After a flight I landed my Mavic Pro and shut down the propellers, then the remote was turned off and the Mavic Pro started the propellers back up and took off on it's own and crashed as I could not control it since the remote was off.  I sent it in to DJI and they said that if the remote is turned off before the drone is it will take off on its own and try to return to home, I did land the drone about 30 feet away from where it originally took off, but has anyone else had this experience?  And it seems like an odd function to have the propellers would start up after it is already landed?

I presume that's the Remote Controller Signal Lost feature kicking in?

Over 30 years of playing with RC toys I can say we have ALWAYS turned the controller on first and switched it off last . You never know what electronics will do and you always want a control signal available .

I guess you don't want code restricting motor reactivation or else in-flight recovery would be impossible

Ex Machina Posted at 2017-3-16 09:17
I presume that's the Remote Controller Signal Lost feature kicking in?

Wouldn't that be only mid-flight? If it's grounded it shouldn't need to RTH, as it isn't flying. I can't get my mind around that as being normal. I almost always turn off the controller first and mine has never started back up and flown off. Seems weird.

X2 for controller on then craft on, craft off then controller off.  I learned that back in the late 80's.  It also says to do this in the Mavic manual.  
You always want your controller to control.  Sorry that happened.

app version?

aircraft firmware?
andriod or apple?
it is strange. But i guess I tend to turn off the craft first and then RC

So many scary stories on here.  I want to tie fishing line to my drone before flying it.

Whaat.. So the motors were off, and your rc was off and it turned the motors on and took off in rth? If that's the case, it's a bug. Motors off means landed, no reason for rth to occur.

R1Mavic Posted at 2017-3-16 10:10
So many scary stories on here.  I want to tie fishing line to my drone before flying it.

This is normal, just follow the manual and it won't happen.

You have to turn the remote on first and turn it off last

Starting remote on first then app aircraft, reverse when shutting down,

When shutting down did you use left stick down hold for 3 seconds.

While I agree that shutting down the drone before the RC is the prudent thing to do, I can't agree with anybody saying that it should be normal and expected behavior for the drone to power up the motors and take off just because somebody made the mistake of switching off the RC first. If the motors are already cut, it certainly should not power them up again.

Also, I believe that under normal circumstances, the act of cutting the motors and then starting them up again would reset the Home Point. In which case, where did the drone think it was going, if it was already at the new Home Point??

I have only accidentally shut off the controller before the drone, but it never took off on it's own, it just sat there waiting for a connection...

They must have mis-understood you, if you land and the motors shut off, turning off the RC does nothing. Maybe the motors were not fully shut down and it hadn't sensed it had landed yet.
Whatever happened, when you send it in the flight data recorder will be able to tell exactly what happened.

Jason Lane Posted at 2017-3-16 12:20
While I agree that shutting down the drone before the RC is the prudent thing to do, I can't agree with anybody saying that it should be normal and expected behavior for the drone to power up the motors and take off just because somebody made the mistake of switching off the RC first. If the motors are already cut, it certainly should not power them up again.

Also, I believe that under normal circumstances, the act of cutting the motors and then starting them up again would reset the Home Point. In which case, where did the drone think it was going, if it was already at the new Home Point??

Exactly!!!

The more I see this kind of stuff, the more I understand why DJI becomes cold and calculating about their decisions to serve the general public on a highly sophisticated piece of gear.  It seems to me that ignorance is to blame for a good majority of the issues and the same ignorance makes them feel like they've been wronged.  If RTH is initiated for whatever reason, I would want the Mavic to do what's necessary to get home.  The OP's procedural mishaps caused his issues.  

On a positive note, I appreciate the post and will add this to the recesses of my brain in the event I am tempted to shut the controller off first when the Mavic is away from the original home position.  

thehippoz Posted at 2017-3-16 10:16
Whaat.. So the motors were off, and your rc was off and it turned the motors on and took off in rth? If that's the case, it's a bug. Motors off means landed, no reason for rth to occur.

That's what I thought.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2017-3-16 12:30
They must have mis-understood you, if you land and the motors shut off, turning off the RC does nothing. Maybe the motors were not fully shut down and it hadn't sensed it had landed yet.
Whatever happened, when you send it in the flight data recorder will be able to tell exactly what happened.

The motors were fully shut off which is what is weird.

Jason Lane Posted at 2017-3-16 12:20
While I agree that shutting down the drone before the RC is the prudent thing to do, I can't agree with anybody saying that it should be normal and expected behavior for the drone to power up the motors and take off just because somebody made the mistake of switching off the RC first. If the motors are already cut, it certainly should not power them up again.

Also, I believe that under normal circumstances, the act of cutting the motors and then starting them up again would reset the Home Point. In which case, where did the drone think it was going, if it was already at the new Home Point??

That is exactly what I thought too.

Even though some people are blaming OP for "procedural mishap" it is not normal for a Mavic that is landed with motors off to power up the motors and take off on it's own simply because he powered off the controller. I've done it, others have done it, and our Mavics did not take off. NOT NORMAL.

This is NOT valid reason for DJI to be "cold and calculating" towards their customers. Only companies with major marketshare can get away with this but usually not for long.

fansb89b5f6a Posted at 2017-3-16 12:52
The motors were fully shut off which is what is weird.

That is very strange, I set the RTH to Hover (testing indoors) and tried about 10 times turning off the RC as soon as the motors shut off an nothing happened each time.
Regardless, the flight data recorder will see what the cause was.

