Mavic 3 Flyaway - Gone

[Capt KO]

Only lost 1 but got it back the next day. Found and returned because I had my ph # and Reward on a sticker on the side and in the battery compartment. Cheapest insurance you can get. I don’t fly in hurricanes any more.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

"This is because the M3 GPS lock takes waaay too long, an easy error for a relatively new pilot to fall into."

I hate to be blunt, but...

The fundamental problem is that the pilot did not have the knowledge to safely operate the drone and undertook a risky flight of nearly a mile over a densely populated urban area. He didn't even understand the home point and why it's important. Poor signal strength warnings were issued early in the flight and apparently ignored.

The pilot should have also known that they could take control of the drone over once it came back in range during the RTH. If they were paying attention to where the drone was going, they would have known something was amiss and could have taken over and flown it back.

Some pretty expensive lessons unfortunately.

Hey, I agree 100%.

Just saying, the GPS lock time can be a real issue for new pilots.
Old hands know what to do in a multitude of various scenarios that can happen.
Pre flight routines for experienced pilots are habit, new pilots take time to settle into these and know something's wrong almost subconsciously.

New pilots can really get into trouble with the M3 in new ways compared to older drones, and there's a lot more to 'know'.
GPS lock for home point, smart RTH with winter tree tops, and maybe other such factors.

 

[reaperman]

With all of the settings on drone. Perhaps there should be a setting that would prevent the drone from taking off before the proper amount of satellites are locked on. This setting could be turned on or off by the user depending on preference.

 

[lostit]

Haven't seen anyone mention the overhead cables are nearer the road than the trees according to the streetview, I suspect the drone hit the cables and crashed to the ground. Picked up by a passer by. I would keep an eye on local classifieds for a broken mavic 3, sorry for your loss.

 

[ringmountain]

Sorry to hear this happened to you, I have gotten in similar situations due to the drone requiring 12 satellites to set a homepoint. I have now developed the habit of setting my homepoint manually on every flight just in case my drone or phone runs out of battery, as has happened a few times already. I usually fly to the max altitude to help it capture as many satellites as possible, then set the homepoint to my controller location not the drone location.

If your drone is registered to your account you can report it as lost I believe on the DJI fly app or by contacting their support. Also if you signed up for the DJI Care refresh program when you purchased the drone you have flyaway protection as well. That reduces the cost of replacing a lost Mavic 3 to around $1000, not cheap but it's better than paying full price.

 

[Dougcjohn]

With all of the settings on drone. Perhaps there should be a setting that would prevent the drone from taking off before the proper amount of satellites are locked on. This setting could be turned on or off by the user depending on preference.

For the current state if the M3... that's a good suggestion.
With default being "On" requiring it to be turned off if not desired.

 

[Enigma]

I'm not an expert by any means and my words could be wrong but seems to me you started flying without having enough satellites locked to have a Home Point. After flying 2:40 your aircraft got 12 satellites and recorded that place as a Home Point, you continue flying until due to weak signal engaged the RTH and the drone flight directly and landed in that place that was recorded as a HP.

 

[ArnieZiffel]

Maybe post a lost and found ad on craigslist, Facebook, et al, offering a reward within your means? Just a thought. Sorry about your drone.

 

[Meta4]

Haven't seen anyone mention the overhead cables are nearer the road than the trees according to the streetview, I suspect the drone hit the cables and crashed to the ground.

The data shows the drone landing safely.
There was no collision with cables or anything else.

 

[mcarlsen111]

Im really suprised they haven't added some type of emergency locator beacon or something.
I guess ADSB or (remote ID) might be able to help with this in the future.

 

[Dmcvey]

I have seen YouTube vids of the M3 taking up to 6 minutes to get GPS lock.

 

[MavicAirTennessee]

Beautiful Easter Sunday here in Dallas/Fort Worth. Perfect conditions for my brand new Mavic 3 to disappear.

Flight Log Here.

Devastated, to say the least. Does the "H" represent home? If so, WHY?! Right in the middle of a busy street? Does the altitude give you the impression that it landed on top of something (a tree, a roof, etc.)?

Combed the area for hours. Only thing I can assume is that it hovered over the street and someone grabbed it as they drove up on it.

I have no idea what to do next and would greatly appreciate any guidance you experts here can provide me.

Thank you all.

bsmall

Definitely beyond line of sight. It looks like you took off before the home point was set. The Mavic 3 didn’t know where to return to.

 

[sar104]

The data shows the drone landing safely.
There was no collision with cables or anything else.

There is no record of it landing - OSD_isMotorOn was never set to FALSE. Either connection was lost first or it suffered an impact that killed the power.

 

[Meta4]

There is no record of it landing - OSD_isMotorOn was never set to FALSE. Either connection was lost first or it suffered an impact that killed the power.

You are correct.
I was fooled by the duplicate records at the end of the flight data.
The drone was in autoland and quite close to the ground level, but there is no record of the landing.

 

[veryzebra]

Any reason why like an apple air tag or other company tracker couldn't be attached as a backup?

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Any reason why like an apple air tag or other company tracker couldn't be attached as a backup?

No reason at all, the Airtags have been discussed here on a few past threads quite a few times.
They have their limitations too, but anything like that might be a help in many situations for sure.
The dedicated trackers like Marco Polo are without doubt the most reliable.

 

[Dougcjohn]

Any reason why like an apple air tag or other company tracker couldn't be attached as a backup?

The Apple Airtag is a collective BT device. Still relies on relatively short distance to an Apple Device in vicinity. If lost outside of normal Apple Device range... like in woods or open field, it's a useless weight.

The Marco Polo may be larger, but if this is a primary concern... it's probably the solution currently.

 

[IronSky1]

I ran some tests with my Trackimo GSM and Tile Pro as a pair. The GSM tracker worked great within a 20-30 feet and the BT Tike was good up to 100ft away.. The GSM networks is an issue most are gone. Marco Polo looks nice however, it has its own locator. I prefer GPS map overlay. It is a open market for good design.

 

[veryzebra]

I may try a T-mobile smart tag. Looks relatively cheap enough and just tape it or velcro it to the drone

 

[Dougcjohn]

I may try a T-mobile smart tag. Looks relatively cheap enough and just tape it or velcro it to the drone

Which device ... the SyncUp Tracker or Smart Tag.

The SmartTag is Samsung BT that competes with AirTag.. both limited by BT distance. Samsung appears to use your BT device @ 120m max. The AirTag uses any Apple device (collective)... not just yours, so it can be further reaching if other Apple devices near... works off Apple BT communication network that doesn't require Apple devices to accept AirTag... just pass signal. The Apple schema works nicely in normal areas with high Apple density of devices... not sure very beneficial out in field... more similar to other BT tags like the Samsung.

The SyncUp Tracker is cellular but a large 2x2x.5" @ 2oz device and monthly fee.

https://www.t-mobile.com/hotspot-iot-connected-devices/t-mobile-syncup-tracker