Today I was traveling the local area doing some video of local historic steel bridges. I actually was a bit worried about the steel structure and flying down the bridge since it's all steel frame might have caused interfernce with signals and possibly magnetism. I finished up with both bridges with no issues including runs down the river and under the bridges for nearly a mile. Only issues I had at all was getting the firmware to update on the mavic and it took 2 days to get that install to actually work. After that I verified that all 3 batteries were updated and the controller. Check my other post for that.
I stopped at a modern bridge that was simple flat concete that spanned about 100 ft. I parked on the bridge, changed batteries, then took off to about 10 feet, as I cleared the bridge and was over the river the controlled beeped I vlooked down and seen a battery error. I checked the voltage and it showed 12.56v and falling. I checked the cells and everything was like 3.6v+. Now the mavic was about 30 foot away at this time so I was going to bring it back when it suddenly started a quick accension and straffing left. It did not respond to my commands to move right at all. It struck a tree branch that was over the water and fell down into the river. I attempted recovery but the water was too murky and swift for a safe recovery. Sadly my phone isn't showing the final flight as I don't think I was recording video yet nor had taken any photos.
I've been told on other forums that the sonar sensor can mistake water returns and cause this to happen. Oddly enough earlier I was less than 10 foot over water when I was doing under bridge passes and had no problems. This time I was at least 20 foot over the water when it went out of control. Will DJI step up here and replace this drone even if it's under the refresh option I bought?

The bad news is that a Care Refresh replacement requires that you recover and send in the aircraft, which you didn't / can't do; the good news is that you might be able to get a warranty replacement if you can convince DJI that it really is lost and that you weren't at fault. Video and photos aren't required; they're going to want the flight logs from your mobile device, so if you have that there's a possibility that you'll get a replacement. I won't predict what they'll do in this particular case, but I have heard of cases where they replaced the aircraft when they were convinced it really was lost and that the loss wasn't due to pilot error.

Best I can do till the river goes down. No rain in the forecast and river generally is rarely over 3 ft.

Consider that maybe your issue wasn't sonar, or metal objects, but possibly a bad battery.
I can't provide anything certain, just another view, but I read about another poster who lost his Mavic into a stream.  As I recall, it just started descending downward and wouldn't climb or respond to his stick (or seemingly so).  He was able to get a confirmation through his logs that there was a battery issue.
I couldn't find the post, but you might want to search to see if there were any similarities.
Sorry for your misfortune.  Hope it works out for you.......

Was this your first flight with this battery or was this a battery you've used multiple times?

"Now the mavic was about 30 foot away at this time so I was going to bring it back when it suddenly started a quick accension and straffing left. It did not respond to my commands to move right at all"

Did the RC show auto RTH at that time?

If you can't recover the drone, you can also contact DJI support and upload your flight log start a warranty claim.

Fractures Posted at 2017-2-20 19:29
Was this your first flight with this battery or was this a battery you've used multiple times?

I've flown with them all several times. I did find a battery error prior to flight and as before I checked voltage and cell power with no issues there. Color me stupid but what exactly does a battery error mean? I'm accustom to battery faults meaning batteries are not charging/over charging/capacity error. I've checked the batteries and always see good voltage across the cells and they never get hot. The one time I had a battery error I related that to the firmware mismatch I was trying to fix. I got that resolved and didn't have another battery error. Of course with batteries needing firmware updates I'm guessing they do more than just supply power and if they have flight control input capabilities, well... not exactly the smartest idea in this case. Education shouldn't cost this much.

DJI-Thor Posted at 2017-2-20 19:42
"Now the mavic was about 30 foot away at this time so I was going to bring it back when it suddenly started a quick accension and straffing left. It did not respond to my commands to move right at all"

Did the RC show auto RTH at that time?

It happened so fast I can't confirm if it did. Not even sure where to look.

Impact9 Posted at 2017-2-20 19:55
I've flown with them all several times. I did find a battery error prior to flight and as before I checked voltage and cell power with no issues there. Color me stupid but what exactly does a battery error mean? I'm accustom to battery faults meaning batteries are not charging/over charging/capacity error. I've checked the batteries and always see good voltage across the cells and they never get hot. The one time I had a battery error I related that to the firmware mismatch I was trying to fix. I got that resolved and didn't have another battery error. Of course with batteries needing firmware updates I'm guessing they do more than just supply power and if they have flight control input capabilities, well... not exactly the smartest idea in this case. Education shouldn't cost this much.

Haven't received my Mavic yet but I have a list of things to "be weary of". Adding batteries to it!

Link to my flight data Flight Record

Check that out !

A man with same Problems....
This man was able to proof that he did Not make any mistakes. He finally got a new Mavic !!!

