Mavic Pro took off uncontrollably

[maclell1992]

Long story short, I had my Mavic Pro up about (guess) 200 feet above me. All of a sudden it took off like a mad man in one direction. No controls could get it to respond. GPS showed an error and it just kept flying away. The only thing that worked was to try and land it. Down control did not work, but landing button did. Sadly this went too far away and probably crashed into a giant pine tree.. I am so sad. It poured rain about 3 hours after trying to find it.. I've seen people get help showing their TXT flight file. I would so appreciate any help with mine! I feel so hopeless.

 

[RayOZ]

You took of with 48% battery. And then plenty of compass error. I guess you didn't check if the compass heading was correct before you took off. There are a few guys here who will be able to verify with graphs.

 

[maclell1992]

You took of with 48% battery. And then plenty of compass error. I guess you didn't check if the compass heading was correct before you took off. There are a few guys here who will be able to verify with graphs.

Thank you. Yes, I went up to take a quick photo of the sky and was going to return home. Figured 48% should be plenty to go up for a less than 1 minute flight. GPS told me it was fine in the beginning and good to take off. Once it went up, that was no longer the case..

 

[Simmo]

Hi mate, sorry for you loss.
In my opinion, some how at 23 seconds you lost all GPS Health and the AC switched into Atti mode and started to drift.
The AC was responding well to your commands. It looks like auto landing was initiated 3 times but cancelled by throttle input the first two times. You continued to climb. No 'down throttle' was applied, of any substance, until about 110 seconds and around 150 seconds, when the aircraft attempted to lose height, but your input was momentary.

 

[laurens23]

Have to agree with @Simmo . After losing GPS you were still in full control of the drone, albeit being in ATTI mode (i.e. the drone was drifting in the wind).

The GPS dropping was likely the result of a missmatch between the IMU and compass heading (hence all the warnings). What direction was the drone facing when you took off? @sar104 is an expert in this.

When the log ends the drone was at 28m and landing. you probably lost connection because it dropped below LOS. I would go look in the blue circle in this map below.

 

[maclell1992]

Thanks everyone. It was facing west when it took off and drifted north and spun it around so the controls weren’t stoping the wind drift. I’m shocked it should drift that much. There were no wind warnings, and I’ve flown on days I felt wind. I felt none, though I know it could have been way up there. I tried to auto land but then things would get in the way like trees so I cancelled. When I cancelled, it disconnected me from drone. Found it this morning, but socking wet and camera is hanging by a thread.. very sad. Oh well, at least I’m grateful it’s replaceable

 

[swooshdave]

Two things, did you find it near the blue circle? What is your RTH height set at? The tallest trees around us are about 160-180ft so I have my RTH height set at about 200 ft. That should clear most obstacles.

 

[maclell1992]

Two things, did you find it near the blue circle? What is your RTH height set at? The tallest trees around us are about 160-180ft so I have my RTH height set at about 200 ft. That should clear most obstacles.

Found right where the yellow indicator was. Someone must have found it because it was sitting folded up on a picnik table near the field, like they thought I would come looking for it. Unfortunately the camera is hanging by a wire and the machine smokes when turning it on. Luckily I was able to salvage the battery.

 

[maclell1992]

Two things, did you find it near the blue circle? What is your RTH height set at? The tallest trees around us are about 160-180ft so I have my RTH height set at about 200 ft. That should clear most obstacles.

Also, return to home is also 200 since we are surrounded by tall pine trees. RTH would not work, it kept moving north away from me, and after cancelling the landing i was disconnected from the AC

 

[sar104]

Thanks everyone. It was facing west when it took off and drifted north and spun it around so the controls weren’t stoping the wind drift. I’m shocked it should drift that much. There were no wind warnings, and I’ve flown on days I felt wind. I felt none, though I know it could have been way up there. I tried to auto land but then things would get in the way like trees so I cancelled. When I cancelled, it disconnected me from drone. Found it this morning, but socking wet and camera is hanging by a thread.. very sad. Oh well, at least I’m grateful it’s replaceable

The yaw initialized at -16° (344°), not west, so it was off by around 75°. The yaw error occurred when you applied forward elevator and the aircraft started to move forwards (west) rather than the northerly direction that the FC expected.

