My drone exploded in mid air

[LewisJones]

A shotgun slug round at 200 yards on a (most likely) moving target the size of a small dinner plate?! That would be one hell of a shot!

I think it being shot down is ruled out luckily as per @Meta4 reply

 

[bcfd29]

LI chemistry batteries of this type are known to fail catastrophically and deflagrate during a thermal runaway event releasing large amounts of gasses and thermal energy (the speed of the reaction is just shy of qualifying as an actual explosion). When the batteries are confined (as in being inserted into another device like your mini 3) this could cause the release to generate enough pressure to cause it to also catastrophically fail.

Given that the battery is housed in the center of the case, a failure like this could result in what you describe.

Key data to examine would include any remains of the battery components (case and contents) for visual cues as to the specific mode and point of failure, as well as the lot numbers, serial numbers, and date of manufacture to identify the battery origin (DJI like many manufacturers purchases battery sub components from many other suppliers)..

Some additional questions I would pose to you:

How many times had the batteries been recharged (use cycles)?
Were you using a DJI supplied charger and power supply or an after market charger?
Did the batteries show any visual sign of deformity or discoloration as you inserted into the drone?
Had the battery used in the event been dropped or subject to any physical stressors or impacts?

I would be very interested in seeing any photos pf the failed battery components presuming you are able to recover them, as well as having the opportunity to examine them myself.

Please contact me directly should you have any additional information.

Sorry for the loss of your aircraft, but thanks for sharing this important info.

 

[mobilehomer]

You may have found someone's drone, but that photo IS a Mini 2. COMPLETELY different from a Mini 3 Pro. No amount of deformation is going to change that fact. The front, arms and everything else is different.

 

[M38a11963]

Show the gimble you retrieved and look at the front of the leg in the photo. It looks just like the mini I have and that front arm has mavic mini printed on it.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Attached are photos just taken of
a screen capture of a mini 3 pro dismantling video,
a Mini 2 shell & mavic Mini shell,
a cropped version of your photo.
As should be clearly apparent the drone in your photo is NOT a mini 3 pro.

The front left arm of the wreckage appears to be there, if so it will display the drone's model on its front face.

 

[Sam36401]

The nose is very different on the Mini 2 vs Mini 3. The catastrophe of your drone didnt change its facial expression that much.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

You may have found someone's drone, but that photo IS a Mini 2. COMPLETELY different from a Mini 3 Pro. No amount of deformation is going to change that fact. The front, arms and everything else is different.

Sorry but it isn't a Mini 2, no front LED slot.
It's a Mavic mini or one of the SE models

 

[mobilehomer]

Sorry but it isn't a Mini 2, no front LED slot.
It's a Mavic mini or one of the SE models

Correct, YP. I miswrote.

 

[3rdof5]

Sorry but it isn't a Mini 2, no front LED slot.
It's a Mavic mini or one of the SE models

Based on my research that arm belongs to the mini SE.

 

[old man mavic]

it doesnt take a rocket scientist to realise that the picture is not that of a Mini 3 pro
the arms are not those of a Mini 3 pro to start with ,apart from anything else,
my guess is that the unfortunate drone in the picture was on the ground at the time ,and sadly got destroyed by being run over by a vehicle of some sort ,having witnessed a lipo fire in a drone ,it does not cause that much damage ,nor does hitting the ground from 350ft high with a drone that only weighs 250g

 

[msinger]

got destroyed by being run over by a vehicle of some sort

Seems more likely. Nothing in that photo looks like the result of a fire/explosion.

 

[Kuiper Denizen]

If there’s evidence that the drone was hit by gunfire (which is what I immediately thought, too) that would be a federal offense, wouldn’t it? Turn the evidence over to the F.B.I. Just an investigation with no resolution would shake up the neighborhood.

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

Let's just assume the OP found the wreckage of a different drone, made a mistake and posted the photo of what he thought was his drone ......

 

[Yorkshire_Pud]

that would be a federal offense, wouldn’t it? Turn the evidence over to the F.B.I. Just an investigation with no resolution would shake up the neighborhood.

Not relevant to Scotland.

 

[RodPad]

LewisJones

mavicpilots.com

Hey Guy, this got out of control way faster than I thought.
The logs will really clear up this drama.
Nobody is saying your lying, but texting can appear that way.
These guys know these drones.
DJI, is going to want some data also.

I don't give a crap of what your saying you were flying and what you found.
You won't believe what they pull from the data.

Air2 S started landing over water.

I will have to do some testing with the gaffers tape. Having it off and knowing it wont do this again would be great. I don't mind having to manually avoid whats below. This just happened so fast not much time to react before it was too late. And yeah very interested on dji's thoughts but...

mavicpilots.com

My Last Call

Rod.

 

[LewisJones]

it doesnt take a rocket scientist to realise that the picture is not that of a Mini 3 pro
the arms are not those of a Mini 3 pro to start with ,apart from anything else,
my guess is that the unfortunate drone in the picture was on the ground at the time ,and sadly got destroyed by being run over by a vehicle of some sort ,having witnessed a lipo fire in a drone ,it does not cause that much damage ,nor does hitting the ground from 350ft high with a drone that only ways 250g

Surely I haven’t found the remains of another drone though. I don’t know anyone else who flies in my area

 

[LewisJones]

LewisJones

mavicpilots.com

Hey Guy, this got out of control way faster than I thought.
The logs will really clear up this drama.
Nobody is saying your lying, but texting can appear that way.
These guys know these drones.
DJI, is going to want some data also.

I don't give a crap of what your saying you were flying and what you found.
You won't believe what they pull from the data.

Air2 S started landing over water.

I will have to do some testing with the gaffers tape. Having it off and knowing it wont do this again would be great. I don't mind having to manually avoid whats below. This just happened so fast not much time to react before it was too late. And yeah very interested on dji's thoughts but...

mavicpilots.com

My Last Call

Rod.

Hello please don’t private message me unless you’re that expert who already has. I’m trying to sort out the .txt

 

[LewisJones]

Let's just assume the OP found the wreckage of a different drone, made a mistake and posted the photo of what he thought was his drone ......

I don’t think that’s likely.

 

[LewisJones]

Based on my research that arm belongs to the mini SE.

It’s a mini 3 pro though

 

[old man mavic]

Surely I haven’t found the remains of another drone though. I don’t know anyone else who flies in my area

well you can take my word for it or not ,that pic is not a Mini 3 pro