Mavic Lost! Failure to Return to Home

[Reaper Two Seven]

Yes... Appropriate RTH height also needs to be set... However, I've never been really good at estimating the height of buildings/objects, so tend to go to max height for RTH in any case...

I'll definitely be changing that, along with the way I fly in a more responsible manner.

 

[vashon100]

That's awesome you recovered the Mavic. It's encouraging to hear there are such good tracking records produced. Thanks for providing the pictures, down but not out! LOL

 

[kmaluo]

What you could also do is fly in sports mode, then switch back to normal for obstacle avoidance when a RTH is triggered, hoping that one signal gets through before a total disconnect happens.

 

[Reaper Two Seven]

What you could also do is fly in sports mode, then switch back to normal for obstacle avoidance when a RTH is triggered, hoping that one signal gets through before a total disconnect happens.

Good point. Without doing more research on it I would think that if in sport mode, which automatically disables the sensors, when a RTH is triggered it would turn on the sensors, assuming they are turned on in regular mode. Without further testing I find it highly doubtful it would RTH hauling a$$ in sport mode.

However, flying in sport mode isn't always ideal if you're trying to get cinematic shots. The controls are much touchier.

 

[ovyyus]

...We live in a world of calculated risk. Anytime you swim in a pool, mow the lawn, fix an appliance, cook with gas, light fireworks, hang a tv, jump on a trampoline, get out of bed and, the most dangerous activity of all - drive a car. I'm quoting several different sources

This story is a great strategy to increase risk awareness among drone enthusiasts. However, your quoted risk figures for household activities are based on general population numbers. In fair comparison, the worldwide injuries/deaths associated with 7 billion drone operators might be significant.

 

[yendor]

That actually doesn't sound like a bad idea. After today's incident I also gave some thought to those tracking devices that are commercially available in case you lose your drone. That would have definitely been helpful to have.

I am very sorry this happened to you. I have lost drones before (although not one thousand dollar drones) and the pain of holding the controller and trying not to shed a tear is something I don't want to experience with my mavic. However, I know it will happen to many of us sooner or later. Thank you for sharing your story. Although I love my mavic and the technology, I am not going to fly mine further than 4000 feet away from me. Your story is a cautionary tale for the rest of us.

 

[Grey Wolf]

My comment was one of the ones pruned earlier. It's clear that what the OP did is a violation of FAA guidelines. But when someone has the intestinal fortitude to come here and voluntarily share the self-incriminating details of his flight, that should be seen as a learning experience for everyone. These forums aren't "safe spaces" where we expect no criticism or critique, but at the same time going to the gutter with personal attacks is absolutely uncalled-for.

One can commend the courage of someone willing to post a self-deprecating account of events, without necessarily agreeing with or condoning their flight behavior.

To be honest, I got much more frustrated at the childish behavior of fellow posters who felt the need to belittle and insult the poster, than I did over his actions.

Perhaps it's because I realize that, as an average American, I unwittingly commit THREE FELONIES by dinner time EVERY DAY - that I refuse to cast stones. Instead, I prefer to listen and learn from those who are willing to share their experiences.

I disagree with you.
For the flyers, with an 18 hour old Mavic, who have blatantly disregarded the law, then we are in for an unpleasant finale with respect to our drones.
If this individual had taken the time to learn the rules about flying in the first place, he wouldn't be in the predicament with his drone nor the fellow posters who have lambasted him, including me.
What really gets me upset he's is the fact that he has flown before and he should know better.

 

[Spondon]

I have two observations here.
1) You said you were losing signal so you started to ascend for the return home. Ascending was only making the distance between you and the mavic greater which is probably why you lost signal.
2) You flew out 7800 feet and your battery was down to 47%. How did you expect to get back if you had already used more than half your battery. There's a possibility your mavic started to fly back but hit the critical battery level and was forced to land somewhere in between.

your second point was exactly what I was thinking!

