Mavic Spun out of control and crashed...

ikeX · Mar 25, 2020

Hi everyone. I was pointed to this site by Facebook people. I could use some help and insight on what could have been the problem.

I have (had) a Mavic Pro (original).

A few weeks ago, I got the error that the gimbal was overloaded, even though I took off the clamps. Drone was able to fly, but unable to take photos/video because of the error. The gimbal would continuously try resetting itself (I think), but rotating it self up and down every few minutes. Looked up the issue online and most people said I needed a new ribbon part. I took my drone into a local shop to fix.

I pick up my drone yesterday. Tested it in their office (propellers off). Tested camera (photo, video), tested gimbal movement, etc. Everything seemed fine. Took it into the parking lot, put on brand new propellers.

Started her up, let her hover for a little bit. All seemed well. Then took her up about 50 feet. Rotated her to me. Started to adjust gimbal/camera down to me and then that's when I saw on my screen everything spinning. I looked up just in time to see my Mavic spin wildly out of control and crash into the parking lot asphalt... RIP...

As far as I can remember, I didn't see any warnings right before this happened. The drone wasn't close to anything, pretty open space in a pretty empty parking lot...

So my thoughts:
1. There may have been more wrong with the drone that just that "gimbal overload" error I was getting?
2. Repair guy could have messed something up while doing the repair
3. Maybe I didn't secure the propellers as well as I thought

Anyway, I followed the instructions on how to get my flight records. Anyone care to help me out? Below is the link it gave me to share:

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

Thank you!

sar104 · Mar 25, 2020

That's not a txt log of an actual flight - are you sure that you uploaded the correct file?

bumper · Mar 25, 2020

Where all the propeller bits close to point of impact - or reasonably so? Were all four prop hubs, still attached to the motors?

steve_lyt · Mar 25, 2020

number 3 is a possibility, i dont think the gimbal error is the reason. also the gps looked like it was very weak.

ikeX · Mar 25, 2020

Here's the last .txt file and .DAT file I have from my flight records...

sar104 · Mar 25, 2020

ikeX said:
Here's the last .txt file and .DAT file I have from my flight records...

The right front prop (green trace) was not properly secured, and detached at 23 seconds into the flight.

ikeX · Mar 25, 2020

sar104 said:
The right front prop (green trace) was not properly secured, and detached at 23 seconds into the flight.

View attachment 97201

Well (deleted by moderator)... I guess it was my fault then... ugh. Thank you so much!

ikeX · Mar 25, 2020

sar104 said:
The right front prop (green trace) was not properly secured, and detached at 23 seconds into the flight.

View attachment 97201

also, how did you get this chart? Just so I know how to do it too, thanks!

sar104 · Mar 25, 2020

ikeX said:
Well cr@p... I guess it was my fault then... ugh. Thank you so much!

Unless the prop or the motor mount was damaged, then yes - probably user error. It's actually quite difficult to put the props on in such a way that they are not secure but the aircraft will take off.

sar104 · Mar 25, 2020

ikeX said:
also, how did you get this chart? Just so I know how to do it too, thanks!

I think that you probably looked at the flight log retrieval and analysis guide - it's described in there. The data in the graph were from the DAT file, and plotted using Igor Pro.

ikeX · Mar 25, 2020

sar104 said:
I think that you probably looked at the flight log retrieval and analysis guide - it's described in there. The data in the graph were from the DAT file, and plotted using Igor Pro.

Any chance you could help me with one more? We had a Phantom Pro drop like a brick on 3/14. I'm not sure if that's the correct DAT file, but that's the last one that was on file that was closest to the date of the flight...

slup · Mar 25, 2020

ikeX said:
Any chance you could help me with one more? We had a Phantom Pro drop like a brick on 3/14. I'm not sure if that's the correct DAT file, but that's the last one that was on file that was closest to the date of the flight...

That TXT log is from a P4Pro & looks like below ... this flight i paired with a DAT log with FLY029.DAT in the end. The DAT you attached comes from a Mavic Pro ...
The TXT log doesn't show anything unusual besides that it ends mid air at 31m height.

ikeX · Mar 25, 2020

slup said:
That TXT log is from a P4Pro & looks like below ... this flight i paired with a DAT log with FLY029.DAT in the end. The DAT you attached comes from a Mavic Pro ...
The TXT log doesn't show anything unusual besides that it ends mid air at 31m height.

View attachment 97209

View attachment 97210

Thanks!

paul2770 · Mar 26, 2020

Wow this is brilliant. New to drone flying. Didnt realise all this was available in case things go wrong. More importantly there are some of you guys on this forum who know what the hell it means. With all respect I do hope I never have to need you. Keep up the good works chaps.