Mavic Pro dropped out of the sky

[dewster]

My fear is complete power loss and the drone falls out of the sky like a rock. I can deal with a controlled descent. Nothing is more heart stopping than finding out that gravity is not your friend.

 

[orange775]

This has just happened to me, I only had the Mavic for less than 24 hours, probably on my 4th flight. Bestbuy where I bought it won't take care of this. After reading the original post, I'm really worried that even DJI won't take the responsibility and I'm not a lawyer or anything. What can I do? The whole drone is completely busted, it fell off the sky after taking off for about a minute, clear sky, no obstacle, flew straight up and forward. Though before lost the connection I did get a quick warning saying obstacle or something, before I even had the time to react it lost connection. Initially I thought it flew away and never going to find it, but after not giving up for few hours I was able to find the busted drone. I know the good people here would ask for the fly data, which I will post soon probably in a new thread, but I'm just wondering would DJI trying to push the blame on the user or they usually take care of their defects. I feel quite ****** after spending $1000 + for only 24 hours. And should I get their Service plan? Its a freaking weekend, so I can't get a hold of any of their support, I don't want to pay another $100 then they said its not covered since I bought it after the crash. Any comments or feedbacks would be greatly appreciated.

 

[gnirtS]

There is no way any insurance company is going to give your insurance AFTER a crash. Not just for a drone but for anything. Otherwise nobody would ever buy insurance until they had an accident.
There are posts where DJI analyse log data and do give free drones if its not user error and posts where they've analysed, cant prove a physical drone fault so just offer a discount.

 

[orange775]

Thanks for the fast reply, that's what I figured about the service plan. but I think its pretty obvious that it was my user's error since I just flew in a straight line, and I just checked the video, it basically stopped right before the crash, that's crazy. So losing the signal will stop everything? sigh, really disappointed with the last 24 hours after spending $1300.

 

[gnirtS]

Could be user error, could be drone error. Send it off for repair and the logs will most likely decide which.

 

[charliesRig]

it's strange indeed..??

there is a setting and also a chapter in the manual that shows were to turn on/off
what happens when Mavic loss of signal with controller
Mavic will either Hover in place /Try to land/ or RTH
I have had loss....... and this Setting save my Buttox twice.
Lost signal with controller
and automatically Initiated Return to Home mode on the way back gain controller signal and
aborted landing

 

[orange775]

it's strange indeed..??

there is a setting and also a chapter in the manual that shows were to turn on/off
what happens when Mavic loss of signal with controller
Mavic will either Hover in place /Try to land/ or RTH
I have had loss....... and this Setting save my Buttox twice.
Lost signal with controller
and automatically Initiated Return to Home mode on the way back gain controller signal and
aborted landing

Thank you for the tip.

Could you let me know where exact the setting is? Apparently my drone just went straight down. Because I found it 6 hours after the crash, the battery still had full charge. Also, I followed some online instruction trying to download the fly data, I installed DJI Assistant 2, plugged everything in, even had the Mavic icon in the DJI assistant, but nothing shows up in the Fly Data section, it keep opening another debugging software with no data. Also, in the Advance Setting section of the App, I do not see the Data Mode as an option.

 

[charliesRig]

in the controller Icon on you screen
.
Pg 13 in the manual
.
https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/mavic/20170411/Mavic+Pro+User+Manual+V1.6.pdf
.
Youtube 51Drones has a setup video that goes through This and more
.
should be able to call it up in the app
.
............................C
.
.

 

[dbyantis]

Geez, seems to me these downward facing cameras are causing more crashes than preventing them. Maybe it's best to turn them off altogether.

Fly like they are not there, careful landing always, good habit if you ever fly another drone.

 

[charliesRig]

.....Smart Return to Home... RC Signal Loss......

Push the 3 buttons on left top of screen
push the Drone Icon
go to advance setting
and turn on
Return to Home button ON.!
&
RC signal Loss Select what action you want Mavic to preform
*Return to home*
*Throttle Down*
*Hover*

.
Tutorial: DJI Mavic Pro // Return To Home
Timothy sunday
.

(5:36)

 

[orange775]

in the controller Icon on you screen
.
Pg 13 in the manual
.
https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/mavic/20170411/Mavic+Pro+User+Manual+V1.6.pdf
.
Youtube 51Drones has a setup video that goes through This and more
.
should be able to call it up in the app
.
............................C
.
.

Thanks again for taking your time replying my questions. I just read that section about Fail Safe RTH. But it looks like its a built in feature that doesn't require any setting except making sure a home spot is recorded, which I did. So obviously this **** feature didn't work for my drone, as it dived right after the connection lost, because the battery is still at full charge when I recovered it

 

[orange775]

.....Smart Return to Home... RC Signal Loss......

Push the 3 buttons on left top of screen
push the Drone Icon
go to advance setting
and turn on
Return to Home button ON.!
&
RC signal Loss Select what action you want Mavic to preform
*Return to home*
*Throttle Down*
*Hover*

.
Tutorial: DJI Mavic Pro // Return To Home
Timothy sunday
.

(5:36)

Oh okay, just checked it, it looks like RTH is a default, but again none of those fail safe kicked it based on the result of my drone, now my only hope is DJI will replace the **** thing. Thanks again for taking your time replying me.

 

[gnirtS]

There are many more variables so thats why the dat files need analysing.
Nobody knows what RTH altitude you set, nobody knows what RTH mode (land,hover,rth) you set. Nobody knows the calibration and state of the sensors, compass, imu, controls. Nobody knows what control inputs where happening at the time.
Nobody knows if you correctly set and verified the home point or hit a wrong button.
Nobody knows the GPS state prior to, during takeoff and that point of the flight.

