Mavic air 2 falls to the Ocean!

[Meta4]

I'm always looking at it from my point of few flying real aircraft.

I look at the facts which are that despite common irrational fears about it, there's nothing about flying over water that's particularly dangerous or risky.

 

[Meta4]

Does that mean you took off the second day with less than a fully charged battery?

The battery level at the end of recorded flight data was fine and definitely not a factor involved in the loss of the drone.

 

[DanMan32]

Sometimes the vision sensor can get confused and misjudge altitude, or may see waves/currents as static ground patterns when low over water and track them which can cause unexpected results.

However that isn't the case at 47m altitude.

 

[boblui]

Sometimes the vision sensor can get confused and misjudge altitude, or may see waves/currents as static ground patterns when low over water and track them which can cause unexpected results.

The vision sensors at tbe bottom serve two purposes only 1) detecting horizontal movement of the craft relative to the ground and 2) detecting if the ground is even enough for landing. They can get confused and the worse thing that can happen is the drone drifting around horizontally. With good GPS signal, the chance for that to happen is very much reduced. In any case it will NOT cause the drone to desend into the water.

The height above the water surface is detected by the IR sensor. I have not seen a single substantiated case of drone going in the water because the IR sensor is fooled in any ways.

 

[DanMan32]

I'm combining IR and downward vision sensing. We have seen other Mavics unexplainably lose altitude when low over water, which may be related to confusion with IR altitude ranging. DJI has cautioned even with the sonar range sensors that vision positioning (which I include altitude ranging) to get confused over water.

However, as I said before, that only applies to low altitudes that are in range of the VPS.

 

[Bob L]

And people laugh at me for having a parachute and pontoons!

I were planing on flying over water I would use pontoons. Where did you get yours?

 

[Bob L]

I’m on the beach the weather is perfect hardly any wind. Great flying conditions. I get my air 2 up and 47 sec later it crashes straight into the ocean. I didn’t even see it fall as I was looking at DJI fly app to change from video to camera mode. It was only after speaking with other beach goers that I had found out it had crashed. Swam out to see if I could find it but it’s like trying to find a needle in an ocean!
Looked at the flight log and to begin with it said vision sensors were blocked but to fly with caution. 17 satellites connected. 75% battery with 22 mins left in flight time. Then aircraft not connected to RC comes up. That’s when my drone must of plummeted to the water. Do you think I have a case of drone/RC malfunction and can get a replacement from DJI?

Did you calibrate your compass before you flew?

 

[boblui]

We have seen other Mavics unexplainably lose altitude when low over water,

I would like to see the flight logs of those cases... I have flown my M2P over water at very low height ( 1 meter ) and have never encountered any odd behaviors of the craft.

Even if the IR sensor is “confused” and provides incorrect height info to the FC, it will not result in the FC commanding the craft to descend into the water because altitude control is based on barometer, IMU and possibly GPS data, NOT the IR sensor unless the craft is in the final phase of autolanding or forced landing modes.

 

[Meta4]

I were planing on flying over water I would use pontoons. Where did you get yours?

Pontoons are fine if you are planning to land and take off from a duckpond, but it's going to fly a lot better if you leave them off.

Did you calibrate your compass before you flew?

Whether he did or not is completely irrelevant.
Compass issues don't cause a loss of power and it's clear from his flight data that there was no compass issue anyway.
Recalibrating your compass before a flight is unnecessary and won't do a thing to make your flight any safer.

 

[Bob L]

Pontoons are fine if you are planning to land and take off from a duckpond, but it's going to fly a lot better if you leave them off.

Whether he did or not is completely irrelevant.
Compass issues don't cause a loss of power and it's clear from his flight data that there was no compass issue anyway.
Recalibrating your compass before a flight is unnecessary and won't do a thing to make your flight any safer.

I didn't see any mention of power loss. I've had strange things happen when I thought I didn't need to calibrate my drones.

 

[Deleted Member 997]

I were planing on flying over water I would use pontoons. Where did you get yours?

Amazon

 

[Meta4]

I didn't see any mention of power loss.

The data analysis is back in post #15

I've had strange things happen when I thought I didn't need to calibrate my drones.

