Lost My 3 Pro in the River today...Log Provided

[bkushner]

Short flight to photograph a ship, was on my way back. Set cruise control and was over 100 feet..then it descends, you can see the controller sticks not being touched. Standing there waiting for the return and hear the controller say ATTI MODE and I look at screen and the drone is dropping down fast right into the water. I reported this here a few months ago I had the bird start to drop altitude without touching the sticks but this drone hasn't done it until today. I've had tons of care warranties, never have used one for replacement or flyaway. How do I go about getting DJI to deal with this since I don't have the drone to send them? Here is my flight log. Any thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.

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[RPerry]

I think you had a battery connection issue. You should have had a warning when you first took off because of the cell divination in #4 cell. The reason I said I felt it was a connection issue is because the deviation seemed to correct itself then return later in the flight. I had the same thing happen on the Inspire 2, fortunately, it has two batteries, and I had plenty of power to return home.
If I had seen a voltage divination warning I would have returned and attempted to find the problem. It obviously wasn't a battery fault but a connection issue. If #4 circuit went open you wouldn't have enough power to maintain flight but your flight data didn't show a disconnection.
As for DJI, good luck dealing with them.

 

[bkushner]

I get those deviations all the time. Also I don’t know about them unless I check logs. Nothing pops up notifying of them. This was a co trolled descent. It didn’t drop out of the sky.

 

[Meta4]

Short flight to photograph a ship, was on my way back. Set cruise control and was over 100 feet..then it descends, you can see the controller sticks not being touched. Standing there waiting for the return and hear the controller say ATTI MODE and I look at screen and the drone is dropping down fast right into the water.

The incident had nothing to do with the battery.

Earlier in the flight, the data shows that the drone was holding altitude as it should.
But after you descended for a second at 4:22.7, the drone continued descending from 100 ft all the way down into the water.
The crash impact was at 4:31.3
The Atti Mode warning came shortly after the drone had hit the water and rolled over.
VPS was working correctly and recorded the descent.

The thing that stands out in the data is the high speed your drone was achieving in Sport Mode.
I can't tell if this contributed to the crash, but I'd think that DJI would also notice it in the data.

 

[Meta4]

This was a co trolled descent. It didn’t drop out of the sky.

Just noticed that you set cruise control at 4:22.2
Then manually descended for a second at 4:22.7.
It looks like the cruise control continued the descent that you initiated.
So it would have been a cruise-controlled descent.

 

[bkushner]

That’s normal sport mode speed. Once again I’ve flown in sport mode a million times. If wind at your back you can get 47-48. Never has it caused a descent. Does speed void the warranty?

 

[RPerry]

Meta I understand your point. I'm wondering what the RTH altitude was set at and if there was any input from the controller. My issue is when I see voltage divination that corrects itself that tells me there is a poor connection somewhere. Was this all the data you got from this flight?

 

[Meta4]

That’s normal sport mode speed. Once again I’ve flown in sport mode a million times. If wind at your back you can get 47-48. Never has it caused a descent.

My mistake ... I'd seen you posting recently about a Mini 3 pro and assumed this was one

 

[Meta4]

Meta I understand your point. I'm wondering what the RTH altitude was set at and if there was any input from the controller.

The RTH Height was set at 115 ft, but that isn't relevant because the drone was not in RTH.
The controller was in cruise control and holding the descent that was initiated just after CC was set.

My issue is when I see voltage divination that corrects itself that tells me there is a poor connection somewhere. Was this all the data you got from this flight?

Small cell voltage deviations are common and normal.
They don't cause drones to descend or fall from the sky.

 

[RPerry]

I really hate to say this but is there a chance it was pilot error by not watching his altitude. I disagree, cell divination is not common and shouldn't be. I have Phantoms, Inspire 2, and Mavic 2 and have only seen it one time and I disposed of the battery.

 

[bkushner]

If this is pilot error and a reason to void my DJI Care I'd like to know what I did. As the drone is descending you can clearly see the stick isn't being pushed.

Just noticed that you set cruise control at 4:22.2
Then manually descended for a second at 4:22.7.
It looks like the cruise control continued the descent that you initiated.
So it would have been a cruise-controlled descent.

