DJI Mavic, Air and Mini Drones
Friendly, Helpful & Knowledgeable Community
Join Us Now

My Mavic Mini fell from the sky (flight log included)

Shimmitysham

New Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2020
Messages
3
Reactions
4
Age
51
Location
Philadelphia
Hello everyone,
So yesterday evening I was out with my drone messing around in front of my house. I had been flying for about 10 minutes, when I decided to stop and make an adjustment to my camera. I was hovering around 106 ft when my camera view on my tablet suddenly became blurry. I realized right away something was horribly wrong. I glanced up and saw my drone was spinning wildly out of control and falling from the sky. I wasn’t recording at the time, but I was able to retrieve my flight log. Link included below:

DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

At the 9m 40s mark it starts to spin and lose altitude, and then at at 9m 41.9s it starts to tilt to the extreme left while still spinning and losing altitude. At 9m 42.4s I react trying to recover but there was nothing I could do. It dropped more than 50 ft in about 4 seconds and the log ended at 49.2 feet spinning wildly and tilted to the extreme left and almost upside down. I was able to retrieve all the pieces and snap most everything back into place. It will power up but it won’t fly due to a gimbal error. I think one or both of the propellers broke or snapped or came off in flight because both front left propellers are missing. I haven’t had any problems up to this point. It’s been flawless up to this point.

i don’t have the DJI care package but I bought the drone on 12/22/19 and it was delivered to me on 12/28/19. So it’s less than 3 months old. I sent DJI an email yesterday with basically the same information I provided above but haven’t heard anything from them yet.

I’m wondering if anyone has had a similar problem? Any possibility the drone is still under warranty? Will I have to pay for repairs and if so what is the typical price range for repairs? What is the process to get the drone repaired, time frame, etc. And more importantly, how can I avoid this in the future? It definitely wasn’t pilot error. I was hovering in a safe area/altitude not touching the sticks and the thing malfunctioned and fell from the sky.

Any help/feedback/advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Jason
 
Wow, a very ordinary looking flight, conservative, no warnings, just a bit of a breeze from the SE that gave the attitude a noticeable angle . . . but the mini had no problems with that.

The only thing I notice on that address on the street view is the corner there has the heavy overhead power lines.
But then you took off from that driveway on Friendship Street with no issues ?
Possible this caused some major compass error or something.

You did have the left stick down very hard when things went a bit haywire, obviously trying to land, but that is the main reason it descended I am fairly sure.
Can't see any reason for the start of the directional issues at about 9:36.

Hope the flight experts here can shed some light on it, if you haven't already looked for it, see if the DAT file is in the sub folder where you got the TXT file.
If it hasn't auto synced it might still be there.
The DAT might be helpful here.
 
Hello everyone,
So yesterday evening I was out with my drone messing around in front of my house. I had been flying for about 10 minutes, when I decided to stop and make an adjustment to my camera. I was hovering around 106 ft when my camera view on my tablet suddenly became blurry. I realized right away something was horribly wrong. I glanced up and saw my drone was spinning wildly out of control and falling from the sky. I wasn’t recording at the time, but I was able to retrieve my flight log. Link included below:

DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

At the 9m 40s mark it starts to spin and lose altitude, and then at at 9m 41.9s it starts to tilt to the extreme left while still spinning and losing altitude. At 9m 42.4s I react trying to recover but there was nothing I could do. It dropped more than 50 ft in about 4 seconds and the log ended at 49.2 feet spinning wildly and tilted to the extreme left and almost upside down. I was able to retrieve all the pieces and snap most everything back into place. It will power up but it won’t fly due to a gimbal error. I think one or both of the propellers broke or snapped or came off in flight because both front left propellers are missing. I haven’t had any problems up to this point. It’s been flawless up to this point.

i don’t have the DJI care package but I bought the drone on 12/22/19 and it was delivered to me on 12/28/19. So it’s less than 3 months old. I sent DJI an email yesterday with basically the same information I provided above but haven’t heard anything from them yet.

