Mavic Air never returned

[TodayDee72]

I have a Magic Air. During flight the camera stopped working. I had trouble day before and this morning with the Gimble Motor Overload but it recalibrated.

It was returning home, flight normal. Was windy but not giving me wind warnings. Then the camera just turned off.

As you can see during the flight back it made a sharp right turn…

The flight pattern says it landed and is actually -3 feet below ground. It said it was flying slow and gave me GPS.

The drone is not there. Any ideas what happened? I tried turning the sounds and lights on but the batteries are for sure dead and the controller battery dumped connection.

I read that out dated firmware can cause it to fly off and not return but I always kept software up to date.

 

[sar104]

Outdated firmware doesn't cause it to fly off. I recommend that you post the TXT flight log which is likely to provide much more information on what happened.

 

[Gagey52]

Welcome to the forum from the outback of Australia. Mate did you get your drone back?
Regards

 

[TodayDee72]

How do I download the TXT log?

Outdated firmware doesn't cause it to fly off. I recommend that you post the TXT flight log which is likely to provide much more information on what happened.

 

[zeusfl]

Copy paste from the

Mavic Flight Log Retrieval and Analysis Guide

3. LOG FILE RETRIEVAL

Mobile device DJI TXT logs
The log naming convention, based on the date and time of the start of the flight, is: DJIFlightRecord_YYYY_MM_DD_[hr-min-sec].txt.
Instructions to find and upload the files directly, with an option to make them public via a link, can be found on both @msinger's excellent PhantomHelp website or on AirData. Those both allow subsequent download of the original txt logs for third-party analysis.
Alternatively, to simply retrieve the txt logs from the mobile device:
With iOS devices running DJI GO 4 you need to access the app files via computer, either using iTunes or with a file system browser such as iExplorer. The TXT logs are in Apps » DJI GO 4 » FlightRecords. The same method can be used to access DJI Fly files in DJI Fly » FlightRecords, but with DJI Fly they are also accessible using the iOS Files app by selecting Browse » On My iPhone » DJI Fly » FlightRecords.
With Android devices the file system should mount when plugged into a Windows machine, or via various software options on a Mac. With DJI GO 4 the TXT logs are in DJI » dji.go.v4 » FlightRecord. With DJI Fly they are in DJI » dji.go.v5 » FlightRecord. or dji.go.v5 » Files » FlightRecord.
Under iOS the DJI Fly app files are actually accessible directly in the iOS "Files" app, but the DJI GO 4 app doesn't have that option.
If you want help analyzing the data then you can either retrieve the logs and post them here directly, or upload them to PhantomHelp or AirData and post the link back here.
AirData also has automatic log upload (sync) options directly from most of the common control apps.

 

[TodayDee72]

Welcome to the forum from the outback of Australia. Mate did you get your drone back?
Regards

No - found GPS location, walked it for 6 hours. Says landed -3 feet as elevation so not in a tree

 

[TodayDee72]

I have a Magic Air. During flight the camera stopped working. I had trouble day before and this morning with the Gimble Motor Overload but it recalibrated.

It was returning home, flight normal. Was windy but not giving me wind warnings. Then the camera just turned off.

As you can see during the flight back it made a sharp right turn…

The flight pattern says it landed and is actually -3 feet below ground. It said it was flying slow and gave me GPS.

The drone is not there. Any ideas what happened? I tried turning the sounds and lights on but the batteries are for sure dead and the controller battery dumped connection.

I read that out dated firmware can cause it to fly off and not return but I always kept software up to date.

 

[TodayDee72]

The log file.

My husband and I walked up to 20 meters around the end point. It is not tall grass and should be easy to see, just a field.

 

[TodayDee72]

Copy paste from the

Mavic Flight Log Retrieval and Analysis Guide

3. LOG FILE RETRIEVAL

Mobile device DJI TXT logs
The log naming convention, based on the date and time of the start of the flight, is: DJIFlightRecord_YYYY_MM_DD_[hr-min-sec].txt.
Instructions to find and upload the files directly, with an option to make them public via a link, can be found on both @msinger's excellent PhantomHelp website or on AirData. Those both allow subsequent download of the original txt logs for third-party analysis.
Alternatively, to simply retrieve the txt logs from the mobile device:
With iOS devices running DJI GO 4 you need to access the app files via computer, either using iTunes or with a file system browser such as iExplorer. The TXT logs are in Apps » DJI GO 4 » FlightRecords. The same method can be used to access DJI Fly files in DJI Fly » FlightRecords, but with DJI Fly they are also accessible using the iOS Files app by selecting Browse » On My iPhone » DJI Fly » FlightRecords.
With Android devices the file system should mount when plugged into a Windows machine, or via various software options on a Mac. With DJI GO 4 the TXT logs are in DJI » dji.go.v4 » FlightRecord. With DJI Fly they are in DJI » dji.go.v5 » FlightRecord. or dji.go.v5 » Files » FlightRecord.
Under iOS the DJI Fly app files are actually accessible directly in the iOS "Files" app, but the DJI GO 4 app doesn't have that option.
If you want help analyzing the data then you can either retrieve the logs and post them here directly, or upload them to PhantomHelp or AirData and post the link back here.
AirData also has automatic log upload (sync) options directly from most of the common control apps.

 

[Meta4]

The drone is not there. Any ideas what happened?

