Mavic Mini 3 Pro forced landing problem

[Pmania]

Hey guys,

First time writing here so nice to meet you all .

So I just had a problem with my Mavic Mini 3 Pro caused by forced landing which was initiated by a reason unknown to me. I was flying in a restricted area (near a beach port) which I unlocked in advance and started taking photos of the boats but when I reached about 480 ft the drone just initiated a forced landing procedure which I could not cancel. This has never happened to me before (I’ve previoussly owned a Mavic Air 2). Thankfully I managed to navigate the drone to land next to me on the ground but tha fact that there was no way to cancel this process was extremely nerve racking. The battery was full and it wasn’t that windy IMO. Here’s a link to the flight log: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

Do you have any idea what could have caused the forced landing in this case? Thank you!

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Hey guys,

First time writing here so nice to meet you all .

Thank you!

This is common when entering into a Geo Zone, that you loose signal , some warnings pop up and RTH is engaged. At some point it should allow you to reengage the drone if you keep trying.


I have a few videos where this very thing happened to me over the water .
Link here

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Can't answer "why" but did you notice where the home point was set to?
Taking off and flying out over water whilst waiting for a home point to be set is risky UNLESS you know how to reset the home point and it appears you made no effort to reset the home point.
I am wondering is it possible the drone climbed into a corridor that, even with an unlock in place, you were not entitled to enter..........though I wouldn't think that is possible.
With regards to wind, you received to strong wind warning whilst the drone was above 400ft, incidentally what is the legal height limit for drones there? Given Bulgaria appears to be in the EU I would have thought 400ft.

With the home point set as it was I think you had lucky escape.

 

[Pmania]

Thanks for the replies guys! I haven’t changed the homepoint settings (they’re the default ones) but I will check what exactly they are - at least with the Mavic Air 2 the drone always returned to where it took off. As for the strong wind warning I’ve launched the Air 2 in stronger wind and at least on paper the Mini 3 should have the same wind resistance but I noticed I get strong wind warnings quite often which almost never happened with the Air 2.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Thanks for the replies guys! I haven’t changed the homepoint settings (they’re the default ones) but I will check what exactly they are - at least with the Mavic Air 2 the drone always returned to where it took off. As for the strong wind warning I’ve launched the Air 2 in stronger wind and at least on paper the Mini 3 should have the same wind resistance but I noticed I get strong wind warnings quite often which almost never happened with the Air 2.

You perhaps misunderstand me or I misunderstand you.
Your home point was set 21.5 seconds AFTER the drone's motors started and 19 seconds AFTER the drone took flight.
This put the home point some distance off shore, over the sea, look at the map on the phantom help page.
If the drone had RTH'ed it would have headed there, over the sea and, if you did not cancel the RTH, landed in the sea.

It is possible to change the location of the home point in the app and you should have changed it to somewhere over land or to where the controller and you were.

 

[YVRGUY]

Thanks for the replies guys! I haven’t changed the homepoint settings (they’re the default ones) but I will check what exactly they are - at least with the Mavic Air 2 the drone always returned to where it took off. As for the strong wind warning I’ve launched the Air 2 in stronger wind and at least on paper the Mini 3 should have the same wind resistance but I noticed I get strong wind warnings quite often which almost never happened with the Air 2.

https://www.hastings.gov.uk/content/event-planning/pdfs/Beaufort_Wind_Scale.pdf

Here’s a little helper to determine wind speed. Remember, whatever the speed is at ground level can quadruple at 400’ for many reasons. These birds are tough and pretty darn wind resistant, but, not that wind resistant. Thermals, updrafts, downdrafts, land corridors…depending on the time of day you could be blown out to sea or inward to land .

Safe Flying

 

[FLDave]

You had no satellites at takeoff and you flew over water with NO homepoint set. You didn't get enough satellites until over water; at that point homepoint over water was set. You need to pay attention to details and warnings on your device screen AND visually watch the drone movements.
As for wind,, "it wasn't that windy" is meaningless. You should be checking local wind conditions, including winds aloft. Investing in a hand-held anemometer to measure winds can be a big help.
Flying in or near no-fly areas is risky.

 

[MS Coast]

Thanks for the replies guys! I haven’t changed the homepoint settings (they’re the default ones) but I will check what exactly they are - at least with the Mavic Air 2 the drone always returned to where it took off. As for the strong wind warning I’ve launched the Air 2 in stronger wind and at least on paper the Mini 3 should have the same wind resistance but I noticed I get strong wind warnings quite often which almost never happened with the Air 2.

They're not talking about Fly app settings. They're talking about letting the drone establish a home point for each flight.

You shouldn't leave the takeoff area without that having been done. When a home point has been set, you'll hear a voice announcement, "The home point has been set. Please check it on the map." And you'll see an icon on the map inset with a circle and H inside. Verify that it's in the right location before continuing the flight. And check that the compass is correct, too.

 

[Pmania]

You perhaps misunderstand me or I misunderstand you.
Your home point was set 21.5 seconds AFTER the drone's motors started and 19 seconds AFTER the drone took flight.
This put the home point some distance off shore, over the sea, look at the map on the phantom help page.
If the drone had RTH'ed it would have headed there, over the sea and, if you did not cancel the RTH, landed in the sea.

It is possible to change the location of the home point in the app and you should have changed it to somewhere over land or to where the controller and you were.

Oh, got it now. Didn’t know the home point could be set with such a delay after taking off and never really paid attention to this before but it’s good to know and quite critical at times apparently. Thanks for your input !

 

[Pmania]

You had no satellites at takeoff and you flew over water with NO homepoint set. You didn't get enough satellites until over water; at that point homepoint over water was set. You need to pay attention to details and warnings on your device screen AND visually watch the drone movements.
As for wind,, "it wasn't that windy" is meaningless. You should be checking local wind conditions, including winds aloft. Investing in a hand-held anemometer to measure winds can be a big help.
Flying in or near no-fly areas is risky.

Yup, learned my lesson.

 

[akdrone]

Yup, learned my lesson.

Good lesson. I think the lesson of "wait for enough satellites to acquire till the signal in the DJI Fly app turns white and you get a home point updated notice" before you fly is probably the single most important thing to ensure before you start your flight.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

I would offer a slightly different view.
It is OK to take off and fly 'out' without the home point being set to anywhere PROVIDING that you are aware of the problem and can fly accordingly or, and as I do, once sufficient GPS is found to set the home point "somewhere",
1) bring the drone back overhead and reset the home point to the drone's position.
Where I fly from that is frequently a MUST as the takeoff point is surrounded by trees etc. and sufficient GPS is UNavailable at ground level.
Alternatively I will,
2) set the home point to the controller/phone position.

If the map is available you can also, via the map,
3) set the home point to some point on the map that is neither the drone's position nor the controller/phone position. I have tried that once or twice but I have never been satisfied with the accuracy of my 'point choosing'.

There are you tubes showing the latter (3) and I bet loads of you tube showing 1) & 2)..

 

[maelstrom]

Where I fly from that is frequently a MUST as the takeoff point is surrounded by trees etc. and sufficient GPS is UNavailable at ground level.

This is in no way meant as a criticism, I’m just curious. If your drone can’t see enough of the sky to get a GPS lock from its takeoff position, how can you subsequently see the drone in flight to maintain VLOS (other than in the overhead)?

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Good question. There is a opening/window in the trees through which I fly, it means pretty boring flights but allows me to get out there for a bit of relaxation.