Unable to cancel emergency landing

[nencmeister]

Oh boy, first time this has ever happened to me. I was flying it around about half an hour ago in my neighborhood, I live on the edge of a massive park/golf course in my city. I do this a lot, I launch my drone either my front or back yard, and just fly it at the park, it's literally 150ft from my house, perfect flying spot. My battery was at 70%, I honestly just launched to show my buddy who was intrigued b the MA2. Got down to 30 ish %, cancelled the RTH so I can fly it back manually, and I think at 15% or so it forced an emergency landing in the middle of the park, which was no big deal it's right across the street from me, I can clearly see it. I had full bars, clear LOS, flying at max alt of 398ft where it started the forced landing, it was only a couple of hundred feet away. And the cancel forced landing option (which btw was BLACK not RED) engaged, and it simply would not let me select it. I tried for a good 30 seconds, and I'm like what the hell...

I used the manual controls to land it at my front yard where we were watching the drone, safely. It was a first bad impression to my guest, and thank goodness a controlled environment where it's not a big deal at all to walk 200ft to grab it from the gold course.

But the point of it is that it would not let me cancel the forced landing!!! I've done this half a dozen times on previous versions of the app, on both my iphone and tablet that I use to fly. I wish I took a screen shot of the forced landing "x" being grayed out, but it 100% was. This isn't "critical news" by any means, but I am now going to start flying a bit more paranoid.. I had such a high impression of this machine, and that DJI thought of everything.

If this was in a different circumstance, maybe even with a different flyer this could have ended up really bad. You should be able to cancel the emergency landing on the first try so you can land it yourself more safely. I'm just thinking if I was some teengager messing around with one of these, god forbid if it does that at 15% and they are not able to cancel RTH, and don't know you can simply take control of it, it could end very badly.

 

[old man mavic]

it most likely had to do with the height you were at it takes a while to get down from that height plus the distance from the home point ,and it decided that there would not be enough battery power left to make it back home

 

[MavicMike55]

Moral of the story: NEVER fly this drone down below 20% battery! Matter of fact, I try to land before it gets below 30%. Not only will this prevent this type of situation again, it is better for your batteries if you dont run them down that low.

 

[Meta4]

I am now going to start flying a bit more paranoid.. I had such a high impression of this machine, and that DJI thought of everything.

It would be a good idea to post your recorded flight data to find out what was the reason for the incident.
There might be more to it than you guessed.

 

[boblui]

... it would not let me cancel the forced landing!!!

The user manual has already said so :

I've done this half a dozen times on previous versions of the app, on both my iphone and tablet that I use to fly. I wish I took a screen shot of the forced landing "x" being grayed out, but it 100% was....

You probably have mixed up "RTH due to low battery" and "auto landing due to critically low battery". You can cancel the former but not the latter. What you can only do in the latter situation is stopping the descend by applying a LOT of throttle up and flying the drone back to you with the remaining amount of battery.

 

[Mel 08]

One of the main selling points of this drone.. Well it was for me... Is the 34 minutes flying time
Return to home kicks in at 30% therefore your flying time is reduced by approximately 10 minutes
If you dare to fly it below the 30% you risk your drone falling out of

 

[boblui]

If you dare to fly it below the 30% you risk your drone falling out of

the level of risk depends on flight planning and situation awareness, not the amount of battery margin allowed. You think 30% is safe ? You can still lost the drone with a 50% margin if the wind is high.

I routinely fly my M2P down to single-digit battery % without any issue because I check the weather forecast in advance and keep monitoring the wind direction and speed while flying. Unfortunately the latter is difficult for MA2 because the FLY app does not have the attitude chart.

 

[Paulf10]

Great Post! I’m now thinking I should reread the owners manual. If I never have an an occasion to use some information I may have a tendency to forget about it. ?

 

[hiflyer201]

I'm just thinking if I was some teengager messing around with one of these, god forbid if it does that at 15% and they are not able to cancel RTH,

Hmmmm..... we must be thinking about different teenagers

 

[DeeRobJr]

Moral of the story: NEVER fly this drone down below 20% battery! Matter of fact, I try to land before it gets below 30%. Not only will this prevent this type of situation again, it is better for your batteries if you dont run them down that low.

Same here. I try not to run the battery below 30 percent too.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

The user manual has already said so :

View attachment 110010



You probably have mixed up "RTH due to low battery" and "auto landing due to critically low battery". You can cancel the former but not the latter. What you can only do in the latter situation is stopping the descend by applying a LOT of throttle up and flying the drone back to you with the remaining amount of battery.

Very good catch. this is why so many drones end up in the water .

