I was flying & filming yesterday for about 4 minutes (max altitude 16m, distance 355m, no wind). When I stopped recording, a few seconds later the drone suddenly fall from sky, and crashed hard on the asphalt. Result: Camera-glass broken, one motor torn off, one stand knocked over. I was shocked! It is one thing to do a crash during flight, but that the drone just falls from sky, without any cause - that is not ok. But in the end I maybe even was lucky because it did not happened over water... I did not notice any problems before. Except that one motor was a little stiffer than the rest, see here https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=215488 And my wife said that she saw one motor just stopped as a cause of the crash, but I cannot verify that. I am a beginner. I bought the Mavic Air-2 last week, made 10+ flights with a total flighttime of 158min, 28km. And suddenly the drone just fall from sky?!?! Please help me. I want to understand what happens! How can this drone just crash, without warnings or alerts? I heard of a "hidden" log file that can be analyze; but since I am a beginner and not so good in computer science I really don't know how access and where to find that file. Also, since this drone "just fall from sky", it is obviously a technical problem - who has experinces with DJI taken over responsibility for that kind of incidents?

I was flying & filming yesterday for about 4 minutes (max altitude 16m, distance 355m, no wind).
When I stopped recording, a few seconds later the drone suddenly fall from sky, and crashed hard on the asphalt.

Result: Camera-glass broken, one motor torn off, one stand knocked over.

I was shocked! It is one thing to do a crash during flight, but that the drone just falls from sky, without any cause - that is not ok.
But in the end I maybe even was lucky because it did not happened over water...

I did not notice any problems before. Except that one motor was a little stiffer than the rest, see here
https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=215488

And my wife said that she saw one motor just stopped as a cause of the crash, but I cannot verify that.

I am a beginner. I bought the Mavic Air-2 last week, made 10+ flights with a total flighttime of 158min, 28km.
And suddenly the drone just fall from sky?!?!


Please help me.
I want to understand what happens! How can this drone just crash, without warnings or alerts?
I heard of a "hidden" log file that can be analyze; but since I am a beginner and not so good in computer science I really don't know how access and where to find that file.

Also, since this drone "just fall from sky", it is obviously a technical problem - who has experinces with DJI taken over responsibility for that kind of incidents?

Please navigate to the "Files" app on your phone and go to the folder of the DJI Fly App. There is a subfolder "FlightRecords". There will be a file that matches approximately the time when the drone crashed. Please upload this file to: https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/upload/ and publish the link of the result.

Keep in mind GPS data is included there, in case you have privacy concerns. You could possibly extract the data from the page and exclude GPS data before sharing.

djiuser_ZutghNDTLB2U Posted at 5-20 02:38
Please navigate to the "Files" app on your phone and go to the folder of the DJI Fly App. There is a subfolder "FlightRecords". There will be a file that matches approximately the time when the drone crashed. Please upload this file to: https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/upload/ and publish the link of the result.

Keep in mind GPS data is included there, in case you have privacy concerns. You could possibly extract the data from the page and exclude GPS data before sharing.

Thank you.
Here is the link:
https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/FFNSC8VDAQGIAYF4WN4W/

I'm not an expert but you can see right at the end the cell deviation increased which makes me think it was the result of a faulty battery. But maybe someone with deeper knowledge can say more about this. Also the battery devation could have happened post-crash, and be a result of the crash. Maybe you can give us some more information?

EDIT: I also noticed the altitude at the end is much lower than your homepoint even though it looks like the place of crashing and the homepoint are relatively close together.

I would definitely get in touch with DJI, maybe this will be fixed/replaced under warranty.

djiuser_ZutghNDTLB2U Posted at 5-20 02:51
I'm not an expert but you can see right at the end the cell deviation increased which makes me think it was the result of a faulty battery. But maybe someone with deeper knowledge can say more about this. Also the battery devation could have happened post-crash, and be a result of the crash.

EDIT: I also noticed the altitude at the end is much lower than your homepoint even though it looks like the place of crashing and the homepoint are relatively close together.

