Hi,

I bougth my Mavic Mini last week and after playing with it a little bit near the house, I was really exited about it. So, on a weekend I updated the firmware to the latest version and went to the sea shore.  First flight, about 5 min was great. But, when I decided to take a close shot, about 10 meters from the shoreline, things went terribly wrong. I was flying very slow, at low altitude (about 1-2 meters) something like 20 m from there I was standing and all of a sudden the controller alerted "LANDING", "LANDING" and less than a second the drone was in a water. It did not react to any attempt to gain the altitude. Well, I recovered the Mavic, but it is dead....
I had some great plans for it, actually started to write the DJI telemetry to STANAG 4609 converter, but now, there is no drone to test it...
I still have no idea what went wrong. According to the logs, there is Confirm_Landing message, but I didn't ask for any landing, was dealing with the gimble at that time...
Can anyone help me with that? DJI? Is that possible to repair it?

Thanks,

Alex

Hi Alex, that’s tough, I can’t say for certain what happened but from what you say it seemed like your craft thought because it was getting so low you wanted to land, I know it will seem like a daft idea and in some situations it can be, with Mavic mini there is no way to turn off downward sensors so flying so low this will always be a problem.
Your craft thinks your trying to land and sensors are allowing this to happen.
I’m not sure if you have dji care refresh if you have your covered , if not you are going to have to sync your flight, contact support and set up a case , dji will arrange to pick up craft and send to nearest repair Centre they will examine log you will have to put your case to them and see if they can give you a warranty claim or some discount.
I don’t know how they will judge this but because of this anomaly you may have a reasonable case.
Good Luck .

Hi Alex,

Looks like it happens like Hallmark is saying, if you wanne be sure upload your flightlog on here.

Flying at low altitude and applying for short moment 100% stick down will initiate the autolanding, this when the landing protection is enabled. But this option cannot be disabled with the Spark and afaik the Mavic Mini.

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

cheers
JJB

I would assume you were trying to get a little lower to the water by adding some stick down and it went into auto land mode Sorry for your loss. Learning curves hurt sometimes. Hopefully you have DJI refresh to cover you. If not, I would still report it to DJI - at the very least they may give you a discount on a new drone.

David

davidms Posted at 12-8 05:51
I would assume you were trying to get a little lower to the water by adding some stick down and it went into auto land mode  Sorry for your loss. Learning curves hurt sometimes. Hopefully you have DJI refresh to cover you. If not, I would still report it to DJI - at the very least they may give you a discount on a new drone.

David

flightlog will tell all.

I have said this before, DJI should change this behaviour. If in this case the mini had some forward speed (or in other directions, speed to be discussed) than in 95% of fly situations like this the OP doesn`t want to land.....

So don`t enter autolanding automatically but ask the OP. If speed < treshold value than just enter the autolanding mode. DJI ??

i have seen few losses due to this unwanted and unknowing that drone is in autolanding mode.

Hope to see this flighlog.

cheers
JJB

JJB* Posted at 12-8 05:59
flightlog will tell all.

I have said this before, DJI should change this behaviour. If in this case the mini had some forward speed (or in other directions, speed to be discussed) than in 95% of fly situations like this the OP doesn`t want to land.....

Agreed JJB. It could be a simple Land? Prompt on screen and it would avoid all of these situations.

Guys, thanks for your help. So many replies withing one hour... I've uploaded the log here (https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/CB2485AQ7NWU7UVGSKJ8). Airdata site gives more detailed info, but unfortunately neither of them shows why that landing alert has been activated. Probably one of the reasons you guys mentioned...  

The log says ... close to the water surface in 7:02 you initiate the landing (left joystick down). On sea ground you've got a compass error.

djiuser_UxtlVGSFXtme Posted at 12-8 06:29
Guys, thanks for your help. So many replies withing one hour... I've uploaded the log here (https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/CB2485AQ7NWU7UVGSKJ8). Airdata site gives more detailed info, but unfortunately neither of them shows why that landing alert has been activated. Probably one of the reasons you guys mentioned...

