Second dji drone to fall from the sky with no explanation.

[Smartin850]

First incident was with a spark. I bought a fly more combo brand new from Walmart, the next day it was on its second flight and I took off was climbing and at 249ft it just fell. I had owned a spark before this one. And crash it and was at fault. Also was very familiar with the issues with the batteries not securing properly. I checked and confirmed these were made well after they made an adjustment with the latches. Also it was a habit to triple check that the battery was secure. Flight record shows it climbing then it just goes away. After over 150 emails to dji I gave up. They were literally toying with jw. Every 3 or so days they would pass me off to another rep and they would ask the same exact questions. Ask if I’d opend a ticket. Ask me to send the drone in. Day one stuff. I got one person to admit that nothing looked abnormal and it wasn’t looker error from what they saw. After that I never heard another word. I just gave up. It spanned over 4 months.
More recently I lost a mavic pro over water. I was crusin along watching my feed at the time it started to malfunction out of nowhere the screen went crazy. I look up to see the drone spiraling down totally unresponsive to any input. I had. No errors. No nothing. It just fell. I am not even going to attempt to contact dji at this point as I know it will just end up causing more stress and the end result will not change. Dji knows that we don’t have a choice. That’s why they are known to be absolute garbage when it comes to customer service. The circle they had me in was insulting. It got the the point where when a new rep would be assigned I had a response saved and would copy paste it. Telling them every step I had already been thru how I had already done the things they were about to ask me to do, it wouldn’t even be looked at. It couldn’t have been. Because they just asked the exact same thing. They wouldn’t call. I couldn’t get a number. So now I either spend $700-$1500 or I don’t get Arial footage. Yes there are more options now than there has been before. But if I get a skydio it’s a wait list. The evo 2 looks great on paper but doesn’t put out the same in real world. Shame on you dji. I never even tried to get the spark replaced. I just wanted to know what happened. If it was something I can prevent In the future. I couldn’t get an answer. Anyways. I’ve attached the mavic flight record. If anything looks suspicious please point it out. It wasn’t free fall but it went down fast. I had flown a full battery before starting thay flight and all was well. Made sure battery clicked. Made sure props where turned all the way and up and locked. Idk what could have happened.
And here is the spark flight record. If you see something please point it out. The name came from it replacing a spark I sold in CL a few weeks prior.

 

[sar104]

It appears to have lost a prop:



Can you see if you can retrieve the mobile device DAT file ending FLY104.DAT? That will contain the motor data.

 

[Prismatic]

I rather expect DJI would consider the loss of a prop to be "user error", because ... well, it is. The motor data would be conclusive on the matter.

The Spark's flight ended two and a half seconds after the accelerator was mashed to the floor from a dead stop. It'd be instructive to have the DAT from that flight, as a comparison in a separate analysis. Loss of power certainly seems a possibility; you don't mention if you recovered the corpse and its battery. If they fell as a unit, they'd be found still together, or in close physical proximity to each other, but if they separated in-flight, they would not.

As a rule, though, DJI isn't as evil as you seem to think. Many people, myself included, have found their service and warranty processes excellent. But we're living in extraordinary times, which call for some allowances.

 

[Smartin850]

