Hey fellow drone enthusiasts and DJI Team, I recently had a rather unexpected and worrisome incident with my DJI Mini 3 Pro. I was planning to fly it within an Authorization Zone (Blue), but things took an unexpected turn. Here's the whole story: Unauthorized Takeoff: Initially, there was a warning, but my RC didn't request any authorization, and the drone took off without any issues. Auto-Landing Surprise: While flying over a river, the RC suddenly announced "Landing," and a countdown of 21 seconds for auto-landing was noticed. I tried to cancel it, but there was no option available. Descent Drama: In a panic, I hit the RTH (Return to Home) button and pushed the sticks toward the Home direction. The drone did gain some altitude, but then it started to descend. Unfortunate Landing: Sadly, the drone didn't quite make it across the river and landed very close to the riverbank, still over the water. Water Damage: After waiting for the drone to dry, I attempted to power it on. The battery LEDs lit up, the motors spun slightly, and the startup sound played as usual. However, it seems stuck in this state. The gimbal doesn't work, the arm LEDs don't blink, and I can't connect it to the RC or my PC via DJI Assistant 2 software. It's clear that water damage has occurred. FlightRecord: I'll attach the FlightRecord to this post for your reference. In it, you can see that the 'Aircraft will automatically descend' event starts as soon as the drone takes off, but it was only noticed at the RC when the "Landing" sound played.
Now, I have some questions and concerns about this incident: Was this an operational mistake on my part or could there be a misbehavior with the drone itself? Why did the automatic descent engage after all? I've never encountered this when flying in Authorization Zones with other DJI drones, like the Avata, for example. Why did the drone even take off if it was going to auto-land immediately? Why was there no option to cancel the descent? Doesn't this behavior present a significant risk, not only for the drone but also for the safety of its surroundings? Is there any hope for fixing the drone given its current behavior when attempting to power it on?
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