Hey everyone,

The day after I've received a Mavic Air, we were flying it nearby a building to get some cool footage (people waving from outside).

This was done with APAS on and all the sensors enabled.

At some point though, some malfunction caused the aircraft to just smash against the window, and freefall from 20m to the ground.

The aircraft is not very damaged, one of the antenna legs has been detached, and the lower part of the AC is scratched, but arms/components are okay, as well as DJI GO 4 saying it's ready for takeoff (although I have not flown it ever since the crash).

I'm very surprised that this happened. The APAS correctly recognized the wall to be 0.5m away, and flew into it. Looking at the flight record from the app, I can see that I was pressing the back/down sticks to try to get the aircraft away from the building.

GPS was on the whole time.

I've already opened a case for this, I have DJI Care Refresh on the aircraft, however, I'm assuming that this will be a software error rather than my problem.

What do you think could have led to this? Is it user error or software?

Cheers!

Hi, if you upload your flightrecord other users can have a look at it and mayby say some relevant words about what happened.
Upload via [ http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload ], share the link on your reply.
Cheers
JJB

I wasn't able to find the txt of the flightrecord in the phone, however it sync'd to DJI.

Flying up to reflective surfaces is a real no no it tells you this in your manual.

djiuser_5xVVNTg2HUGD Posted at 2018-3-17 10:32
I wasn't able to find the txt of the flightrecord in the phone, however it sync'd to DJI.

First of all I am very sorry for your crash! You'll find the logfile in a DJI subfolder on your mobile device that is called "Flightrecord".And good that you have opened a support case already with DJI. Their analysis will show if it is a warranty or care refresh case.

"Looking at the flight record from the app, I can see that I was pressing the back/down sticks to try to get the aircraft away from the building."

Eventhough you were trying to back off and go down - Perhaps drone got caught in upward draft caused by building(s), that forced it against building?  

Never want to fly too close to a building.. specially taller larger buildings in city environment, winds around buildings can be very unpredictable..   winds around buildings don’t even have to be strong to cause freak events like strong up and down drafts or drastic density changes from tempature fluctuations and turbulence causing instability in the air.  


Also depending on your location air density can be all over the place...  here where I am I was flying and light drizzle on ground and clam wind  when I just wrapped up, but 200 feet up it was snowing sideways and hard to even see more then a few feet in front..  I can’t say you got caught in the same sort of thing but that shows you just how dramatic things can change within a very narrow space in an open field..  imagine that near some tall buildings it probably end up crashing into it as well..

djiuser_5xVVNTg2HUGD Posted at 2018-3-17 10:32
I wasn't able to find the txt of the flightrecord in the phone, however it sync'd to DJI.

Please provide the flight records to our engineers for data analysis. Hope you can get your drone back soon.

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-3-17 20:32
Please provide the flight records to our engineers for data analysis. Hope you can get your drone back soon.

Hey Elektra,

Thanks for the response.
I've ticked the box for data analysis while opening the case, is there anything else I can do?

Thanks to everyone who has contributed.

I've opened a DJI Care Refresh Express case, as I'm assuming this is user error by now.

I will return the drone tomorrow with the shipping label of the original case I've opened.

I've let DJI know about the shipping label situation with a Zendesk ticket (#1040409). I hope they don't confuse the two cases

Its a bug I tell you. You aren't the only one where the mavic air has ignored pilot commands. And you wont be the last till DJI "secretly" fixes their problem. However...those affected by it will be labeled with the Pilot Error stamp...even though its a bug on DJI's end. They have done it many times before...and will continue to do so. For them to publicly admit that their drones have a serious flight bug that could be considered unsafe would be business suicide on their end. Good luck though...keep us informed.

People don't realize this, rather than accidentally flying your drone long range or using tracking features or photographing subjects close distance, many drone accidents are actually situations in which fliers are testing the Obstacle Avoidance safety features.

Bottom line, I try and fly my drone with a pre-flight safety plan not to experiement with OA unless I somehow accidentally encounter this feature. This way my post-flight evaluations are mostly standardized to each other, and therefore if something negative happens it's not something immediately I'm blaming on myself. It makes me fly with an easier mindset and confidence.   

djiuser_5xVVNTg2HUGD Posted at 2018-3-18 15:18
Thanks to everyone who has contributed.

I've opened a DJI Care Refresh Express case, as I'm assuming this is user error by now.

Hi there, just to clarify, if you are going to use the DJI Care Refresh Express, data analysis will not be provided.
And I've transferred your request to change the case to Care Refresh Express once again, the local team will help to take care of it when they receive the drone, please wait patiently. Hope you receive the drone back soon.

Hi Thor,

Would it be possible to have data analysis?

I'm very ok with paying €90 for the expedited service.

It'd be a nice gesture if you were able to provide data analysis & remove the "strike" from DJI Care Refresh if it happened to not be my fault.

I have reading so many crash post, but when it come to the end of the story..I still waiting to read them.