Splish Splash... Bye bye birdie.

[Mtn. Man]

It happened... The moment every drone pilot never wants to have....

First mistake- I was flying over a river... With trees overhanging...

Second mistake- I was looking at my screen, not my drone.

Third mistake- I didn't know my surroundings.

It happened on my last flight of the day. I was too busy filming and not busy flying. I diverted one branch and thought I was clear. Then I went to land and bam, the prop caught a super small twig that was just too big... The Mavic Air tumbled and splash.... Right into the water. I tried to jump in and the river current was strong and it was deep as well. After about 30 minutes of pure panic I gave up. I called DJI because I have refresh, and he told me what I already knew. I need the drone for replacement. I'm going back tomorrow with a pole, treble hook, and heavy weight. Wish me luck...

 

[Thomas B]

Try a caste net to cover more area/unit time.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Sorry for your luck - if you are able to retrieve it though you should be OK with refresh. Remember, this is what you bought refresh for, so try not to be too upset

 

[Mtn. Man]

Try a caste net to cover more area/unit time.

Would the current take the cast net? If I get one with larger weights might be able to.

 

[Thomas B]

Would the current take the cast net? If I get one with larger weights might be able to.

Try it. The drone has likely moved considerably in the current and/or eddies. Be careful.

 

[Shon]

Might be worth it to hire a local diver... depends on how deep/clear the water is, and how dangerous the dive is.

I know people that dive my local river and find all sorts of expensive stuff after the summer season.

Sorry for your loss, best of luck.

 

[Mtn. Man]

Might be worth it to hire a local diver... depends on how deep/clear the water is, and how dangerous the dive is.

I know people that dive my local river and find all sorts of expensive stuff after the summer season.

Sorry for your loss, best of luck.

That's not a bad idea, not sure if I could find someone though, I'm in the plains of North Texas so not much diving is going on. Worth a shot though! I'll look into it. I'm hoping for some luck when I go fishing for it. I'm afraid there are too many root systems and stumps at the bed of this thing, but we will find out...

 

[Shon]

That's not a bad idea, not sure if I could find someone though, I'm in the plains of North Texas so not much diving is going on. Worth a shot though! I'll look into it. I'm hoping for some luck when I go fishing for it. I'm afraid there are too many root systems and stumps at the bed of this thing, but we will find out...

Okay....another thought...just thinking out of the box... your local County "search and rescue" team might have divers that could use some "practice" with evidence recovery. Again...if it isn't too dangerous...maybe they could recommend a local diver? These guys are trained in swift water rescue but are are used to diving in bad conditions...looking for guns, bodies, etc...

You might find some leads at your local PADI Dive shop as well.

 

[Mtn. Man]

That's a great tip! I'm going to see if I can reach out to them to see if they at least have a recommendation for me. The area isn't dangerous at all, just a flowing muddy river is all which is pretty standard around here.

 

[Shon]

That's a great tip! I'm going to see if I can reach out to them to see if they at least have a recommendation for me. The area isn't dangerous at all, just a flowing muddy river is all which is pretty standard around here.

Best of luck!

 

[Bigbird48]

Sorry man that $ucks. I did the same thing but I was lucky my air recovered came up out of the water and got tangled in the tree branches. See my crash

crash at about 2:40 in

 

[Speediemb]

I did same thing in this river. But I went home, got my dive gear. Took about 5 minutes to find. Lights still blinking. It was under water almost an hour...put in rice for few days.. nada... sent back for replacement. Very fast turn around

 

[Wailuku]

Okay....another thought...just thinking out of the box... your local County "search and rescue" team might have divers that could use some "practice" with evidence recovery. Again...if it isn't too dangerous...maybe they could recommend a local diver? These guys are trained in swift water rescue but are are used to diving in bad conditions...looking for guns, bodies, etc...

You might find some leads at your local PADI Dive shop as well.

All great ideas! Been a diver since '89 (and a Mavic 2 Pro owner since last week), your best bet IMO is to find the closest dive shop and just ask them if they could suggest somebody. Also, apart from the dive rescue option there are definitely pro dive operations there. In a former life I considered doing some work for a company out of the DFW area who dives/inspects water towers all over TX/OK/AR etc.. probably would be a little pricey though. If I were closer I'd definitely help out, but I'm in MA now.

 

[Mtn. Man]

All great ideas! Been a diver since '89 (and a Mavic 2 Pro owner since last week), your best bet IMO is to find the closest dive shop and just ask them if they could suggest somebody. Also, apart from the dive rescue option there are definitely pro dive operations there. In a former life I considered doing some work for a company out of the DFW area who dives/inspects water towers all over TX/OK/AR etc.. probably would be a little pricey though. If I were closer I'd definitely help out, but I'm in MA now.

Thanks! I reached out to some dive shops out here, I might go in to get a direct answer instead of going over emails and phone calls. One of my buddies use to detail boats and he recommend some divers that do lost and found missions. I'm about to go out and see if I can snag it with a massive treble hook. If I have no avail I'll need to resort to a diver. We will get this drone back!!!

 

[mikemoose55]

sorry for your splash down you might be interested in this for future reference.
Finally got the nerve to fly it over water

 

[rfc]

How deep is the water? I've seen GoPro cameras on the end of selfie sticks used up to about 10' deep. You might even be able to go deeper than that. If you can work from the bank or a boat, Get a battery powered monitor and do some underwater live video. Way easier than grappling hooks and possibly easier than hiring a diver.

 

[Shon]

How deep is the water? I've seen GoPro cameras on the end of selfie sticks used up to about 10' deep. You might even be able to go deeper than that. If you can work from the bank or a boat, Get a battery powered monitor and do some underwater live video. Way easier than grappling hooks and possibly easier than hiring a diver.

I like the creative thinking on this thread. I’m not knocking the idea, but here are some important points to consider:

Hero 5-7 cameras are waterproof up to 30+ feet without a dive case. My understanding is that the Bluetooth live video connection to the phone doesn’t work very well when the camera is more than a few feet under water. This is one the reasons underwater drones have a tether. So the challenge is that, rather than viewing live video feed, you are reviewing footage after the fact, so even if you are lucky enough to spot your drone, it is hard to pinpoint where you actually saw it.

In muddy rivers, visibility is zero, meaning that even a diver can’t see anything, and are often working by “feel” rather than by sight.

 

[macfawlty]

Sorry man that $ucks. I did the same thing but I was lucky my air recovered came up out of the water and got tangled in the tree branches. See my crash

crash at about 2:40 in

Yeh, all the cool places to fly come with risks. You wanna get the cinematic shots? That's what it takes.

 

[Maviac]

You might find some leads at your local PADI Dive shop as well.

If you're lucky they'll refer you to some good NAUI-trained divers (kidding! kidding! sort of....)

 

[Mtn. Man]

Yeh, all the cool places to fly come with risks. You wanna get the cinematic shots? That's what it takes.

You are **** right, I couldn't agree with you more. Every pilot crashes, it's part of learning how to fly. I'm at the river right now casting to see if I can snag it, if not I'm going to try and get a diver out here soon. I have some quotes already coming in so keep watching to see a recovered drone haha.