Mavic Mini Out of Control?

[ExtremeZ]

Hey everyone. First post here. Had a scare tonight and looking for insight on what may have caused it.

Just got the Mini for Xmas and I've taken it out a couple times to play. Tonight I noticed what was going to be a nice sunset picture opportunity and decided to start up the drone. I got everything connected and turned it on while inside my house. Took the drone outside and set it down for take off. Got a warning about my area which I've gotten before and I canceled it. It would only allow me to go up about 20'. My ring doorbell app interrupted me and I was trying to get it to snooze while I was standing in the yard so I got bumped from the DJI app. Got back in and again canceled the flight warning. Was able to climb to just above the trees and turn to face the sunset. THEN all of a sudden the drone just took off straight left at full speed and my controls were dead. Couldn't do anything and just tried to watch which direction it went. After searching for 30 minutes for blinking lights in the trees and almost giving up I was able to find it in my neighbors back yard in a ditch. It looks like it took a hit and tumbled. Everything is intact and I was able to test it again indoors after cleaning it up.

So my question. Could this have happened because I didn't turn everything on outside and get GPS signal or could this have something to do with the warnings in pre-flight? I have a 200' flight ceiling according to the FAA GIS map. We have a small airport on Hilton Head Island. Do I still need to request permission at less than 200' and under 250g? I didn't set my home position when I went outside but not sure if it would have even worked since my controls went dead on me.

Thanks for taking the time to read. Any thoughts?

 

[spudster]

My guess it was a Yaw Error. Search for Yaw Error here in the forum.

I suggest you never start, much less fly, inside your home until you know how drones work.

 

[TheParaPilot]

I would also suggest getting a dedicated device, that you solely use for your aircraft, All those interruptions interfering with your concentration and enjoyment while piloting can't be a good thing. If that's not possible I would have to cancel notifications on your device whilst airborne. Also you're not going to get the sat's you need to update the home-point when starting up inside. I'm sure the near miss you had will prevent you from doing the same again, but your experience was 100% avoidable. By the by make sure you REALLY CLOSELY inspect all the aircraft before flying again, as hairline fractures in Props, arms, body etc can be easy to miss, and the first thing you'll know about it, is when your putting the terminal velocity theory to test as discussed in other threads lol. Happy flying

 

[Deleted member 103366]

Have a read of the instructions on
DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
retrieve the txt log for the flight, upload that log to that website and post, on here, the link to the resulting page.

 

[DoomMeister]

I have a 200' flight ceiling according to the FAA GIS map. We have a small airport on Hilton Head Island. Do I still need to request permission at less than 200' and under 250g?

Yes you still need to get LAANC clearance to fly in controlled airspace. All rules still apply to sub 250g drones. The only thing you don’t have to do is register if you are flying as a recreational pilot.

Sub 250g Regulations — FPV Freedom Coalition

fpvfc.org

 

[wardtom084]

I put my drone on the pad facing north and turn everything on. I raise it up checking on how it is doing (regular noise) take it up to 200 feet and fly off. I never move it from one place to another. I would THINK this is just asking for problems myself.

 

[snowghost]

Before takeoff always check the map to see if the drone's orientation is correct.

 

[Tiger64]

The low ceiling and and no home point would suggest to me that it hadn't acquired the GPS yet. I would guess that in your haste to get the photo you took off in Atti mode.
This doesn't have braking and accurate position hold above a certain height. It's orientation to you can also make it interesting to fly if you have not flown in Atti mode before.
In my experience moving it after turning it on doesn't make much difference , but you can get caught by magnetic interference from things like bolts in a table or rebar in concrete.

I think if you had waited for it to update home point before taking off , this Crash may not have happened, but as has been said soooooo many time in the forum's , only the flight logs can tell for sure.

 

[Yogi053]

From what you describe as yourpreparation before taking off, I would say you are very lucky to still have the drone.

 

[MS Coast]

In addition to getting LAANC approval before flying in that Class D controlled airspace, be aware that you're required to have the FAA TRUST certificate for all flights at all locations.

It's a short online education in the basics followed by a no-fail test and it's free.

Here's one good service provider:
FAA TRUST Online Portal for Recreational Drone Operators - Pilot Institute

Enjoy the new drone, but do a little reading and watch a few Mini 2 basics videos on Youtube before getting too ambitious.

That Mini 2 is an astonishing little package of technology and capabilities. Have fun.

 

[ExtremeZ]

Have a read of the instructions on
DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
retrieve the txt log for the flight, upload that log to that website and post, on here, the link to the resulting page.

Hopefully this shows up properly. Can it be determined from the log this was definitely user error?

1-3-22 Flight Log

 

[snowghost]

I would wager it was.

 

[Meta4]

So my question. Could this have happened because I didn't turn everything on outside and get GPS signal

No ... although you launched without GPS and didn't get a homepoint recorded until just over a minute into the flight, this was not the cause of the yaw error.

or could this have something to do with the warnings in pre-flight?

What ere the warnings?
The yaw error was caused by launching from somewhere with magnetic interference that deflected the compass, giving the IMU an incorrect initial value.
When you flew away from the magnetic interference, the compass came back to normal, but the gyro sensor can't and the conflicting data causes the uncontrollable flight.

What direction was the drone pointing when you placed it on the launch point?
The data shows 48° (northeast), but this is probably wrong.

 

[ExtremeZ]

No ... although you launched without GPS and didn't get a homepoint recorded until just over a minute into the flight, this was not the cause of the yaw error.

What ere the warnings?
The yaw error was caused by launching from somewhere with magnetic interference that deflected the compass, giving the IMU an incorrect initial value.
When you flew away from the magnetic interference, the compass came back to normal, but the gyro sensor can't and the conflicting data causes the uncontrollable flight.

What direction was the drone pointing when you placed it on the launch point?
The data shows 48° (northeast), but this is probably wrong.

It was facing almost exactly north. Facing more towards my driveway and not the street. No idea what happened at 50.8s because I didn't go that direction. What would cause a magnetic interference from my front yard? I'll look through some previous logs and see if the orientation is correct on those.

 

[SmilingOgre]

Another thread to watch. Looks like a problematic flight from the get go. Few satellites for a long time. Then about three seconds before the motor jam warning the amperage draw on the battery rose above eight amps indicating that the motor was starting to struggle. I really don't know and am interested in further responses but it looks possible that one prop was physically impacted.

 

[Meta4]

What would cause a magnetic interference from my front yard?

The magnetic interference was where you powered up the drone.

 

[Meta4]

Another thread to watch. Looks like a problematic flight from the get go. Few satellites for a long time. Then about three seconds before the motor jam warning the amperage draw on the battery rose above eight amps indicating that the motor was starting to struggle. I really don't know and am interested in further responses but it looks possible that one prop was physically impacted.

The incident was a common or garden variety Yaw Error.
There's nothing mysterious about it.
High current draw would be expected when the drone accelerates that fast.
The motor jam message comes a second after the crash impact.

 

[SmilingOgre]

The incident was a common or garden variety Yaw Error.
There's nothing mysterious about it.
High current draw would be expected when the drone accelerates that fast.
The motor jam message comes a second after the crash impact.

Interesting, the yaw error thing sure claims a lot of victims. I see that as the final resolve of a lot of problematic issues.

 

[snowghost]

So was it pilot error?

 

[Meta4]

So was it pilot error?

It wasn't a fault of the aircraft.
The incident was entirely due to the way it was operated.