Hiya,

Yes, see my chart and your data.

Flying forward with 3.7 m/s at 0.5 meter height AND 100% down stick for some moments initiated an autolanding.

As said: OP had no intention to land his drone, and DJI software thinks OP wanted to land.

So please DJI do change this in your software. (speed>1.5 * m/s disable this function)  * arbitrary value
cheers
JJB

djiuser_UxtlVGSFXtme Posted at 12-8 06:29
Guys, thanks for your help. So many replies withing one hour... I've uploaded the log here (https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/CB2485AQ7NWU7UVGSKJ8). Airdata site gives more detailed info, but unfortunately neither of them shows why that landing alert has been activated. Probably one of the reasons you guys mentioned...

Sorry to hear of your loss!  

I had a quick look at your logs and I agree with jonny007 and JJB*.  It appears that because you were so close to a surface and did a full down on the throttle (left stick) for more than a second, it assumed you wanted to land and went into auto landing mode.

Best of luck in moving forward.  Please don't let this discourage you from continuing with the hobby.  Its a tough lesson to learn, but now you've learned that one and won't do it again.

Thanks guys!  That was probably my panic reaction when I heard that alert. Probably instead of pushing the stick I pulled it down.  Anyhow, it was most probably the lowest Mavic Mini flight ever (-1367.78 feet / -416.8 m).   To be absolutely sure it is a record, it went an additional meter down below the sea level   

Hello and good day Alex. I am sorry to read and to know what happened to your DJI Mavic Mini. Since this unfortunate incident happened. I would highly recommend to contact our DJI support team at https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav for us to be able to assist you further with regards to this issue and to analyze what happened on that said flight.  We have the team who would do their best to find out the reason of the said incident and then the corresponding resolution would be provided. Again I am sorry and thank for your support.

Thanks Stephen,  I'll try that, though I think that guys here figured out the cause immediately and I just got the most professional help possible, even without contacting the DJI :-) . So, I still think the Dji provides an amazing technology (which I unfortunately doesn't have anymore   Nevertheless, I could not agree more with what JJB said:  
"I have said this before, DJI should change this behaviour. If in this case the mini had some forward speed (or in other directions, speed to be discussed) than in 95% of fly situations like this the OP doesn`t want to land....."
The only scenario I can think about where this is the desired behavior  would be landing on some moving platform / boat.... And not all of us, beginners, start with boats :-). So, there must be an additional confirmation to allow landing when the drone is moving (at least faster than predefined threshold )   

djiuser_UxtlVGSFXtme Posted at 12-8 08:19
Thanks Stephen,  I'll try that, though I think that guys here figured out the cause immediately and I just got the most professional help possible, even without contacting the DJI :-) . So, I still think the Dji provides an amazing technology (which I unfortunately doesn't have anymore   Nevertheless, I could not agree more with what JJB said:  
"I have said this before, DJI should change this behaviour. If in this case the mini had some forward speed (or in other directions, speed to be discussed) than in 95% of fly situations like this the OP doesn`t want to land....."
The only scenario I can think about where this is the desired behavior  would be landing on some moving platform / boat.... And not all of us, beginners, start with boats :-). So, there must be an additional confirmation to allow landing when the drone is moving (at least faster than predefined threshold )

Although it looks like your fault, something you should be aware of , if ground under your craft is unsuitable for landing it should warn you, I agree this can be hit and miss, but I still wonder how much responsibility dji accepts for this, I think you should send in drone get estimate and plead your case for a minimum or maximum discount to repair / replace .

djiuser_UxtlVGSFXtme Posted at 12-8 07:33
Thanks guys!  That was probably my panic reaction when I heard that alert. Probably instead of pushing the stick I pulled it down.  Anyhow, it was most probably the lowest Mavic Mini flight ever (-1367.78 feet / -416.8 m).   To be absolutely sure it is a record, it went an additional meter down below the sea level

It was the other way around!  because you pushed down an autolanding was inititated and the audio was heard. Panic Panic and not the reflex to push up immediately!

