I posted a few days ago a description of a crash that destroyed my Mavic 2, but I did not get any feedback, so I am posting it here as a new thread. I apologize if this causes duplication, but I suspect that something went wrong with the way I posted it the first time. After 27 months of successful, fun and safe flying of a Mavic 2 Zoom, I had a major issue that destroyed my drone. I would like to describe it here in the hope that someone can help me figure out what happened. I want to buy a drone just like the one I just destroyed, but before doing so I want to understand how to avoid the issue I experienced. My Mavic 2 Zoom worked flawlessly for over 2 years. I fly very safely and never had a crash nor a 'hard landing', and until the day before the incident my drone behaved properly and did not show any damage or issues. A few days ago I was about to take off from the pavement of a street along a beach in Tuscany, Italy. I use a DJI Smart Controller, which was indicating that I had GPS connection and that the ground location had been recorded, just as it always did before every flight in the past. So, as I always do, I touched (on the screen) the upward arrow for take-off, and the yellow slider asked me to swipe to confirm take-off. When I did, the drone instead of rising up vertically to about 1.2 meters height as usual, flew straight forward. It remained at ground level, flying forward and smashing against the edge of a sidewalk maybe 10 ft from the take-off point. The drone 'survived' this crash, meaning that the only serious damage seemed to be that one of the 'feet' was a bit loose. One of the rotors came off, but it did not break and I was able to reinstall it without a problem. At this point I did a very, very stupid thing, that essentially cost me the drone. I decided that since everything seemed to be ok (and after turning everything off -- and then back on -- the controller indicated that I could fly), I tried to take off again. The drone again did what it had done before, i.e., took off forward instead of upward, smashed again against the sidewalk, and this time, upside down and with two broken rotors, kept trying to fly, and before I could get a hold of it and turn it off, the engine overheated and I could smell something burning. I had excellent GPS signal. There was essentially no wind. From visual inspection, everything seemed in perfect condition; I had flown trouble free the day before, and the drone had not gotten damaged in any way (I keep my drone very well... well... until this double-crash!). The battery was still firmly in place and on after the crash. I suspect a compass issue, or a magnetic field, because sometimes sidewalks have an inner metallic reinforcement, and between the street where the drone was and the beach there was a metallic banister. While it was not very close to the drone, maybe 15 feet away, it was a long banister running several dozen yards (or more) parallel to the sidewalk.
Based on my description of the incident, I wonder if it is possible to make a diagnosis. If flight records are needed, I am pretty sure I have them on the smart controller, although I did not quite understand how to send them (do I need to have a particular device to connect the SD card to my MacBook Pro laptop, or can I simply connect the SC to the laptop with my cable?). I also wonder if the flight records could be of use for these two 'flights' that lasted a couple of seconds each.
Thanks so much in advance for any help you all may offer. My goal is not to save this damaged drone or try to get some sort of refund. I have kissed my drone goodbye and I am fully aware that the person responsible for destroying it is me. My main goal is to understand enough about what happened that I can have peace of mind that it won't happen to me again with the next Mavic-2 Zoom I am about to buy. For example, if the DJI Smart Controller had gone crazy and caused the forward take-off, it would happen again to me with a new drone! :-(
Based on my description of the incident, I wonder if it is possible to make a diagnosis. If flight records are needed, I am pretty sure I have them on the smart controller, although I did not quite understand how to send them (do I need to have a particular device to connect the SD card to my MacBook Pro laptop, or can I simply connect the SC to the laptop with my cable?). I also wonder if the flight records could be of use for these two 'flights' that lasted a couple of seconds each.
Thanks so much in advance for any help you all may offer. My goal is not to save this damaged drone or try to get some sort of refund. I have kissed my drone goodbye and I am fully aware that the person responsible for destroying it is me. My main goal is to understand enough about what happened that I can have peace of mind that it won't happen to me again with the next Mavic-2 Zoom I am about to buy. For example, if the DJI Smart Controller had gone crazy and caused the forward take-off, it would happen again to me with a new drone! :-(
