Mavic Disappeared Mid-Flight

Chadnovz · Aug 6, 2017

Michael Ainsworth said:
For some reason there have been many instances of the MP Landing unintentionally over water or other reflective surfaces.
It appears that the sensors become confused as to the correct height, think the MP is lower than it is and initiates a forced Landing sequence.
I keep Landing Protection off and just come in gently when I land.
Also makes hand launch and catch easier.

Ok. Thanks for this

dewster · Aug 6, 2017

Egika said:
One more example of the problems "landing protection = on" can cause.
Better have it switched off

Wow. Good info. I had my craft over level ground and received something to the effect of "area not suitable to land". I can't imagine the opposite - thinking that it was going to touch down when actually 409 feet up.

Dubwilcox · Aug 7, 2017

UPDATE:

I just received the following email from DJI Support one week later:

"We would like to request you to extract directly the flight record folder from your mobile device and extract the txt files.
The extracted flight record should be in "TXT" format and is usually named in default as "DJIFLIGHTRECORD_XXXXXXX" where "XXXXXX" is the incident date.

Please include the flight record with the matching incident date from flight record folder and reply to this email with it as an attachment so we will be able to proceed with the data analysis.

Also if you have recorded video during the flight incident, Please provide video at the accident for further analysis.

PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDE IN THE ATTACHED FILE ON HOW TO EXTRACT IT.

Thank you for understanding and cooperation. Have a great day!

Regards,
Gerald
DJI Support"

I had previously synced the flight records as requested in the first response from them, but I am sending them the flight record as requested in the latest email. We'll see what they do with this additional information.

MavicMaster · Aug 9, 2017

Dubwilcox said:
UPDATE:

I just received the following email from DJI Support one week later:

"We would like to request you to extract directly the flight record folder from your mobile device and extract the txt files.
The extracted flight record should be in "TXT" format and is usually named in default as "DJIFLIGHTRECORD_XXXXXXX" where "XXXXXX" is the incident date.

Please include the flight record with the matching incident date from flight record folder and reply to this email with it as an attachment so we will be able to proceed with the data analysis.

Also if you have recorded video during the flight incident, Please provide video at the accident for further analysis.

PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS PROVIDE IN THE ATTACHED FILE ON HOW TO EXTRACT IT.

Thank you for understanding and cooperation. Have a great day!

Regards,
Gerald
DJI Support"

I had previously synced the flight records as requested in the first response from them, but I am sending them the flight record as requested in the latest email. We'll see what they do with this additional information.

I have a funny story to tell you. Last week on Sunday, 7/30 I was flying my drone in Mexico. I was about 1400 Ft away when I decided to fly behind a hotel leaving my drone out of sight. I started getting warning messages due to reception. Finally, I received a error message asking if I want the air craft to return home. I said yes and the connection was lost. During this time, I was hovering over the ocean when the connection dropped. I waited a few minutes, resetted the app and nothing. 5 minutes later I jumped in my car and drove to it's last know location. Finally, I recovered signal. The image was unreadable and I received multiple errors. Aircraft wouldn't launch, camera didnt work and etc. As I walked closer to it's location... I realized it was in the water/ocean. Worst part, it was a private beach owned by the hotel. So by the time I got access in the hotel and went to it's location the battery died. It didn't really matter though, it has landed in some reef ocean area that was nearly impossible to navigate.

Long story short I submitted a claim to DJI last Monday and they asked for the same information today....

Dubwilcox · Aug 9, 2017

MavicMaster said:
I have a funny story to tell you. Last week on Sunday, 7/30 I was flying my drone in Mexico. I was about 1400 Ft away when I decided to fly behind a hotel leaving my drone out of sight. I started getting warning messages due to reception. Finally, I received a error message asking if I want the air craft to return home. I said yes and the connection was lost. During this time, I was hovering over the ocean when the connection dropped. I waited a few minutes, resetted the app and nothing. 5 minutes later I jumped in my car and drove to it's last know location. Finally, I recovered signal. The image was unreadable and I received multiple errors. Aircraft wouldn't launch, camera didnt work and etc. As I walked closer to it's location... I realized it was in the water/ocean. Worst part, it was a private beach owned by the hotel. So by the time I got access in the hotel and went to it's location the battery died. It didn't really matter though, it has landed in some reef ocean area that was nearly impossible to navigate.

Long story short I submitted a claim to DJI last Monday and they asked for the same information today....

I am stunned at how similar your story is to mine. I even jumped in my car as you did, knowing I couldn't get there in time. What part of Mexico were you flying it in? I can't seem to come up with any common denominator here but so many details are spot on with my story. I'm hoping we are able to reach some sort of suitable resolution with DJI.

MavicMaster · Aug 9, 2017

Dubwilcox said:
I am stunned at how similar your story is to mine. I even jumped in my car as you did, knowing I couldn't get there in time. What part of Mexico were you flying it in? I can't seem to come up with any common denominator here but so many details are spot on with my story. I'm hoping we are able to reach some sort of suitable resolution with DJI.

