Mavic Pro Spiraled out of the sky!

[MN_Jack76]

Last Saturday while I was flying my Mavic Pro and it was few blocks away, I switched to sport mode, which I have used many times as it is fun to watch it streak across the night sky overhead. It was only about two blocks away and coming back to home at around 35mph when it suddenly started spinning and dropping in a crash. After a lot of thinking what went wrong I wondered if I was lowering it's altitude and it hit a tree. I was able to pull up a replay of the flight and it was at 399ft when it all went wrong. It was cruising along fine and suddenly and violently spun to a crash. I wondered things like "did I hit a bat or something in the air"? It still had power as it spun down because I did see live camera footage spinning as it crashed. A nice neighbor called me the next day saying he had found it. The camera is ripped off, the body is broke and at least one arm is broken. Now I am roughly $400 in repair parts if I do the repairs myself. It went from a perfectly running machine to a sudden spinning crash with no warning. I also know it was at 400 ft because looking back on the log it said it was at 400 and even at a descent of 35mph it took awhile to hit the ground. The battery showed 53% when it crashed and it was transmitting a strong signal of a spinning camera view to my ipad. In the warning logs there was nothing helpful, just the usual max altitude reached and so on. Did I hit something? Did a motor fail and if so, does it happen often? Did I suffer a propeller failure? I did have quiet propellers installed that may have been aftermarket. All the propeller hubs were still attached to the motors and all the hinge pins were intact. Many of the propeller blades were bent, impacted or snapped off. Any insight into what could have caused this would be greatly appreciated as I am afraid to fly the thing again if I do manage to get it fixed.

 

[Gryphon962]

Please post the .txt and .dat logfiles, I am sure the guys here will have some ideas. For example, if a prop hits something, or just breaks, you can see it by plotting the rotor speeds.

 

[Thomas B]

Could have been a motor failure, but most likely a prop.
If you can post your logs the answer is likely there

 

[Meta4]

In the warning logs there was nothing helpful, just the usual max altitude reached and so on. Did I hit something? Did a motor fail and if so, does it happen often? Did I suffer a propeller failure? I did have quiet propellers installed that may have been aftermarket. All the propeller hubs were still attached to the motors and all the hinge pins were intact. Many of the propeller blades were bent, impacted or snapped off. Any insight into what could have caused this would be greatly appreciated as I am afraid to fly the thing again if I do manage to get it fixed.

It's likely that your recorded flight data will help identify the cause of the incident or at least eliminate some possibilities.
Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report of the flight.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives.

 

[MN_Jack76]

I have no idea how to do this, but I appreciate everyone trying to help me. All I have so far is attached

 

[MN_Jack76]

I also have a screen shot of this

 

[Meta4]

I have no idea how to do this, but I appreciate everyone trying to help me. All I have so far is attached

You've made it through Phantomhelp.
It have you a report.
Please post the link to that report

 

[MN_Jack76]

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

 

[MN_Jack76]

I think this is what you are looking for : DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com
Thanks again!

 

[Meta4]

I think this is what you are looking for : DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

That's right
You were at 400 ft flying easterly at full speed in a straight line.
At 9:22.3 things started to go wrong.
You made no changes to the controls but the drone rolled, tilted forwards and started to spin anti-clockwise and lose height.
It tumbled all the way to the ground without losing power.
This suggests that the loss of either a prop or motor was the cause of the incident.

 

[MN_Jack76]

That's right
You were at 400 ft flying easterly at full speed in a straight line.
At 9:22.3 things started to go wrong.
You made no changes to the controls but the drone rolled, tilted forwards and started to spin anti-clockwise and lose height.
It tumbled all the way to the ground without losing power.
This suggests that the loss of either a prop or motor was the cause of the incident.

I have no idea how you got all that from my log, but I really appreciate the much wiser people like you helping me. I have flown it enough and other drones through the years that I didn't think I would be dumb enough to grab the wrong control, but after an accident like this you start to second guess yourself.

 

[MN_Jack76]

I appreciate everyone's help today, thank you! I guess I am left with wondering what failed - the prop, the motor or possibly hitting a bat? But at least I know I didn't crash it! Thanks again for all your input!