So bad luck and risky to fly that low over water, but  IMO this DJI autolanding should not have been active with forward speed.

So if you knew this behaviour (but its not documented in the manual as a info or warning) than a pilots 'error', For me its a 30 / 70 outcome, last value for DJI.

cheers
JJB

Exactly. As a complete beginner, I was flying, completely relaxed (Dead sea has that special chemistry that keeps you very relaxed), kinda pushing it down to stay low, knowing that it has a downward sensor. It keeps altitude, as shown below. And then that alert and probably wrong instinct to pull the stick  (it is not an aircraft :-)

Yeah 1m is too low. Today was my first flight near water and something similar happened to me, I did a shoot coming from water in to land but decided which was cool but I decided to do another one lower.
Pushed down stick without realizing it was already quite low, suddenly I heard "landing" and shut myself, but I instantly pushed up and it stops the auto landing.
A "confirm landing" would be a great option for sure.
I hope you can get your unit repaired asap.

So this just happened to me as well i knew this was a problem of DJI's auto landing logic - as JJB pointed out, the mini will land even if you have significant speed input on the right stick..found this out just messing around in my driveway.. thought it might be smart enough to at least not do it over water. Anyway I should've been more cautious with this in mind

..as i was bringing her back to the boat (fairly low to the deck), i think there was a moment of signal disconnect which may have exaggerated/prolonged the altitude command to 100% which then initiated the landing sequence - due to the momentary disconnect when this happened i did not have a chance to try cancel it and down she went. I wish this little thing could at least detect water before allowing the autoland - very expensive, and a bruised ego (esp in front of all the mates who are now ... scared to buy a drone - lol)..

i guess there are indeed limits to these cheaper drones capabilities. DJI please save people their hard earned money and do away with the autolanding when the drone is moving (at least not without a prompt to force enable on occasion), i imagine there are going to be hundreds more incidents similar to this which just destroy confidence in the drone

djiuser_tnzhoPJxh6UH Posted at 3-23 02:04
So this just happened to me as well  i knew this was a problem of DJI's auto landing logic - as JJB pointed out, the mini will land even if you have significant speed input on the right stick..found this out just messing around in my driveway.. thought it might be smart enough to at least not do it over water. Anyway I should've been more cautious with this in mind

..as i was bringing her back to the boat (fairly low to the deck), i think there was a moment of signal disconnect which may have exaggerated/prolonged the altitude command to 100% which then initiated the landing sequence - due to the momentary disconnect when this happened i did not have a chance to try cancel it and down she went. I wish this little thing could at least detect water before allowing the autoland - very expensive, and a bruised ego (esp in front of all the mates who are now ... scared to buy a drone - lol)..

Hiya,

Sorry for your loss!  Hope that DJI will change this behaviour.

cheers
JJB

Well, I bought another one since then... Seems like this "feature" really helps DJI sales :-). Every flight now (and I haven't had a lot of them) is a "stress" . Well, now, because of the Corona lockdown, the Mini is pretty safe :-)
Anyhow, it did the job. We can now produce STANAG 4609 streams without having MQ9 Reaper drone -


Maybe I should post more on this.. Here is some info:

STANAG 4609 file from Dji Mavic video

Alex

Sorry about your loss, this ... happened to me, fortunately I could prevent it in time..and then bought a cat floating support so I can land on water.. it' so beautiful to see a movie from few meters above the sea level !

JJB* Posted at 3-23 02:40
Hiya,

Sorry for your loss!  Hope that DJI will change this behaviour.

Just an option to disable auto-landing would already help in such situations.

Bal00 Posted at 5-2 03:01
Sorry about your loss, this ... happened to me, fortunately I could prevent it in time..and then bought a cat floating support so I can land on water.. it' so beautiful to see a movie from few meters above the sea level !

