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Am I crazy??? Auto landing killed my drone
4887 36 2017-6-18
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Grux03
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Hey everyone just lost my drone into water due to auto land. I was on the beach in Costa Rica and all of a sudden my drone said landing and it landed in sand with water rushing out. Fried the drone and I was hoping DJI could help me out and I'm being told to bad..looked at my flight record and I was 15 feet up and was given no warning about a restricted flight zone.. at 38 sec it said tip- u are in a no fly zone and at 44 seconds my drone was ruined. Just feeling burned by DJI that I had zero chance to stop the drone from destroying itself and I was given zero warning that it was going to happen.. anyone have any advice on where or who to contact?
2017-6-18
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Panaceabeachbum
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Mine wont let me take off at my house anymore, So im curious when this happened would the left stick not keep the quad up while you steered to safer ground?   Ive only had auto land initiate twice (not due to nfz) but I was abble to push the throttle up and stay up long enough to steer
2017-6-18
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Dirty Bird
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Too late now but you still had horizontal control & may have been able to save her from going down in the surf.  Totally bogus the manner they handle a situation like you found yourself in.  You aren't going to hit any aircraft at 15'!  I'm curious what would happen if you were flying in a valid area which suddenly became a temporary NFZ?  Forced auto-land on the spot?   
2017-6-18
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BengalBoy
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Same thing happened to me.... here is the thread on my experience.  http://forum.dji.com/thread-93610-1-1.html
2017-6-18
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hallmark007
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As dirty bird said you could have halted by pushing up on left stick so if you tried this and nothing happened you might just happen to have a case.
2017-6-18
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RCNJ
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this is getting a bit ridiculous now, 1K craft and things like this should NOT happen, i'm very close to sending mine back to amazon, all these issues need addressing and ASAP.
the only time it should go down from its existing position is critical battery/empty....anything else should be controlled.

I can see the point of no fly zones, but I don't see the point of allowing take off and then forcing a landing, why can it not just initiate RTH instead ?
2017-6-18
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Grux03
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Here is my flight record.. I took off and all the flight info indicated that everything was fine.. when the landing initiated I was over the water and I was able to pitch it towards the shore but just coulees get away from the surf
IMG_8018.PNG
2017-6-18
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BoomStrike
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Goofy protocol would have been really bad if there were people under the drone. Should have just been a warning to land.
2017-6-18
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Panaceabeachbum
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I would think you have a case based on the simple fact that it allowed you to take off in a no fly zone. If your going to restrict flight in an NFZ you need to do it from the beginning, not once the craft is in air.  Remember, no new restrictions LOL
As Ive mentioned numerous times,  I am not in a no fly zone on any map known but DJI says I am and wont allow flight at my farm, but still allows me to fly at the local airport all i want.
They have sold a product which they later decided to hobble, they own the software and can do so but they need to be prepared to deal with the results in a amicable fashion, not going to happen but it would be the right thing todo.

2017-6-18
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RCNJ
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BoomStrike Posted at 2017-6-18 15:19
Goofy protocol would have been really bad if there were people under the drone. Should have just been a warning to land.

Would be much better for it to RTH in any problem than just go down into the unknown.....
If that is the logic imagine being 2km away over hills or mountains and you hit a no fly zone area you weren't aware of at the start, in this scenario is it just going to drop into the hills also?
If yes this crafts firmware needs an urgent update, why boast about 7km distance when nobody will risk flying it to just lose 1k worth of drone......crazy and needs addressing asap.

This is looking like a beta product every day with the amount of issues being raised....let's have all the bugs ironed out DJI soon please.
2017-6-18
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Panaceabeachbum
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As asked in the second post in this thread, when auto land is initiated because of NFZ is the left stick usable to slow or halt descent?  I know you were probably to busy to try but between here , the two other forums and the multiple face book groups this is a very real problem thats effecting alot of people. Has anyone tryed the left stick?
2017-6-18
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Grux03
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The left stick didn't do anything I just was able to pitch it to the right
2017-6-18
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Lucas775
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Weird, Im in a NFZ area and still able to fly and land at will.  
2017-6-18
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Jenee 2
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It may very well be that he took off before checking that all the updates had been done. The update to the NFZ database may have occurred while he was flying.
2017-6-18
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Segami21
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hallmark007 Posted at 2017-6-18 09:47
As dirty bird said you could have halted by pushing up on left stick so if you tried this and nothing happened you might just happen to have a case.

