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Mavic lost while trying circling around a building

Darthcryder

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Lost the mavic 2 days ago on 16th Mar on the opposite bank of Rhine river of the Cologne Cathedral. It was showing weak signal and then it was disconnected and never able to reconnect back since. The battery has about 50% left. The distance was ~1000m away at a height of ~120m. i used 2-3mins trying to reconnect back to no avail.

i have attached a route pic of my actions taken. simply after that initial 2-3mins, i walk/run to the left, trying to get line of sight but still no connection, while still checking for the sky for blinking lights; none seen or maybe i was too panic to see properly. by the time i get to the end of the stone bridge, i knew the battery should have depleted, so i went back to the launchsite. no mavic seen but then is no wonder as tourists and people flock there. so if it did return, it could have pickup by someone when i am not around. i then walked to the roughly last known location but found nothing. there were no commotion too if there is a crash to the ground.
i have uploaded the flight log, Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com
i don't have the intention or ability to retrieve the mavic back as i have left Germany for Switzerland and won't be going to Cologne and for a long long time. i just want to know what happened.
of cos if it never crash, and someone do pick it up, i would appreciate he/she can return the sd card.
 

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It most likely crashed and landed here:

CrashSite.jpg
 
It most likely crashed and landed here:

View attachment 8832
strange but why there ain't any authority or crowds gathered, there should be tourists at that time, though not as much as day time. i thought it would caused a commotion if it crashed near a monument?
i have uploaded another video feed pic last seen on my phone cache. i was searching the area behind the cafe building (further down the highlighted red with a big tree) which is a patch of messy plant growth. i also did walk around the cathedral perimeter, but found nothing.
i guessed most probably on some rooftop.
 

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Last edited:
With a building like that, it likely crashed and then fell onto one of the many ledges in the architecture.
could it be knocked down by sea birds/geese as i noticed that these still fly in the night, and of course bats too.
 
Unfortunately one more of the classic "fly bethind something where it's guaranteed transmission can't reach and without having set RTH height properly to clear said obstacle once it tries to fly back straight over it"... Wonder how many of those have been reported by now? Seems there's 1-2 a week on here.
 
If this had happened to me, I'd have cleared out of Germany tout de suite. You're lucky not to be in jail.
yes indeed. but because there were no commotion seen around, thus i thought it would probably crashed on top of aome buildings.
 
Unfortunately one more of the classic "fly bethind something where it's guaranteed transmission can't reach and without having set RTH height properly to clear said obstacle once it tries to fly back straight over it"... Wonder how many of those have been reported by now? Seems there's 1-2 a week on here.
this is not the 1st time. i have one time that it was disconnected in open space with altitude, etc set. when the remote prompt to RTH, it never return. i only managed to reconnect back after a few tries restarting the apps, then i gain back control.
and this time i did never raise my altitude from 100m to 200m, knowing that the cathedral is about 160m high.
 
What was your RTH set at? Do you even know? I always set it to about 200 feet above the highest bldg/twr/obstacle in the area.
 
What was your RTH set at? Do you even know? I always set it to about 200 feet above the highest bldg/twr/obstacle in the area.
i already mentioned in last reply. i do know what i set, just for this flight i have not update accordingly. even though the OA dun work well in nighttime but i giess the cathedral is still bright enough.
i have flew a few times for my this Europe trip and set accordingly with no time rush. Only Cologne trip was abit rush as i need to catch the train within 45mins counting down from the start of the flight, thus miss out on setting the altitude.(i still miss the train though)
i do admit that my this oversight has caused me to pay the price and luckily to without any casualty.
 
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yes indeed. but because there were no commotion seen around, thus i thought it would probably crashed on top of aome buildings.
You thought?
Did you check to see if it was legal to fly in that area and to see if there was an airport nearby?
 
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What was your RTH set at? Do you even know? I always set it to about 200 feet above the highest bldg/twr/obstacle in the area.

RTH altitude was set to 100 meters, see screenshot no 1. And in the final moments, the MP was flying at 385 feet (if the cathedral is 160 meters high, there was no direct line of vision from the launch point) and the signal was weak, as seen on screenshot 2.

So, after losing the connection, the MP must have started RTH, going to 100 meters, collided with the cathedral and fell.

Screenshot 1.png Screenshot 2.png
 
Troll not helping. And now policing other continents!
Nuance escapes many. This is not a geographical problem, do news reports only cover continental events? (well, okay, in the US, maybe). A fool killing a tourist at the Cologne Cathedral would have done more to hurt you and I, and all of us, more than can be told.
 
I will bet everything i have you lost line of sight witht the drone. For the RC to stay connected you need to have an UNOBSTRUCTED line of sight with the drone
 
Nuance escapes many. This is not a geographical problem, do news reports only cover continental events? (well, okay, in the US, maybe). A fool killing a tourist at the Cologne Cathedral would have done more to hurt you and I, and all of us, more than can be told.
I wasn't talking about geography. I was talking about a poster who has one mission of policing everyone he can, with no helpful information. My post reflects that he is now doing the policing in other countries. What nuance were you referring to? I also believe safety is the most important factor and there are ways of conveying those messages in a more receptive way. On top of everything, he chastises posters with regulations and illegalities that are completely false, making it obvious he has no intention of providing helpful or accurate information, just wants to take pot shots. At least use accurate information to back up the policing. You may want to review your own postings for accuracy as I recall similar postings from you. I apologize if I'm wrong about that.
 
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