 

[Phantomrain.org]

Oh boy, first time this has ever happened to me. I was flying it around about half an hour ago in my neighborhood, I live on the edge of a massive park/golf course in my city. I do this a lot, I launch my drone either my front or back yard, and just fly it at the park, it's literally 150ft from my house, perfect flying spot. My battery was at 70%, I honestly just launched to show my buddy who was intrigued b the MA2. Got down to 30 ish %, cancelled the RTH so I can fly it back manually, and I think at 15% or so it forced an emergency landing in the middle of the park, which was no big deal it's right across the street from me, I can clearly see it. I had full bars, clear LOS, flying at max alt of 398ft where it started the forced landing, it was only a couple of hundred feet away. And the cancel forced landing option (which btw was BLACK not RED) engaged, and it simply would not let me select it. I tried for a good 30 seconds, and I'm like what the hell...

I used the manual controls to land it at my front yard where we were watching the drone, safely. It was a first bad impression to my guest, and thank goodness a controlled environment where it's not a big deal at all to walk 200ft to grab it from the gold course.

But the point of it is that it would not let me cancel the forced landing!!! I've done this half a dozen times on previous versions of the app, on both my iphone and tablet that I use to fly. I wish I took a screen shot of the forced landing "x" being grayed out, but it 100% was. This isn't "critical news" by any means, but I am now going to start flying a bit more paranoid.. I had such a high impression of this machine, and that DJI thought of everything.

If this was in a different circumstance, maybe even with a different flyer this could have ended up really bad. You should be able to cancel the emergency landing on the first try so you can land it yourself more safely. I'm just thinking if I was some teengager messing around with one of these, god forbid if it does that at 15% and they are not able to cancel RTH, and don't know you can simply take control of it, it could end very badly.

Although you could not stop the landing, you would have been in a perfect position from that remote landing to restart the drone and fly it back to you as we have watched the drone force land and than allow it to be restarted and fly again on the MA2 ,

 

[Droning on and on...]

Although you could not stop the landing, you would have been in a perfect position from that remote landing to restart the drone and fly it back to you as we have watched the drone force land and than allow it to be restarted and fly again on the MA2 ,

He already ran his battery down too far, and you want him to run it down even farther? (Damaging it even more!) Wow.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

He already ran his battery down too far, and you want him to run it down even farther? (Damaging it even more!) Wow.

Before any members get confused : Were not talking about while flying but after the Forced Landing or Remote Landing.

Thats not how it works , you will not damage the battery by running it down lower than %15 , you can go run it to zero percent and the battery will still be fine.

I can think of a couple times when knowing your battery and remote starting can really change the outcome of your day.

#1 if the drone is forcing auto land on the water , and if your quick, you can restart it and lift it up again out of the water.
Easier to do with A rescue Jacket but we have done it without .

#2 if the drone is forcing auto land or your just not going to make it back. Land on top of something you have visual line of sight to , and you can again if your have some battery life remote start again to get the drone down when you ready to get to it.

So knowing the limits of the battery, and how to remote start and land, critical skills for your Arsenal in getting your drone back.

Phantomrain.org
Gear to fly your Mavic in the Rain.

 

[Meta4]

you will not damage the battery by running it down lower than %15 , you can go run it to zero percent and the battery will still be fine.

That's great adviceif you want your drone fall from the sky.

 

[Phantomrain.org]

That's great adviceif you want your drone fall from the sky.

The 15 % is what is left after you land, nothing to do within the sky and after a forced landing, that is what the thread is in regard to.
If your stuck , you can use the 15% to restart the drone once in your in a better position to get the drone. Or to stop it from sinking into the water as we show on video., Sorry if that was not clear. Many people our under the impression that the drone is dead and it is not.

 

[Olav van Gerven]

That's great adviceif you want your drone fall from the sky.

But he is right, the battery still will be fine

 

[Droning on and on...]

That's great adviceif you want your drone fall from the sky.

He's probably developing an Impact Jacket™ so your drone will bounce when it hits the ground after draining your battery to zero.

 

[Olav van Gerven]

I am one of those old guys that had to work to be able to buy a drone (a real one I mean, not the toy), so that might explain why I am very carefull with it. I do not rely on flighttime as mentioned in an advertisement, since those times are always clocked under optimal circumstances, something I never will meet.
This being said, I always try to get the drone (MA) in with a left 30% battery. That gives me some space to react if something unexpected happens. Like this week, as I underestimated the wind on the last part of the return from a waypoint mission. Would I have planned it for the full extend of the battery, I would have had a serious problem. Now, I was able to get the drone in with still 18% battery left.
I consider this not only a responisbility towards my bankaccount (€1.000 is a lot for me) but also to people and/or property that might be "in the way" when I am not able to return due to low battery.

 

[Searat290]

As usual, common sense solves this debate. How far you push the battery envelope should depend on the circumstances. Close to home in plain sight? Over trees or water with a "difficult view"? Its easy to see when to push it and when to take greater care.