Why did my Mini 4 Pro crash?

[rjwmorrell]

Hi @Luckyguy9 I did indeed fly past the first low battery warning, but I have done that since the Mini 2. I usually go to the second warning, but never to the critically low warning. Unless the battery had some issue, it still had about 5min flight time until critical. I wanted a last shot But maybe I pushed the Mini 4 too far. I did that to the Mini 2 all the time.

Well, let's see if anyone else sees anything I could not see and I will wait for DJI to come back (I sent the drone in today) and tell me what happened. In any case, I will get a fixed or new drone back, since in the very worse case, I have the Care Refresh on it (I never leave home without it).

Thanks for your input!

On a side note, you never updated your home point the entire flight. Your battery being critically low could risk sending the drone back to the Home Point during a RTH. If you fail to notice the beeping on the controller, and fail to cancel thr RTH, your drone would start back towards the home point, which was quite far away according to the logs.

Risky!

 

[aeciolemos]

On a side note, you never updated your home point the entire flight. Your battery being critically low could risk sending the drone back to the Home Point during a RTH. If you fail to notice the beeping on the controller, and fail to cancel thr RTH, your drone would start back towards the home point, which was quite far away according to the logs.

Risky!

That is true. I should have updated. However, since the drone was close to me, I could override the RTH and land the drone immediately. It was not far off the ground and only a few meters away from me. I usually update the home point when I walk about, but that day I just forgot to do it. Good reminder!

I should get the drone back in a few days, with the front arm replaced and all else checked by DJI service. I ended up not using the Care Refresh as the repair was cheaper than the CR fee! Not much damage, thankfully! I will save my Care Refresh replacements for other possible incidents, which I hope won't happen.

 

[MotoSavy]

At the beginning of your flight you changed it to Sport Mode and never changed it back to Normal or Cinematic. Sport Mode doesn't have Obstacle Avoidance and the reason it hit one of the posts you mentioned were to your left.

 

[aeciolemos]

View attachment 171463

At the beginning of your flight you changed it to Sport Mode and never changed it back to Normal or Cinematic. Sport Mode doesn't have Obstacle Avoidance and the reason it hit one of the posts you mentioned were to your left.

I had not realised that! Thank you, I will be more careful next time. I did put it in sports mode due to strong gusts but i thought i had put it back to Normal. I didn't know OS didnt work in sports mode.

 

[aeciolemos]

My drone just came back and suprise, surprise. I paid for a repair, but I got a NEW DRONE. I managed to de-classify it despite being January 2nd, so I'm happy.
Don't let the box fool you, I just got a new drone, no N2 controller inside


Lesson learned: don't trust OA 100%. It is good, it helps, but pilot the drone and not autopilot it. The technology is not there yet.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

 

[TonyPHX]

My drone just came back and suprise, surprise. I paid for a repair, but I got a NEW DRONE. I managed to de-classify it despite being January 2nd, so I'm happy.
Don't let the box fool you, I just got a new drone, no N2 controller inside
View attachment 171530

Lesson learned: don't trust OA 100%. It is good, it helps, but pilot the drone and not autopilot it. The technology is not there yet.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

Good lesson learned! The other way to look at it is, even if you think the technology is perfected, you still have responsibility for the safety of the flight and any outcomes. That alone keeps me from depending on a safety feature.

 

[aeciolemos]

Good lesson learned! The other way to look at it is, even if you think the technology is perfected, you still have responsibility for the safety of the flight and any outcomes. That alone keeps me from depending on a safety feature.

Exactly, we need to monitor and not trust blindly. I had piloted the Mavic Mini and Mini 2 for years with no crashes, so no excuses for me. Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself! For that, I have Care Refresh.

To the landmarks I go make more videos for my channel!

 

[Hard2reed]

Hi, I've had a similar issue with my MP4 crashing for no reason.

I've been flying a Mini 1 for probably 3 or so years and only had a couple of self-inflicted oops moments with no damage to any components except for a couple of scuffs on the blades. I then upgraded to the Mini Pro 4 with an RC2 controller. Before drones, I was flying nitro RC Helicopters for 10 years (without stabilisation),... which I crashed several times with the obligatory repair costs.

I purchased the MP4 in Nov 23 and this was my 16th flight. Conditions were lightly overcast with 30+ satellites. There was also a strong wind warning at one point in the flight but nothing of concern.

Can anyone look at the log and provide some insights please. I didn't get DJI Care because I wasn't expecting the drone to fly away and crash. I'm wondering if this might be a warranty as the drone basically flew off and crashed after several minutes.

Any advice would be appreciated!

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

 

[aeciolemos]

Hi, I've had a similar issue with my MP4 crashing for no reason.