Lights were on the entire time the spark fell. It actually fell into the road you see it right next to. Which is a busy hwy. I made sure it was clear but as you said right as I went forward it fell. It got ran over like 15 times. Total loss. Sent it all in. They retrieved enough to tell me thay it wasn’t pilot error. I can provide you the entire email thread. 152 emails over 3 months and 27 days. The last email I received from dji was from “ken” asking me if I had opened a ticket and how to proceed to open a ticket and then to send the drone in to be analyzed. It was sent in 3 months and 8 days prior. I’m really not sure how you can even consider thay customer service. On my dji account I have 9 dji drones that were registered and set up new. I’ve spent to much money and been to loyal to not be able to get someone on the phone after months. ......MONTHS. I bought it BRAND NEW. As for the mavic loosing a prop seems unlikely, I’m not sayin. It didn’t happen. I would bet it was a shore bird before a prop. They’re super territorial. But it was pretty late ahd I wasn’t near shore really. I had the props that I put on the day I got it about a week and 1/2 prior. I do checks, before every single flight. I’ve had some mishaps over the years. So I have a check list app. It’s just habit now. Assure they are in the correct position. All 4 every time. From fly the spark so long I check my MP battery several times before I take off. And I’ve never once tried to get DJI’s help, until the spark. Because I felt as if up until that point I played a roll in the incidents. Not with the spark. It free fell right as it started forward movement. I’ve never heard anyone say anything about pushing stuck full forward from a stop. That has to be pretty burning flying. I’d rather replace them every so often than fly Like I’m scared of something. Again. I never once asked for any warranty. In fact I stated a couple time that I’m not looking for anything free. I replaced it the next day. I wanted to know what happened. I didn’t want that loss of confidence. I’m glad you had such a pleasurable time with them. But saying a prop breaking is user error knowing nothing other than assumptions. Dji is very well known for trash customer service. They have “improved” but they are known for dodgy stuff. Take a min with google. 9 drones And they can not have a conversation on the phone. That’s trash. After almost 4 months of repetitive emails getting literally no where. If I relied on obstacle avoidance and it still hit something. That’s on me. Not dji. It’s not perfect. However. If it just drops out if the sky like a brick. That’s first and for most dangerous. They should have wanted to know what caused that. I’m sure they found out but they didn’t share it. As for the file being asked for. Where do I find it. I’ll provide anything that will help. I believe over on the spark page I shared all the emails. I’ll post it if not I’ll gather them all up from my email and post them. Get ready to read the same thing over and over.

 

[sar104]

As for the file being asked for. Where do I find it. I’ll provide anything that will help.

Follow the link in my signature line.

 

[Smartin850]

And just for the record. I’m not trying to get anything from dji concerning the mavic pro. Just like with the spark, I replaced it as soon as I could. Can’t get em at Walmart like you used to be able to sparks. So it took about a week. I have one of the alpine white pros now. Customer service doesn’t consist of giving you things when you complain. It’s a drone, and electronic. It will fail. Eventually. It’s going to fail. Kinda crazy when you pay $500 and it does it the second time you use it. It would have been nice to have dialogue with someone who could have given insight.

 

[sar104]

It would have been nice to have dialogue with someone who could have given insight.

I assumed that's why you came to this forum.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Follow the link in my signature line.

@sar104, your new sig line to try out



@Smartin850 go to sar sig line section 3.

Mavic Flight Log Retrieval and Analysis Guide

With the introduction of the Mavic Mini there has been a noticeable uptick in the number of posts requesting help with lost or crashed aircraft. While there is plenty of help and advice available on this forum, and detailed guidance and options on several other websites, I thought that perhaps a...

mavicpilots.com

Get DAT file ending FLY104.DAT if it's there, post up.

 

[umanbean]

@sar104, your new sig line to try out

?
Sorry, couldn't help myself...

 

[Smartin850]

I don’t see what link You speak of. Sorry lol. I never really spent much time posting in forums. Creep lol. Also does anything seem fishy about the spark. I watched it fall the entire time. The lights were 100% on. There was power I clearly remember turning my head right as it made impact and the lights were facing me.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I don’t see what link You speak of.

sar 104s signature at the bottom of his posts, the blue text.

I also attached in my post . . .

Mavic Flight Log Retrieval and Analysis Guide

With the introduction of the Mavic Mini there has been a noticeable uptick in the number of posts requesting help with lost or crashed aircraft. While there is plenty of help and advice available on this forum, and detailed guidance and options on several other websites, I thought that perhaps a...

mavicpilots.com

I think from above posts, both DAT files would be handy.
Go to the link above (just click it), read section 3. on retrieving those files.

Get DAT file ending FLY104.DAT for the Mavic Pro if it's there, and the Spark flight, post up as an attachment in a reply.

