Hello everybody. Is there anyone who can give me an explanation about the footage of my drone crashing? Story: We launched the drone in the Tofana mountain area of Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Due to the complicated situation in that area (cabin cables) and an unfortunate mistake of accidentally selecting the sport mode, I managed to hit the drone against the vertical wall of the mountain. What I don't understand is the following aspect, if on the remote control I saw the wall a second before and I didn't have time to do any righting maneuver, red appeared around the drone on the image (impact alert), however the image was interrupted inexplicable instantly at that moment . The video transmission could not end suddenly just when the propellers touch the wall, it had to somehow show the crash until the drone disintegrated. It is unclear why the transmission did not continue. Is there any explanation? Does Dji have a soft procedure for instant interruption of transmission in these cases? Thank you. Link to the video in question:

You mentioned that you were flying in sport mode. Have you modified your sport mode settings on the fly app? you can adjust your brake sensitivity there. By default is set to 100. Do you have the flight logs? have you looked at the fly logs? Was the GPS signal Strong? By now you should get the idea . I dont want to sound like an investigator asking so many questions.

The video shows all captured images up until the last recorded keyframe. That's normal.
If you want to know how it all works, I suggest you google for 'film frames and keyframes'.

AZonline Posted at 2-5 11:00
You mentioned that you were flying in sport mode. Have you modified your sport mode settings on the fly app? you can adjust your brake sensitivity there. By default is set to 100. Do you have the flight logs? have you looked at the fly logs? Was the GPS signal Strong? By now you should get the idea . I dont want to sound like an investigator asking so many questions.

I'm not trying to investigate the crash, things are very clear, the mistake is the sport mode switch, I use C mode when approaching obstacles and then switch to N, but being with frozen hands I didn't notice that I switched to S mode. It's true that it displayed the warning message about switching to S mode, but I clicked on it out of reflex because various messages appear during the flight and you can't sit and read them all. My opinion as a user of Dji drones is that it is a design problem that you can accidentally switch in a very dangerous way without an additional safety measure. A question with yes or no, not a message that disappears when you click on it. It does not matter anyways...

Killerbee Posted at 2-5 11:42
The video shows all captured images up until the last recorded keyframe. That's normal.
If you want to know how it all works, I suggest you google for 'film frames and keyframes'.

I try not to take your comment as a joke, but a drone needs 2 seconds to fall from that height. at least, so 2 sec. x 30 frames = 60 frames. Where are they? Because they didn't reach the remote control.

FlyBoby Posted at 2-5 12:06
I'm not trying to investigate the crash, things are very clear, the mistake is the sport mode switch, I use C mode when approaching obstacles and then switch to N, but being with frozen hands I didn't notice that I switched to S mode. It's true that it displayed the warning message about switching to S mode, but I clicked on it out of reflex because various messages appear during the flight and you can't sit and read them all. My opinion as a user of Dji drones is that it is a design problem that you can accidentally switch in a very dangerous way without an additional safety measure. A question with yes or no, not a message that disappears when you click on it. It does not matter anyways...

Gotcha. My train of though immediately when investigation mode to finding the cause of your crash rather than answering the original question as to why the video transmission when blank the moment the drone hit the wall. I have seen drone many crash videos and the video transmissions almost never disconnects until the drone hits the ground; even then the transmission is still on going. My only guest is that your signal got cut off immediately because one leg hit the wall. The antennas are in the vertical section of the front legs. So, losing one antenna means less transmission power. By the way, what happened to the drone?

FlyBoby Posted at 2-5 12:10
I try not to take your comment as a joke, but a drone needs 2 seconds to fall from that height. at least, so 2 sec. x 30 frames = 60 frames. Where are they? Because they didn't reach the remote control.

You are talking about frames. I was talking about KEYframes. There's a difference. Google it.

The video transmission could not end suddenly just when the propellers touch the wall, it had to somehow show the crash until the drone disintegrated. It is unclear why the transmission did not continue. Is there any explanation? Does Dji have a soft procedure for instant interruption of transmission in these cases?
All it would take for instant loss of signal, is for the battery to be dislodged by the crash impact, or the line of sight to be broken by the drone to going behind an obstacle.

Or, the camera or connecting cable could have been destroyed by the Sport mode crash.

