Mavic air flew away day of purchase

[John MacAulay]

Wow, they try so hard to be perfect, I didn't realize the MA did that. There is always a certain set of circumstances that will result in failure, no matter what. I watched a video recently where a MP dutifully entered RTH and proceeded to run straight into a big pine tree. Due to the obvious too low RTH height. Sad, really.

 

[sar104]

Wow, they try so hard to be perfect, I didn't realize the MA did that. There is always a certain set of circumstances that will result in failure, no matter what. I watched a video recently where a MP dutifully entered RTH and proceeded to run straight into a big pine tree. Due to the obvious too low RTH height. Sad, really.

But note that this is not what happened in this case since the OP apparently had line of sight throughout the flight - or at least that was my interpretation of the post.

What is puzzling is that the scenario appeared to involve two separate failures – first the downlink failed in LOS, and then the aircraft, still in LOS, flew erratically and did not return to the home point. I seriously doubt that two separate failures were involved but, since the logs were never posted, we are not likely to find out what really happened. My guess is that the OP has perhaps figured out that it was pilot error and doesn't want that out there for everyone to see – understandable if that's the case.

 

[RayOZ]

I think the problem is OP assumed the MA would behave like the MP, in a populated area. WiFi vs OcuSync.
Until OP attaches a flight log, everything is speculation atm.

 

[John MacAulay]

Totally, the more flight records posted = the more lessons learned for the rest of us.

 

[mad monkey]

Possible flight started in atti, then gained satellites
Or compass problems.. Anything really.. And we will never know

 

[dbyantis]

I don’t get how the drone just flies away? Thank god never happened to me and I hope it never happens

I always make sure the home is assigned to my take off point

IMO, In many cases, the fly-away, is a blown-away when the drone is unable to make progress to Homepoint against the wind.

 

[JoBri]

Have you found the drone? what is the condition of your drone now?

 

[sar104]

Have you found the drone? what is the condition of your drone now?

The OP stated that it landed in the middle of San Francisco Bay. I think we can safely assume that he has not recovered it.

 

[mjbok]

I haven't had a fly away with my Air. Had one with my OG Phantom, but that was my fault. I did have a complete loss of connection once, and it was close enough to me that if I had a rock I could have thrown it at the drone and hit it. I haven't flown it since do to weather, but a little gunshy about it. Have had no problems with my Spark or Evo flying in the same place at the same time.

 

[scott rand]

I guess when I go to San Francisco next summer, I'll bring my Mavic Pro instead of the Mavic Air. Flew in Sausalito last summer (Mavic Pro), The San Francisco Bay area is beautiful, used to live there, so many beautiful places to fly. It's like it was made for drone flying.

 

[CanadaDrone]

I guess when I go to San Francisco next summer, I'll bring my Mavic Pro instead of the Mavic Air. Flew in Sausalito last summer (Mavic Pro), The San Francisco Bay area is beautiful, used to live there, so many beautiful places to fly. It's like it was made for drone flying.

Why wouldn't you bring your Air? It should be more than capable of that flight. Without more data or the logs, all signs point to user error in this particular case, as with seemingly 99% of fly-aways.

I've had my Air as far as 2KM out in high-density urban areas and it never dropped below maximum signal strength.

 

[JoBri]

The OP stated that it landed in the middle of San Francisco Bay. I think we can safely assume that he has not recovered it.

I see I assume also that he found a way to recover his drone after the crash But sad to say it is in the middle of San Francisco Bay.

 

[hiflyer201]

I think middle of the bay was just a figure of speech...you wouldn't have line of sight unless maybe you were on the GG or bay bridge. I've had so many Loss of Signal situations with my Air that I quit worrying about it. It just starts home and I regain the signal. I can't figure out what could have happened in his case.... Speaking of the SFO bay though...it would be fun to fly over and around Alcatraz. That was always one spooky place and is even more so now. For some reason there are still lights in a few windows at night.

 

[Big Daddy Houseboater]

Have you found the drone? what is the condition of your drone now?

So, I'm pretty sure, when he said it landed "gently in the bay", he meant San Francisco Bay, which will be its forever graveyard. Just my guess from the OP's original comment.