Mavic Pro Lost over dam

[SNP]

I’ve circled the area where this incident happened.

 

[HWCM]

I’ve circled the area where this incident happened.

Okay.....

 

[SNP]

A bit vague. I should have articulated the point more vigorously. When I lost control of the drone it flew for approximately 100’ whilst changing course around 30 degrees to the left. It then completes a 180 degree turn all whilst completely out of my control....

 

[cderoche]

I believe the United Airlines motto is, "We don't just beat the competition. We beat you too."

lol yeah and have you dragged off the plane after! Haven't been on a plane in over ten years, feels like cattle being herded...

 

[Starfighter]

The video OP posted showed it was a dam in Australia. The Mavic is good, but not that good.

RE: OP -- done with DJI, etc. Work through the process before you swear them off. Losing a drone is frustrating, but it comes with the hobby. It could have been worse: you had a "good" crash - no one was hurt and no property damage (except your Mavic).

Keep us posted on how DJI handles it.

I had a BAD crash. I was doing a real estate

The video OP posted showed it was a dam in Australia. The Mavic is good, but not that good.

RE: OP -- done with DJI, etc. Work through the process before you swear them off. Losing a drone is frustrating, but it comes with the hobby. It could have been worse: you had a "good" crash - no one was hurt and no property damage (except your Mavic).

Keep us posted on how DJI handles it.

I had a BAD crash the other day. I was doing some real estate photos over this million dollar house. My Mavic just, fell out of the sky, and the house was hit so hard it was destroyed. Nobody was home except their dog, and he didn't make it. And I had no insurance. So it can be worse. ;-(

 

[Muppet With A Chopper]

Please keep it civil here, tempers can raise when trying to trouble shoot a situation, please do not let your frustration reflect here.
Thank you.

Thank you for monitoring this thread.
Our fried JMango has contributed nothing.
Only to add insult to the loss of the craft.

Thanks to the others who took the time to drop by. I haven't read the rest of the comments beyond this Mod post.

I do not hold much hope from DJI in regards to the ex Drone.
Money lost and lesson learnt, no more DJIs for me.

 

[Muppet With A Chopper]

Well, a token response from DJI.

Nothing wrong with the craft, or the piloting, 95% battery, but it still flipped over from almost 50m up and plunged into a dam.... In clear conditions and nothing else in the air (as witnessed by to members of the public)

They've offered a 30% discount on a replacement craft and remote which I have thanked them for, but questioned how a craft in good condition being flown correctly can plummet from the sky.

 

[Simmmo]

Hopefully if you keep at DJI they might up their offer, good luck.

Just an aside I crashed my Mavic whilst flying a Litchi Mission completely my fault uploaded the height wrong by about a metre looking at the footage as it hits the tree right at the top then fortunately bounces the 19m down to the ground hitting numerous branches on route to the floor. Four broken props and camera sheered from the gimbal plate.

My point. Well I have now read a few cases of the Mavic spinning and flipping to the ground for no apparent cause or obvious impact.
Lets go back to my crash. Upon inspection of the props 3 appeared to have badly damaged blades with only one being salvageable. The first 3 having sheared blades, blades with chunks missing and others slightly split. However the rotor blade which at first appeared ok upon closer inspection was found to have all 3 locating studs sheered off. I think that these locators may suffer a bit in a crash and from now on I will certainly inspecting them thoroughly for any signs of wear and tear as well as the actual surface of the blades.

Good luck with your claim.

Andy

 

[Muppet With A Chopper]

Hopefully if you keep at DJI they might up their offer, good luck.

Just an aside I crashed my Mavic whilst flying a Litchi Mission completely my fault uploaded the height wrong by about a metre looking at the footage as it hits the tree right at the top then fortunately bounces the 19m down to the ground hitting numerous branches on route to the floor. Four broken props and camera sheered from the gimbal plate.

My point. Well I have now read a few cases of the Mavic spinning and flipping to the ground for no apparent cause or obvious impact.
Lets go back to my crash. Upon inspection of the props 3 appeared to have badly damaged blades with only one being salvageable. The first 3 having sheared blades, blades with chunks missing and others slightly split. However the rotor blade which at first appeared ok upon closer inspection was found to have all 3 locating studs sheered off. I think that these locators may suffer a bit in a crash and from now on I will certainly inspecting them thoroughly for any signs of wear and tear as well as the actual surface of the blades.

Good luck with your claim.

Andy

Thanks for the reply Andy.

Yes, I've clipped a few leaves here and there myself flying free hand filming dirt bikes and rally cars. Only hit the ground once but only just.
Replaced cracked props ages ago.

I'd had the props off just recently (several flights ago) for cleaning after filming near the ocean, so had a good look at them all.
Pretty confident they were all serviceable at the time of the flight. And I always check they're locked in and battery secure after reading some of the posts here.

I did find a video of a non commanded Mavic flip and recovery on YouTube.
I put that in a reply email to DJI as well.

 

[KiterTodd]

Well, a token response from DJI.
...They've offered a 30% discount on a replacement craft and remote which I have thanked them for, but questioned how a craft in good condition being flown correctly can plummet from the sky.

Thanks for keeping us updated.

It'd be nice top get more out of them.
What's a Mavic (body only) go for these days, $600-$700? I think it's in there. So you'd get a new craft for just under $500, but you'd also have to buy a battery to get back where you were. Better than nothing, but I see your point.