So without data files its impossible to say whether its a drone problem or user error. You cant just take off, assume without checking everything is default and expect it to "just work"l

 

[orange775]

There are many more variables so thats why the dat files need analysing.
Nobody knows what RTH altitude you set, nobody knows what RTH mode (land,hover,rth) you set. Nobody knows the calibration and state of the sensors, compass, imu, controls. Nobody knows what control inputs where happening at the time.
Nobody knows if you correctly set and verified the home point or hit a wrong button.
Nobody knows the GPS state prior to, during takeoff and that point of the flight.

So without data files its impossible to say whether its a drone problem or user error. You cant just take off, assume without checking everything is default and expect it to "just work"l

which of the setting you mentioned that would trigger the drone to fall straight from the sky without any warning on a clear sunny day??? So are you saying one or many of the default setting from a $1000 device would just make that happen without a warning? That's BS. It did not hover, RTH or land without any warning.... plus I flew with the same setting the night before all within the first 24 hours I got the drone.

 

[gnirtS]

which of the setting you mentioned that would trigger the drone to fall straight from the sky without any warning on a clear sunny day???

Any and all of them. Hence DJI needing dat files to establish what went wrong. Or people on here that can analyse them.

So are you saying one or many of the default setting from a $1000 device would just make that happen without a warning?

Why are you assuming "i wont read anything and defaults will save me" actually will? Its not a toy. Its got a lot of technology yes but its not a sentient being. It needs calibration, it needs to know where it is, it relies on radio and satellite signals, it relies on the user giving it sensible fallback settings for the local environment. All of which are clearly stated in the manual.

That's BS. It did not hover, RTH or land without any warning....

So did you set and verify the home point as stated in the manual? Did you verify it had it on takeoff as stated in the manual? Did you set an appropriate return home altitude as stated in the manual? Did you check the smart RTH and sensor modes were appropriate for where you were flying, especially obstacle avoidance (as stated in the manual). Was the RTH mode set to home, hover or land or whatever is appropriate for the area? Did you verify a solid 12+ satellite GPS lock on takeoff before flying away? Did you verify it still had this lock in flight? What were the wind conditions? What terrain was underneath or around you? What was the ambient light for the sensors? Did you take off slowly to 30ft without moving it laterally to allow precision landing to record a layout? Did you then do the required check of the flight controls and aircraft behaviour in all axis before moving off?

All of these need consideration before every flight and do need to be adjusted. You cant just turn it on and go every single time. Those are all user requirements on top of sensors, calibration, monitoring and everything else that sometimes needs to be adjusted.

plus I flew with the same setting the night before all within the first 24 hours I got the drone.

Means nothing. A distance of 6 inches in takeoff point can produce interference some times. Winds change, ambient light changes, the RF environment changes.

Yes some (very very very few) dji drones like anything else have technical faults and can fly away or crash. But the overwhelming majority of crashes come down to user error or the user failing to understand, read or perform the required checks for it to operate.
You have the drone and have the device with the app on so have access to the .txt and .dat files. Post them up on here, someone can analyse them and let you know if its likely something you did or if its something the drone itself did. Then you can work out where blame lies. At the moment you haven't provided data either way to say if its a drone fault or a user fault.
Its not something you can take out of the box, assume default, change no settings and fly off without a care in the world. The manual is actually pretty good about the user roles required to operate it if read.

 

[abarwick]

So this same thing happened to me yesterday. What a day!

Was flying normally and as I was banking it around to bring it back to me, it props stopped, video froze and went grayscale, red status bar, controller said "Connecting..." and the thing just dropped into the water. CSC is an explanation for the props stopping but it doesn't explain the loss of signal. Battery was snug, before and after I pulled it out of the drink.

When I pulled it out of the water, all I could smell was burnt electronics, and the battery swelled a bit. I see singe marks in one of the holes the battery clips into. I synced my flight records immediately, but that flight never synced. If I put a new battery in it and turn it on, I'm afraid the thing will smoke or blow up in my face... So I don't think I'm gonna be able to get any files from it.

Your Mavic Pro (xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) was manufactured on Monday, January, 9th 2017

I submitted a repair request. Will have to send in tomorrow. Sigh.

 

[gnirtS]

Take the SD card out - the all important DAT file will be on it.

 

[abarwick]

Are you sure? I see no DAT files on it?

 

[Alex ROV]

So this same thing happened to me yesterday. What a day!

Was flying normally and as I was banking it around to bring it back to me, it props stopped, video froze and went grayscale, red status bar, controller said "Connecting..." and the thing just dropped into the water. CSC is an explanation for the props stopping but it doesn't explain the loss of signal. Battery was snug, before and after I pulled it out of the drink.

When I pulled it out of the water, all I could smell was burnt electronics, and the battery swelled a bit. I see singe marks in one of the holes the battery clips into. I synced my flight records immediately, but that flight never synced. If I put a new battery in it and turn it on, I'm afraid the thing will smoke or blow up in my face... So I don't think I'm gonna be able to get any files from it.

Your Mavic Pro (xxxxxxxxxxxxxx) was manufactured on Monday, January, 9th 2017

I submitted a repair request. Will have to send in tomorrow. Sigh.

The blackbox for the flight is not in the aircraft but in the DJI app during the whole flight... That's to make possible to recover all the data!

Go to Airdata.com, upload your file and post the web link here...

 

[BudWalker]

Are you sure? I see no DAT files on it?

You might be looking at the removable SD card. The .DAT files will be on a different Internal SD that may be glued in place. Busting it loose it might make a warranty claim harder so maybe you should leave it. Too bad though; the .DAT would likely provide the reason for the incident. Good luck.