Total loss of control - started gaining altitude and ended up going 14000ft+ the wrong direction

[Thomas B]

Now come to think of it every time i put the controller in the dji mavic bag that came with it.the sticks were always pressed and very tight as they did not fit.????

A potential problem for sure. Others will offer other opinions, but I always remove my sticks before putting the controller in my case. Avoids concerns over creating memory in the centering springs.

 

[bigboots]

yes i did hence to why i did a controller calibration and all other gimbal imu etc

 

[steve495]

Does it show in the logs where I was holding the throttle down to descent the drone?

I had it held down for quite a while. It was going sideways and increasing altitude whilst I was trying to descent the drone.

You can look for yourself if you'd like, but no. As an example...

From 3:45 to 3:52 you commanded full descent and went from 622’ to 550’
From 3:53 to 3:58 you commanded full ascent and went from 550” to 610’
From 4:30 to 4:33, full ascent again going from 610” to 666”
From 4:36 to 4:46 , full ascent from 672’ to 792’ (I think at this point you thought the left stick “up” would drive you forward and back towards shore as you were 3,600 feet from your home point.)
A brief full stick down immediately after did bring it down a few feet
Full up again from 4:48 to 4:54 brought you back up to 860'

 

[bigboots]

Expensive lesson learnt. I had no issues with the phantom and i flew it quit a lot. just one of them things but it's looking after the marine life now maybe a new shell for the sea creatures. i know what stick moves in what direction up down forward backwards etc. that's what i cannot understand why . i tried to bring it down from 30mtr but it never responded and went up higher. but never mind it's gone lol! ...

 

[sirbadger]

If you are certain

Expensive lesson learnt. I had no issues with the phantom and i flew it quit a lot. just one of them things but it's looking after the marine life now maybe a new shell for the sea creatures. i know what stick moves in what direction up down forward backwards etc. that's what i cannot understand why . i tried to bring it down from 30mtr but it never responded and went up higher. but never mind it's gone lol! ...

Raise a support ticket, if you're certain maybe they'll take the RC in to check it out.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I always remove my sticks before putting the controller in my case.

Unfortunately the M1P controllers has fixed, non-removable sticks
Best to use a guard, ir have some sort of case that has protection with foam or other isolation.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Sorry for your loss bigboots, whether pilot error / panic, or aircraft fault, it'd be so hard to lose your drone like that.

@sar104 how timely is this thread though, I was only saying on the other recent post about how I can't recall seeing a larger Mavic blow away before, always the mini.
A reminder for us all to be mindful of wind strength.

 

[Bekanne]

I had no problems with my phantom 3 from the same place and its at the end of my drive. it had satellites and updated home point. as i always do and the altitude after about 30 mtrs was the drone it's self i tried to get it down but no look then it got to 403 i hit rth and it just flew away non responsive.

403 feet seems high to hit RTH. I would think there's going to be gusts of wind at that altitude.
This is an interesting case.
Sorry you lost your drone.

 

[Meta4]

I had no issues with the phantom and i flew it quit a lot. just one of them things
i know what stick moves in what direction up down forward backwards etc. that's what i cannot understand why .

There's a big gap between what you thought happened and what's recorded in the data.
It might help to replay the flight record to see what you were doing with the sticks and what was happening to the drone.
You can go through the flight record here:

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view DJI Phantom, Mavic, and Spark flight logs online

www.phantomhelp.com

i tried to bring it down from 30mtr but it never responded and went up higher.

You seem to have been unaware that the wind is stronger up higher.
And no idea about the first rule when in a strong headwind situation: Get your drone down out of the strong winds up high.

At 77 feet, your drone could not hold position and was already slowly being pushed away.
But at 50 seconds you decided to send it higher and climbed to 400 ft where it was being set off by 4-9 mph in gusty winds.

There was no real attempt to bring the drone down.
The first time you used the left stick to come down was at 1:15.5 when it was already 400 ft up.
You held the stick down for 0.3 seconds.
It brought the drone down one foot.

The first real move to reduce height was at 3:45.2 (after you had climbed to 620 ft.
You held the left stick down for seven seconds and reduced height by 70 ft but immediately climbed again, taking the drone back up to 610 ft where it was being blown backwards at >20 mph.
And mysteriously you later sent the drone up to over 900 ft !!

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

i tried to bring it down from 30mtr but it never responded and went up higher.

You seem to have been unaware that the wind is stronger up higher.
And no idea about the first rule when in a strong headwind situation: Get your drone down out of the strong winds up high.

I think the OP was saying they tried to bring it down from 30m, but it kept going higher by itself (notwithstanding the stick inputs showed it was the pilot making this occur).

 

[Meta4]

I think the OP was saying they tried to bring it down from 30m, but it kept going higher by itself

I was pointing out the gap between what actually happened and what the pilot thought was happening.
There was no serious attempt to bring the drone down at all for the whole flight and definitely nothing before it was 400 ft up, when he held the stick down for 0.3 seconds.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Yes a sad flight to peruse on the Phantom viewer.
It must have been sheer panic and thinking the left up was pitch forward.

I've done that a few times, but it's only briefly and not in a bad situation / close to things.

The speed, distance and attitude display are all so obvious on the screen, just got those sticks mixed up.

