I had the same thing happen to me. Flying in a spot I had flown in many times. I was NOT in a restricted area. Suddenly the same warning and with me too, the drone would not respond properly to commands. I was "lucky" in that I was close to home and "only" crashed into trees. I was able to retrieve my drone, had it repaired/replaced by DJI and they never gave me any indication of why it happened, or why it would not respond. Mine was an Air 2S.I just lost my Mavic 2 Zoom to the ocean yesterday (July 27th 2022)
It seems to me by looking at the flight log that it all started when I unknowingly entered an authorization zone. I took off from the shore on an not restricted fly zone. My starting height was 84.7ft from where I took off and from then on I gradually flew lower very close to the water, (I took off from a parking place on the side of the road that is actually on a cliff next to the shoreline) I went approximately 10350 seaward ( (1.9 miles approximately), and ended up -283 ft height (this is because I took off from a highest place and as I went farther seaward my elevation was on the negative) by that time I still had 50% battery life, I received a warning to head back because I only had enough battery life to make it back to the home point. I decided to take a few pictures for approximately 30 seconds and then I started to head back. I only made it to 5000 feet when I received a warning that stated “Your aircraft is at the boundary of an Authorization Zone, Please fly away with caution”. At that point I still had 38% of battery life and was 5000 feet away from home point but the drone froze hovering while the battery was draining away, every time I moved the sticks it would give me the same warning stated above. I watched in panic how the minutes went by and the battery was dying so I knew then and there that my drone was doomed. I was trying to figure out how to turn off GPS but couldn’t find any menu with that option. Then at times I received a different prompt like this “Aircraft is returning to the Home Point. Minimum RTH Altitude is 328ft. You can reset the RTH Altitude in Remote Controller Settings after cancelling RTH.”
But the drone didn’t move at all. I tried canceling the automatic return to home procedure and fly manually but nothing happened, still the drone didn’t respond to any of my commands and it just hovered there for 12 minutes until finally the battery died and the drone took a dive into the ocean. I am sure that I wasn’t more than 30 feet above sea level and I don’t remember receiving any warning of strong winds. I will upload the video of the flight load in a few hours.
I'll leave it to someone else to plot the actual location data from the flight log, but it appears that in the earlier flight, you skirted the corner of the restricted area. In the flight where the drone was loss you attempted to fly east through the zone, as shown by the green line.I flew there the day before with the same drone. I just uploaded an screenshot of my flight log and I didn’t get any warnings about me entering restricted airspace and I didn’t have any issues at all.
The zone was clearly marked and could have been avoided. A look at the B4YOUFLY app or the DJI Fly Safe map prior to the flight would have precluded the problem.THATS really sad to get caught in a situation like that when you were no threat at all
That’s probably why hat happened.Maybe the flysafe database has changed recently? I now have a DJI imposed 60m altitude limit over my house where there didn't use to be before. It is not a legal restriction, just DJI's interpretation of what is and isn't a runway at the city's airport and therefore where typical flightpaths would be.
Exactly, All the time I flew there I kept the drone close to the water as possibleTHATS really sad to get caught in a situation like that when you were no threat at all
I have no doubt that I eventually ended up flying on restricted airspace but what bothers me is the fact that I wasn’t able to turn around and head back to home point. I tried to fly south, east to not avail. The drone just wouldn’t respond to my commands.That’s probably why hat happened.
I think you are correct, but in the past while flying on some other areas DJI’s firmware would stop me from entering no fly zones, and always I was able to turn around and go back to where I took off from. To me the way sometimes this geofencing firmware works is like a dead sentence for drones. It would allow you to get in no fly zones (not like I will be willingly trying to get in) but it won’t allow you to turn around. All you can do is watch in agony the battery dying down and the drone falling from the sky.I wonder if you flew out just south of the corner of the restriction zone for Zamperini airfiled, and then on return you were slightly further north and got stuck on the western end of it?
The shape of the DJI defined restriction zone looks a bit erroneous compared to the airfield layout. It's like they've assumed one of the taxiways is a runway. Wouldn't be the first time DJI geozones aren't quite correct.
I couldn’t agree more with you. Lesson learned. And I take seriously all the drone regulations that we have, that’s why I was flying very low and I understand that doesn’t clear me of been at fault for flying that close to the no fly zone, but if DJI has the firmware in place to avoid scenarios like this it would be just fair to expect it to work well and don’t just to freeze drones hovering until the battery runs out.The zone was clearly marked and could have been avoided. A look at the B4YOUFLY app or the DJI Fly Safe map prior to the flight would have precluded the problem.
And once beyond the west boundary, it would have been simple to fly south to clear the corner and then return to the east below the boundary if the pilot had known about the zone.
I can’t find any layer showing restriction zones on the DJI GO4 app. It has only layers of satellite and hybrid views just as apple and google maps.I'm more familiar with the Fly app rather than DJI go. Can you switch on a layer that shows restriction zones? That might help understand where your drones have or haven't got stuck. Maybe you've always just been flying far enough south to miss the corner of the restriction zone.
Upload cached Video - The cashed video is stored on your cell phone or tablet if you were recording during the accident. Locate the DJI Fly folder on your device, select the videoCashe folder, and then the date of the flight. You should then see your last video. The size of the file will depend on your pre-flight selection of video cashe file size. Download that video to save it as DJI will want to see it if you file a claim.Does anyone knows how can I upload the video flight log?
@Meta4, have you had an opportunity to look at this?I am not sure if I am uploading the flight log the right way, I am new to this stuff
Thank you. I am totally fine with all the drone regulations implemented all over the world but DJI needs to work harder on the geofencing firmware. I had never experienced something like this until I lost my M2Z, a couple of times when I was flying from an unrestricted area, my drone stopped just like it hit an invisible wall, it wouldn’t move forward and I received a warning but afterwards I was able to turn around and return to from where I took off. That’s the purpose of the firmware, stopping people from inadvertently flying into no fly zones. I get also that we pilots need to check the restrictions every single time, everywhere before we fly , but if the firmware doesn’t do what it is supposed to do then why bother installing it in the drone in the first place?Sorry to hear about losing your drone, that’s awful
It happened to me with my original Mavic Air. After getting the warning, it just stopped and hovered, nothing would work. I was over water too. I remember the feeling, but I was lucky it was only shoulder-deep water. I had to wade into the water and pull it out of the air as the battery brought it down. Nothing would move it, totally unresponsive.
I don’t live in that area anymore, and I was reasonably new to DJI drones, so I didn’t check. But just now, I looked and it seems that being within 3-4km’s still affected it. I think the law is 5kms.
View attachment 152584View attachment 152585
View attachment 152584View attachment 152585
I hear you, 100%. Freezing up like that is not the way to enforce the geo fencing. It was almost like being caught in an invisible web, just waiting to die.Thank you. I am totally fine with all the drone regulations implemented all over the world but DJI needs to work harder on the geofencing firmware. I had never experienced something like this until I lost my M2Z, a couple of times when I was flying from an unrestricted area, my drone stopped just like it hit an invisible wall, it wouldn’t move forward and I received a warning but afterwards I was able to turn around and return to from where I took off. That’s the purpose of the firmware, stopping people from inadvertently flying into no fly zones. I get also that we pilots need to check the restrictions every single time, everywhere before we fly , but if the firmware doesn’t do what it is supposed to do then why bother installing it in the drone in the first place?
That is uploaded the right way, but it's not the right flight.I am not sure if I am uploading the flight log the right way, I am new to this stuff
We use essential cookies to make this site work, and optional cookies to enhance your experience.