lhabdullah Posted at 2017-4-20 16:06
I waited for more than 45 minutes after the lost of signal. Later I went back and checked my area. I lost it on my way down. I descended the aircraft straight away when I got the NFZ alarm. The aircraft should be straight above my head with no obstruction at all. This is the Airdata link.

I lost it on my way down.

Do you mean that you lost sight of it? Even at that height I'd expect you to be able to see the LEDs since this was at night and it was almost right above you. Were you able to see the LEDs and could you tell if it was moving away in any direction?

I have a few questions:

• Specifically what kind of mobile device were you using?
• What firmware version was installed on the Mavic?
• Was GEO enabled or disabled?
  

Unless there was a complete power loss -- which would have resulted in an immediate crash and in which case you would likely have easily located the aircraft -- there's no reason that the connection should have been lost.

Incidentally, the wind was out of the west in Dundee late yesterday, so if it got pushed by the wind it would have been to the east, which is why I suggested looking in that direction in the PM I sent you yesterday.

lhabdullah ,
                Your choice of a flight area was very Poor and Childish along with flying so high so close to an airport !!!! Are you out of your mind??? I don't care to hear , there's only 2 flights out of it a day -- IT's STILL AN AIRPORT!!!!!!! I once lived about 5 miles from JFK airport in NY and I was flying helicopters at the time.
         I had a Futaba PCM RC system it was the best you can have at the time, I tried to fly legally at a dedicated RC field -- Floyd Benet Field an old non-active airport in Brooklyn, RC Helicopters were fairly new at the time -- The field commander or what ever you call the guy in charge would not let me Fly and said all a Helicopter does is just Flutter it's blades around and just get in the way of the other RC plane's!!!
          After that I went home and decided to fly at a local ball field --- Well all my flights were good until
I went over 70 feet high, once at that height I would loose all RC control my Helicopters would do amazing unheard of acrobats for a RC Helicopter at the time, cork screws, barrel rolls, inside and outside loops then watch them Crash straight into the ground --- I couldn't figure out why this was constantly happening ?
I also would fly at my second home in the country and it never happened there ??????????? Then it hit me
What Does All Airports Have In Common????????????
                                                              RADAR!!!!!!!!!!
                                                    It's top of the line and very strong !!!!!!
This was and probably still is the culprit for all my Crashes, many Dollars and time spent on Repairs
Now This Is a Message For All ---- I have not heard of one person on this Form that flew in or near a NFZ and not Crashed  Beware The RADAR!!!!

I think after the losing of signal the scenario was following:
1) Mavic switched to RTH. mode.
2) RTH speed (it's usually just 15 km/h or so) was slower than wind speed. So Mavic was not able to reach RTH coordinates and drifted away even more.
3) On Low Battery level (10%) it started to descend (from 400m).
4) I doubt that 10% battery was enough to descend from 400m altitude, so Mavic switched off on its way, blown away further and crashed.

GrAndAG Posted at 2017-4-20 16:43
Not in NFZ. Just near to NFZ. NFZ zone starts 1.4 km away from the area where he was flying. I checked it on DJI NFZ map.

Dude, he was only about a mile from the end of  runway  9 according to Google Maps  Based on the air traffic statistics, I expect this is probably equivalent to Class D airspace, regardless of what the DJI zone says.  At that altitude and direction, he could well be in the flight path of departing traffic.  It should also be noted that NFZ's are shaped like an inverted wedding cake and the NFZ's extend farther outward at higher altitudes.  These are REAL NFZ's which would normally instigate an immediate landing after a few seconds.


Totally irresponsible flying !!
Best guess is that he collided with a departing business jet.

hungdang Posted at 2017-4-20 17:05
To be fair, does not matter where you fly (I don't want to mention about the law here), if loose signal or out of range the Mavic should return home, or hover or landed. If battery too low then the Mavic should landed.

Not totally true.  If you enter into a NFZ (red zone), the software forces an immediate landing - regardless of RC connectivity.

I'm thinking he either got skyjacked or jammed.  

My airport actually shot down 4 drones and jacked one after being caught in the NFZ. We don't have time to to find the owner, so they either get shot down or we hijack the signal.

I am so sorry for your lost, Perhaps u can broadcast the news in your area to the nearby neighbor to find your drone back.

