No warranty for malfunctions at night

dhowe111 · 2025-08-23T03:26:03-0400

My Air 3 has suffered a catastrophic malfunction causing it to fall from the sky in an uncontrollable dive crashing to the ground.

Unfortunatly DJI are refusing to honour their warranty because "the flight was at night and collision avoidance was disabled due to low light"

I find this very frustrating because the fact that collision avoidance was dissabled is completely irrelevant as the aircraft did not colide with anything and was very well clear of any obstructions as proven by the video that was attached to my warranty claim.

I have tried talking with them via online chat and via telephone and I litteraly just kept getting told "yeah but the inncident occurred at night with no collision avoidance"

THERE WAS NO COLLISION!

Its a poor excuse not to honour their warranty and have even suggested that i avoid night time flight!

Very disappointing customer service

AeroJ · 2025-08-23T04:20:06-0400

Is the actual cause of the crash known and understood fully yet ?
Because from the video alone it does look a bit like something hit it !

Max Headroom · 2025-08-23T04:29:25-0400

Why is the video quality so low?

It looks like you either hit something or something hit your drone the collision is too abrupt for it to be a motor failing, I am not surprised DJI will not pay out would you if it was the other way round?

dhowe111 · 2025-08-23T05:45:24-0400

Max Headroom said:
Why is the video quality so low?

It looks like you either hit something or something hit your drone the collision is too abrupt for it to be a motor failing, I am not surprised DJI will not pay out would you if it was the other way round?

View attachment 184554

Higher res video here

there was litteraly nothing to hit

And yes if it was the other way round i would happily fulfill my moral obligation to replace a faulty product.

They have stated that I caused the crash because how I operated the controls.

Quote:

The pilot pushed the pitch stick forward, the roll stick to the right, and the throttle down. The aircraft flew to the right, front, and bottom, and then the accident occurred. 3.The vision obstacle avoidance system was disabled due to the weak ambient light
Conclusion：The incident was caused by non-manufacturing factors. Therefore, it is concluded to customer responsibility.

How could that sequence of inputs cause an uncontrollable dive?

dhowe111 · 2025-08-23T05:46:45-0400

Correction.. this is the higher res video

AeroJ · 2025-08-23T06:10:26-0400

dhowe111 said:
How could that sequence of inputs cause an uncontrollable dive?

Birdstrike ?

Max Headroom · 2025-08-23T06:36:36-0400

there was litteraly nothing to hit
And yes if it was the other way round i would happily fulfill my moral obligation to replace a faulty product.
They have stated that I caused the crash because how I operated the controls.

It was either a bird strike or you hit something you didn't see, the collision avoidance system didn't work (your fault) as you cannot prove you didn't hit something are you really surprised they will not pay out, they must read "I didn't hit anything" thousands of times a week in claims.

This is the moment of impact if you think anything other than something hitting your drome caused the crash i think you'll be in a huge minority.

Felix le Chat · 2025-08-23T07:32:33-0400

dhowe111 said:
My Air 3 has suffered a catastrophic malfunction causing it to fall from the sky in an uncontrollable dive crashing to the ground.

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Unfortunatly DJI are refusing to honour their warranty because "the flight was at night and collision avoidance was disabled due to low light"

I find this very frustrating because the fact that collision avoidance was dissabled is completely irrelevant as the aircraft did not colide with anything and was very well clear of any obstructions as proven by the video that was attached to my warranty claim.

I have tried talking with them via online chat and via telephone and I litteraly just kept getting told "yeah but the inncident occurred at night with no collision avoidance"

THERE WAS NO COLLISION!

Its a poor excuse not to honour their warranty and have even suggested that i avoid night time flight!

Very disappointing customer service

Could you upload a longer video: say about 20 seconds before the impact?

Meta4 · 2025-08-23T07:46:55-0400

dhowe111 said:
My Air 3 has suffered a catastrophic malfunction causing it to fall from the sky in an uncontrollable dive crashing to the ground.

Could you post the recorded flight data which DJI would have examined?
There's no guarantee that it will have the answers, but it might be of some help.

There are a couple of options ...

1. Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
That will give you a detailed report on the flight data.
Come back and post a link to the report it provides and someone might be able to analyse it and give you an understanding of the cause of the incident.
or
2. Just post the .txt file here
or
3. If you use Airdata, you can view the flight data on Airdata and post a link for the Airdata report

Felix le Chat · 2025-08-23T07:48:51-0400

Felix le Chat said:
Could you upload a longer video: say about 20 seconds before the impact?

But here's something a little more to the point. Unless I had an A2CofC and a GVC: I would give a lot of hard thought to whether it was a good idea to post a video of me crashing an Air 3 whilst flying it at night through a built up/urban area.

dhowe111 · 2025-08-23T08:03:29-0400

the Red mark shows where the drone was when the inncident occurred, just over 60 meters from the ground. This is not something I could lie about as DJI have the flight data including GPS location and altitude.
The drone did not hit anything and I believe I have provided sufficient evidence to back that up

I understand bird strikes are unlikely at night (although not impossible) but I seen no evidence of a bird strike

With respect... I feel like your trying to convince me that malfunctions are 100% impossible.

But the dispute is not about that, my issue is that ive been told that the only reason they wont honour their warranty is because the flight was at night and collision avoidance was unavailable.

When trying to get an explanation why collision avoidance availability affected my warranty when there was no obstacles I was told quote: the ground is still an obstacle. Now i really do struggle to understand this excuse when the craft was 60m the ground, but then they just get back to the sequence control inputs.

Felix le Chat · 2025-08-23T08:24:33-0400

dhowe111 said:
I have an A2CofC i also have liability insurance View attachment 184561

View attachment 184562

I am an experienced operator with 3 Drones

That's a lot of personally identifying data. I don't think it's good idea to post that in a public forum.

Based on the video clip: it definitely looks like an impact from below/right. I'd still be interested in seeing the 20 seconds before everything went Pete Tong.

dhowe111 · 2025-08-23T08:29:11-0400

Felix le Chat said:
That's a lot of personally identifying data. I don't think it's good idea to post that in a public forum.

Based on the video clip: it definitely looks like an impact from below/right. I'd still be interested in seeing the 20 seconds before everything went Pete Tong.

I have removed it, im am just pulling the flight information together now for Meta4 from airdata i will also try upload a longer video asap

Cafguy · 2025-08-23T08:42:13-0400

You hit something...or perhaps lost a prop. That Drone didn't just fall out of the sky.

If you believe DJI's decision was incorrect, you can try to appeal the denial by providing additional information.

Gather all your documentation. Collect all records of your communication with DJI, including your case number (CAS-nr).
Review your flight logs. If you haven't already, sync your flight logs to the DJI servers through the DJI app. This will allow DJI to re-examine the flight data. You can also review these logs yourself to understand what happened during the incident.
Contact DJI Support. Reach out to DJI's customer support and ask for a re-evaluation of your case. You can contact them by phone or online chat.
- Phone: +1 (818) 235-0789 (PST/PDT)
- Online Support: Use the live chat feature on their support website.
Send an email for a written record. You can email DJI at [email protected] and explicitly state that you are appealing the warranty denial. In your email, provide your CAS number and calmly explain why you believe the denial should be overturned.
With DJI Care: If you have an active DJI Care Refresh plan, pilot error is often covered for a small replacement fee. If your denial was for a manufacturing defect and you have DJI Care, this is a much stronger position for an appeal. The warranty portion of DJI Care covers manufacturing defects, while the replacement plan covers user error incidents like crashes.