 

[stari]

You flew it once or twice with indications of drifting and that its behavior was not as you expected it to be. In-spite of all of that, on your third flight you had to head for a downtown area. INCREDIBLE! How stupid can you be, not to consider the collosal damage that your actions could have caused?!? Yet, to make matters worse, you come here claiming to be an "experienced techie". You should be arrested for willful negligence or whatever similar charge!

 

[Grey Wolf]

Hi all,

I've been a longtime reader of this forum, all the way back to my Phantom 3 Professional days. I've owned the P3P, the P4, and now, for a brief time, the Mavic Pro. According to my profile, I have 1,131,787 feet logged (214.35 miles) and 16 hours 14 minutes of flight time, synced between my iPhone and iPad. Not professing to be a pro, but not considering myself a novice. This is my first post. The reason I'm motivated to make a post is because I want to share with you what happened to me today. I ordered the Mavic Pro Fly More Combo direct from DJI on 10-3-16. I picked it up from the FedEx center last night after 6pm on 11-29-16 because no one was home to sign for it. Got it home, charged up the batteries and remote. Did the compulsory update. Flew it twice that night from my house. Short flights, nothing fancy, just checking out the handling and functions. I noticed it had a tendency to drift to the left or crab sideways in forward flight. Did the stick calibration which seemed to alleviate it somewhat but did not eliminate it. Gimball had a slightly tilted horizon, adjusted that in software. Other than that, all seemed well and I was very wowed and pleased with the diminutive size of it along with the build quality and solid construction of the airframe and remote. Ok, onto the third and final flight. That happened today, at around 11:30 am. I took off near the downtown of a major metropolitan area. I flew towards the city center. Had good solid signal with the Occusync system - it isn't all just marketing hype, I can really tell the difference between the strength of the video downlink as well as the higher quality of the feed. Still crabbing a bit, it was challenging to fly in a straight line. I flew about 7800 feet to the city center with a good signal. Here's where everything went pear shaped. I could tell the signal was starting to degrade around the tall buildings. Battery was at 47%. Altitude was around 300 feet. I was in the process of ascending to get better signal to make the trip back home when the image greyed out and finally dropped. Got the prompt asking if I wanted to return to home, which I said yes. Stood there for about 20 - 40 seconds, expecting to get signal back any second. A minute goes by. Then two and three. Then four minutes. At which time I started to get that panicky feeling rising in my chest. I jumped in my car and drove the straight shot downtown, got there in about 4 minutes, holding my remote out the window the whole time. Got all the way to where I last lost it. Nothing. Never re-established signal. The remote just sat there, saying "CONNECTING" on the screen. It was gone. Went back to where I launched. It was nowhere to be found. Vision positioning system was turned OFF. Smart return to home was turned ON. Return to home altitude set at 90 meters. Buildings in that area are around 450+ feet tall. I have the FAA registration in the battery compartment as well as my telephone number to claim a reward. I had the drone about 18 hours before I lost it.

After taking some time to compose myself I picked up the phone and called DJI technical support. I spoke to a tech and described my situation, in which he opened a case for review. I synced my flight records, provided my email address and serial number on the back of my controller, a screen shot of my order number for proof of sale, along with the above description of what happened. The rep said that they would review the incident and get back with me in one to two weeks. What they will determine, or do, I don't know and the tech was noncommital when I asked him that. I contacted DJI sales through chat and waited awhile before one became available (there were 91 people ahead of me) and asked about the $749 Mavic without the RC option to see if it was available, as it is not available for purchase on their website. The $749 option without the remote was touted during the official announcement. The DJI sales rep replied with:

"Right now there is not any Mavic without remote controller for sale yet. We may release one later. Mavic pro comes with a remote controller. You are not recommended to use Mavic without controller. When you fly in wifi mode, the max height and range will be cut."