You made the mistake of flying until the battery reached Critical Low Voltage level while the drone was still far from home.
When the battery reached 10% the drone began to autoland, to prevent it falling from the sky.
You can see more details of the flight here:

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

The location of the landing spot was 37.59552 -108.76468 and it should have been quite close to there unless it was picked up and removed.

I read that out dated firmware can cause it to fly off and not return but I always kept software up to date.

It should still fly as well as it did before the firmware was updated.
Failing to update firmware definitely won't cause a drone to fly off somewhere.

 

[TodayDee72]

You made the mistake of flying until the battery reached Critical Low Voltage level while the drone was still far from home.
When the battery reached 10% the drone began to autoland, to prevent it falling from the sky.
You can see more details of the flight here:

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

The location of the landing spot was 37.59552 -108.76468 and it should have been quite close to there unless it was picked up and removed.


It should still fly as well as it did before the firmware was updated.
Failing to update firmware definitely won't cause a drone to fly off somewhere.

Darn it! Probably a complete loss. The area it landed in is open field. Some grass but not much. Now it’s snowing on it, definitely not water proof. If snow isn’t ridiculous I will try looking again. Any idea why it says 14mph at -3 feet? But before it has good landing speed at around 6’ above ground. Or why it stopped coming home and flew to the right so far, it was coming home fine…

 

[TodayDee72]

You made the mistake of flying until the battery reached Critical Low Voltage level while the drone was still far from home.
When the battery reached 10% the drone began to autoland, to prevent it falling from the sky.
You can see more details of the flight here:

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

The location of the landing spot was 37.59552 -108.76468 and it should have been quite close to there unless it was picked up and removed.


It should still fly as well as it did before the firmware was updated.
Failing to update firmware definitely won't cause a drone to fly off somewhere.

Another strange fact is that battery said full charge, here it reads 44% when it left. It was fresh off charger.. I wondered why it would return to home after 5 minutes. The battery must have been bad. I am sick

 

[sar104]

No - found GPS location, walked it for 6 hours. Says landed -3 feet as elevation so not in a tree

You have misunderstood the way that it measures height - it's height above the takeoff point, not height above ground level at the aircraft location. The ground elevation at the landing location is around 20 ft lower than at takeoff, so nominally that indicates that it is around 17 ft above ground level at the last data point, when it was still flying at around 6.5 m/s on a course of around 335°. I would be looking in the trees at the edge of the field - around 10 m NW of the last recorded point:

 

[sar104]

Another strange fact is that battery said full charge, here it reads 44% when it left. It was fresh off charger.. I wondered why it would return to home after 5 minutes. The battery must have been bad. I am sick

The battery was at 44% on takeoff, and from the subsequent discharge rate looks fine. But note that the flight time starts at 430 s, so this was not the first flight on that charged battery.

 

[Meta4]

Darn it! Probably a complete loss. The area it landed in is open field. Some grass but not much. Now it’s snowing on it, definitely not water proof. If snow isn’t ridiculous I will try looking again. Any idea why it says 14mph at -3 feet? But before it has good landing speed at around 6’ above ground. Or why it stopped coming home and flew to the right so far, it was coming home fine…

The drone was flying at 14 mph because of your joystick input.
You had the right stick pushed full forward and moved it hard left and right.

It looks like signal was lost just before landing and the flight data hasn't recorded the landing.
But the ground at the landing point is about 20 ft lower than where you launched, so the -3 ft is quite believable.

 

[Meta4]

Or why it stopped coming home and flew to the right so far, it was coming home fine…

The drone had been returning home on a heading of 175°.
When it stopped coming home and commenced the autolanding because of the battery level, the drone turned to face west at 251°, but that didn't matter as it was just landing.

You fought against the autolanding for a while and turned the drone further to the west at 278° and then pushed the right stick full forward, which accounts for the speed.
A little more rudder imput was responsible for the direction in which the drone flew away from the RTH direction.

 

[TodayDee72]

The battery was at 44% on takeoff, and from the subsequent discharge rate looks fine. But note that the flight time starts at 430 s, so this was not the first flight on that charged battery.

View attachment 144303

 

[TodayDee72]

The help here is amazing. Thank you.

Interesting that it shows not first flight on that battery. I had just used 2 batteries up. So before this flight I grabbed a fresh battery.. said fully charged of the charger. I wonder if my charger isn’t charging them right? As I mentioned I was surprised it gave me return home so fast. This flight was only 5 minutes long. Tomorrow if not buried under the snow I will try again. I love flying it, I absolutely don’t want to lose it.

 

[TodayDee72]

The drone had been returning home on a heading of 175°.
When it stopped coming home and commenced the autolanding because of the battery level, the drone turned to face west at 251°, but that didn't matter as it was just landing.

You fought against the autolanding for a while and turned the drone further to the west at 278° and then pushed the right stick full forward, which accounts for the speed.
A little more rudder imput was responsible for the direction in which the drone flew away from the RTH direction.

Your help is amazing.. thank you. I actually don’t recall fighting the auto landing.

 

[TodayDee72]

The drone was flying at 14 mph because of your joystick input.
You had the right stick pushed full forward and moved it hard left and right.

It looks like signal was lost just before landing and the flight data hasn't recorded the landing.
But the ground at the landing point is about 20 ft lower than where you launched, so the -3 ft is quite believable.

So likely in the trees north of gps spot then?