Mavic pro simply fell out of the sky while flying

abarwick · Jul 6, 2017

Hey all,

Was flying my Mavic on 4th July and while over a shallow river inlet in my area, it literally fell out of the sky.

Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones = this is my txt file upload. Aircraft is non-responsive and both it and the battery smell like burnt electronics so I cant get the DAT file.

Can anyone see anything that might have been the cause of the crash? I'm fairly experienced at flying. I know CSC can cause the aircraft to fall, but that doesn't explain the lack of video signal/sensor data/"connecting..." on the controller. It should still have been connected. Possibly could have been jammed but doubtful.

Sigh

Thanks for any tips/assistance!
Ash

msinger · Jul 6, 2017

Please upload your TXT flight log here and post a link back here. You'll find instructions for locating your TXT flight log at that link.

Cyberpower678 · Jul 6, 2017

Based on your explanation and the fact nothing odd is showing up there, it sounds like your drones computer fried. For more details, you need to upload the TXT file to the place msinger mentioned.

abarwick · Jul 6, 2017

Sorry fellas didn't get home from work til now - here's the link: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

Cyberpower678 · Jul 6, 2017

I cannot find anything unusual in that log. The drone appears to have failed in mid-flight. This should be covered by DJI.

Pinging @Robbyg and @BudWalker

abarwick · Jul 6, 2017

Cyberpower678 said:
I cannot find anything unusual in that log. The drone appears to have failed in mid-flight. This should be covered by DJI.

Pinging @Robbyg and @BudWalker

Thanks. Yeah it's unexplainable at the moment. I'm not sure how but hopefully DJI will be able to find out what caused it.

Logger · Jul 7, 2017

@abarwick are you able to pull the log off the aircraft with DJI Assistant 2 or is it drowned?
TXT log from RC just looks normal up to this point whereas I bet the aircraft DAT would be more revealing.

Well done flying over parkland and not over peoples backyards.

Pablo · Jul 7, 2017

Cyberpower678 · Jul 7, 2017

Logger said:
@abarwick are you able to pull the log off the aircraft with DJI Assistant 2 or is it drowned?
TXT log from RC just looks normal up to this point whereas I bet the aircraft DAT would be more revealing.

Well done flying over parkland and not over peoples backyards.

View attachment 16690

Pablo said:

He says the electronics smelled burnt. I'm guessing the power board blew.

abarwick · Jul 7, 2017

Cyberpower678 said:
He says the electronics smelled burnt. I'm guessing the power board blew.

Hey fellas

Here's a few pics:

File_001.jpeg = Battery swell (and gunk from being in the water a minute or two

File_000.jpeg = the burn mark I mentioned

abarwick · Jul 7, 2017

Logger said:
@abarwick are you able to pull the log off the aircraft with DJI Assistant 2 or is it drowned?
TXT log from RC just looks normal up to this point whereas I bet the aircraft DAT would be more revealing.

Well done flying over parkland and not over peoples backyards.

View attachment 16690

Sir,

It's toast hey... I tried putting a new battery in it (risking the thing blowing up in my face) and had no luck. That was the first thing I thought of. Unfortunately I think my only way to get this resolved is to send to DJI. Not sure how they will be able to tell what the issue is... But it's definitely a strange one!

And thank you! I do try to respect everyone's privacy while flying - if I do happen to fly over houses or people, it's 200ft or higher so the noise doesn't annoy them and so I don't make them feel uncomfortable.

mavic6611 · Jul 7, 2017

Definitely not your fault. I just looked at flight log. 100% dji who is responsible for this. Possible motor failure maybe. Have you tried spinning all four motors by hand? See if you notice any difference in one of the motors compared to the rest

abarwick · Jul 7, 2017

Yeah one motor is a little harder to turn than the others but that could be due to water ingress. May not be though.

imnotreallyscott · Jul 7, 2017

It's stuff like this that makes me terrified of flying over deeper water where I wouldn't be able to recover my drone.

abarwick · Jul 7, 2017

Yeah, I've gone out over the ocean here and luckily had no issue. I was nervous but I managed to get 2000ft before I turned around and hightailed it back to land haha.

Logger · Jul 7, 2017

abarwick said:
....It's toast hey... I tried putting a new battery in it (risking the thing blowing up in my face) and had no luck. That was the first thing I thought of. Unfortunately I think my only way to get this resolved is to send to DJI. Not sure how they will be able to tell what the issue is... But it's definitely a strange one!

DJI will be able to pull something off the internal SD card no doubt.
So it went in the water. Did you go to much efffort to dry it out prior to trying to power it on with another battery? Mine went in the drink, battery was stuffed but after 24 hours of carerful drying out it powered on, all bar the camera.

If it was some sort of instantaneous battery failure I suppose this would explain sudden loss of telemetry, end of log and fall from sky. But burnt swollen smelly battery and internal failure on mavics internal boards all in the same event seems a little unlikely. Still possible if main board failed in air first and battery damage was from subsequent immersion. Single Motor failure would have shown in telemetry (tumbling) and not caused instant loss of connection I expect.

abarwick · Jul 7, 2017

Logger said:
DJI will be able to pull something off the internal SD card no doubt.
So it went in the water. Did you go to much efffort to dry it out prior to trying to power it on with another battery? Mine went in the drink, battery was stuffed but after 24 hours of carerful drying out it powered on, all bar the camera.

If it was some sort of instantaneous battery failure I suppose this would explain sudden loss of telemetry, end of log and fall from sky. But burnt swollen smelly battery and internal failure on mavics internal boards all in the same event seems a little unlikely. Still possible if main board failed in air first and battery damage was from subsequent immersion. Single Motor failure would have shown in telemetry (tumbling) and not caused instant loss of connection I expect.

I dried it out as much as I could... But it's been a few days now, might try again tonight. Hopefully it doesn't blow up or smoke haha.

abarwick · Jul 7, 2017

Logger said:
DJI will be able to pull something off the internal SD card no doubt.
So it went in the water. Did you go to much efffort to dry it out prior to trying to power it on with another battery? Mine went in the drink, battery was stuffed but after 24 hours of carerful drying out it powered on, all bar the camera.

If it was some sort of instantaneous battery failure I suppose this would explain sudden loss of telemetry, end of log and fall from sky. But burnt swollen smelly battery and internal failure on mavics internal boards all in the same event seems a little unlikely. Still possible if main board failed in air first and battery damage was from subsequent immersion. Single Motor failure would have shown in telemetry (tumbling) and not caused instant loss of connection I expect.

I just put another battery in it turned it on and it started smoking a bit. So i turned it off. The battery lights didn't do the normal thing either. And it definitely didn't chime like it usually does. It's futucked lol.

abarwick · Jul 7, 2017

This is exactly what happened to my drone - watch like 6 seconds of this video from 1:52:

Former Member · Jul 7, 2017

abarwick said:
I just put another battery in it turned it on and it started smoking a bit. So i turned it off. The battery lights didn't do the normal thing either. And it definitely didn't chime like it usually does. It's futucked lol.

If you send it to DJI, please make sure not to send the battery. It could explode in transit. You might start by taking pictures and filing a warranty claim.