I have an inspire 1 and had the same thing happen. being from CT it is very congested with heliports and air ports many of the heliports have not been used in 10 to 15 years but the software says otherwise.. anyways we were in a field, no airports aircraft took off full GPS I got about 300 ft away no higher than 25 ft altitude. and got a message the aircraft was landing no left stick nothing it was out of my hands. all of the reports that I am reading seems like DJI has commandeered your aircraft and all you can do is hope it does not land and injure somebody.
2018-5-3
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PS013
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Grux03 Posted at 2017-6-18 11:50
Here is my flight record.. I took off and all the flight info indicated that everything was fine.. when the landing initiated I was over the water and I was able to pitch it towards the shore but just coulees get away from the surf

According to the coordinates on this screen, you were just next to an airport ... yes. a tiny one, but still an airport ...

https://www.google.com/maps/plac ... 05.8%22W/@9.8682559,-85.4832626,16.75z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d9.869033!4d-85.484937
2018-5-3
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Jeff7577
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Post your log here. What most likely happened is you took off before it had a solid gps lock and knew where it was. You took off and it then realized it was in a NFZ.
2018-5-3
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hallmark007
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Segami21 Posted at 2018-5-3 07:40
I have an inspire 1 and had the same thing happen. being from CT it is very congested with heliports and air ports many of the heliports have not been used in 10 to 15 years but the software says otherwise.. anyways we were in a field, no airports aircraft took off full GPS I got about 300 ft away no higher than 25 ft altitude. and got a message the aircraft was landing no left stick nothing it was out of my hands. all of the reports that I am reading seems like DJI has commandeered your aircraft and all you can do is hope it does not land and injure somebody.

I think from other discussions I’ve had Aircraft will not enter NFZ but just stop and allow you to fly clear.
2018-5-3
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Jeff7577
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From the manual
930F06DF-A1D1-4779-8C3D-631F571842A7.jpeg
2018-5-3
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HedgeTrimmer
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Panaceabeachbum Posted at 2017-6-18 15:30
I would think you have a case based on the simple fact that it allowed you to take off in a no fly zone. If your going to restrict flight in an NFZ you need to do it from the beginning, not once the craft is in air.  Remember, no new restrictions LOL
As Ive mentioned numerous times,  I am not in a no fly zone on any map known but DJI says I am and wont allow flight at my farm, but still allows me to fly at the local airport all i want.
They have sold a product which they later decided to hobble, they own the software and can do so but they need to be prepared to deal with the results in a amicable fashion, not going to happen but it would be the right thing todo.

I am not in a no fly zone on any map known but DJI says I am and wont allow flight at my farm, but still allows me to fly at the local airport all i want.

Now that is just crazy.  Not you, DJI's position on your farm.
DJI needs to give you a permanet exception to fly at your farm.  Then fix error of letting you fly at local airport (assuming airport is suppsed to be a NFZ).

Stories like this is going to have me rethinking my position on DJI's NFZ.

2018-5-3
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A CW
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Look at the 'Geo Zones' Sections within the app - same place as the academy. This will show you the green, yellow and red bubbles to indicate the enhanced warning zones, authorisation zones and restricted zones within the NFZ's. If you accidentally fly in to a yellow zone without authorisation you better stop immediately and reverse. If you hit a red zone your drone will land and unlike critical battery you have zero control to prevent it. Sea, ocean, motorway, a residential area, active airport all make no difference - your drone will land where it is... If you are already in a red restricted NFZ you won't even be able to take off. Note too that the bubbles in the DJI Geo Zone differ to other app's like NATS Drone Assist and temporary NFZ's are frequent too. Checking the Geo Zone map within GO 4 should be one of the first things you do before heading out and definitely before taking off and needs to be fundamental to your flight plan. I'm guessing that is why DJI will not pay out on the warranty as not checking the Geo zone area is pilot error.
2018-5-3
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HedgeTrimmer
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Grux03 Posted at 2017-6-18 18:39
The left stick didn't do anything I just was able to pitch it to the right

The left stick didn't do anything I just was able to pitch it to the right.

Begging question - could have entering NFZ triggered programming routines that interacted with software that had a bug?  Which then corrupted programming involved with left-stick flight controls?

The ratio of Bug per Line of Code is arguable.  However, common ratio is 1 bug for every 1,000 lines of code.

2018-5-3
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hallmark007
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I think whoever brought this thread back to life may not realize that much has changed in the last 12 months regarding NFZ’s.
2018-5-3
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SparksBird
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hallmark007 Posted at 2018-5-3 09:18
I think whoever brought this thread back to life may not realize that much has changed in the last 12 months regarding NFZ’s.