There's a lot of myth and misunderstanding about compass calibration.
Not calibrating your drone's compass won't cause strange things to happen.
The actual cause of your unexplained incidents will have been something else and could probably be explained from your recorded flight data.
If you are interested in the compass, you'll get a good introduction to what compass calibration actually does from the first post in this thread:

A short explanation of compass function, calibration and errors.

BACKGROUND The aircraft compass is often misunderstood, both in terms of function and purpose, but it is important to understand what the compass measures, why, and what happens to that information. At the most basic level the purpose of the compass is to measure the earth’s magnetic field in...

mavicpilots.com

 

[DagDerniT]

And people laugh at me for having a parachute and pontoons!

Wow! That is quite the set up. Wont that cause aerodynamic issues and a loss in flight time. How does it fly? What made you do this, a bad experience?

 

[LA 2020]

I’m on the beach the weather is perfect hardly any wind. Great flying conditions. I get my air 2 up and 47 sec later it crashes straight into the ocean. I didn’t even see it fall as I was looking at DJI fly app to change from video to camera mode. It was only after speaking with other beach goers that I had found out it had crashed. Swam out to see if I could find it but it’s like trying to find a needle in an ocean!
Looked at the flight log and to begin with it said vision sensors were blocked but to fly with caution. 17 satellites connected. 75% battery with 22 mins left in flight time. Then aircraft not connected to RC comes up. That’s when my drone must of plummeted to the water. Do you think I have a case of drone/RC malfunction and can get a replacement from DJI?

Hi, I am in the middle of studying for my FAA part 107 license and boy does it answer a lot of questions about weather and dangerous weather conditions with respect to drones. Over water and under certain conditions there can be sudden wind shears that will cause a drone to be pushed down suddenly and crash. I suggest to every drone pilot they study for the Part 107 test even if you don't continue to take the final FAA test. You will learn a lot that will help in flying safely

 

[Clipper707]

I have been flying the Mavic for about two years, and I fly over water all the time. I just purchased the M2Z and even their commercials show flying over water.
Why would they say not to?

Because of lawyers.

A commercial for a mini-van showing a cute mom parallel parking may have a fine-print disclaimer saying "Professional driver on closed course. Do not attempt." Because of lawyers.

 

[fsdaaerwrf]

Does this have to do with how high the drone is over water? Do these crashes happen only if you are close or also when you are up, let’s say 100m?

 

[HWCM]

Had a MA2 drop into a creek last weekend 'cause I was distracted talking to my buddy. It was under 4' of water for 5 min. Did a rice dry and it seems fine. Three things #1) Insurance. I pay only $60/year for all of my drones; #2) PhantomRain.org for RainSuit and Rescue Jacket. Just ordered mine this week. #3) Firehouse Tech Arc XL strobe and audible signal. Can help with retrieval.

The way I fly and film, crashing is always a possibility. I got lucky 3 times to retrieve them (twice in one week). Retrieval is key. Repairs are cheaper than replacement. I fly over wooded areas and water a lot. I'm not gonna fly over water anymore without my Rescue Jacket.

Rice does NOTHING.

 

[HWCM]

Did you calibrate your compass before you flew?

That is 100% unnecessary.

 

[HWCM]

Flying over water is dangerous and risky. The manual says not too. So I doubt you'll get anything back from DJI

False. A lot of us fly over and very close and low to water all the time. Even DJI shows the Mavic flying over water in their promotional videos. There is no difference from flying over land. You must pay attention to where you are flying. Period.

 

[LivinLarge]

DJI have replaced drones that were lost flying over water, it does not void their warranty.
There's nothing that's particularly dangerous or risky flying over water.
Certainly there's nothing more risky or dangerous than flying over land.
Whatever you fly over, if the drone comes down, it's almost certainly going to be a write-off.

Flying over water is a lot like flying over land except there are no trees, powerlines, buildings or other things to run into.
On the plus side there are many great picture opportunities out there.
I've flown over 4000 miles over the ocean and I consider it's a safer environment for flying than on land.

Indeed there are less things to hit over water, maybe a seagull at the ocean or an overhanging tree at the riverbank. The real risk of flying over water, is the inability to recover the drone. Without recovery, DJI will usually refuse warranty or refresh coverage. Best bet is to purchase 3rd party insurance that covers all losses.