 

[RayOZ]

I've dealt with DJI Customer Support multiple times, and I've not had any issues with them (1x sending drone, 2x sending battery, and a few other queries). Chat online from the app, create ticket, print postage label, ship to DJI, wait for response, pay if I needed to, get replacement, usually all within 3 weeks). Not sure why it's so different with your ticket.
I don't suppose you had DJI Care Refresh for the Spark? You said you sent the Spark in pieces to them, even if they didn't want to replace under warranty, getting a replacement with the Care Refresh is still cheaper than buying a new one.
Spark, in Sport mode, at considerable height, in heavily build-up area next to a highway. Doesn't seem like a good idea. That sort of flying is best done in an open field. I mean, it could've fell in front of a car, at speed, causing the driver to try to dodge and lose control of the car, resulting in a major crash.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I mean, it could've fell in front of a car,

It did apparently.

It actually fell into the road you see it right next to. Which is a busy hwy. I made sure it was clear but as you said right as I went forward it fell. It got ran over like 15 times.

 

[RayOZ]

It did apparently.

I read that part. It might not be directly in front of a car to surprise a driver. It definitely landed on the road to be ran over. Either way, not good.

 

[ChrisOutdoors]

Forget the logs, you've lost multiple DJI UAS'! I'd go with user error on this one. You're doing something wrong somewhere, whether it's in the air or on the ground or how you protect the UAS while transiting.

 

[julius13]

First incident was with a spark. I bought a fly more combo brand new from Walmart, the next day it was on its second flight and I took off was climbing and at 249ft it just fell. I had owned a spark before this one. And crash it and was at fault. Also was very familiar with the issues with the batteries not securing properly. I checked and confirmed these were made well after they made an adjustment with the latches. Also it was a habit to triple check that the battery was secure. Flight record shows it climbing then it just goes away. After over 150 emails to dji I gave up. They were literally toying with jw. Every 3 or so days they would pass me off to another rep and they would ask the same exact questions. Ask if I’d opend a ticket. Ask me to send the drone in. Day one stuff. I got one person to admit that nothing looked abnormal and it wasn’t looker error from what they saw. After that I never heard another word. I just gave up. It spanned over 4 months.
More recently I lost a mavic pro over water. I was crusin along watching my feed at the time it started to malfunction out of nowhere the screen went crazy. I look up to see the drone spiraling down totally unresponsive to any input. I had. No errors. No nothing. It just fell. I am not even going to attempt to contact dji at this point as I know it will just end up causing more stress and the end result will not change. Dji knows that we don’t have a choice. That’s why they are known to be absolute garbage when it comes to customer service. The circle they had me in was insulting. It got the the point where when a new rep would be assigned I had a response saved and would copy paste it. Telling them every step I had already been thru how I had already done the things they were about to ask me to do, it wouldn’t even be looked at. It couldn’t have been. Because they just asked the exact same thing. They wouldn’t call. I couldn’t get a number. So now I either spend $700-$1500 or I don’t get Arial footage. Yes there are more options now than there has been before. But if I get a skydio it’s a wait list. The evo 2 looks great on paper but doesn’t put out the same in real world. Shame on you dji. I never even tried to get the spark replaced. I just wanted to know what happened. If it was something I can prevent In the future. I couldn’t get an answer. Anyways. I’ve attached the mavic flight record. If anything looks suspicious please point it out. It wasn’t free fall but it went down fast. I had flown a full battery before starting thay flight and all was well. Made sure battery clicked. Made sure props where turned all the way and up and locked. Idk what could have happened.
And here is the spark flight record. If you see something please point it out. The name came from it replacing a spark I sold in CL a few weeks prior.

I’m sorry to hear about your experience with DJI customer service. I had a Mavic 2 pro fall out of the sky back in October last year. I contacted DJI, sent them the flight records and they determined it was a propulsion error (hardware issue). The drone was 115’ in a tree and I couldn’t retrieve it. DJI sent me a new drone and battery anyway. I got it the following day as well. I’ve heard other horror stories about their customer service, but my was exceptional. Suppose I was lucky.