Evaunit01berser Posted at 2017-4-21 05:36
I'm thinking he either got skyjacked or jammed.  

My airport actually shot down 4 drones and jacked one after being caught in the NFZ. We don't have time to to find the owner, so they either get shot down or we hijack the signal.

My airport actually shot down 4 drones and jacked one after being caught in the NFZ. We don't have time to to find the owner, so they either get shot down or we hijack the signal.

You've been misinformed but out of curiosity which airport are you referring to and where did you hear this?

Griffith Posted at 2017-4-21 05:33
Dude, he was only about a mile from the end of  runway  9 according to Google Maps  Based on the air traffic statistics, I expect this is probably equivalent to Class D airspace, regardless of what the DJI zone says.  At that altitude and direction, he could well be in the flight path of departing traffic.  It should also be noted that NFZ's are shaped like an inverted wedding cake and the NFZ's extend farther outward at higher altitudes.  These are REAL NFZ's which would normally instigate an immediate landing after a few seconds.

I totally agree with you that it was irresponsible flight on such altitude. But he did not enter into red zone. So, Mavic was not forced  to land. And even if it was forced it would not disconnect.

GrAndAG Posted at 2017-4-21 06:12
I totally agree with you that it was irresponsible flight on such altitude. But he did not enter into red zone. So, Mavic was not forced  to land. And even if it was forced it would not disconnect.

True.  I checked the DJI NFZ map and strangely the zone extends only 100 feet past the end of the runway.   I don't know if they've implemented the upper (vertical) layers of NFZ.  That may be mute in this case if it is indeed class D.  Still strange that DJI's  NFZ around the airport is so small.

One comment on loss of connection.  Flying directly above the RC is problematic if the antennae are not adjusted (out straight rather than vertical in this case).  It would not be surprising to lose connection after a few hundred feet.

Still betting the bird fell prey to hijacking or collision.

SkunkWerxs Posted at 2017-4-21 04:04
lhabdullah ,
                Your choice of a flight area was very Poor and Childish along with flying so high so close to an airport !!!! Are you out of your mind??? I don't care to hear , there's only 2 flights out of it a day -- IT's STILL AN AIRPORT!!!!!!! I once lived about 5 miles from JFK airport in NY and I was flying helicopters at the time.
         I had a Futaba PCM RC system it was the best you can have at the time, I tried to fly legally at a dedicated RC field -- Floyd Benet Field an old non-active airport in Brooklyn, RC Helicopters were fairly new at the time -- The field commander or what ever you call the guy in charge would not let me Fly and said all a Helicopter does is just Flutter it's blades around and just get in the way of the other RC plane's!!!

I guess im that unicorn, Ive flew in a no fly zone, I kept my Mavic under 25ft and with in 75 ft distance only flying real quick for only 2 minutes.

Not getting personal but this looks like 3 breaches of the Uk Done Code

http://dronesafe.uk/drone-code/

In the Uk it's getting harder and harder to fly drones. I'm getting p****d off with people wandering by and making stupid misinformed comments when I'm flying & this doesn't help the cause at all.

Chriscycling Posted at 2017-4-21 09:08
Not getting personal but this looks like 3 breaches of the Uk Done Code

http://dronesafe.uk/drone-code/

This happened yesterday in Ireland's 3rd largest airport.

https://www.thesun.ie/news/88866 ... potted-in-the-area/

lhabdullah Posted at 2017-4-20 16:34
Grabbed by a bird wont make it lost connection. Dundee airport is just a small airport only 2 flights a day. I don't know.

Jesus christ almighty you say that like its okay.

I never thought I'd say this but the fact that you no longer have it is the best news.

lhabdullah Posted at 2017-4-20 16:16
Im aware of that. It is still on the yellow zone. What can explain the lost of signal?

Are you aware that the weakest signal is when it is straight above you, especially at that distance (altitude) from the controller?  You need to keep both the transmit and receive antennas parallel to each other as much as possible.  When the drone is above you the controller needs to have antennas straight out.  But there's nothing you can do about the position of the antenna in the drone except move away so the antennas on the drone can see the remote control better.  No comment on the altitude.