 

[MavicCF]

The yaw initialized at -16° (344°), not west, so it was off by around 75°. The yaw error occurred when you applied forward elevator and the aircraft started to move forwards (west) rather than the northerly direction that the FC expected.

I’m wondering if we should try to make a sticky of the Budtest, might save a few folks these flyaways...

 

[swooshdave]

The tough thing about ATTI is unless you have VLOS it's not easy to fly. And even then it would be tough if you are too far away.

I find that watching the map and flying back towards the home point is the best course of action, if you still have control. Otherwise you better pray you set the homepoint and you have enough battery. Will it actually find the home point without GPS? Does it know which way to fly?

 

[sar104]

The tough thing about ATTI is unless you have VLOS it's not easy to fly. And even then it would be tough if you are too far away.

I find that watching the map and flying back towards the home point is the best course of action, if you still have control. Otherwise you better pray you set the homepoint and you have enough battery. Will it actually find the home point without GPS? Does it know which way to fly?

It cannot RTH in ATTI mode.

 

[Claybond]

It cannot RTH in ATTI mode.

That was a fantastic thread gentleman. I am also sorry for your loss but it makes me think of complacency and poor situational awareness and overconfidence because of what an incredible machine We fly. All of this I am guilty of on many occasions so this has shone a light on the incredible importance of system checks as well as proficiency flying in Atti mode. I regularly fly what I call “toys” that have no control assistthat keep my eyes and thumbs sharp. I have been thrown into Atti as we all have but I have no difficulty control in the aircraft. A great reminder for us, unfortunately at your expense. Good luck.

 

[Cookedinlh]

Thanks for posting all the gory detail gents... a detailed after action report like this is gold for every over confident flyer who thinks of themselves as competent ( self included)...we need to do more regular systems checked and not just throw it on the ground and jam the sticks together. I’m going to do a bit more proficiency flying in ATTI mode. Maciell1992, you deserve the respect if everyone here for choosing to lay this all on the table. You’ve done it right for everyone. Your story will save many more incidents you will never hear of...Thanks!

 

[modbuilder]

I’m wondering if we should try to make a sticky of the Budtest, might save a few folks these flyaways...

OK -- I give up. Need help with 'Budtest'. Did a search, but nothing.

 

[MavicCF]

OK -- I give up. Need help with 'Budtest'. Did a search, but nothing.

It is the name for the test @BudWalker discovered for finding out whether or not there is magnetic distortion in the area you are flying.
If you look at the map icon in you DJI GO/4 you will see a little red airplane, if you look at the orientation of it, (whether its facing north, south, east, west) it should match the direction your Mavic is facing on startup. If you Mavic is facing north, but the little red plane is facing east, then you are in a distorted area and should not take off.

 

[BudWalker]

It is the name for the test @BudWalker discovered for finding out whether or not there is magnetic distortion in the area you are flying.
If you look at the map icon in you DJI GO/4 you will see a little red airplane, if you look at the orientation of it, (whether its facing north, south, east, west) it should match the direction your Mavic is facing on startup. If you Mavic is facing north, but the little red plane is facing east, then you are in a distorted area and should not take off.

Maybe we should just go with something more informative like YawCheck.
@modbuilder

 

[MavicCF]

Maybe we should just go with something more informative like YawCheck.
@modbuilder

We could call it the @BudWalker YawCheck? I guess you should probably be the one to name it though...

 

[useitorloseit]

Hey everyone quick question and I am almost embarrassed to ask it because over 350 flights on my MP, I own a Spark, a Yuneec Typhoon H Pro, and a Tello and I fly daily. Anyway question is in what direction should the Drone be facing when you take off? I have never worried about orientation when taking off, I simply wait for home lock and then take off. I have only had one issue and that's when I was rushing to take off, kept getting compass errors and redundancy switch errors but as soon as I got a home point I initiated take off and boy did it ever, lol directly into my face, I ducked it flew past me full throttle and the only input it would listen to was climb, so I gave it full up and after 25 sec, it got a new home point I gained control and I was able to bring it back and land, turns out that area is problematic and I have never flown there since never had a problem. Anyway if you guys could tell me you procedure concerning direction and orientation I would really appreciate