Mavic Pro in its final resting place at bottom of lake

[CCDD]

No fault but my own but after years of experience flying without ever having an incident from Phantoms, Inspire Pro and now a Mavic, my bird had a bit too much headwind as I attempted to return from a distance of 18000ft. With 65% battery remaining, I turned her around, had approx 2 1/2 miles to reach the edge of a lake and another mile over water would be necessary to land where I had taken off. Many of you might be thinking why not land in a field or elsewhere to avoid the loss? The issue was it was long after sunset and I was unable to see well enough to land elsewhere therefore, without placing anyone on the ground at risk, I felt letting it fall in the water was the only risk I was willing to take without the possibliy of injury to anyone, just the financial loss of losing my Mavic. At 2500ft out it was trying to auto land, I easily took control of that however, within another minute or so the battery had dropped to 2% and at approx 1500ft out she was lost forever. I’m not going to attempt to locate it, not worth the risk of flying it again after being submerged. Not sure if I’ll buy another or just sell my 4 remaining batteries, remote, case and loads of accessories. I thoroughly enjoyed this drone far more than all my others. Nearly 8,500,000 ft, (>1500 Miles) without ever having any issues with any quad.

 

[shorttimer]

What, you're not going to try to place blame squarely on DJI for the wind??

Glad that you manned up as we all lose them sooner or later. But sorry for your loss as you have a great track record.

 

[MacPap]

Great spirit. I hope all people would act alike...

Kostas

 

[Montypaks]

Sorry for your loss

 

[Ron_Dog]

What a refreshing post! Not that you lost your Mavic Pro,but that you explained in detail how you had made a error in judgement,and lost the drone! I would replace mine in a heart beat if I lost it. I think you can buy the drone,by itself from DJI for a reasonable price,and considering the flight time you got from the orginal one,it had payed for itself,easily!

 

[CCDD]

In additional, it occurred to me to turn on my video about 30 seconds prior to losing contact therefore, I do have the last moments of flight saved on my iPad which confirmed along with my flight record, that she did go down in the water. I’m able to clearly see the homepoint through the cameras lens, close but unfortunately a bit too far out of reach. No need to pull further details as the cause of loss was pilot error, the Mavic did and always performed perfectly. Flight record within DJI app shows contact was lost while it descended at a speed of 28 mph and at a final altitude reading of 3 ft. FWIW, I may have made the distance had I not decided to place it in “sport mode”, I assume It drained the battery considerably faster by making such decision.

 

[Plawa]

In additional, it occurred to me to turn on my video about 30 seconds prior to losing contact therefore, I do have the last moments of flight saved on my iPad which confirmed along with my flight record, that she did go down in the water. I’m able to clearly see the homepoint through the cameras lens, close but unfortunately a bit too far out of reach. No need to pull further details as the cause of loss was pilot error, the Mavic did and always performed perfectly. Flight record within DJI app shows contact was lost while it descended at a speed of 28 mph and at a final altitude reading of 3 ft. FWIW, I may have made the distance had I not decided to place it in “sport mode”, I assume It drained the battery considerably faster by making such decision.

That's actually incorrect, sport mode is the more battery efficient way to cover distance, there's a whole thread around that topic here... next time then...

 

[CCDD]

That's actually incorrect, sport mode is the more battery efficient way to cover distance, there's a whole thread around that topic here... next time then...

Oh well, then I suppose I can credit myself for at least using the best method of trying to get back safely.

 

[Michael Ainsworth]

 

[Jacknet007]

Bummer. After hearing stories like this I always check wind direction/speed for any flight. RIP Mavic in its watery grave.

 

[dsd317]

Sorry for you loss bro! And thanks for sharing your story. It takes a "true" man to admit their faults and sharing it with everyone.

 

[lamrith]

Wow. 65% and she did not make it back, that was a hefty headwind you were fighting. Sorry for your loss, and thank you for sharing. Being a new pilot, things like this are good to hear so I can hopefully avoid having it happen to me. It is also making me consider drone insurance.

 

[Ron_Dog]

I almost did the same thing last week! Not paying attention to the wind direction,I flew out to around 2 1/2 miles and was checking out a area I had never been over before! I got the low battery warning,and set a course for home base. Checking my speed I noticed I was only at 13mph so I lowered the altitude down to 200AGL since I was flying over some dense,and big timber. Long story short,when I landed I had 9% battery left! I got lucky that time,and now I'm not so careless about wind direction when flying at a distance.

 

[CCDD]

I almost did the same thing last week! Not paying attention to the wind direction,I flew out to around 2 1/2 miles and was checking out a area I had never been over before! I got the low battery warning,and set a course for home base. Checking my speed I noticed I was only at 13mph so I lowered the altitude down to 200AGL since I was flying over some dense,and big timber. Long story short,when I landed I had 9% battery left! I got lucky that time,and now I'm not so careless about wind direction when flying at a distance.

There was little to no wind during flight out however, that obviously changed in a hurry. I was at 400ft for most of the flight out to keep a strong signal for such a long distance traveled as well as obstacle that could interfere with signal. In hind sight, anyone that flies similar distances, should have a plan in place should a need arise for an emergency landing short of the home point. Although I had several options, none of them occurred to me until it was to late. I likely could've left it hovering about a mile out and drove to where it was and landed it safely there. Anyhow, I absolutely got my moneys worth out of my Mavic and will decide in the new week or so as to whether I replace with the same or wait until a noticeably better replacement is introduced.

 

[Ping^Spike]

Maybe wait for the Platinum?

Sorry you lost your bird mate

 

[MAVICPILOT13]

Yeah that clearly sounds like everyone else's fault. DJI, the media, Generation Y...

I'd say if anything, you need to work on your blame game. Remember: if something bad happens, it's always someone else's fault. You'll be a mavicpilots forum pro in no time

Sorry to hear about your bird. Sounds like you got your money's worth, and from the level of enjoyment you had why not just buy a new one? If you already have everything else it's essentially just a massive replacement part!

 

[CCDD]

It occurred to me just viewing the flight record for the 10th time, that all should remember the last 20% of battery life drains quite a bit fast than the 1st 20%. In addition, one has to struggle a bit to keep the Mavic in the air as it attempts to auto land, I imagine this is creating even more demand on the battery. For anyone that can answer a question in regards to RTH, it’s evident that although my speed was reduced due to a head wind to approx 15mph, I did notice my speed increase to approx to 21.5mph with the use of RTH. Why is it that RTH was able to increase speed over the use of full stick throttle?

 

[lamrith]

Sorry to hear about your bird. Sounds like you got your money's worth, and from the level of enjoyment you had why not just buy a new one? If you already have everything else it's essentially just a massive replacement part!

You know you are on to something. I have seen just mavic's both complete and in parts form on places like Ebay. OP might be able to find one just airframe only that you could mate to your controller for much less than buying a whole new unit..? My local craigslist has a number of mavics for sale as well, could buy a bare bones one used for cheap since you have all the goodies.