So now my options are to wait till the tech support gets back to me about my fly away issue, or I can order a $999 Mavic with RC, or do without. I have all the other accessories to the drone, extra batteries, car charger, bag, etc. I just really need the aircraft. After considering this issue all day, I went ahead and ordered the $999 Mavic. If tech support gets back to me and determines that I can get a concession whether its a full replacement or option to buy the aircraft only at a reduced price, I can always cancel my order. Somehow I don't feel optimistic about this though.

I am writing this to share with you my experience as both a precautionary tale and maybe as an example of a product feature not working as intended. With the smart return to home, when the drone encounters an obstacle it should try to ascend and go over, or at the very least, hover in place. I've lost connection with my Phantoms countless times and they have always come back. It's very possible that a tall building was in the return path. Ask questions, make comments, offer ideas - this is what the forum is for. I've been beating myself up all day about this, and will continue to do so for quite a while, so please, I don't need comments about maintaining visual line of sight, I'm ruining the hobby for everyone else, etc. There's a very good reason why I don't post on forums. Not just this forum, but most of them. And on here there's always going to be the people thumping rule books and that isn't something that is going to be constructive in my case. But I digress and I shall wait for it to start. Shouldn't take long.

"Long time reader of this forum" he says.
The Mavic forum has only been up two months. Lol!

 

[Bigfootbuilt]

I have two observations here.
1) You said you were losing signal so you started to ascend for the return home. Ascending was only making the distance between you and the mavic greater which is probably why you lost signal.
2) You flew out 7800 feet and your battery was down to 47%. How did you expect to get back if you had already used more than half your battery. There's a possibility your mavic started to fly back but hit the critical battery level and was forced to land somewhere in between.

In his defense, if you begin to lose signal because of line-of-sight issues like trees, buildings, etc, sometimes your only option is to simply ascend the drone so there is a better line-of-sight between the controller and drone. I am wondering if the obstacle avoidance was disabled? If so, that might explain everything. Maybe it crashed into a building during RTH?

 

[J-Dub]

In his defense, if you begin to lose signal because of line-of-sight issues like trees, buildings, etc, sometimes your only option is to simply ascend the drone so there is a better line-of-sight between the controller and drone. I am wondering if the obstacle avoidance was disabled? If so, that might explain everything. Maybe it crashed into a building during RTH?

Go back and read the thread, you Q's will be answered.

 

[Reaper Two Seven]

I disagree with you.
For the flyers, with an 18 hour old Mavic, who have blatantly disregarded the law, then we are in for an unpleasant finale with respect to our drones.
If this individual had taken the time to learn the rules about flying in the first place, he wouldn't be in the predicament with his drone nor the fellow posters who have lambasted him, including me.
What really gets me upset he's is the fact that he has flown before and he should know better.

Dear Grey Wolf,

Keep your shirt on. No laws were broken in my flight. Other than laws concerning the violation of any Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) e.g. one hour before, during, or after a sporting event, or a designated disaster or hazardous area, or the permanent flight restriction around Washington, D.C., there exists FAA rules for personal / recreational unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Commercial operators are bound to another set of rules altogether.

A rule does not carry the same effect as a law. A rule could be similar to "talking during class is not allowed." They are guidelines. In my case I flew beyond visual range. That was the only infraction committed. Was it against the rules? YES. Was it ill advised? YES. Was it something I should have thought twice about doing? YES. Could it have ended worse than it did? YES. Did I disregard any laws? NO.

Fellow posters, including you, would not have lambasted me had I not shared my story. Right or wrong, black or white, I feel the awareness its created has been for the benefit for the community, whether you agree with that or not. I'm not sure how many times I have to get on here to say I was wrong to satisfy you. You obviously have an angry issue with that which I can't help you with, and you're entitled to your own opinion.

All the best,

Reaper Two Seven

 

[grizzard]

UPDATE:

I have recovered my drone.

Hooray !!!! God is good! The building manager is good! The Mavic Pro is super good! msinger is most good indeed! And now your heart is good and you can go on living as a better drone pilot ....