Killerbee Posted at 2-5 13:24
You are talking about frames. I was talking about KEYframes. There's a difference. Google it.

The RC video codec have 2 keyframes in 1 sec./30frames, one on top of GOP and other on the end of GOP..video stop after first P frame of GOP. So it didn't lose 29 frames out of 30, only that it didn't have an i-frame at the end. I simply think that the drone disintegrated on impact and that's about it... have a good evening

Other than the crash, how was the flight?

Sorry about what happened to your drone. We kindly suggest sending it back to DJI for inspection. You can submit a repair request on the DJI official website or use this link: https://repair.dji.com/ro/repair/index. The warranty can be applied depending on the assessment's outcome, including your unit's warranty period. Have a nice day.

AZonline Posted at 2-5 12:42
Gotcha. My train of though immediately when investigation mode to finding the cause of your crash rather than answering the original question as to why the video transmission when blank the moment the drone hit the wall. I have seen drone many crash videos and the video transmissions almost never disconnects until the drone hits the ground; even then the transmission is still on going. My only guest is that your signal got cut off immediately because one leg hit the wall. The antennas are in the vertical section of the front legs. So, losing one antenna means less transmission power. By the way, what happened to the drone?

Thanks for the suggestion and I tend to believe that you are right because on the remote control after the image froze, the impact sensors worked for another 1,2 seconds and that was about it. The image stop before the sensors and for me it was very strange. The drone fell from 500m in an area impossible to reach until spring. Anyway, I bought a new one, but I'm very sorry for the 4k footage on the drone card. I was left with what the RC recorded, that is a crappy 864/480 and this is another problem of Dji who downgraded from 1080p which is on the mavic2 RC. They call it progress. If you are still curious to see what I ended up with, here is the link: The clip is edited and is not in chronological order.

DJI Tony Posted at 2-5 20:15
Sorry about what happened to your drone. We kindly suggest sending it back to DJI for inspection. You can submit a repair request on the DJI official website or use this link: https://repair.dji.com/ro/repair/index. The warranty can be applied depending on the assessment's outcome, including your unit's warranty period. Have a nice day.

Thanks , but my drone is now on Cortina mountains.

TonyPHX Posted at 2-5 15:22
Other than the crash, how was the flight?

Thanks for asking...the problem is that I filmed everything on the run and in complicated conditions. Your friends are waiting impatiently for you to finish so you can continue skiing, the police pass by you 3 times with their snowmobile, cables, wind... this remote control, which is the worst achievement of those from Dji, they may get upset but this is the truth , a $100 phone is more powerful than that Rc, everything is undersized...but it's not dji's fault that I switched to sport. If you're curious about what we're filming, check out the link:

FlyBoby Posted at 2-6 09:28
Thanks for asking...the problem is that I filmed everything on the run and in complicated conditions. Your friends are waiting impatiently for you to finish so you can continue skiing, the police pass by you 3 times with their snowmobile, cables, wind... this remote control, which is the worst achievement of those from Dji, they may get upset but this is the truth , a $100 phone is more powerful than that Rc, everything is undersized...but it's not dji's fault that I switched to sport. If you're curious about what we're filming, check out the link: https://youtu.be/p7Q4JieEjrg

Understand and concur with you under many circumstances, it's not easy to film and capture the scenery with a drone and do a good job unless you are all alone and have all the time in the world.

The Saint Posted at 2-6 09:30
Understand and concur with you under many circumstances, it's not easy to film and capture the scenery with a drone and do a good job unless you are all alone and have all the time in the world.

Time enough at last right?  

Yes.  Tuning out the world, and just capturing the world.  A genuine gift when it happens.


Sorry to see the crash.  It's always a bummer.

FlyBoby Posted at 2-6 09:28
Thanks for asking...the problem is that I filmed everything on the run and in complicated conditions. Your friends are waiting impatiently for you to finish so you can continue skiing, the police pass by you 3 times with their snowmobile, cables, wind... this remote control, which is the worst achievement of those from Dji, they may get upset but this is the truth , a $100 phone is more powerful than that Rc, everything is undersized...but it's not dji's fault that I switched to sport. If you're curious about what we're filming, check out the link: https://youtu.be/p7Q4JieEjrg

Great captures!  Love to see that!  

FlyBoby Posted at 2-6 09:18
Thanks , but my drone is now on Cortina mountains.