 

[bigboots]

I do appreciate all what you guys are saying by the log on the flight data. I no what i was doing and it was not doing what it should of been i did not panic and knew there was something wrong after it started to rise by it's self and travel away i canceled rth a couple of time and re applied it when the stick were not having any response. I also tried to come backwards (the right stick) but that has not shown up on the stick log also tried to turn it round a couple of times and it also was hit and miss the movements on the log. And the left stick had a mind of it's own. we are going to try the remote on a friend of mine's keeping it close to ground as possible then see if it's faulty.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

I no what i was doing and it was not doing what it should of been i did not panic

Sorry bb, didn't mean to offend with my last remarks.
Maybe you are correct and something is not being recorded properly, but it's unlikely DJI would be forthcoming with any assistance here as the logs are what they would go by.

 

[bigboots]

i'm not offended mate. i know they would go off the flight logs. And its now it's gone. I have flown drones and i no what stick operate what. I am only asking could it be the sticks not restringing with the logs as it should? (This is why i asked if it is possible. As they have been squeezed into the bag that dji supply with the fly more kit ) I am going to replace it and don't want the same thing to happen and buy a new carry case for it all to fit in rather than the bag supplied. (the sticks don't screw off) and they were always pressed. it did not get used often unless i was going somewhere as i used my phantom mostly but i now sold that and hence the flight with the mavic was just a little test as was not intended for it to shoot up and away.

 

[chriscuk]

Ouch I feel sorry for your loss and it's an expensive mishap to happen.

I was at a gathering of drone pilots a few weeks back and one of the "more experienced" members suggested setting the RTH altitude to 120m regardless of location. He would not accept that it was a absolutely stupid thing to do considering the winds we was having at the time and he proceeded to convince two other members there to adjust their RTH altitudes to 120m.

At this point I gave up hope. Sometimes you might get above a channel of air by going higher but it's fairly normal to just go lower to get the slower winds.

Remember that the newer controllers for m2's /minis have removable sticks otherwise you can buy stick coveres on ebay/amazon that you can protect the sticks with..

 

[Bekanne]

There's a big gap between what you thought happened and what's recorded in the data.
It might help to replay the flight record to see what you were doing with the sticks and what was happening to the drone.
You can go through the flight record here:

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view DJI Phantom, Mavic, and Spark flight logs online

www.phantomhelp.com

You seem to have been unaware that the wind is stronger up higher.
And no idea about the first rule when in a strong headwind situation: Get your drone down out of the strong winds up high.

At 77 feet, your drone could not hold position and was already slowly being pushed away.
But at 50 seconds you decided to send it higher and climbed to 400 ft where it was being set off by 4-9 mph in gusty winds.

There was no real attempt to bring the drone down.
The first time you used the left stick to come down was at 1:15.5 when it was already 400 ft up.
You held the stick down for 0.3 seconds.
It brought the drone down one foot.

The first real move to reduce height was at 3:45.2 (after you had climbed to 620 ft.
You held the left stick down for seven seconds and reduced height by 70 ft but immediately climbed again, taking the drone back up to 610 ft where it was being blown backwards at >20 mph.
And mysteriously you later sent the drone up to over 900 ft !!

Excellent reading and detailing of what happened.
It's a good thing there were no emergency vehicles like an accident airlift in the area at the time.
I live near a highway and helicopter fly to hospital from highway regularly. 600 to 900 feet could have been worse than losing a drone. Still, it's sad to lose one's drone.

 

[steve495]

... I am only asking could it be the sticks not restringing with the logs as it should? ...

The movement of the controls in the log (pretty much) match perfectly with the displayed altitude and compass direction all the way through the flight. Increase throttle = increase altitude. Decrease throttle = decrease altitude. Yaw changes matched heading changes. Even when you reversed on the right stick at altitude while the heading was pointing west towards the beach, the drone speed up dramatically and when you eased off, its drift slowed.

You're suggesting out of all the inputs shown in the logs, somehow the logs are missing inputs you remember making. I would think that highly unlikely.

Very sorry you lost the drone.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

You're suggesting out of all the inputs shown in the logs, somehow the logs are missing inputs you remember making. I would think that highly unlikely.

I don't think that is quite right. OP is asking if it is at all possible that the RC sticks failed to recenter, thereby making the AC to continue climbing after he let go of the sticks. These would still show in the logs and the logs would show that the AC did what it was commanded, as it does in this case.

 

[Deleted member 94047]

And the left stick had a mind of it's own. we are going to try the remote on a friend of mine's keeping it close to ground as possible then see if it's faulty.

Hi @bigboots. If you suspect the RC's sticks are registering false inputs, you can verify that easily without needing to connect the RC with any AC. Connect the RC with your phone and power it up. Once GO4 launches, tap on "Enter Device".



On the next page, tap on "Enter the Camera View".



Once in the camera view, tap on the three dots at the top right corner to enter the settings. Under settings, tap on the remote controller icon, and then on "Remote Controller Calibration".



Don't start the calibration, just look at the values on both sticks. Everything should be at 0% like below with the remote sticks untouched.


If either of the sticks is registering false inputs, it will show there.

Edit: Some times, a sticky stick happens mid flight. So even if all the values are at 0% when you first enter the above screen, give each stick a good toggle in all four directions and see if they return to 0% when you let go.