Never thought I'd have to post on this forum, but here I am. Bad crash over the past weekend. It was a calm, clear day, and I was hovering at about 275' altitude (drone was out from me about 500') while adjusting the camera aperture setting. My eyes unfortunately were on the screen vs. the drone at the time. Suddenly I got the message on the controller that RC contact had been lost. I figured it was a momentary drop in signal, but it never re-established the connection, and the drone didn't return to home. I used the "find my drone" function and eventually found it. It was in many pieces after crashing onto a hard surface.
Obviously something catastrophic happened. Bird strike or propeller coming off are possibilities, but the remote image never shifted from the angle I'd framed up for a planned photo, and that was the image remaining on the screen when contact was lost. I'd have expected to see the image tumbling for a second or two if either of those had occurred.
At 275' it's unlikely I'd have made contact with a stationary object, and in any event the drone was not moving horizontally or vertically at the time. Battery loss would be the next thought, but the battery was firmly seated in the drone even after the crash. I had more than 80% power remaining; the flight time was only about 6 minutes.
The drone (Mavic 3 Classic) is about 10 months old, with 20 flights logged and total flight time of about 3 hours. The battery is the same age, with fewer flights since I have two batteries.
I have no idea how to make sense of the log files (attached), so any assistance there will be appreciated. The drone is under warranty, but I imagine DJI will not admit fault easily if in fact it was a problem with the drone. I have Care Refresh as well. One wrinkle is that the camera/gimbal assembly is missing. After falling from 275', the drone was in a million pieces. I looked for the camera for about an hour to no avail. I'm not sure how that affects the warranty or Care Refresh, but it is concerning to me.
Obviously something catastrophic happened. Bird strike or propeller coming off are possibilities, but the remote image never shifted from the angle I'd framed up for a planned photo, and that was the image remaining on the screen when contact was lost. I'd have expected to see the image tumbling for a second or two if either of those had occurred.
At 275' it's unlikely I'd have made contact with a stationary object, and in any event the drone was not moving horizontally or vertically at the time. Battery loss would be the next thought, but the battery was firmly seated in the drone even after the crash. I had more than 80% power remaining; the flight time was only about 6 minutes.
The drone (Mavic 3 Classic) is about 10 months old, with 20 flights logged and total flight time of about 3 hours. The battery is the same age, with fewer flights since I have two batteries.
I have no idea how to make sense of the log files (attached), so any assistance there will be appreciated. The drone is under warranty, but I imagine DJI will not admit fault easily if in fact it was a problem with the drone. I have Care Refresh as well. One wrinkle is that the camera/gimbal assembly is missing. After falling from 275', the drone was in a million pieces. I looked for the camera for about an hour to no avail. I'm not sure how that affects the warranty or Care Refresh, but it is concerning to me.
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