Mavic 3 auto forced landed and lost my drone!

[GadgetGuy]

Auto Force Landing can be turned off in the parameter settings, so that one retains full normal control until battery exhaustion, if you truly know what you are doing, and can find the thread that discusses it here on this forum.

"With this change you have to land the drone yourself. The drone's battery will even hit 0 and still fly, so you better be ready to land that bird fast."

THE STRING TO TURN OFF Autolanding is : bat_enable_smart_bat_landing_protect [Value 0]. 1 is on, 0 is off.

 

[Suren]

So it's ok to loose controll and let it land on top of people's head, on coming car, and or land in water? It's amazing how many people here worship DJI. That force landing needs to be disabled with firmware. Yes I'm mad as hell but all I or we ask is to be able to disable force landing. We got force RTH with cancel feature but force landing with no cancellation or control except up. Would it be better to just have force RTH with no cancellation?

No matter what you say here will not help your case and you are only giving us your account of what happened, post your logs then we can see what truely happened. Blaming Dji or the drone will not get you any where until logs are viewed. When a drone hits the force landing, if you are experienced enough, you will know that you can still fly the drone back by holding the stick full up which gives the drone altitude. Your comments show that you are not experienced enough and should go back and read the manual.

 

[lostit]

Don't need to see the logs to know the OP is at fault, the drone behaved just like it should. DJI has it's flaws, but safety of others is paramount.

 

[life.in.nb]

In the absence of flight logs, these observations may be made based on your description and what we know about the Mavic 3.

• You had full control of the drone for ~40 minutes. The Fly app gave you a continuous reading of battery level.
  
  
• Based on the battery level, position, environment, and flight speed, the Fly app calculated that it was prudent to return. It warned you and initiated low battery RTH.
  
  
• You ignored the warning and overrode the RTH to continue filming, possibly disagreeing with the software's calculation? The battery level declined even further below the safe RTH level while you completed your filming.
  
  
• You finally began returning.
  
  
• To preclude the danger to people and property of a two-pound object free falling after a total power loss DJI very wisely and prudently included a fail-safe landing feature. It lands the drone in a controlled manner when a critical battery level is reached. Having calculated that the drone had reached that critical point, the software initiated a fail-safe landing, minimizing damage to the drone and the danger to others and their property.

The software and drone behaved exactly as described in the user manual. "The aircraft will land automatically if the current battery level will only support the aircraft long enough to descend from its current altitude." This programmed behavior is not about battery health, it's about putting the drone on the ground safely when the operator has failed to do so.

What are your grounds for a law suit? That the drone didn't behave as described in the manual?

I hate to be harsh. But MS Coast nailed it. This is equivalent of you flying an airplane low on fuel, and it sputters once and you saying meh, i can stay up longer, i will just glide it back to the airfield on fumes or with the engine out of gas.

People need to realize these bigger drones are not toys. They are regulated by govt, with all the same protections etc, as aircraft for a reason.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Don't need to see the logs to know the OP is at fault, the drone behaved just like it should. DJI has it's flaws, but safety of others is paramount.

It's always pilot error when the pilot doesn't know how the drone behaves when he ignores the warnings. However, safety of others is not the real issue here. It is the need for the pilot to be in control of his aircraft. He didn't know how to control his aircraft. Had he known how to continue to control his aircraft, the safety of others would never come into play. It is only when he doesn't know how to control his aircraft that DJI will take over. Pilots need to RTFM and research how to override the nanny modes, if they insist upon ignoring the warnings, and also don't want their Mavic 3 to become another "swamp thing!"

 

[Brojon]

Silly. I wish there's law suit.

A lawsuit over something that is clearly stated in the manual? lol
Sorry but I'll be blunt - this one is on you.
Learn from it or understand you'll do it again.

 

[MaximusCZ]

Drone says "low bat",
I ignore.

Drone says "very low bat, I go home now",
I stop it from going home.

Drone says "critically low bat, I land now",
Me:

Would it be better to just have force RTH with no cancellation?

I think, speccifically for you, yes.. At least you would still have your drone.

 

[Bob in Savannah]

Drone says "low bat",
I ignore.

Drone says "very low bat, I go home now",
I stop it from going home.

Drone says "critically low bat, I land now",
Me:
View attachment 153513



I think, speccifically for you, yes.. At least you would still have your drone.

Yeppers... this might be a little of an "abrasive" way to get the FACTS across, but they are still FACTS. I have to agree. These warnings and alerts are there for a reason and just not haphazard nonsense for greenhorns.. They ACTUALLY mean to alert you of an upcoming and imminent catastrophe. But I guess you know that now. Sorry...

 

[Robert Prior]

So it's ok to loose controll and let it land on top of people's head, on coming car, and or land in water?

That's better than losing power and plummeting into someone's head (or car) from 100 m.

A drone with no power isn't the Gimli Glider, letting the pilot select a landing zone. It's a projectile.

 

[Inthevalley]

In My Opinion this is pilot Error. That's all what can be said . what's so important about a few more frames of video. I would have got the drone back straight away, with the first low batt warning .. any good Pilot would not Ignore warnings .. would be nice to see the expensive Video footage he shot. ( was it worth it )

 

[Suren]

I guess with the OP failing to come back on here and provide any logs as well he knows he is wrong and decided to duck.