Somebody in the exact same situation as you:

Look at his further episodes, he analyzes the flight logs and eventually gets his drone replaced:

Impact9 Posted at 2017-2-20 20:03
It happened so fast I can't confirm if it did. Not even sure where to look.

You can sync the flight records through DJI GO APP then send an e-mail to support.us@dji.com with your APP account (e-mail address) and the exact time it happened.
Our engineers will help you analyze the data if it's complete.

I synced to the cloud and sent my information in. Got my fingers crossed.

was you on the newest firmware? The newest firmware caused my mavic to have issues and I had to downgrade.I got battery issues as well as controller wouldn't connect to mavic and the camera was jittery.

Yes Jims I had a fight to get my mavic to update to 1.03.0400, that's a long thread here. I was glad that the firmware mismatch warning was finally gone and I thought I was good to fly more challenging missions as everything double verified (GO 4 and DJI Assistant 1.90) as being up to date. I was flying using my Samsung Galaxy S7 edge.

Hello Impact9 - how did you managed upgrading it to the 1.03.0400? I have the exact problem like you (stucked on 55%) nothing I tried helps

fansca84ba14 Posted at 2017-2-21 09:54
Hello Impact9 - how did you managed upgrading it to the 1.03.0400? I have the exact problem like you (stucked on 55%) nothing I tried helps

I have restarted only Mavic once it was stucked on 73% (or 55% in DJI-A) and the upgrade process went through fianlly.

Well DJI claims I made inputs that caused the crash when they obviously didn't actually investigate anything. They took my command to start my flight forward and claimed it was that input that caused the crash. Timewise speaking, 00:35:XX I gave the input to move forward at 00:36:1X I stopped because the drone was moving strong left during forward flight. They didn't reference my dead stick nor my commanded inputs to move right or drop.

Is there anyone that can elevate my claim?

Hi Dory, Thanks for your patience. For your claimed case CAS-467982-Y5Y9X8, we have already finished the analysis, and the result is as follows: 1) T=00-36 h=0m d=15.9m, pilot pushed the elevator up; 2) T=00-39 h=1m d=38.3m, the aircraft crashed when flying forward; 3) The aircraft could not recognize and avoid the slim limb According to the analysis, the incident was not caused by any product malfunction factors. As such, we could not provide warranty service. Should you have more questions, please feel free to let me know. Best Regards, Sophia DJI Tech Support http://www.dji.com/

Impact9 Posted at 2017-2-23 04:54
Well DJI claims I made inputs that caused the crash when they obviously didn't actually investigate anything. They took my command to start my flight forward and claimed it was that input that caused the crash. Timewise speaking, 00:35:XX I gave the input to move forward at 00:36:1X I stopped because the drone was moving strong left during forward flight. They didn't reference my dead stick nor my commanded inputs to move right or drop.

Is there anyone that can elevate my claim?

If you want any real help here you need to post your logs, you can do this by uploading to http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/ and post the link here..

I suggest you do this, and try to seek other opinions.

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/EWZLBP77A7SBAFRYV4GP/
watch with this

Impact9 Posted at 2017-2-23 05:08
http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/EWZLBP77A7SBAFRYV4GP/
watch with this
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PRFHBkZoOA

Ok had a look.

Your AC seems to be veering left this could be from wind, I don't know maybe you can throw some light on this.
You were also loosing gps sats at the end of your flight this also could have caused AC to move with wind.
AC seems to be rising or this could be barometer reading.
Although you were heading for the trees , when AC was veering left you seemed to try to lower altitude by pushing stick down , would it not have been more sensible to raise AC above the trees, this would also have given you better gps.

Lastly VPS may have been an issue as to why your AC drifted, and did you do a compass calibration recently and where if you did. Taking off from that bridge could potentially play havoc with your compass heading.

I think dji should explain in a little more detail what there records say, but for the moment it looks like tuff luck..

I did a full calibration the night before as I just got the new firmware installed. Lowering the craft would have made it pass under the overhanging branches and if it crashed it would have most likely been on the bank. There was very little wind at the time maybe 5mph but nothing significant and the aircraft was rising on its own and drifting left as well which explains the arc motion.

Impact9 Posted at 2017-2-23 06:15
I did a full calibration the night before as I just got the new firmware installed. Lowering the craft would have made it pass under the overhanging branches and if it crashed it would have most likely been on the bank. There was very little wind at the time maybe 5mph but nothing significant and the aircraft was rising on its own and drifting left as well which explains the arc motion.

There is no need to calibrate compass after FW update, this may be the reason your AC was heading of the course of your stick input.

Again there could be many reasons for your crash, but whether it's full pilot error I suppose that's debatable.

Perhaps but since I never calibrated prior I thought it be the smart thing to do.

Katsumoto Posted at 2017-2-20 23:46
Check that out !

A man with same Problems....