Are you able to keep it from landing with no control if entering a NFZ or will it still just do it's thing and land no matter what you do?
2018-5-3
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hallmark007
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SparksBird Posted at 2018-5-3 09:26
Are you able to keep it from landing with no control if entering a NFZ or will it still just do it's thing and land no matter what you do?

Your aircraft once firmware updated, will not enter NFZ it will just stop waiting for your instructions to move clear of the NFZ .so you will always have control except to enter NFZ .
2018-5-3
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SparksBird
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hallmark007 Posted at 2018-5-3 09:51
Your aircraft once firmware updated, will not enter NFZ it will just stop waiting for your instructions to move clear of the NFZ .so you will always have control except to enter NFZ .

Very interesting.  Thank you for the explanation.  
2018-5-3
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Picanoc Jack
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So very happy that I reside in a remote area far from those NFZ areas
2018-5-3
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fans9639465a
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Just had a similar problem.
I've had my Mavic Pro for over a year now, and am an experienced pilot. I fly it at least 2-3 times a week just to stay in practice, and consider myself to be a competent pilot with it.

I was out flying my Mavic Pro, completely away from ANY restricted airspace or geofencing. Around my neighborhood as always with no problems.
I was out getting used to the fixed wing mode, and having a great time.
Everything was going smoothly as usual, until I came close to the limit (25%) on the battery power. So, like always I hit the return-to-home and was watching my drone start heading back for a regular landing.
Unfortunately at just the wrong time a headwind started to pick up and getting home was going to be close, but still possible. However the battery level was dropping quickly, and then at 13% battery the drone went into it's automatic landing mode.
I tried to cancel the automatic landing mode so I could fly it another 190 feet to the road where I could land safely.
However when I went to cancel the automatic landing mode, the button was grey and I was unable to cancel it. I tried everything I knew to get out of the mode while I still had about 10-13% battery, but nothing happened!
I've had to do this before (with less than 10% battery), and successfully cancelled the auto landing mode, flew the drone about 300 feet to a safe landing site.

However when I tried to do just that, I COULD NOT CANCEl THE AUTO LANDING!

I'm fighting with the controller, trying to figure out what was happening and the drone just hovered above a bunch of pine trees because it wasn't a good landing place.

If I were able to cancel the auto-landing, fly it manually another 190 feet I would have been able to land easily and safely on a dirt road.
Instead the controls would not respond to anything, and eventually the drone ran out of battery power, the props stopped and it landed in the top of an 80-foot tall pine tree!
It looked like it had a rather soft landing in the tree, I just hope it wasn't damaged.
Since the forest is so dense it's difficult to even find it, I'll have to go back out tomorrow and search for it. I don't even know if I'll be able to see it up in the tree.

So my question is why the hell did DJI make it so you can no longer cancel the auto landing? You used to be able to do so, but now you cannot!
If I had been able to cancel the auto-landing like before my Mavic Pro would not be stuck 80 feet up a pine tree!
DJI should have warned all its users about this critically important change to the firmware, had I known I would have changed how I fly it.
DJI FIX THIS, NOTIFY YOUR CUSTOMERS WHEN YOU MAKE RADICAL CHANGES THAT COULD AFFECT THE SAFETY OF OPERATING A DRONE!

After reviewing my flight log, I noticed that I started the RTH at  about 40%, it flew for only about 1 minute or so and the battery suddenly dropped to 20%!  I'm guessing that this battery is nearing the end of it's life. Also when it stopped to do the auto-landing due to low battery, after about 20 seconds it went from 13% to 10% and then almost immediately went to 1%.
Looks like if I ever get the drone out of the tree I'll be buying a new battery.

Regardless, if I was still able to have cancelled the auto-landing like I had to do a couple times previously I could have flown my drone a short distance to a safe place to land it!
DJI changed something that made flying the drone LESS SAFE!
DJI FIX THIS!
2019-4-21
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fans53f8879b
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I have a similar issue.

I was flying and 20seconds within my flight, the drone alerts me to auto landing, i swiped to cancel but it continued landing. A regular landing on grass or pavement would have been fine except it auto landed my Mavic 2 in about 2feet of water.

PLEASE HELP!!!

