Mini 3 didn't come home... updates on drone recovery. Thanks all!

[Meta4]

It may be possible that in your advanced settings, you were set to descend upon losing contact with the drone. Should always be set to RTH.

His Failsafe Action was set to RTH.

A firmware update can change that so check it each time before you fly.

Firmware updates only reset to default values.
The default Failsafe Setting is RTH and it won't ever change, unless you change it.

 

[Merrill277]

His Failsafe Action was set to RTH.

Firmware updates only reset to default values.
The default Failsafe Setting is RTH and it won't ever change, unless you change it.

Perhaps, my drone was faulty when it happened to me. I did just send it in for repairs.

 

[abruzzopat]

Sent a new search party out this morning and found the drone on the ground 10' from the last GPS coordinates. The drone was intact and it powered up fine. Still had 38% battery. Not sure why it shut down.

Thanks everyone for the assist and well wishes. Still not happy about losing signal at 800m, but I'm def increasing my max altitude before my next flight.

PS: I did do the firmware update a day or so before which did reset everything.

 

[Chaosrider]

Never lost a drone before, but my new Mini 3 disappeared after losing communication. As you can see in the pic below, perfect flying conditions and excellent line of sight. I flew to the meadow in the mid-upper part of the photo. Drone was visible above the treeline, but once it was lower, I had a hard time seeing it and was using the RC to fly. At about 800m away I suddenly started getting a series of messages about loss of signal. Screen went to black and white and there was a message about returning to home. I just waited for the drone to return or for the signal to re-establish, but nothing more happened.

I'm a complete newbie when it comes to loss of drone. Anyone have a suggestion as to next steps? I guess I need to pull logs off the RC, but no idea how to do that. My friends and I will send out a search party, but "find my drone" doesn't seem to work because there is no connection. It will be a needle in a haystack.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

View attachment 150372

Bummer about the drone. Great place to fly though!

Perhaps you could use another drone to go search for this one?

 

[MS Coast]

Sent a new search party out this morning and found the drone on the ground 10' from the last GPS coordinates. The drone was intact and it powered up fine. Still had 38% battery. Not sure why it shut down.

Thanks everyone for the assist and well wishes. Still not happy about losing signal at 800m, but I'm def increasing my max altitude before my next flight.

PS: I did do the firmware update a day or so before which did reset everything.

Take a good look at the props, especially the leading edges. Is there any sign of impact, with tree branches perhaps?

 

[abruzzopat]

Take a good look at the props, especially the leading edges. Is there any sign of impact, with tree branches perhaps?

I can send pics, but the props look ok... maybe some light scuffing. After seeing the video of the flight from the drone, it's clear that the crash would have been fairly low impact, although unfortunately the video quit before the actual crash.

There are a lot of strange things with this flight and I will be uploading a summary. I definitely contributed to the crash, but the drone also misbehaved. Thanks again everyone for your help.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Sent a new search party out this morning and found the drone on the ground 10' from the last GPS coordinates. The drone was intact and it powered up fine. Still had 38% battery. Not sure why it shut down.

Thanks everyone for the assist and well wishes. Still not happy about losing signal at 800m, but I'm def increasing my max altitude before my next flight.

PS: I did do the firmware update a day or so before which did reset everything.

Never leave a drone behind!

 

[GadgetGuy]

Thanks gadget. Just a couple of points/clarifications:

You literally flew it into the "ground/trees." The battery was likely ejected in the crash, or shut itself off, after reaching 0%.
I let go of the sticks when transmission was lost, and it seemed to hover for some time, so i don't think I directly flew it into the trees.

Clear LOS cannot be maintained when you are flying below or into the highest tree in the tree line at any point in time.
Agreed, but I never went below the tree line. It was always at clear line of sight. My initial comment was a poor choice of words. I was trying to say that the treeline BEHIND the craft made it hard for me to see the drone because of the busy visual background. The coordinates where it was hovering is in my LOS, albeit pretty far away and with a busy background.

You also never changed the Maximum Altitude setting, which by default is 400'. It was already at Maximum Altitude at 2:57. You can see that it is consistently at 397+/- feet. It can't do an RTH if it is already at Max Altitude and surrounded by obstacles. Definitely my bad on this, and probably the #1 reason I lost my drone. Also, flying out over a valley and then up, I should have paid more attention to my height above takeoff point.

After RTH got cancelled, you had enough intermittent control to run it into a tree branch it could not see or avoid. No way to pull up, as you were already at Maximum Altitude. See posts #11 and #13. It also has no upward obstacle detection, unlike the Mavic 3.
As soon as I lost transmission I released the sticks and never willingly applied any inputs after that which is why it was hovering. Possibly it was hovering very close to a tree and simply drifted into it... who knows.