Cruise controlled descent is that even a thing? I"ve flone hundreds of flights in Cruise Control and raised and lowered my height and never did it keep going up or down.

 

[bkushner]

At the end of the day I don't expect DJI to do ****. All the years I've been flying with their warranties and everything I see here they wiggle out every time. Several years ago I had a stick issue on a controller that sent my drone into the river. The stick was showing it was stuck in the down position even though the stick was physically fine on the controller. Not only would DJI not cover the drone after confirming the controller malfunctioned, they charged me to fix the controller.

 

[bkushner]

I'm guessing when they wiggle out I and I buy another I will have to buy another controller I don't need because they aren't selling stand alones???

 

[Meta4]

If this is pilot error and a reason to void my DJI Care I'd like to know what I did. As the drone is descending you can clearly see the stick isn't being pushed.

I don't know how DJi would act, I just read the data.
If you'd monitored the drone, you would have been able to cancel the descent.
But I've seen quite a few recent incidents where DJI gave warranty replacements for cases of obvious operator error.

Cruise controlled descent is that even a thing? I"ve flone hundreds of flights in Cruise Control and raised and lowered my height and never did it keep going up or down.

I've not used CC so I'm not sure, but the data shows the descent you initiated was continued by CC after you took your hands off the sticks.

 

[Meta4]

I disagree, cell divination is not common and shouldn't be. I have Phantoms, Inspire 2, and Mavic 2 and have only seen it one time and I disposed of the battery.

I analyse flight data for members every day and have seen the data from hundreds of flights.
Small cell voltage deviations (divination is something very, very different) are common and normal.

 

[bkushner]

I don't know how DJi would act, I just read the data.
If you'd monitored the drone, you would have been able to cancel the descent.
But I've seen quite a few recent incidents where DJI gave warranty replacements for cases of obvious operator error.

I've not used CC so I'm not sure, but the data shows the descent you initiated was continued by CC after you took your hands off the sticks.

Correct, I was not monitoring. I set it down to do something while it returned over the river. Guessing RTH would probably been a better choice. Question still remains is that normal behavior in cruise control??

 

[bkushner]

I analyse flight data for members every day and have seen the data from hundreds of flights.
Small cell voltage deviations (divination is something very, very different) are common and normal.

How should I initiate contact with DJI? It's not a fly away but under crash they want drone. Should I just contact [email protected]?

 

[Meta4]

How should I initiate contact with DJI? It's not a fly away but under crash they want drone. Should I just contact [email protected]?

Starting an online chat with DJI support is usually a good way to go and let them take it from there.

 

[Filmarik]

Correct, I was not monitoring. I set it down to do something while it returned over the river. Guessing RTH would probably been a better choice. Question still remains is that normal behavior in cruise control??

With CC there a slight delay in effecting. The CC button needs to be held pressed for about a second or two while holding the sticks steady in the desired position. If you move the sticks while the drone is "processing" the CC stick commands, the CC could do different thing than what you intended. This is a sheer speculation, though I can see how a mistake can be easily made, consequence of that delay.

 

[GadgetGuy]

How should I initiate contact with DJI? It's not a fly away but under crash they want drone. Should I just contact [email protected]?

Assuming you have DJI Care, as you stated you do, this will be handled as a Fly Away, assuming you were also flying with the bound controller, which is absolutely required for Fly Away coverage.

This fits DJI's definition of a "Fly Away" under DJI Care. Basically, pilot error with no drone recovery from which to retrieve the .DAT black box files. The pilot error was your not personally and continuously monitoring the drone during the return flight, while the Cruise Control settings flew it into the river. Cruise Control locks all the current stick inputs, including any descent. Cruise Control was never intended to be used in an unmonitored state, unlike RTH.

If you have DJI Care and were flying with the bound remote, just go online and open a Fly Away claim under your DJI Care policy. After you pay the Mavic 3 Pro Fly Away deductible, you will be sent a new drone.

In the off chance you can recover the drone from the river, you won't have to have been flying with the bound RC, and you'll save $500 over a Fly Away claim. Just send in the drowned drone and pay the first of two possible normal crash replacement deductibles.

Otherwise, you are SOL, and have learned not to use Cruise Control for any unmonitored flight.

Hopefully, others may also have learned from your unfortunate mistake.