Did you read the part of the manual that says do not fly the Mavic straight above you?  If you were holding the controller level with the aerials pointing straight up the Mavic was getting the worst possible signal, as others have pointed out.
Have a look at http://dronesafe.uk and follow the "Guidance for keeping your drone flight safe and legal".
What is the point in disregarding the law and guidance set out by the CAA and BMFA?  According to the Department of Transport tough penalties are already in place for misuse of drones, including up to five years' imprisonment for endangering an aircraft.  So you are running quite a risk.  You are also giving the authorities greater cause to introduce compulsory registration of drones and more onerous legal requirements.

Can you recall to which direction your antennas were pointing? Were they pointing straight up to the Mavic or were they flat down parallel to the ground (hence perpendicular to the Mavic)?

FrequentFlyer Posted at 2017-4-21 07:26
I guess im that unicorn, Ive flew in a no fly zone, I kept my Mavic under 25ft and with in 75 ft distance only flying real quick for only 2 minutes.

FrequentFlyer,
                     I believe you were extremely lucky --- you said you stayed under 25 feet --- If you ascended
above the tree line and all buildings I strongly think your Mavic would have went By By  either Crash or
entered the twilight zone as the op's did B4 you even receive a warning on the remote
                      Think of it this way , the Mavic is an electronic marvel available to the general public now just imagine what kind of electronics does the government have????????? it would be nothing for the NSA, TSA, FAA or our own Federal Government to inject a signal within the RADAR signal to jam or scramble RC signals ???? all in the name of national safety --- no one will ever know --- The Bandwidth we use to fly with is not top secret --- Maybe we should just heed the Owner Manual warning -- Don't Fly In A NFZ
and don't wait for your controller to tell you !!!!         

GrAndAG Posted at 2017-4-21 05:01
I think after the losing of signal the scenario was following:
1) Mavic switched to RTH. mode.
2) RTH speed (it's usually just 15 km/h or so) was slower than wind speed. So Mavic was not able to reach RTH coordinates and drifted away even more.

GrAndAG,
              2) RTH speed (it's usually just 15 km/h or so) was slower than wind speed. So Mavic was not able to reach RTH coordinates and drifted away even more.
                The Mavic will compensate for the wind to keep it at it's set speed until the maximum rated wind speed that the Mavic can fly in -- after that the Mavic will drift  

This guy made terrible decisions when he flew his Mavic, we can assume he lost it due to terrible decisions.    Also - can we stop helping this guy?  I'm really tired of the "oh yea I was really unsafe and potentially will damage public opinion on your beloved hobby - but I still deserve help".  No, you don't.

If you buy the drone and use it improperly, we should not support that by helping those people.  This person is actively damaging the reputation of hobby UAV flying, there is no reason to assist him figure out why his terrible decision resulted in him losing the Mavic.  Honestly - do you really think it will help?  Do you really think he will now fly safely?  read the manual?  look at local regulations?  No chance.

If you want to see the future then just look at what's happening to Kodi right now.  Helping these types of people will bring the hobby down with them.

Well that is too bad... maybe next time do insurance

Luka M Posted at 2017-4-20 21:34
Possibly the aircraft reached max motor speed? Given going 1300ft you would expect it to be windy up there to some degree. Trying to keep it in the same position with the ground on sport mode and descending rapidly could have caused the motors to cut off. The wind could definitely have carried it a fair way given the weight of the Mavic...

While descending, the current draw from the battery is MUCH less, especially at maximum rate.

I love my Mavic... But I'm starting to hate the people more.  Suck the funny out of everything

method007 Posted at 2017-4-21 10:40
This guy made terrible decisions when he flew his Mavic, we can assume he lost it due to terrible decisions.    Also - can we stop helping this guy?  I'm really tired of the "oh yea I was really unsafe and potentially will damage public opinion on your beloved hobby - but I still deserve help".  No, you don't.

If you buy the drone and use it improperly, we should not support that by helping those people.  This person is actively damaging the reputation of hobby UAV flying, there is no reason to assist him figure out why his terrible decision resulted in him losing the Mavic.  Honestly - do you really think it will help?  Do you really think he will now fly safely?  read the manual?  look at local regulations?  No chance.

"...but I still deserve help.  No, you don't."