You would have needed to immediately stop and turn around and fly back away from the trees, as though approaching an NFZ, to get out of this situation that you flew yourself into.
Agree again. I was hoping that the drone was safely hovering, and that by positioning myself differently or getting a bit closer I could reestablish connection. I should have backed straight out.

Hopefully, you can find it, if you purchased DJI Care, as the deductible is much lower with the carcass in hand! DJI can also repair a recovered drone very cheaply, and they will send you a brand new one, instead of actually repairing your old one.
Yep, thanks again. Sending a 2nd search party out today.

When transmission is lost, and you let go of the sticks, it will hover, until RTH engages, since that is the default signal loss action. At that point, it likely flew into a tree trying to get back, since it could not ascend, due to already being at Max height.

Glad you found it!

Increase Max Height from 400' to 1640' and set RTH height to say 750 feet. Change the default RTH method to Regular instead of Advanced! Stay above the tree line between you and the drone. In the video, it appears you just cleared the tree line in front and then flew down below it behind it before ascending to the tree line on the far side of the open meadow. It may be a perspective illusion, but you have to stay above every tree line in between you and the drone, not just above the tree line in front of you. With the proper settings now for mountain climbing, you can safely experiment. Happy flying!

 

[Paradigm]

When transmission is lost, and you let go of the sticks, it will hover, until RTH engages, since that is the default signal loss action. At that point, it likely flew into a tree trying to get back, since it could not ascend, due to already being at Max height.

I’m not one to rely on sensors during normal flight, but, I’ve come to the realization that the sensors on the Mavic 3 are unsung heroes, especially during signal loss RTH . I’ve seen multiple videos where the drone navigated over or around obstacles while returning home. Seeing stuff like that is instant anxiety. I can’t imagine how he pilot feels.

 

[test2000Anafi]

Such a shame that there was no screen recording. Not directed to you but in general, is it true that in all similar cases, less than 10% of the inexperienced pilots are flying without screen recording? My guess is if they were, they would not be crashing or losing the drones or at least be less likely do to so.

Great that you got it back Btw!!

 

[Meta4]

is it true that in all similar cases, less than 10% of the inexperienced pilots are flying without screen recording? My guess is if they were, they would not be crashing or losing the drones or at least be less likely do to so.

That's an interesting theory.
How would screen recording prevent crashes or lost drone incidents?

 

[Galopin]

Put these coordinates 36.10173 -82.09889 into a terrain Garmin GPS and take a walk. You’ll find it. I did that many times with my old Mavic Air. Don’t forget to bring a bottle of water and a long thin rope to swing the bottle over a tree branch to pull down the drone that could be perched. Good luck!

 

[stewall]

Never lost a drone before, but my new Mini 3 disappeared after losing communication. As you can see in the pic below, perfect flying conditions and excellent line of sight. I flew to the meadow in the mid-upper part of the photo. Drone was visible above the treeline, but once it was lower, I had a hard time seeing it and was using the RC to fly. At about 800m away I suddenly started getting a series of messages about loss of signal. Screen went to black and white and there was a message about returning to home. I just waited for the drone to return or for the signal to re-establish, but nothing more happened.

I'm a complete newbie when it comes to loss of drone. Anyone have a suggestion as to next steps? I guess I need to pull logs off the RC, but no idea how to do that. My friends and I will send out a search party, but "find my drone" doesn't seem to work because there is no connection. It will be a needle in a haystack.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

View attachment 150372

Perhaps the Secret Service could help: See item "U.S. Secret Service Visit" in General Discussions.

 

[Dmcvey]

Mini 3 at almost 3000 feet down range? Well beyond LOS. You said that you were flying with the RC. At 3000 feet you would not have been able to “see and avoid”. Need to review LOS rule. Most be able to determine aircraft direction, altitude and location BY LOOKING at the aircraft. LOS is not “it is that meadow over there somewhere”. The mini probably has a LOS of less than 1000 feet. Aircraft lost due to pilot error.

 

[monteolsen1]

Best to immediately grab the still powered up controller and a smart phone and drive to the last known location and see if you can reconnect anywhere nearby, if the battery is still inside the aircraft, and powered on. I recovered a P4P that way! I, too, had run it into a mountainside, except in the dark, when descending too quickly. I drove to the mountain top, and was actually able to reconnect, but could not safely reach it in the dark. Battery naturally died overnight. However, I returned at dawn with my other drone, and hovered it directly over the last known location in the scrub brush, while my wife crawled out on her hands and knees under the scrub brush, to the edge of the cliff, where I was hovering the drone, to locate and retrieve it! It was unscathed, and she survived! It was found just 3 feet from the edge of the sheer cliff, from which it would have been unrecoverable, had it landed over the ledge. If it doesn't return Home, it's your job to track it down and find it! No drone left behind!

Wow! You’ve got an amazing wife! I hope she got something REALLY nice for helping. LOL

 

[Scuddzy]

Just wanted to say i learn a lot from these types of posts and appreciate those that chime in!