He actually did though if you followed his video timeline.  Craig (the Canadian guy in the video) always flew his Mavic below 32F (well below that most of the time).  He also flew it many, many times while it was actively snowing.  Then he wondered why it "suddenly" dropped voltage.  Hmmm, maybe the excessive temps the 40-something flight he had???  Even his & his buddy's iPhones die most times filming, so that should've told him something.  What happens when his iPhone stops holding a charge & goes from 80% to 20% in a matter of minutes?  Apple gets him a new one?  Only if he complains enough on YouTube that he is the victim.  Lame...

Can I get someone at DJI to actually listen to my complaint with an objective eye?

I've contacted support at least 4 times and they keep claiming my initial move forward resulted in the drone crash. I let off the stick and the mavic uncommanded drifts forward and left then rising on it's own for 3 seconds after I let off the sticks. Here's the video again of my flight record. Note DJI investigators claim that forward stick at 00:35 and ending at 00:36 caused my crash. That's BULL. They refuse to address why the drone continues to move forward nor do they explain why it's rising or drifting left. They also don't explain why the drone doesn't move right as I am doing hard inputs to move right. I quickly go dead sticks thinking no input would result in stopped momentum.

Hi, what's your case number? I'll escalate the case and take a look at it.

CAS-467982-Y5Y9X8

Impact9 Posted at 2017-2-25 03:51
CAS-467982-Y5Y9X8

From my experience around here treating support with disdain is not going to help your case, I would show some respect here if your looking for help, maybe start with changing your header.

“Respect other people's feelings. It might mean nothing to you, but it could mean everything to them.”

#Quick Reply Here#

neo0 Posted at 2017-2-25 06:49
#Quick Reply Here#

Sadly to said looking at your video log you did everything possible to recover your drome Sorry to hear of your lost but its going to be even harder to get a replacement from DJI .

I'm not trying to rub their feet when I paid a pretty penny only to get a device that did this. They should actually listen to their customers. I played nice before but right now it's getting to the point I'm getting ready to file a complaint with the BBB and CA attorney general. If this was a car that did this it would be a no brainer.

Impact9 Posted at 2017-2-25 11:15
I'm not trying to rub their feet when I paid a pretty penny only to get a device that did this. They should actually listen to their customers. I played nice before but right now it's getting to the point I'm getting ready to file a complaint with the BBB and CA attorney general. If this was a car that did this it would be a no brainer.

It's a Chinese company good luck with that, I think your best bet now it to try negotiating some sort of a deal, it's clear you can't prove it's dji's fault but maybe they can't say 100% it's yours.

One thing is clear if you read the manual you would have noticed the it says flying over water is not a suitable environment to fly your Mavic, and that's a risk we all take..

Thanks for your patience.

For your claimed case CAS-467982-Y5Y9X8, we have already finished the analysis, and the result is as follows:

1) T=00-36 h=0m d=15.9m, pilot pushed the elevator up;
2) T=00-39 h=1m d=38.3m, the aircraft crashed when flying forward;
3) The aircraft could not recognize and avoid the slim limb

This also bothers me, at 00:36 I didn't push elevators up, I pushed acceleration forward. I don't use the default stick settings. My left stick is Change heading left right and movement forward back. My right stick is elevators up down and straffe left right.

Impact9 Posted at 2017-2-26 16:25
Thanks for your patience.

For your claimed case CAS-467982-Y5Y9X8, we have already finished the analysis, and the result is as follows:

At 00:36, you were flying forward with full throttle and crashed. Please refer to the screenshot.
Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Impact9 Posted at 2017-2-26 16:25
Thanks for your patience.

For your claimed case CAS-467982-Y5Y9X8, we have already finished the analysis, and the result is as follows:

Sorry that this happened to you bro. I'm not siding on anyone but from my experience flying on top of water, the drone can suddenly move because of VPS. You were 3 ft up+ lets say the bridge was 10 feet above the water so 13 feet. From my experience it will suddenly move on all directions if you're not at least 30 feet up. You might be moving forward then suddenly your vps triggered by the water, that's why it moved towards the branch. I do hope you get a replacement or discount. Good luck.

keiser08 Posted at 2017-2-27 03:58
Sorry that this happened to you bro. I'm not siding on anyone but from my experience flying on top of water, the drone can suddenly move because of VPS. You were 3 ft up+ lets say the bridge was 10 feet above the water so 13 feet. From my experience it will suddenly move on all directions if you're not at least 30 feet up. You might be moving forward then suddenly your vps triggered by the water, that's why it moved towards the branch. I do hope you get a replacement or discount. Good luck.

Think if you look again you will see the OP was 18.6 meters high.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-2-27 04:11
Think if you look again you will see the OP was 18.6 meters high.

Opps if that's the case then I'm wrong. I only saw his youtube post that he was 3 feet high.