 

[zipel]

Auto Force Landing can be turned off in the parameter settings, so that one retains full normal control until battery exhaustion, if you truly know what you are doing, and can find the thread that discusses it here on this forum.

"With this change you have to land the drone yourself. The drone's battery will even hit 0 and still fly, so you better be ready to land that bird fast."

THE STRING TO TURN OFF Autolanding is : bat_enable_smart_bat_landing_protect [Value 0]. 1 is on, 0 is off.

I was looking everywhere on the internet for this answer! Thank you my kind sir!

 

[gulfpre]

Not only was he low on bat, abandoned low bat RTH, but then pushed past and recorded/picture - consuming additional battery power the drone was not expecting.

It’s like coasting to the gas station, turning on the air condition and rolling all windows down to make ourself just a. Little bit less efficient…

 

[simonr23]

Forced landing should be selectable- unless the altitude vs battery % means it wouldn’t finish a controlled landing before hitting 0%.

So if you’re 10-100m up in the air, it should only force lane when at 1% battery.

10% is too early.

Especially when you see that 0% is still above 3.5v per cell- while in flight.
I’d rather the algorithm was made so that it ensures the drone is on the ground before the cell voltage drops below 3.5v, not earlier.

Forced landing at 10% also makes DJI’s flight times fraudulent. Since you can never actually use more than 90% of battery while flying the drone correctly.

 

[Frylikebird]

I guess with the OP failing to come back on here and provide any logs as well he knows he is wrong and decided to duck.

I'm not ducking I just got back from my illness. You all will be there someday or worst than I was. But I'm still happy flying but with an Autel. I'm also selling my sealed new Air 2s flymore combo I got as a gift but will be keeping the smart controller just for the hell of it! Thanks everyone.

 

[Gadgetdude]

As a seasoned drone pilot of over 10 years I do not have the patience and protective kid gloves on like many other member responses that have been posted.

Not only did you ignore the RTH message once, but twice, even more. All so you could continue to take your photos and videos. It is not DJI, the manufacturers fault in anyway shape or form. The only fault here is your own negligence. As far as I am concerned it is people like you that should not be allowed to fly these very sophisticated pieces of technology. It is you that put your own selfishness above the safety of others. It is people like you that give other drone pilots a bad reputation.

Your responses to all these other members feedback, tips, and suggestions that you blame DJI and want to file a lawsuit is extremely uneducated and childish. Take some responsibility.

 

[SmilingOgre]

So it's ok to loose controll and let it land on top of people's head, on coming car, and or land in water? It's amazing how many people here worship DJI. That force landing needs to be disabled with firmware. Yes I'm mad as hell but all I or we ask is to be able to disable force landing. We got force RTH with cancel feature but force landing with no cancellation or control except up. Would it be better to just have force RTH with no cancellation?

No sale. I would prefer a forced controlled landing to a free fall on someone's head. Either case, Chicken Little was right.

 

[Frylikebird]

As a seasoned drone pilot of over 10 years I do not have the patience and protective kid gloves on like many other member responses that have been posted.

Not only did you ignore the RTH message once, but twice, even more. All so you could continue to take your photos and videos. It is not DJI, the manufacturers fault in anyway shape or form. The only fault here is your own negligence. As far as I am concerned it is people like you that should not be allowed to fly these very sophisticated pieces of technology. It is you that put your own selfishness above the safety of others. It is people like you that give other drone pilots a bad reputation.

Your responses to all these other members feedback, tips, and suggestions that you blame DJI and want to file a lawsuit is extremely uneducated and childish. Take some responsibility.

thank you good speech

 

[shb]

Frylikebird I totally agree with all your posts. It is DJI's fault that you lost your drone.

#1. Who reads owners manuals? How many people read the full owners manual of everything they buy? That's why they have quick start guides. When I got my mavic pro in 2017, I just watched a few YouTube videos to learn how to fly it. I certainly did not read the owners manual. I don't even think my Mavic 3 came with an owners manual.
I had a similar incident a few months ago. I wanted to complete a mission. It had enough battery to fully complete the mission and do a RTH and safely land at the home point. But when the battery got to 10% it started a forced landing. I was in shock! I did push the stick up so I could land on a street, but I still almost crashed. I could of gotten run over by a car, or hit wires, and crashed. As it turned out, I landed on the next street over from my house. I also had never used find my drone, so I just had to look. It turns out passersbys found it, and took it, so by the time I got there, it was gone. Fortunately, they saw me walking with the remote, so I got my drone back.
But there's no reason to initiate a forced landing, when you are CONNECTED, and in control. And DJI can tell if the drone is connected to the RC. Also, there should be a way to abort a forced landing, so you don't have to keep pushing up on the stick, which makes it hard to fly.
Some here have said that it only does a forced landing when it just has enough battery to land. That's not true at all. I had 5 times enough battery to land when it did a forced landing.
Frylikebird I'm sorry you've gotten such bad treatment from this board. I agree they they seem like they work for DJI.

 

[chong67]

For me, if I am far away, at 50%, I am going back no matter what. I do not wait for the drone to tell me low on battery.