Hi everyone,

today I was flying my Mavic Pro and during a flight the app somehow lost connection to the aircraft. RTH was no longer possible.
I was lucky that the transmitter still had contact and I was able to land manually.
A video team was present to get some footage and we were lucky nobody got hurt.

Setup: Mavic Pro and transmitter with the latest firmware.

Mavic, transmitter and IPhone X fully charged.

I never had that problem before.
I would be extremely interested how this can happen and how to avoid this in the future as it obviously poses a security risk.

Best regards,
Michael

Why couldn't you RTH? There is a button for it on the remote, so if the APP's connection fails completely, you can use the RTH button on the remote.
If you only lose the live camera view, the RTH button in the app should also still work.
In any way, you should consider buying a new connection cable for between the remote and phone, the DJI provided cables are very low quality and wear out quickly resulting in connection failure. I always have a spare cable with me. You can also use your normal phone cable as a spare, and connect the phone on the fullsize USB port on the bottom of the remote.

Unfortunately the RTH button on the app was grayed-out. So I think it was not operative. You are right, I should have tried the RTH-button on the remote controller. Was just so surprised I did not think of that option. The cable is just 3weeks old. Would be very disappointing if it is already gone dead.
Thanks for your answer!

Defiantly try another high quality cable.  Nothing wrong with you flying your MP back manually and landing it yourself.  That should always be the preferred method IMO unless it is not an option.  

Hi. I am sorry to know that your Mavic Pro almost crashed because of the lost connection. This is not the experience we want you to have at DJI. It is correct to bring an extra USB cable just in case you will lose the connection of the app to your Mavic Pro. The best way on how to activate the RTH just in case of lost connection is to press the RTH button on the DJI Remote Controller itself. Thank you and fly safely.

Phones can lose connection with the controller at any time, for many reasons. You need to become proficient enough to fly without video or you're asking for trouble. If you maintain visual contact with your Mavic, it should not be an issue.

Change the cable that came with the drone, use the phone cable to the bottom usb port works great

Thank you all for your kind support!
I think I was at that time so consumed with controlling the aircraft through the app that I totally forgot about the RTH option on the controller. Flying the Mavic manually is not a problem. I was just surprised by the sudden and unexpected loss of control. I came from APM/Pixhawk to the Mavic and though I am really impressed with the abilities of such a small aircraft, on my older quads I would just switch to a manual mode and fly her myself. On the Mavic with no way to „bail“ to manual, I just did not know what to expect. I will follow your lead and get some spare cables and watch the issue closely.

Thanks again,
Mike

Had a few occasions when this happened to me. The last time is when i had d quick shot using spiral mode. When it disconnected, the drone wont be able to stop the operation. Either u hit the pause button or leave it till d batery is death and landing own its own. I wondered if this happened in the middle of the sea...

Frank Michael Posted at 2018-6-18 01:33
Unfortunately the RTH button on the app was grayed-out. So I think it was not operative. You are right, I should have tried the RTH-button on the remote controller. Was just so surprised I did not think of that option. The cable is just 3weeks old. Would be very disappointing if it is already gone dead.
Thanks for your answer!

Hiya,

I never use the RTH soft button in the app!  Because its too easy to make a mistake with the landing button.

So my advice ; get used to use only the RTH btn on the RC. better ; fly back manually :-)

cheers
JJB