Jason Lane Posted at 2017-3-16 12:20
While I agree that shutting down the drone before the RC is the prudent thing to do, I can't agree with anybody saying that it should be normal and expected behavior for the drone to power up the motors and take off just because somebody made the mistake of switching off the RC first. If the motors are already cut, it certainly should not power them up again.

Also, I believe that under normal circumstances, the act of cutting the motors and then starting them up again would reset the Home Point. In which case, where did the drone think it was going, if it was already at the new Home Point??

He was 30 feet away could he have made a mistake and the AC was not fully shut down, AC can pause about 1/2 meter to check its landing could this be what OP thought was shut down.

Switching of RC could trigger RTH

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-3-16 13:05
He was 30 feet away could he have made a mistake and the AC was not fully shut down, AC can pause about 1/2 meter to check its landing could this be what OP thought was shut down.

Switching of RC could trigger RTH

The drone was fully landed and not hovering.  I understand that I should have turned the drone off first now but still don't understand why it was start a new flight with the remote turned off.

I have always been told, and the manual states it, always turn on drone last, when getting ready to fly and turn off drone first after a landing. I am not calling this normal behavior by any means, but when you have a drone setting there with the power on, even though the motors are not spinning, it is looking for a controller and a possible command to execute. With so many things out there using 2.4 ghz, who knows what kind of crossed signal it could receive if not locked into your own controller. Totally sucks that the OPs drone reacted that way, but sure makes me glad that I have formed the habit to always power on and off in the suggested order.

fansb89b5f6a Posted at 2017-3-16 13:16
The drone was fully landed and not hovering.  I understand that I should have turned the drone off first now but still don't understand why it was start a new flight with the remote turned off.

I understand but that's why I had asked earlier if you held down left stick for full 3 seconds, you can land the Mavic with its motors still running holding down left stick for 3 seconds sends a message to IMU that it has landed and allows motors to fully shut down,

If for instance you did not hold down for 3 seconds and switched of radio, the aircraft will go into RTH because it has lost radio control. Remember you also said you where 30 feet away when AC landed.

If you were to upload your logs you may be able to see if loss off radio data initiated take of or RTH .

Turning off RC once AC has landed and shut down motors will not cause the AC to restart, so something else must have caused it to take off, without having the proper information it's impossible to tell exactly what happened.

FlashGJ Posted at 2017-3-16 13:42
I have always been told, and the manual states it, always turn on drone last, when getting ready to fly and turn off drone first after a landing. I am not calling this normal behavior by any means, but when you have a drone setting there with the power on, even though the motors are not spinning, it is looking for a controller and a possible command to execute. With so many things out there using 2.4 ghz, who knows what kind of crossed signal it could receive if not locked into your own controller. Totally sucks that the OPs drone reacted that way, but sure makes me glad that I have formed the habit to always power on and off in the suggested order.

Yes lesson learned for sure on my part to always turn the drone off first.  This crash occurred in the middle of the Rainforest in Costa Rica with no one besides my wife close by,  she did have her phone with her.

rydfree41 Posted at 2017-3-16 09:20
Over 30 years of playing with RC toys I can say we have ALWAYS turned the controller on first and switched it off last . You never know what electronics will do and you always want a control signal available .

Exactly right

If you're 100% sure that the propellers had stopped spinning, then the Mavic definitely should not have spun them up again. Did you already send your logs to DJI for analysis?

Jason Lane Posted at 2017-3-16 20:45
If you're 100% sure that the propellers had stopped spinning, then the Mavic definitely should not have spun them up again. Did you already send your logs to DJI for analysis?

After talking to a 2nd person at DJI they finally agreed to take a look at the logs for me, and sent a request for an analyst to look into it.

BadPanda127 Posted at 2017-3-17 08:05
After talking to a 2nd person at DJI they finally agreed to take a look at the logs for me, and sent a request for an analyst to look into it.

Did you find what happened to your Mavic that caused it to crash...

rydfree41 Posted at 2017-3-16 09:20
Over 30 years of playing with RC toys I can say we have ALWAYS turned the controller on first and switched it off last . You never know what electronics will do and you always want a control signal available .

Totally agree with your logic and experience.  But DJI's manual says otherwise on the startup.  Do you do it your way or DJI's?  Thanks.

That's strange

Cutaway Posted at 2017-3-18 07:59
Totally agree with your logic and experience.  But DJI's manual says otherwise on the startup.  Do you do it your way or DJI's?  Thanks.

Page 54 of the Manual, you will find that rydfree is correct, remote control app then aircraft, when shutting down di it in reverse...

rydfree41 Posted at 2017-3-16 09:20
Over 30 years of playing with RC toys I can say we have ALWAYS turned the controller on first and switched it off last . You never know what electronics will do and you always want a control signal available .

+1.... them's the rules. radio on 1st off last. Good call.

DJI raza Posted at 2017-3-18 08:18
That's strange

Hey DJI Raza. Not strange at all. With any RC aircraft. ALways turn the radio on 1st, off last. I even had a RC Truck that if I switched the remote from 70/30 to 50/50 in terms of forward speed deliver from the ESC respectively even with them connected it would change the frequency. The consequences are lost signal and it defaults to max throttle.....messy lol.

It's not DJI's way or no way --- in order for DJI to sell there Drone's or any other company that uses TX and RX  must comply to the FCC rules ( in the USA at least )
and one of the requirements are that the TX and RX must receive interference . This is why we have Limited Range and always Shut Off the TX-RC last ----Turn On first but I have to say the Mavic has the longest range
of any unmodified TX / RX I have ever experienced in 35+yrs of flying