatly, unless you provide concrete evidence that something went wrong with the drone itself and was not a pilot error you will get nowhere with DJI. It makes it even more difficult when you cant recover the drone for them to investigate. Sorry about that.

 

[Ol' Sparky]

Unfortunatly, unless you provide concrete evidence that something went wrong with the drone itself and was not a pilot error you will get nowhere with DJI. It makes it even more difficult when you cant recover the drone for them to investigate. Sorry about that.

Are you saying DJI won't supply a replacement for a fly away using flight logs?

 

[Meta4]

Are you saying DJI won't supply a replacement for a fly away using flight logs?

DJI will ... but only where there is evidence to show that the incident was caused by a DJI issue.
But recorded flight data shows that drones are lost because of a lot more operator issues than DJI issues.
What people are quick to label a "flyaway" usually isn't.

 

[lowellton]

When I fly over water I attach with two rubber bands a sanded block of styrofoam to the top of the Mini.
It handles just fine in the wind, it handles maximum speed sideways flights, all I need now is some air to inflate my raft.

Whoaaa good idea. Can you post a pic that homemade rubber band thing? Not the raft???️?. Thanks

 

[Marko9219]

Hi,

I don’t know where I stand with this. My drone lost signal Friday, forcing it to crash into a lake. I’ve spoken to DJI about this, uploaded all information they needed, for them to tell me sorry you need to buy a new drone. I’m really disappointed in their reply to sorting this out.

Are you suggesting it was the drones failure to keep signal lock or did you fly beyond safe parameters? A pilot error doesn't require any customer courtesy at all from DJI. But, if your flight logs prove otherwise then yes, they should take care it. Most reported "fly-away" incidents turn out to clearly be pilot error.

 

[Meta4]

Are you suggesting it was the drones failure to keep signal lock or did you fly beyond safe parameters? A pilot error doesn't require any customer courtesy at all from DJI. But, if your flight logs prove otherwise then yes, they should take care it. Most reported "fly-away" incidents turn out to clearly be pilot error.

The OP isn't saying anything.
He hasn't been back since shortly after his initial post and has seen only the first couple of replies.
He wasn't looking for help, just to declare his unhappiness.

 

[Marko9219]

The OP isn't saying anything.
He hasn't been back since shortly after his initial post and has seen only the first couple of replies.
He wasn't looking for help, just to declare his unhappiness.

Always someone looking to blame someone or something else for their misfortunes. Sometimes it's legit. Usually not. I've flown the same drone (MP) for 2 1/2 years now, never a crash, never a fly-away.

 

[Nostris]

In most cases it is operator error. The drone is configured to land when the signal is lost, not to RTH. So, it lands, and if you are over water it sinks.

 

[PeteTheJack]

Unless you can provide evidence of a DJI problem causing the incident, you cannot expect to replace a lost drone.
Supplying the evidence isn't possible because of where you chose to fly the drone.

In the UK there is a two year warranty on items. In the first six months the assumption is the item was faulty and the onus is on the vendor to prove different. After six months the onus in on the purchaser to prove the fault was on the item. We also have recourse if we use a credit card to purchase an item as they are classed as the retailer. There is also a six year pro rata credit on a replacement, IE if you buy a washing machine for example, you pay say £600 for it, and it fails after four years you are entitled to £200 credit on a new one. Although not many people know this. All claims are against the vendor not the manufacturer. It's up to the vendor to take it up with them. Better to buy off Amazon ETC than DJI directly as they are judge and jury unless you take them to a small claims court which is an inexpensive option here.

PS, I'm not a lawyer. ?

 

[drone safety]

What actually happened is a lot more inclined to be the the drone has a surprising lack of electricity so when the power goes away, indicate has been lost.

 

[JMTremblay]

Hey for next time check out drone-retriever.com.