 

[J3ffrey]

Dear Grey Wolf,

Keep your shirt on. No laws were broken in my flight. Other than laws concerning the violation of any Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR) e.g. one hour before, during, or after a sporting event, or a designated disaster or hazardous area, or the permanent flight restriction around Washington, D.C., there exists FAA rules for personal / recreational unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). Commercial operators are bound to another set of rules altogether.

A rule does not carry the same effect as a law. A rule could be similar to "talking during class is not allowed." They are guidelines. In my case I flew beyond visual range. That was the only infraction committed. Was it against the rules? YES. Was it ill advised? YES. Was it something I should have thought twice about doing? YES. Could it have ended worse than it did? YES. Did I disregard any laws? NO.

Fellow posters, including you, would not have lambasted me had I not shared my story. Right or wrong, black or white, I feel the awareness its created has been for the benefit for the community, whether you agree with that or not. I'm not sure how many times I have to get on here to say I was wrong to satisfy you. You obviously have an angry issue with that which I can't help you with, and you're entitled to your own opinion.

All the best,

Reaper Two Seven

Honestly - there is no benefit to the community here. You violated some common sense rules, twice and lost two quad copters... I hope you and your friend never ever fly these things again in a "city center" or anything close to that. Normal folks already know these rules and don't break them.

 

[Michaelangelo]

Honestly - there is no benefit to the community here. You violated some common sense rules, twice and lost two quad copters... I hope you and your friend never ever fly these things again in a "city center" or anything close to that. Normal folks already know these rules and don't break them.

Really? Of course there is benefit to the community here. There are numerous new Mavic Pro drone flyers here, following this thread and the many others. This gentleman had the courage to tell everyone how he messed up not once but several times. Once he realized what happened and how it was all his fault as he admitted, he took ownership of it, apologized to the community and promised to fly safely in the future. He did this over and over yet people continue to lambaste him calling him names such as stupid. I've read all of his posts on this thread and this gentleman is not stupid. He's like all of us, normal and otherwise, who have made mistakes. We all know what those were. Thank you. Also, he's like some of us who can share those mistakes, admit it when we make mistakes and accept and stand up to the criticism while promising to do better moving forward. Surely out of all of this one can find some benefit. Maybe the new or inexperienced flyers may have just learned the importance of setting the RTH height properly. Others may have learned how to and how not to critique someone after they have come forward with such an admission. There's something for everyone here.


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[Random155]

I think he got the point that what he did is not condoned by this forum. Give the guy a break, if you're going to post about how horrible this guy is and how he should go to jail and what he did is the worst thing in the drone community, ITS ALREADY BEEN POSTED HERE, no need to contribute your 2 cents on it anymore. This was a learning experience and I have learned from this also. I want to read about updates and conclusions of this incident not everyone's bashing of this guy. This a great community for learning and sharing, lets keep it that way.

 

[erkme73]

Honestly - there is no benefit to the community here. You violated some common sense rules, twice and lost two quad copters... I hope you and your friend never ever fly these things again in a "city center" or anything close to that. Normal folks already know these rules and don't break them.

^^^THIS IS WHY^^^ people are afraid to post their own experiences. Because of people like @J3ffrey. Not only is your comment incorrect, it does immeasurable harm to the forum community of users who read, but refuse to post because of fear of being bullied by the likes of you. This particular thread has been closed, pruned, and warned multiple times because of posts EXACTLY like yours that are nothing more than chest-thumping, rub-your-face-in-it bravado. Take it elsewhere.

 

[m0j0]

You should be arrested for willful negligence or whatever similar charge!

Man this thread is full of foul balls..


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[erkme73]

Man this thread is full of foul balls..


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Unfortunately, you can blame this mindset on the manipulation of public thought via media. It wasn't that long ago where a Phantom operator was charged after flying his bird over a downtown city at night. Media and police helicopters followed it. They charged the guy with something like "potentially creating a catastrophe" or something thing like that. People are generally very malleable (I'm being kind). When they see it on the boob tube - especially if "official government sources" say it - it becomes gospel.