I see. If you are unable to retrieve the drone, you can report a Flyaway using this link: https://repair.dji.com/ro/repair/flyaway. After successful registration, a DJI customer service agent will contact you and communicate with the service solution.

I hope you have found a way to get a replacement. This footage looks great (until that last second of course).
I have no idea why it stopped recording (or sending). Maybe something broke internally.

Montfrooij Posted at 3-3 23:15
I hope you have found a way to get a replacement. This footage looks great (until that last second of course).
I have no idea why it stopped recording (or sending). Maybe something broke internally.

I have no idea why it stopped recording (or sending).
It's no mystery and  was explained a long time ago.
His drone descended behind a large hill.

Labroides Posted at 3-3 23:19
I have no idea why it stopped recording (or sending).
It's no mystery and  was explained a long time ago.
His drone descended behind a large hill.

Goooood morning Labroides. (it's morning here )
Good to hear from you
My last part is probably what happened (something broke internally), but I have no idea if that is really the case because I don't have insight in the latest FW that DJI is using and how it should behave when there is a sudden anomaly detected by the sensors.

Montfrooij Posted at 3-3 23:26
Goooood morning Labroides. (it's morning here  )
Good to hear from you
My last part is probably what happened (something broke internally), but I have no idea if that is really the case because I don't have insight in the latest FW that DJI is using and how it should behave when there is a sudden anomaly detected by the sensors.

Perhaps you are replying to a different thread?
There was no "anomaly detected by the sensors".
The drone was in Sport Mode (sensors inactive) and was flown behind a large hill.
The only uncertainty is why started to descend as it flew over the hill.

Labroides Posted at 3-4 02:19
Perhaps you are replying to a different thread?
There was no "anomaly detected by the sensors".
The drone was in Sport Mode (sensors inactive) and was flown behind a large hill.

Nope. It is this thread
And the question the OP asked was not about the accident. That was user error.
The question was about why the transmission of the video stopped.

Montfrooij Posted at 3-4 02:46
Nope. It is this thread
And the question the OP asked was not about the accident. That was user error.
The question was about why the transmission of the video stopped.

The question was about why the transmission of the video stopped.
It's no mystery.
It had nothing to do with sensors.
The drone flew over the top of a hill and descended behind it, that put a big chunk of rock between the drone and controller.
That will do it every time.

Labroides Posted at 3-4 03:44
The question was about why the transmission of the video stopped.
It's no mystery.
It had nothing to do with sensors.

I feel it must have been something else. Like the battery disconnecting from the impact or something like that because it was very abrupt and nothing like I have ever seen when the signal was being blocked by something.

But we will never know for sure

Montfrooij Posted at 3-4 03:49
I feel it must have been something else. Like the battery disconnecting from the impact or something like that because it was very abrupt and nothing like I have ever seen when the signal was being blocked by something.

But we will never know for sure

I feel it must have been something else. Like the battery disconnecting from the impact or something like that because it was very abrupt and nothing like I have ever seen when the signal was being blocked by something.
It's plain and simple, you drop behind a mountain and your signal is cut off.
If you'd actually looked at the flight data you'd see that the data and control signal was lost immediately at the time the line of sight between the drone and controller was blocked by the mountain.

But we will never know for sure
I guess so if you choose to ignore the obvious facts.

Labroides Posted at 3-4 05:12
I feel it must have been something else. Like the battery disconnecting from the impact or something like that because it was very abrupt and nothing like I have ever seen when the signal was being blocked by something.
It's plain and simple, you drop behind a mountain and your signal is cut off.
If you'd actually looked at the flight data you'd see that the data and control signal was lost immediately at the time the line of sight between the drone and controller was blocked by the mountain.

Did you see the flight data?

Montfrooij Posted at 3-4 05:20
Did you see the flight data?

Sorry ... I confused this incident with another which was in Sport Mode and in Mountains around the same time.
https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=308373
That's the one that I saw data for.
Disregard what I posted recently.

Labroides Posted at 3-4 05:41
Sorry ... I confused this incident with another which was in Sport Mode and in Mountains around the same time.
https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=308373
That's the one that I saw data for.

Ah yes, I have not made it to that one yet.
Catching up slowly as time allows.
I can see the similarities for sure
All good.
Have a great day!