I'd have to disagree a little on this.  Most people (in the beginning of the thread) were trying to figure out a technical reason for this to happen.  That has still not been determined, and it isn't the first report of this sort of behavior by the Mavic, just the first report of it happening with non-compliant altitude excursion.

It will help many people to know why this sort of thing has been happening.  It did NOT happen because he was too high.  It happened because RTH did not work right, and again, this isn't the first report of that by any means.  There's been a pretty good bashing already about the altitude.  Now get back to finding out what really happened.

SkunkWerxs Posted at 2017-4-21 10:38
GrAndAG,
              2) RTH speed (it's usually just 15 km/h or so) was slower than wind speed. So Mavic was not able to reach RTH coordinates and drifted away even more.
                The Mavic will compensate for the wind to keep it at it's set speed until the maximum rated wind speed that the Mavic can fly in -- after that the Mavic will drift

"The Mavic will compensate for the wind to keep it at it's set speed until the maximum rated wind speed that the Mavic can fly in -- after that the Mavic will drift"

Nope. I saw a lot of complaines about that on this and other forums. It seems that Mavic tries to mantain constant power on motors when doing RTH. Maybe for longer lasting of batteries. But it does not work for windy condition.

Buy another one, read all the directions, take the part 107 drone FAA UAS test. It's called a expense lesson.

AG0N-Gary Posted at 2017-4-21 11:54
While descending, the current draw from the battery is MUCH less, especially at maximum rate.

Thats what I suspected.. just an idea

DroneFlying Posted at 2017-4-21 05:40
My airport actually shot down 4 drones and jacked one after being caught in the NFZ. We don't have time to to find the owner, so they either get shot down or we hijack the signal.

You've been misinformed but out of curiosity which airport are you referring to and where did you hear this?

GSP, I don't hear this, we conduct it.

Evaunit01berser Posted at 2017-4-21 15:56
GSP, I don't hear this, we conduct it.

Sure you do.

FYI, the FAA considers it a federal offense to shoot down any aircraft, including drones. And as much of a nuisance as they may sometimes be, airports -- including the world-renowned Greenville-Spartanburg airport with its whopping one runway -- won't be shooting them down any time soon. And if the day ever comes that they can and do, you can bet that it will be all over the news for days or weeks.

hungdang Posted at 2017-4-20 17:05
To be fair, does not matter where you fly (I don't want to mention about the law here), if loose signal or out of range the Mavic should return home, or hover or landed. If battery too low then the Mavic should landed.

If there was a loss of gps and the Mavic drifted, it would not return home as without GPS it can not navigate back to your home point.

Even with a good gps lock, if the upper winds are strong enough it will not be able to maintain position and drift.

Let's assume this drift pushed the drone into the NFZ When this happens the drone lands, it does not RTH it will land. This is covered in the manual.

If it regained GPS mode and found itself in the NFZ it will also land.

The other thing to bear in mind is GPS accuracy, if it lost a few satellites then this will decrease the position accuracy significantly. If this tripped into the NFZ it lands.

GrAndAG Posted at 2017-4-21 12:41
"The Mavic will compensate for the wind to keep it at it's set speed until the maximum rated wind speed that the Mavic can fly in -- after that the Mavic will drift"

Nope. I saw a lot of complaines about that on this and other forums. It seems that Mavic tries to mantain constant power on motors when doing RTH. Maybe for longer lasting of batteries. But it does not work for windy condition.

GrAndAG ,
               Those Mavis that did not maintain speed and experienced drifting lost GPS and went into ATTI Mode
I've used RTH many times already and my Mavic compensates flying into a headwind by maintaining it's speed and direction even though the set speed it's returning in may be slower then expected.
                If what you posted were true the Mavic would never return to the home point you set ----- Think about it ???????
If what you say is true ---> If the Mavic's altitude is 100 feet up and 300 feet out from you and there was a 20mph crosswind and you engage RTH, you would never see your Mavic again.  GrAndAG you have to be careful about what you read and should believe on the Form and get to know your Crafts Modes of operation and capabilities by performing them yourself --- I've come to realize that a few of the Mavic owners will blame DJI or anything else except themselves to just Try and justify there CRASH or LOSS   

FlySafe-FlyFree  

UPDATE

Thank you for all of your concerns. I found the drone the next day at 6am in a parking lot of a mosque. That is about 200m from the take off position. The aircraft itself suffered minor scratches under the camera and deep scratches under the rotors. However, all of the propellers are chipped and the battery also cracked. So, I have thrown those away. Obviously, it was not hit by a plane and it did not hurt anyone. It might hurt a tree on the way down because of broken branches around the landing site before it hit hard on the tar. it probably can fly again but since I have no propellers and no battery, I have no way to test it for now until I ordered a new ones.