I've been flying a Mini 1 for probably 3 or so years and only had a couple of self-inflicted oops moments with no damage to any components except for a couple of scuffs on the blades. I then upgraded to the Mini Pro 4 with an RC2 controller. Before drones, I was flying nitro RC Helicopters for 10 years (without stabilisation),... which I crashed several times with the obligatory repair costs.

I purchased the MP4 in Nov 23 and this was my 16th flight. Conditions were lightly overcast with 30+ satellites. There was also a strong wind warning at one point in the flight but nothing of concern.

Can anyone look at the log and provide some insights please. I didn't get DJI Care because I wasn't expecting the drone to fly away and crash. I'm wondering if this might be a warranty as the drone basically flew off and crashed after several minutes.

Any advice would be appreciated!

DJI Flight Log Viewer | Phantom Help

Upload and view flight logs from your DJI drones

www.phantomhelp.com

Hi @Hard2reed, I am sorry that happened to you. We never expect to crash, but much like car insurance, it is best to have, just in case. I am no expert, there are others here who can help you analyze the logs, but if it shows it was a malfunction, yes, DJI will send you another drone and honor the warranty, at least that is what I am told. In my case, they deemed it to be operator error, so I paid to get a new drone, but I had the Care Refresh. In your case, there is no drone to repair, so it is worth a shot.

I think the Mini 4 still has bugs in its software, so I am not doing anything crazy with them. I am still holding on to my Mini 2 for more daring shots.

 

[MS Coast]

I think the Mini 4 still has bugs in its software, so I am not doing anything crazy with them.

Have there been any specific issues encountered? I'm seeing no problems with mine.

 

[aeciolemos]

Have there been any specific issues encountered? I'm seeing no problems with mine.

There have been several reports of fly-aways and strange flight behaviour. A lot of the bugs have been addressed and fixed, but I have observed some "strange" "mind of its own" behaviour that can lead to issues, such as mine. It just went where I didn't tell it to go and crashed.

 

[Meta4]

There have been several reports of fly-aways and strange flight behaviour.

And almost would have been due to operator confusion or even operator error.

I have observed some "strange" "mind of its own" behaviour that can lead to issues, such as mine. It just went where I didn't tell it to go and crashed.

You didn't have direct control over yours and were leaving control to automated tracking.

 

[Meta4]

Can anyone look at the log and provide some insights please. I didn't get DJI Care because I wasn't expecting the drone to fly away and crash. I'm wondering if this might be a warranty as the drone basically flew off and crashed after several minutes.

The data shows something unusual starting at 4:37 when there's a message about No GPS. Fly with
The drone has GPS but the flight controller recognises a problem with the data and rejects it.
The increased speed data from then is most likely due to the unreliable GPS data.

The message repeats a few times and the GPS problem is coming and going.
Earlier in the flight the drone had no problem maintaining altitude, but after the warning messages appeared, the height is unstable, with the drone ascending without any joystick input.

At 4:51.6 you brought it down a little, but it continued to descend with the throttle centred.
As it neared the ground, you gave it full throttle to climb, but it continued coming down.
As it descended, the heading sstayed stable, indicating that there wasn't a problem with the propellers.

This looks like a rare, genuine fault and you should synch your flight data and contact DJI support to get them on the case.

 

[aeciolemos]

And almost would have been due to operator confusion or even operator error.

I think I need to learn how to use the automated modes such as active track and autopilot. It is not just "point and click", trusting it to do what I would do. I need to learn what it does, what the programming tells it to do. I just assumed it would do what I thought it would do (stay to my left and follow from there). IN that sense, yes, totally my fault.
Also my fault for not reading the part about it not detecting twigs and branches

You didn't have direct control over yours and were leaving control to automated tracking.

Yes, but I need to learn how automated tracking really works. I will head out to a large open area this weekend, since the weather will improve, and play with that - no trees around or any obstacles such as light posts. I need to do some "human learning" on what the machine does I also want to track it following my car. In that case, I need a co-pilot so I can drive

 

[YVRGUY]

Hi everyone,

I was having so much fun flying my new Mini 4 Pro. I love everything about it. I watched countless videos of people having it follow them, avoiding all types of obstacles.

I had obstacle avoidance on, I was flying it relatively close to me, I engaged active track and I told the drone to stay at my 7-8 o'clock and follow. I started walking (I forgot to hit the record button) and after some 2 min, I hear the crash and see the drone in the grass.

I have no idea why it would crash since my left was clear of obstacles, except a few light poles, and I did tell it to stay to my left, since there were trees to my right. It is a pitty the camera was not recording (nor was I screen recording). I uploaded the logs and here is the link:


I have sent it back to DJI under both warranty and care refresh for their investigation. However, I wanted to know more before they come back to me.

Any comments are welcome.

May have been a bird strike