The two times I had to deal with them, I found the first responce or two to be very canned. They only got in and helped me after we got further into the exchange. There is language barrier, a long time delay, and some of the customer support folks seem to skim your email, missing most of the details. Good luck!

 

[Muppet With A Chopper]

Thanks for keeping us updated.

It'd be nice top get more out of them.
What's a Mavic (body only) go for these days, $600-$700? I think it's in there. So you'd get a new craft for just under $500, but you'd also have to buy a battery to get back where you were. Better than nothing, but I see your point.

The two times I had to deal with them, I found the first responce or two to be very canned. They only got in and helped me after we got further into the exchange. There is language barrier, a long time delay, and some of the customer support folks seem to skim your email, missing most of the details. Good luck!

Yes, definitely a bit tricky getting your point across with their tech help.
The craft works out about $700 Australian including the discount, and as you said, plus battery.
Better than nothing at all, but less than I'd hoped for.

Still talking too them and will see how it goes.

 

[Muppet With A Chopper]

Another reply from DJI today.
A long polite mail to say...
'we don't know what happened to your drone' even though the data shows no faults but still it dived into a dam without a warning message of any kind like a strong wind warning or other malfunction (before motor obstructed logs as the mavic sinks)

I said 'you (DJI) can't say the craft wasn't at fault, and I can't prove it was' as it's gone.

I've asked for them to meet me half way at 50:50 on the cost of the replacement craft.
Waiting for a response.

 

[BigAl07]

Another reply from DJI today.
A long polite mail to say...
'we don't know what happened to your drone' even though the data shows no faults but still it dived into a dam without a warning message of any kind like a strong wind warning or other malfunction (before motor obstructed logs as the mavic sinks)

I said 'you (DJI) can't say the craft wasn't at fault, and I can't prove it was' as it's gone.

I've asked for them to meet me half way at 50:50 on the cost of the replacement craft.
Waiting for a response.

With no warnings or alerts I think 50/50 would be the least they can do. Hopefully you'll get this.

 

[Muppet With A Chopper]

With no warnings or alerts I think 50/50 would be the least they can do. Hopefully you'll get this.

Here's hoping.
The original offer of 30% reduction was a bit rude in my opinion.

 

[sar104]

Another reply from DJI today.
A long polite mail to say...
'we don't know what happened to your drone' even though the data shows no faults but still it dived into a dam without a warning message of any kind like a strong wind warning or other malfunction (before motor obstructed logs as the mavic sinks)

I said 'you (DJI) can't say the craft wasn't at fault, and I can't prove it was' as it's gone.

I've asked for them to meet me half way at 50:50 on the cost of the replacement craft.
Waiting for a response.

I don't think that you ever posted the log file here so without that it's difficult to assess but, if that summary is correct, then I would have expected them to replace it. No recorded pilot error should lead to the default assumption of equipment failure in the absence of other evidence to the contrary.

 

[SNP]

A mainstream (supposedly) reputable company entering into the age old art of bartering sets off alarm bells. As above, why would they offer anything if they believe they have no case to answer????

 

[Mr. Salty]

A mainstream (supposedly) reputable company entering into the age old art of bartering sets off alarm bells. As above, why would they offer anything if they believe they have no case to answer????

It's not bartering, it's just offering a modest discount to try to keep customer good will. DJI has been offering that discount for a while to people who have had one of their products crash. It undoubtedly still allows them to make a profit by selling a replacement while at the same time keeping a customer.

 

[Muppet With A Chopper]

I don't think that you ever posted the log file here so without that it's difficult to assess but, if that summary is correct, then I would have expected them to replace it. No recorded pilot error should lead to the default assumption of equipment failure in the absence of other evidence to the contrary.

Thanks for the reply.
You are correct, I didn't post the log files as the three flights from the day of the loss would not show up in my device files. (following their file paths to the letter)
I synced numerous times and still couldn't view them.... I could only view the flights within the app.
I'm assuming DJI had access to more files somewhere at their end.

Waiting to see if they accept my counter offer before I switch from the polite, but annoyed customer, to the customer that posts on every platform about the poor form..... the ball is in DJIs court.

 

[Muppet With A Chopper]

It's not bartering, it's just offering a modest discount to try to keep customer good will. DJI has been offering that discount for a while to people who have had one of their products crash. It undoubtedly still allows them to make a profit by selling a replacement while at the same time keeping a customer.

Yes, they would be making more out of a craft than the 30% they're offering.
Also not withstanding, if you have lost a drone, you've already paid full retail on that one....

 

[sar104]

Thanks for the reply.
You are correct, I didn't post the log files as the three flights from the day of the loss would not show up in my device files. (following their file paths to the letter)
I synced numerous times and still couldn't view them.... I could only view the flights within the app.
I'm assuming DJI had access to more files somewhere at their end.

Waiting to see if they accept my counter offer before I switch from the polite, but annoyed customer, to the customer that posts on every platform about the poor form..... the ball is in DJIs court.
View attachment 24142

Without the aircraft I don't see how DJI could access data that you cannot. Those files must be on your device. However, it sounds from their response that it is one of those cases where the log simply stops, which most usually is caused by a battery disconnect. That, in turn, is usually caused by improper latching. That's likely the basis for their partial offer. I guess I'd keep pushing them on that, although threats of posting retaliation doesn't seem to be very effective with DJI - polite but insistent negotiation seems to work better.