 

[Paul2660]

Sorry to hear about the loss. Might have been Bat or bird. Lots of birds fly at night especially early evening. Only would take slight blunt hit to one prop to bring it down.

Birds right now in my area are a real concern. I get a lot of close calls birds and recently in flight over the White River had multiple birds fly up from tree and almost collide with the drone. As I backed away they continued to follow me.

Your height of 400 feet up makes me think it wasn’t a bat they are not known for high flights.

Paul C

 

[sar104]

That's right
You were at 400 ft flying easterly at full speed in a straight line.
At 9:22.3 things started to go wrong.
You made no changes to the controls but the drone rolled, tilted forwards and started to spin anti-clockwise and lose height.
It tumbled all the way to the ground without losing power.
This suggests that the loss of either a prop or motor was the cause of the incident.

If you look at the detailed pitch/roll/yaw response you see the following:



It certainly has the attitude signature of a lost prop or failed motor. The initial yaw is CCW, but the subsequent spin is CW, which implies that it lost a CW motor/prop. The definitive information should be in the DAT file (FLY112.DAT).

@MN_Jack76 - if you can retrieve that DAT file from your mobile device that would help.

Mobile device DAT file: How to retrieve a V3.DAT from the tablet

 

[MN_Jack76]

If you look at the detailed pitch/roll/yaw response you see the following:

View attachment 78991

It certainly has the attitude signature of a lost prop or failed motor. The initial yaw is CCW, but the subsequent spin is CW, which implies that it lost a CW motor/prop. The definitive information should be in the DAT file (FLY112.DAT).

@MN_Jack76 - if you can retrieve that DAT file from your mobile device that would help.

Mobile device DAT file: How to retrieve a V3.DAT from the tablet

 

[MN_Jack76]

If you look at the detailed pitch/roll/yaw response you see the following:

View attachment 78991

It certainly has the attitude signature of a lost prop or failed motor. The initial yaw is CCW, but the subsequent spin is CW, which implies that it lost a CW motor/prop. The definitive information should be in the DAT file (FLY112.DAT).

@MN_Jack76 - if you can retrieve that DAT file from your mobile device that would help.

Mobile device DAT file: How to retrieve a V3.DAT from the tablet

Wow... I'm happy that I didn't crash it, yet it depresses me to look at. This is a very expensive malfunction. I'm glad it didn't damage any property and that I got to meet some nice neighbors who called it in. Does this failure happen often? I may just try to fix it and sell it. Too risky. Again I sure do appreciate your knowledge!

 

[MN_Jack76]

If you look at the detailed pitch/roll/yaw response you see the following:

View attachment 78991

It certainly has the attitude signature of a lost prop or failed motor. The initial yaw is CCW, but the subsequent spin is CW, which implies that it lost a CW motor/prop. The definitive information should be in the DAT file (FLY112.DAT).

@MN_Jack76 - if you can retrieve that DAT file from your mobile device that would help.

Mobile device DAT file: How to retrieve a V3.DAT from the tablet

 

[msinger]

Does this failure happen often?

It's more common when not using OEM DJI props. If any of the blades were not at the crash site, then one of the props might have snapped off mid-flight.

 

[MN_Jack76]

Is this the dat file that could help?

It's more common when not using OEM DJI props. If any of the blades were not at the crash site, then one of the props might have snapped off mid-flight.

The prop hubs were still attached and all of the hinge pins. All the blades were damaged very badly as I believe it eventually hit a tree. There was one blade missing and since it was a neighbor I didn't know who just happened to be nice enough to call the number on the drone, I didn't want to bother him any further to go into his back yard and look around for it.

 

[MN_Jack76]

Wow... I'm happy that I didn't crash it, yet it depresses me to look at. This is a very expensive malfunction. I'm glad it didn't damage any property and that I got to meet some nice neighbors who called it in. Does this failure happen often? I may just try to fix it and sell it. Too risky. Again I sure do appreciate your knowledge!

Were you able to see the dat files i just posted?