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MA2 Fell out of the Sky (with flight log)

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codaroommedia

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Hi there! Hoping someone can help provide some clarity... Flew a normal flight today in our neighborhood. Pre-flight check was normal, took off with 14 satellites, a full battery, etc. 5 minutes into the flight, the screen glitched, showed a brief changed to "cinematic mode" (which I did not trigger), and then the screen went black. This wasn't a normal 'low signal reception' interruption, but a total disconnect. I got in the car and was able to head toward the area it was last tracked-- restarted my controller and I got a very weak connection to it, but enough to trigger the "flash and beep" find my drone feature. I found it face down, still on (the battery stuck in the on position), all four props there, and camera/gimbal in pieces.

I've uploaded the flight data to Airdata... any help would be greatly appreciated!

 
Nooooo it cannot be, not a AIR 2 falling out of the sky are u sure it was not a Mini . ?

So you had Geo Zones and Manned flight warnings.
Top speed 42mph { edited }

78% max distance at 3,146 ft
Im thinking forced landing do to Geo Zone but others will dissect better.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Air 2 in the Rain and Land on Water.
 
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Top speed of 42mph and change is normal flying in sport mode... unfortunately, this didn’t land, it disconnected and fell, with enough force to break it apart. :-(
This last part :

Screenshot 01-16-2021 22.33.01.jpgThis is the Puzzle : its Geo Related somehow im thinking.
 
Doubtful on geo. I physically stopped it in that position vs a Geo zone stopping me. It was in all ways a normal flight until it disconnected on its own.
Only 2 things make some sense to me that you had the Maxium Distance set on your controller or the Geo Fence dropped you out of the sky as we have seen that happen on the forum at least.

what was your Max Distance set to on the Controller. ?
 
Only 2 things make some sense to me that you had the Maxium Distance set on your controller or the Geo Fence dropped you out of the sky as we have seen that happen on the forum at least.

what was your Max Distance set to on the Controller. ?

Max distance was set to NO LIMIT
 
Max distance was set to NO LIMIT
So that is the first part of the Equation that is a bit off for me. That would mean that it is maybe Geo fence warning even though you stopped . Be interesting to see what some of the Pro Readers will say.
 
As long as you're not forced into an authorization or restricted zone (such as wind pushing you in), the AC should stop right at the fence and not go in.

Should it go into a zone, it should simply land normally.

I suspect the connection was lost for whatever reason before the cause could be logged on the mobile. Or perhaps the more detailed DAT file will have the answer.
The AC log will probably have the cause, but only DJI can read it.
 
Not to go off on a tangent, but this is the second "crash" I've seen recently where the last known altitude was beyond the (app) max: how was he able to get beyond 400 feet altitude?!
 
Is the Manned Aircraft Nearby warning from the ADS-B detecting an aircraft nearby? Lots a warning ignored, including height limit. Seems a bit reckless.
Strange it hit the ground instead of RTH on loss of connection.
 
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Is the Manned Aircraft Nearby warning from the ADS-B detecting an aircraft nearby? Lots a warning ignored, including height limit. Seems a bit reckless.
Strange it hit the ground instead of RTH on loss of connection.

Yes, from ADS-B, but not a reckless flight in the least. Our area is close enough to a major airport to receive ADS-B warnings near constantly, but far enough away to not be in restricted airspace. The flights triggering the warnings are all at a min or 3,500 feet where we are.
 
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Again, I’m just looking to see if someone can tell from the data why the drone malfunctioned. It’s concerning to me that a MA2 can simply drop like this... these type of malfunctions pose a significant safety hazard, and if I need to expand pre-flight checks beyond the norm, I’d like to know what to look out for.
 
Don’t know the why, but good save. I think. Care Refresh? If not, worth sending to DJI for an estimate or possible warranty replacement. Good luck.
 
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Don’t know the why, but good save. I think. Care Refresh? If not, worth sending to DJI for an estimate or possible warranty replacement. Good luck.
I have Care Refresh, but shouldn’t need to use it here. This was clearly an equipment malfunction... I’m just curious to know WHAT malfunctioned.
 
... if someone can tell from the data why the drone malfunctioned...

In your case with a MA2 on FLY app v1.2.2 that will not be possible right now I'm afraid ... this as DJI changed the flight log encryption after FLY v1.2.1. So now both the mobile device .TXT & .DAT together with the onboard .DAT is inaccessible for deeper analysis for others than DJI staff. The only way we have right now is Airdata.com for the .TXT logs ... & that will not give us any answers to this.

My qualified guess here is that this was an electrical fault, either permanently or intermittent... this cut the connection to your RC & stopped the motors.

...It’s concerning to me that a MA2 can simply drop like this... these type of malfunctions pose a significant safety hazard

All man-made thing's will fail sooner or later ... drones for the broader public doesn't have the same demands when it comes to a high degree of redundancy built in or inspections from educated personnel as the manned aviation.

So we as pilots need to take this into consideration & think "what if..." and execute our flights where the risk for property or bodily harm is as low as possible ... if, as in your case a MA2 become dead in the sky & falls from 493ft.
 
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In your case with a MA2 on FLY app v1.2.2 that will not be possible right now I'm afraid ... this as DJI changed the flight log encryption from FLY v1.2.1. So now both the mobile device .TXT & .DAT together with the onboard .DAT is inaccessible for deeper analysis for others than DJI staff. The only way we have right now is Airdata.com for the .TXT logs ... & that will not give us any answers to this.

My qualified guess here is that this was an electrical fault, either permanently or intermittent... this cut the connection to your RC & stopped the motors.



All man-made thing's will fail sooner or later ... drones for the broader public doesn't have the same demands when it comes to a high degree of redundancy built in or inspections from educated personnel as the manned aviation.

So we as pilots need to take this into consideration & think "what if..." and execute our flights where the risk for property or bodily harm is as low as possible ... if, as in your case a MA2 become dead in the sky & falls from 493ft.

Thanks for the response! Dumb question— if I have another device where the DJI app is still on 1.2.1, will that allow me to access the data?
 
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