Putting locality aside, if the problem of losing connection can happen at random, I won't dare to fly this aircraft anymore. I still operated it under conditions proposed by DJI. Aircraft checked before took off. Yes. Antennas perpendicular to the aircraft. Yes. Batteries fully charged. Yes. RTH set. Yes. GPS locked. Yes. Airspace clear. Yes. Weather condition good. Yes. If this is caused by software or hardware problem, or design flaw, I can fly it as safe as I want but this will still happen. Someday it can happen to you too regardless where you were flying it.

Thank you.

lhabdullah Posted at 2017-4-22 07:00
UPDATE

Thank you for all of your concerns. I found the drone the next day at 6am in a parking lot of a mosque. That is about 200m from the take off position. The aircraft itself suffered minor scratches under the camera and deep scratches under the rotors. However, all of the propellers are chipped and the battery also cracked. So, I have thrown those away. Obviously, it was not hit by a plane and it did not hurt anyone. It might hurt a tree on the way down because of broken branches around the landing site before it hit hard on the tar. it probably can fly again but since I have no propellers and no battery, I have no way to test it for now until I ordered a new ones.

I'm glad to hear that you found it and you're very welcome. I'm guessing that the mosque you mentioned was the Dundee Al Maktoum Mosque, correct? In that case it does appear likely to have been blown east by the wind.

I agree that you should be concerned about the disconnection, and I'd strongly encourage you to send the aircraft in to DJI to have them find out what happened. Not pointing your antenna directly at the Mavic could explain it if the aircraft were far away but doesn't explain why it was disconnected at that close range.

lhabdullah Posted at 2017-4-22 07:00
UPDATE

Thank you for all of your concerns. I found the drone the next day at 6am in a parking lot of a mosque. That is about 200m from the take off position. The aircraft itself suffered minor scratches under the camera and deep scratches under the rotors. However, all of the propellers are chipped and the battery also cracked. So, I have thrown those away. Obviously, it was not hit by a plane and it did not hurt anyone. It might hurt a tree on the way down because of broken branches around the landing site before it hit hard on the tar. it probably can fly again but since I have no propellers and no battery, I have no way to test it for now until I ordered a new ones.

Glad you found it -- the flight logs inside the aircraft should tell DJI exactly what happened after your RC lost connection -- I strongly encourage you to contact DJI support and provide those logs to get to the bottom of this. Cheers.

tokenbrit Posted at 2017-4-20 15:47
You were at 1,300 feet in Dundee Airport airspace - what else is there to say?

He was in the traffic pattern on top of that. This is a BIG violation. I don't think I would be publicly posting that you were flying in the traffic pattern of an airport. I'm a pilot and if I saw this I would personally hunt you down and make sure charges were filed. It's people like you who give us a bad name. You should consider yourself lucky you lost your drone and that you aren't facing a huge fine.

The way I see it if someone is crazy enough to fly in a airport no fly zone than he probably posting it in YouTube and get cought

lhabdullah Posted at 2017-4-20 16:34
Grabbed by a bird wont make it lost connection. Dundee airport is just a small airport only 2 flights a day. I don't know.

I live here , there are much more than 2 flights a day , tell the truth m8 ! , there are light aircraft use the runway all the time , you got what you deserved flying here !

Uptowndisco Posted at 2017-4-23 05:10
Watch this , this is almost the exact area this guy was flying his mavic at high altitude , watch the landing pattern of the aircraft
and tell me this guy is not a complete idiot . in fact you can see it circling this Mavic pilots take off point.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oatsXf4CwRo

That doesn't look like 9pm.

lhabdullah Posted at 2017-4-23 05:17
That doesn't look like 9pm.

does it matter what time it is !!  , if you want the same aerial view at night , take a drive up the Law mound , you will get the same night time pictures without endangering any aircraft !