Mavic 3 plummets out of sky

[alfo2010]

At about ten minutes into a shoot I decided to return to my launch site and that is when things went south. The drone was returning at an altitude of between 80 to 100 feet, set on normal. I was offshore about 1/2 a mile and suddenly the drone plummets into the ocean. My map on the RC Pro showed the drone last point being in the ocean and that was that. I guess that I will never know what caused the drone to go down as I can't retrieve the flight data. I checked all my settings before I departed and everything was good to go except for the satellite issue. I raised the drone to 30 feet before I proceed with my flight after checking satellite signal, GPS signal and voice message that the home point had been set. I should note the the drone had been updated to the latest firmware. I lost my drone, Polar Pro VND, a battery and my SD card. When I returned home I ordered the basic M3 as I had purchased the Fly More Package with the first M3. I'll be buying the DJI insurance this time. I've been droning for three and have had only one minor crash in that time. Cheers

 

[maggior]

Flight data should be on the RC Pro in DJI Fly. That's a real bummer that your drone took a swim .

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

I think you jumped the gun somewhat by ordering a replacement. See what folks say about retrieving the logs from the controller and get them analysed then see what DJI say. Aside from anything else DJI can probably read the DAT.
If you can I would cancel or suspend the order for replacement until you see if
a) you have logs
b) what DJI say.

 

[Suren]

I had a drone disappear and Dji replaced it under warranty, I too think you jumped the gun buying another drone. Try and get the logs and open a case with Dji support, you will be surprised they might pick up that its a hardware failure and give you another drone.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Mavic Flight Log Retrieval and Analysis Guide

With the introduction of the Mavic Mini there has been a noticeable uptick in the number of posts requesting help with lost or crashed aircraft. While there is plenty of help and advice available on this forum, and detailed guidance and options on several other websites, I thought that perhaps a...

mavicpilots.com

 

[Skywatcher2001]

Dude that really sucks. I do not fly much over the water (or snow) but when I do; I disable the sensors and go manual. I've read too many stories here where the reflection of the water/snow reeks havoc on the sensors. I believe zeusfl just posted something from DJI's spec sheet (on a forced snow landing) stating the 'Vision System' struggles in these situations. I agree with the group. Cancel your order and lets review the logs.

 

[zeusfl]

Dude that really sucks. I do not fly much over the water (or snow) but when I do; I disable the sensors and go manual. I've read too many stories here where the reflection of the water/snow reeks havoc on the sensors. I believe zeusfl just posted something from DJI's spec sheet (on a forced snow landing) stating the 'Vision System' struggles in these situations. I agree with the group. Cancel your order and lets review the logs.

I do not think this is the case. He says the M3 plummets. I am assuming just falls quickly right?
Something similar happened to my drone and was not a bird strike and because of that, DJI replaced the drone with a new one by warranty even when I have the refresh insurance. I pay nothing.

@alfo2010 you need to provide the Flyinglog in order to help you. @slup, @sar104 @Meta4, and many more can help you by giving you a very precise explanation of what happened. This will guide you on how to proceed with DJI.

 

[Skywatcher2001]

I do not think this is the case. He says the M3 plummets. I am assuming just falls quickly right?

Yes . . . it's the 80 to 100 feet that led me to believe it may be sensory overload (or possibly wind shear). You are correct, without the logs (and weather conditions), we're just guessing.

 

[Meta4]

Yes . . . it's the 80 to 100 feet that led me to believe it may be sensory overload (or possibly wind shear).

The sensors aid in horizontal position holding, but can't make a drone fall from 80-100 ft.
Neither can "wind shear".

 

[alfo2010]

Hi Skywatcher 200l, you are right, the M3 fell from the sky. The wind speed was about 5 mph.

 

[zeusfl]

Hi Skywatcher 200l, you are right, the M3 fell from the sky. The wind speed was about 5 mph.

Can you try to get the Flyinglog?

 

[Skywatcher2001]

The sensors aid in horizontal position holding, but can't make a drone fall from 80-100 ft.
Neither can "wind shear".