I’m wondering if anyone has had a similar problem? Any possibility the drone is still under warranty? Will I have to pay for repairs and if so what is the typical price range for repairs? What is the process to get the drone repaired, time frame, etc. And more importantly, how can I avoid this in the future? It definitely wasn’t pilot error. I was hovering in a safe area/altitude not touching the sticks and the thing malfunctioned and fell from the sky.

Any help/feedback/advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Jason
Yeah ... the TXT log mainly confirms your story ... at 579sec the Mini starts to yaw CW soon followed by a pitch & roll shift, at 581sec the z speed (descend) picks up & the AC tumble down. The yaw, pitch & roll shift supports your belief that a prop failed on the left side (but it looks to be the rear one?).

To confirm it beyond doubt the DAT log is needed ... Go here --> Flight log retrieval and analysis guide and read under point 3 how to retrieve. The log from this flight have FLY054.DAT in the end ... attach it then here.

1584694056840.png

When it comes to your question regarding warranty ... well if this turns out to be a prop failure I doubt DJI will take the blame, props are kind of consumables & both condition & prop attachment falls onto the pilot to check before flight ... can be hard to prove/show that the props & attachment was flawless before flight. But we will see what they say ...
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: _gonzales_
When it comes to your question regarding warranty ... well if this turns out to be a prop failure I doubt DJI will take the blame, props are kind of consumables & both condition & prop attachment falls onto the pilot to check before flight ... can be hard to prove/show that the props & attachment was flawless before flight. But we will see what they say ...
My feeling is DJI gives the benefit of the doubt to the customer. A prop can fail as a result of manufacturing defect just as it can from lack of attention and short of evidence clearly pointing to one of the other, the customer gets his drone replaced.

At least I hope so for the OP sake.
 
Hey Guys,

As you can all tell, this is my first post (well technically my second post) on this forum and I am blown away by the genuine sincerity. I have been to a few other forums where half the responses were bashing and trolling. So thank you all for your input and kindness.

@slup, I tried to get the DAT file but the MCDatFlightRecords folder is empty. I reinstalled the DJI Fly app per point #3 instructions, but still no dice. So, I dunno. Oh, and to answer your question, I was well above and away from the power lines and the tree. I was hovering right above my driveway where the flight initially began.

Anywho, DJI finally responded and gave me a link that I assume explains how to return the drone for repair. He also said techs will review the data to determine if the drone will be covered or if there will be repair charges. Either way, I will definitely be buying the care package on this next go around.

Again, I hope everyone is healthy and safe. Remember, don't panic, wash your hands, keep your distance if you have to go out in the public, and check in on your friends and family. I will keep everyone posted as my case unfold.

Thanks again for the feedback,

Jason
 
It's an unfortunate situation if you just had no props at all. Were the screws still attached to the motors ?

That can make a difference on DJI covering it for you. If the props simply fell off I am betting they would simply refuse to cover because you are supposed to check the screws for locking before every flight... even if they aren't supposed to unthread at all.
 
Hi @m80116

Thank for your response. The screws were gone as well. And actually, I did check the screws. I’m new to the drone world and kind of infatuated with my Mini. So I check everything before each flight and when I’m not flying or waiting for the battery to charge I’m reading about drones and watching drone videos. I don’t know, maybe I missed something or screwed up and caused the crash. But if it was something I did I want to know what it was so I can avoid it in the future. $400 is a decent chunk of change. But what if it were a $1400 drone? That would be horrible!

Anyway, thanks again for your feedback.
Jason.
 
I am ready to bet screws got loose and props were spun out of the motor... they might have been loosened or not tightened from the beginning because breaking the thread locker tension requires a good amount of force and even when it's broken it's it takes quite a bit of force to undo the screws.

I am not checking mine since fitting the motor covers... done probably another 100 km since then. Probably need to check (I also re-used every single screw w/out any additional thread lock).

I wish you good luck on this case... this really seems a case where the blame is (almost) entirely on DJI's side.
 
Lycus Tech Mavic Air 3 Case

DJI Drone Deals

New Threads

Forum statistics

Threads
130,583
Messages
1,554,084
Members
159,587
Latest member
Bigbrute