Hi, can you give me more info on that cat floating device please?

thanks!

Daniella3d Posted at 5-15 10:44
Hi, can you give me more info on that cat floating device please?

thanks!

The one I bought (but you can find many clones of it)
Heighten Protector Buoyancy Landing Gear

How does it work ?

Balooo Posted at 5-16 02:58
The one I bought (but you can find many clones of it)
Heighten Protector Buoyancy Landing Gear

I would thing this would be too heavy for the mini. Does it fly well with it? I guess it would be safer to fly with it when doing shots over the water and near the surface.

Daniella3d Posted at 5-18 16:28
I would thing this would be too heavy for the mini. Does it fly well with it? I guess it would be safer to fly with it when doing shots over the water and near the surface.

That's the idea.. I'll keep you updated as soon as I receive it..I don't want to get scared like last flight over water with the drone descending over the water !

Balooo Posted at 5-16 02:58
The one I bought (but you can find many clones of it)
Heighten Protector Buoyancy Landing Gear

The mini can hardly fly itself without strapping that piece of junk under it.
And what effect will it have on speed and wind resistance?
You've wasted your money on something that's more likely to cause the loss of your drone than make it safer.

Labroides Posted at 5-18 16:40
The mini can hardly fly itself without strapping that piece of junk under it.
And what effect will it have on speed and wind resistance?
You've wasted your money on something that's more likely to cause the loss of your drone than make it safer.

Hope not, as I spend most of my time on the sea (as a skipper, on sailing boats) I thought this has to be tried, seen the unwanted descends of this drone over water, I feel unsecure to fly above the water since I noticed this huge issue !
Anyway, wasting 10$ isn't a big deal, and if it works, I don't mind about speed loss or wind resistance, since it allows me to land on the water and avoids the drone sinking and total loss.
Then it's only for some flights just above the water, I'm not planning to use this each time I fly the drone

Balooo Posted at 5-18 16:53
Hope not, as I spend most of my time on the sea (as a skipper, on sailing boats) I thought this has to be tried, seen the unwanted descends of this drone over water, I feel unsecure to fly above the water since I noticed this huge issue !
Anyway, wasting 10$ isn't a big deal, and if it works, I don't mind about speed loss or wind resistance, since it allows me to land on the water and avoids the drone sinking and total loss.
Then it's only for some flights just above the water, I'm not planning to use this each time I fly the drone

You would hardly put inflatable tubes around your sail boat to stop it sinking, it would no longer be a sail boat, and this ridiculous contraption will increase the chances of your drone becoming a Catamaran because it will almost certainly hamper your drone flying, void your warranty and if you think when it lands in salt water and one tiny wave covers the drone in salt water rendering it useless , carrying the payload will also void any care refresh you might have.

hallmark007 Posted at 5-18 17:32
You would hardly put inflatable tubes around your sail boat to stop it sinking, it would no longer be a sail boat, and this ridiculous contraption will increase the chances of your drone becoming a Catamaran because it will almost certainly hamper your drone flying, void your warranty and if you think when it lands in salt water and one tiny wave covers the drone in salt water rendering it useless , carrying the payload will also void any care refresh you might have.

You'd be surprised: inflatables buoys are to be put inside the sailing boat in order to stop her from sinking, I've already seen one saved this way in the Carribeans, after bumping into coral reef, amazing ;-)
I don't fly just above the water with wind and waves (not dumb enough) :-D

Balooo Posted at 5-18 16:53
Hope not, as I spend most of my time on the sea (as a skipper, on sailing boats) I thought this has to be tried, seen the unwanted descends of this drone over water, I feel unsecure to fly above the water since I noticed this huge issue !
Anyway, wasting 10$ isn't a big deal, and if it works, I don't mind about speed loss or wind resistance, since it allows me to land on the water and avoids the drone sinking and total loss.
Then it's only for some flights just above the water, I'm not planning to use this each time I fly the drone

Anyway, wasting 10$ isn't a big deal, and if it works, I don't mind about speed loss or wind resistance, since it allows me to land on the water and avoids the drone sinking and total loss.