Yep. These are extremely wild guesses just based on some of the other calamities I've read over the years. Actual flight data would certainly clear all of it up.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Flight records on the RC-Pro will be found here:

Files/Internal Storage/Android/data/dji.go.5/files/FlightRecord/DJIFlightRecord_Date.txt

 

[bkushner]

Dude that really sucks. I do not fly much over the water (or snow) but when I do; I disable the sensors and go manual. I've read too many stories here where the reflection of the water/snow reeks havoc on the sensors. I believe zeusfl just posted something from DJI's spec sheet (on a forced snow landing) stating the 'Vision System' struggles in these situations. I agree with the group. Cancel your order and lets review the logs.

Can't turn off vision sensors in the M3

 

[Skywatcher2001]

Can't turn off vision sensors in the M3

Never tried it but now I know . . . thank you bkushner.

 

[Tashmoo]

At about ten minutes into a shoot I decided to return to my launch site and that is when things went south. The drone was returning at an altitude of between 80 to 100 feet, set on normal. I was offshore about 1/2 a mile and suddenly the drone plummets into the ocean. My map on the RC Pro showed the drone last point being in the ocean and that was that. I guess that I will never know what caused the drone to go down as I can't retrieve the flight data. I checked all my settings before I departed and everything was good to go except for the satellite issue. I raised the drone to 30 feet before I proceed with my flight after checking satellite signal, GPS signal and voice message that the home point had been set. I should note the the drone had been updated to the latest firmware. I lost my drone, Polar Pro VND, a battery and my SD card. When I returned home I ordered the basic M3 as I had purchased the Fly More Package with the first M3. I'll be buying the DJI insurance this time. I've been droning for three and have had only one minor crash in that time. Cheers

It seems like the drone lost power and the engines quit. I wonder what the data will determine.

 

[maven4336]

So sad the latest Dji drone has been having problems, if you got the bucks do as you want it is your money, maybe Dji would have replaced still I never make judgments to other people what they do with there cash, so more power to you on your decision and I’m shure you will have better luck next time,I’m holding on getting the m3 for another year and hopefully I start reading more post saying how killer this drone is instead of these unbelievable things Iv been reading since it was released, Iv been waiting on this drone for years and I’m still plexed , just that they did not use Dji go 4 app and went with fly app , I will never understand that,my buddy got the air-2 and when I set it up and was checking out the fly app i was not impressed at all, I own mav-1 mav-2 and phantom 4 pro+ all use Dji go 4 app and it is night and day difference and much more better in every way, sorry I know poeple are not going to like reading the truth, come on Dji,again good luck

 

[alfo2010]

So sad the latest Dji drone has been having problems, if you got the bucks do as you want it is your money, maybe Dji would have replaced still I never make judgments to other people what they do with there cash, so more power to you on your decision and I’m shure you will have better luck next time,I’m holding on getting the m3 for another year and hopefully I start reading more post saying how killer this drone is instead of these unbelievable things Iv been reading since it was released, Iv been waiting on this drone for years and I’m still plexed , just that they did not use Dji go 4 app and went with fly app , I will never understand that,my buddy got the air-2 and when I set it up and was checking out the fly app i was not impressed at all, I own mav-1 mav-2 and phantom 4 pro+ all use Dji go 4 app and it is night and day difference and much more better in every way, sorry I know poeple are not going to like reading the truth, come on Dji,again good luck

Thanks for the reply. I won't buy another DJI before it has been tested for six months or whatever. The release of the M3 with missing software or software that had bugs is unfortunate. We are halfway through March and we are still waiting for the M3 software to be updated and install the missing software. DJI rushed this M3 to market for Christmas sales and we are now testing the M3 for them. I know that I am fortunate to buy a replacement and I wish other drone pilots could do the same. Cheers AL

 

[Crouching Leopard]

Flight data should be on the RC Pro in DJI Fly. That's a real bummer that your drone took a swim .

Sorry to hear of your loss. Send in the data files from the app.

 

[Bussty]

There's a lot of expertise here able to help find out why and I think we will all feel the more wiser once we understand what happened.