I was in Rosarito/Baja California. The only problem with my situation is I don't have the .txt files for that date, I only have the DAT files. I was sort of worried the mavic landed on the hotel and someone would try to steal it, so deleted my cached files and renamed my drone to my phone # as a precaution. Pretty dumb move, but I wasnt thinking about warranty at the time.

Dubwilcox · Aug 9, 2017

UPDATE:

I received a new email today from DJI Support:

Thank you for providing necessary information.

This will be forwarded to the respective department that will perform data analysis and investigation this may take
some time so we might as well wait for any updates. We hope for your patience.

Tel Support: +1(818)235 0789 / Mon-Fri 7:00AM-5:00PM(PST)

Thank you for understanding and cooperation. Have a great day!

Regards,
Gerald
DJI Support"

At least there's a phone number to follow-up if they take a while.

Mavic 57 · Aug 9, 2017

I lost signal to my Mavic once in fixed wing mode at 40 mph, fearing the worst that it would continue away from me at 40 mph with 80% battery, it suddenly reconnected and I wasinformed it was in RTH due to lose of signal.

I always have RTH set, if signal lost, never just hover.

Dubwilcox · Aug 9, 2017

Mavic 57 said:
I lost signal to my Mavic once in fixed wing mode at 40 mph, fearing the worst that it would continue away from me at 40 mph with 80% battery, it suddenly reconnected and I wasinformed it was in RTH due to lose of signal.

I always have RTH set, if signal lost, never just hover.

I don't know what use it would be to hover. I guess if there were a lot of obstacles. I've always left the setting on RTH in case of emergencies.

go fast · Aug 9, 2017

Sorry to hear about this , but just a little advice try not to start a flight at 50% battery especially if you're going to fly far away , I have my low battery alarm set to 30% and as a rule try to have the A/C within sight by that point...

Dubwilcox · Aug 9, 2017

go fast said:
Sorry to hear about this , but just a little advice try not to start a flight at 50% battery especially if you're going to fly far away , I have my low battery alarm set to 30% and as a rule try to have the A/C within sight by that point...

Not sure what you mean. The flight began with 100% battery and ended at 54%.

go fast · Aug 9, 2017

Oh sorry I misread , thought you started at 54% , disregard...

Robbyg · Aug 9, 2017

MavicMaster said:
I was in Rosarito/Baja California. The only problem with my situation is I don't have the .txt files for that date, I only have the DAT files. I was sort of worried the mavic landed on the hotel and someone would try to steal it, so deleted my cached files and renamed my drone to my phone # as a precaution. Pretty dumb move, but I wasnt thinking about warranty at the time.

I am confused

How did you delete the cache files and rename the Mavic and get the DAT files while it was under water? Are you sure it went into the water or did it land on the beach?

Rob

MavicMaster · Aug 11, 2017

Robbyg said:
I am confused
How did you delete the cache files and rename the Mavic and get the DAT files while it was under water? Are you sure it went into the water or did it land on the beach?

Rob

Look at my attachment. This was the last image I took. It landed right in front of the pool area in the ocean/rocks. I still don't know if it landed or fell there.

The incident happened during a low tide. The beach has a bunch of rocks during low tide, so it could had been only partially submerged, but it may have become fully submerged during high tide. If I had got access to the hotel/pool earlier I could have recovered it, but I didn't get access for another 2 hours. By that time it was high tide and the sea level rose.

This is of course speculation. I don't know exactly where it landed or if it crashed. All I know is, I lost and regained connection. When I regained connection, nothing worked and GPS showed it was right in front of the pool, in the ocean/rocks. A lot of things could have happened in that 2 hour span. Someone could have stoled it too.

The point is, it had like 50% battery when I lost connection and it shouldn't have landed or fell.

Duse · Aug 11, 2017

Dubwilcox said:
I don't know what use it would be to hover. I guess if there were a lot of obstacles. I've always left the setting on RTH in case of emergencies.

on a boat

Dubwilcox · Aug 13, 2017

UPDATE:

Great news. I just received this response from DJI Support:

Thanks for your patience.

For the unfortunate incident happened to your drone, we have confirmed it as a warranty case according to our analysis. We would like to offer you a 100% off coupon code for Mavic Pro without charger and remote, then you can place an order for it from DJI online store.

----------If the model is incorrect, please let us know.
----------Sorry that it is not available to apply the value of the discount to any other model other than the original model, or to credit the value to your account.

For us to get the coupon code ready, please kindly help to offer us below:

1. The serial number on the remote. You can send also us a clear picture to show the serial number;
2. The proof of purchase for the aircraft;
3. The country/region in which you purchased it.

Please reply this email directly so that we will handle it in time. Should you have more questions, please feel free to let me know.

Best Regards,

Evelyn
DJI Tech Support
DJI - The Future Of Possible

I hate to rub it in the face of people who weren't so fortunate, but they are offering a 100% discount on a Mavic Pro due to the forced landing over water. They didn't, however, include the analysis or what they found. I'm curious to see what it says because in similiar cases, they have stated it.

I am providing the requested info. for them now. The serial number on the remote has faded somewhat in just a couple of months. Has anyone else had that issue? I think I can make it out well enough but the last digits are a challenge.