What is DJI saying about this because clearly enough people about complaining for it to be a real problem.
2019-7-9
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Picanoc Jack
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PS013 Posted at 2018-5-3 08:04
According to the coordinates on this screen, you were just next to an airport ... yes. a tiny one, but still an airport ...

https://www.google.com/maps/place/9%C2%B052'08.5%22N+85%C2%B029'05.8%22W/@9.8682559,-85.4832626,16.75z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d9.869033!4d-85.484937

as soon as I see the waning NFZ before taking off I shut it down, best policy.
2019-7-10
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JJB*
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fans9639465a Posted at 4-21 09:49
Just had a similar problem.
I've had my Mavic Pro for over a year now, and am an experienced pilot. I fly it at least 2-3 times a week just to stay in practice, and consider myself to be a competent pilot with it.

AFAIK Landing due to critical low battery cannot be cancelled.
Depending of distance / height out from HP the critical value is not always 10% but more if far away with some height. Software calcuates time to land safely and triggers the autostart critical battery landing.

During critical landing you can stop the descent by throttling up, than use other input to steer back home. This way you can fly up to 0 % and little more...(bad for battery but if that`s the way to bring the craft back home...)

cheers
JJB


2019-7-10
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Neo Supreme
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Even though this is an 'old' thread, this problem still exists, sporadically, albeit with a low number (so far) of DJI operators.  I haven't heard of or seen any type of address to this issue from DJI either.  Aircraft, regardless of it's size, should never have it's operator's control neutralized, when a safe landing place hasn't been determined.  That can easily cause damage.  On top of that, there's the possibility of you not getting any type of support or compensation in the event of that happening.  Either you prohibit flying in an NFZ totally, or you allow limited flying (after completing an accountability agreement) then initiate an RTH if the aircraft needs to land.
2019-7-10
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Flycaster
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I saw this coming over a year and a half ago with the hobbling of the Mavic starting after .700 firmware for the bird.
I don't have the nfz issues, limited range, quizes,  gimbal resets etc etc etc.
Why?
I have never updated anything. And my bird flies just fine.
I know easier said than done now, but try to back-rev your firmware, or "No Limit Drones". (google it)
2019-7-10
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Ruffdog64
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I`ve had a similar situation today flying ok for 10 minutes then it landed in a lake , has DJI commented on this yet?
2019-8-25
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Gimpy
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Ruffdog64 Posted at 8-25 08:25
I`ve had a similar situation today flying ok for 10 minutes then it landed in a lake , has DJI commented on this yet?

There was a firmware problem that DJI fixed two years ago, but those reporting the problem recently have chosen not to share their logs, so it's not clear that there's anything to comment on. Most cases like this since then have turned out to be pilot error, but if you really believe yours is an exception then you can share the log by uploading it to PhantomHelp using these instructions and posting a link to the uploaded log in this thread. DJI will ask you to upload / synchronize that same log data through their GO app, so if all you want is to get an assessment from DJI then you should report the loss to them and see what happens.
2019-8-25
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Ruffdog64
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Gimpy Posted at 8-25 08:38
There was a firmware problem that DJI fixed two years ago, but those reporting the problem recently have chosen not to share their logs, so it's not clear that there's anything to comment on. Most cases like this since then have turned out to be pilot error, but if you really believe yours is an exception then you can share the log by uploading it to PhantomHelp using these instructions and posting a link to the uploaded log in this thread. DJI will ask you to upload / synchronize that same log data through their GO app, so if all you want is to get an assessment from DJI then you should report the loss to them and see what happens.

Thanks Gimpy, i`m confident it`s not pilot error, my main concern was as to why if i`m at fault that`s fine(if you know what i mean) if it`s a software problem then i`ll know better next time it`s the not knowing, and as i don`t have he drone back yet i don`t know how to go about the recovery of the data , tech isn`t my strong point,Thanks Harvey
2019-8-26
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Gimpy
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Ruffdog64 Posted at 8-26 03:11
Thanks Gimpy, i`m confident it`s not pilot error, my main concern was as to why if i`m at fault that`s fine(if you know what i mean) if it`s a software problem then i`ll know better next time it`s the not knowing, and as i don`t have he drone back yet i don`t know how to go about the recovery of the data , tech isn`t my strong point,Thanks Harvey

I don't know enough about your case to have an opinion about whether you're at fault and was just responding to your question about whether DJI has "commented" on the earlier cases.

The instructions for retrieving logs are here, and once you've retrieved the one from your flight, if you want us to be able to see it you should upload it using that same web page and then include a link to the uploaded log in this thread. You don't need to have the drone to do this because the log I'm referring to is on the mobile device you used for flying, so you will still have it even though the drone was lost.
2019-8-26
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