As they used to say in Penthouse Forum ... "I never thought this would happen to me ..."
Before I start, I want to say that I took a knowing and informed risk and did it anyway, so don't feel bad for me. It was my own fault and I have nobody to blame but myself. I've been flying DJI drones since the days of GoPros and Phantom 1s.
So I was diving in Papua New Guinea, and was using my Mavic 2 Pro to capture boat images, as well as overheads of the reef for dive log and dive resort use. All was well, and I got a bunch of great shots throughout the week (thankfully, I downloaded every day). I wanted to get some shots of the resort itself but it sits adjacent to a dirt airstrip that's only used a couple times a week (Airport Code TFI, if you're interested. No tower, no radar approach). Naturally, I can't get shots of the resort, as DJI has placed flight restrictions around this uncontrolled dirt strip, but whatever - I just won't fly there.
I head out for a day's diving, and get more magnificent shots of the reefs - all is going well. Knowing that I won't be able to get any shots of the resort up-close, I thought I would try to get some shots from well outside and under what would be class E airspace. My plan is to have the skipper hold the boat about 2km offshore, perpendicular to the strip, and about 5 km away. I'll keep things at or below 200' AGL (which is still below the airstrip's altitude). Should be easy peazy.
As a backup plan, I figure that I'll try and launch. If I can launch, then I'll come into a hover for about a minute. If no warnings, then I would fly my plan, watching out for any warnings. I figured that I would have enough time to do a 180 and fly out.
So I take off - no warnings. Hover check - no warnings. I start flying my plan, and about 30m from the boat, my controller starts to go nuts. "Your craft will automatically land after a short period of time." OH ****, time to execute the emergency plan.
I flip to sport mode, do an immediate 180 and within a few seconds, I am on final approach to the stern, for a hand catch. Except that there's something wrong ... she starts an uncommanded descent and slowdown. Yep ... she starts the autolanding sequence. Apparently "a short period of time" is measured in seconds. I keep driving forward, trying to get to the boat. Unfortunately, about 3 meters away from the stern, she settles gently into the water. I set down the remote, and dive in, hoping to at least make a recovery (DJI Refresh will replace if you send back parts, plus I wanted the card). Unfortunately, my descent speed was slightly slower than my Mavic2, and she was just out of reach, like the girl I had a crush on in high school.
I swim back to the boat, and ask about throwing on a tank for a recovery dive. "No good mate, it's at least 60 meters here." How does he know this? They lost an outboard a couple years ago, and he went down to 40m and couldn't see the bottom.
Worst part? I could have unlocked the authorization zone before I went on the trip. I just failed to do so.
Luckily,I found a place on eBay where I was able to buy another Mavic 2 Pro, sans battery and controller, so all is well and I'm back up and running.
Anyway, here is the last image on the controller.
Before I start, I want to say that I took a knowing and informed risk and did it anyway, so don't feel bad for me. It was my own fault and I have nobody to blame but myself. I've been flying DJI drones since the days of GoPros and Phantom 1s.
So I was diving in Papua New Guinea, and was using my Mavic 2 Pro to capture boat images, as well as overheads of the reef for dive log and dive resort use. All was well, and I got a bunch of great shots throughout the week (thankfully, I downloaded every day). I wanted to get some shots of the resort itself but it sits adjacent to a dirt airstrip that's only used a couple times a week (Airport Code TFI, if you're interested. No tower, no radar approach). Naturally, I can't get shots of the resort, as DJI has placed flight restrictions around this uncontrolled dirt strip, but whatever - I just won't fly there.
I head out for a day's diving, and get more magnificent shots of the reefs - all is going well. Knowing that I won't be able to get any shots of the resort up-close, I thought I would try to get some shots from well outside and under what would be class E airspace. My plan is to have the skipper hold the boat about 2km offshore, perpendicular to the strip, and about 5 km away. I'll keep things at or below 200' AGL (which is still below the airstrip's altitude). Should be easy peazy.
As a backup plan, I figure that I'll try and launch. If I can launch, then I'll come into a hover for about a minute. If no warnings, then I would fly my plan, watching out for any warnings. I figured that I would have enough time to do a 180 and fly out.
So I take off - no warnings. Hover check - no warnings. I start flying my plan, and about 30m from the boat, my controller starts to go nuts. "Your craft will automatically land after a short period of time." OH ****, time to execute the emergency plan.
I flip to sport mode, do an immediate 180 and within a few seconds, I am on final approach to the stern, for a hand catch. Except that there's something wrong ... she starts an uncommanded descent and slowdown. Yep ... she starts the autolanding sequence. Apparently "a short period of time" is measured in seconds. I keep driving forward, trying to get to the boat. Unfortunately, about 3 meters away from the stern, she settles gently into the water. I set down the remote, and dive in, hoping to at least make a recovery (DJI Refresh will replace if you send back parts, plus I wanted the card). Unfortunately, my descent speed was slightly slower than my Mavic2, and she was just out of reach, like the girl I had a crush on in high school.
I swim back to the boat, and ask about throwing on a tank for a recovery dive. "No good mate, it's at least 60 meters here." How does he know this? They lost an outboard a couple years ago, and he went down to 40m and couldn't see the bottom.
Worst part? I could have unlocked the authorization zone before I went on the trip. I just failed to do so.
Luckily,I found a place on eBay where I was able to buy another Mavic 2 Pro, sans battery and controller, so all is well and I'm back up and running.
Anyway, here is the last image on the controller.
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