It's kind of a big deal if it ends up losing the drone for you.
Those silly floatie "solutions" are very popular with nervous flyers ... but for some reason you never hear of anyone flying with them.

If you are flying at sea, the most important thing is that your drone can deal with wind.
The Mini is underpowered at the best of times and has trouble dealing with more than a gentle breeze (before you strap that contraption to it).
Apart from the weight and the effect that has, the mini will now have a pair of sails to catch the wind.

I've flown >5000 kilometres over the sea so far and would never handicap my drone with anything like that.

There is only one way to know. First try it over land and if it work, then try it over the water. I would be worried that it might put too much strain on the motors, and it will probably lower the battery life by much.

hallmark007 Posted at 5-18 17:32
You would hardly put inflatable tubes around your sail boat to stop it sinking, it would no longer be a sail boat, and this ridiculous contraption will increase the chances of your drone becoming a Catamaran because it will almost certainly hamper your drone flying, void your warranty and if you think when it lands in salt water and one tiny wave covers the drone in salt water rendering it useless , carrying the payload will also void any care refresh you might have.

How can this void the care refresh since even user error is cover ?

Daniella3d Posted at 5-20 18:58
How can this void the care refresh since even user error is cover ?

Because your care refresh is not covered if you tamper with your drone .

hallmark007 Posted at 5-21 01:26
Because your care refresh is not covered if you tamper with your drone .

Nobody would know except him because this would not appear in the flight data.

Daniella3d Posted at 5-21 09:03
Nobody would know except him because this would not appear in the flight data.

Well his log could well show craft carrying payload . Maybe he shouldn’t be on here , and he will have a lot less hassle flying without this ridiculous good for nothing piece of crap.

hallmark007 Posted at 5-21 09:17
Well his log could well show craft carrying payload . Maybe he shouldn’t be on here , and he will have a lot less hassle flying without this ridiculous good for nothing piece of crap.

You think the log can actually show this? I doubt it. What I would be more worried about though is...

I was wondering what happen if someone fly the mini with the protector on it. It's more than 249g with the protector, so is it still legal to fly it without registry or pilot license?

Daniella3d Posted at 5-21 11:41
You think the log can actually show this? I doubt it. What I would be more worried about though is...

I was wondering what happen if someone fly the mini with the protector on it. It's more than 249g with the protector, so is it still legal to fly it without registry or pilot license?

It’s not legal it will effect how craft flys . It’s beyond my comprehension why anyone would put this on their drone. If you think this is in anyway going to enhance or improve how a drone like mini flys your delusional, this contraption is almost certainly eventually going to insure you lose your drone. Yes flying over water your drone won’t sink will still get wet so you might get a replacement second time might get another replacement, after that no more flying over water. It’s ridiculous and anyone flying drones using that is not getting the experience of flying drones.

I’m kind of amazed that folk would worry about flying illegal because of weight but will go to the lengths of fraud to try get replacement. I can tell this is no longer a serious conversation.

hallmark007 Posted at 5-21 11:53
It’s not legal it will effect how craft flys . It’s beyond my comprehension why anyone would put this on their drone. If you think this is in anyway going to enhance or improve how a drone like mini flys your delusional, this contraption is almost certainly eventually going to insure you lose your drone. Yes flying over water your drone won’t sink will still get wet so you might get a replacement second time might get another replacement, after that no more flying over water. It’s ridiculous and anyone flying drones using that is not getting the experience of flying drones.

I’m kind of amazed that folk would worry about flying illegal because of weight but will go to the lengths of fraud to try get replacement. I can tell this is no longer a serious conversation.

First thing, nobody commited any fraud, nobody crashed, it's all speculation. So nobody done anything illegal and nobody commited any fraud.

BUT...If you buy the care refresh and you make a mistake and your drone sink, you're out of luck since you need the drone to get the replacement. How does that sound? like fraud?