That red "Cell Deviation" is maybe post-crash, since the battery did not fall out so I manually turned the drone off

Dadaist Posted at 5-20 02:59
That red "Cell Deviation" is maybe post-crash, since the battery did not fall out so I manually turned the drone off

Update:
I have called DJI. Very friendly. I send all facts via Email now and will wait for response.

Please keep us updated and hopefully everything gets sorted out in your favour!!!

Dadaist Posted at 5-20 02:59
That red "Cell Deviation" is maybe post-crash, since the battery did not fall out so I manually turned the drone off

At 3:47.8 your drone started to slowly rotate in a clockwise direction without any corresponding joystick input.
It also tilted upwards and started losing height.
In a short time it was falling spinning very fast as well as tumbling.

This is indicative of losing either a prop or a motor.
So it might be a good case for warranty replacement.
Were all props attached when you found the drone?

Labroides Posted at 5-20 03:25
At 3:47.8 your drone started to slowly rotate in a clockwise direction without any corresponding joystick input.
It also tilted upwards and started losing height.
In a short time it was falling spinning very fast as well as tumbling.

Superb reply, thank you.
And yes, all props where in place and attached.

Dadaist Posted at 5-20 03:30
Superb reply, thank you.
And yes, all props where in place and attached.

Then you should have a very good case for warranty replacement.

Labroides Posted at 5-20 03:46
Then you should have a very good case for warranty replacement.

I noticed a very very little rattle sound from one of the motors since two days, but it was so low that I did not expect a serious problem.
Maybe I was wrong about that and I should have contacted DJI immediately.

Dadaist Posted at 5-20 03:52
I noticed a very very little rattle sound from one of the motors since two days, but it was so low that I did not expect a serious problem.
Maybe I was wrong about that and I should have contacted DJI immediately.

bearing maybe went out and then it siezed mid flight.  slow failure causing the rotation then it just locked up.

Dadaist Posted at 5-20 03:30
Superb reply, thank you.
And yes, all props where in place and attached.

Dji should arrange to have your drone picked up and sent for assessment, they will have access to .dat file stored in the craft, this should give a little more information, but suffice to say Labroids is pretty experience and accurate at what he does. From looking at your log I agree this should be a warranty case and your drone should be replaced. It may take 10 working days to get sorted and hopefully it won’t have soured your total experience of flying drones, although you may read similar cases around here, it’s very rare that a drone crashes unless with some outside interference like the pilot.
Good luck.

I still have the MavicMini, and that tiny drone feels like that good old Volkswagen Beetle (here in Germany called "VW Käfer").
I really love the Mini, but of course the Air-2 is superior in every aspect and can't wait to fly it again. I have that Care-Refresh-Agreement for both drones, but that "simply falling from sky" should be investigated by DJI.

Thank you all for the support. I really feel better now, also after calling DJI and spoke in German to a friendly guy there

Dadaist Posted at 5-20 04:25
I still have the MavicMini, and that tiny drone feels like that good old Volkswagen Beetle (here in Germany called "VW Käfer").
I really love the Mini, but of course the Air-2 is superior in every aspect and can't wait to fly it again. I have that Care-Refresh-Agreement for both drones, but that "simply falling from sky" should be investigated by DJI.

Hope it works out.

This sounds very much like the situation I may have avoided... Mine has one motor spinning slightly stiff.. noticeable when I turn it off and it stops abruptly, whereas the others identically come to a halt more gradually.
I was torn between whether it was normal or not or whether its something to worry about. In the end I have sent it back today for assessment and refereed this thread as an example as to what may happen.
Im just glad it didn't drop out of the sky... But I think this definitely warrants a replacement free of charge too.
It should be something everyone should look out for as it could be a potential issue withe the MA2 as new machines often have a few teething issues.

I wonder if a prop tab got broken off and was maybe trapped under the motor bell.....

Dadaist Posted at 5-20 04:25
I still have the MavicMini, and that tiny drone feels like that good old Volkswagen Beetle (here in Germany called "VW Käfer").
I really love the Mini, but of course the Air-2 is superior in every aspect and can't wait to fly it again. I have that Care-Refresh-Agreement for both drones, but that "simply falling from sky" should be investigated by DJI.

Could you update once DJI handles the case? I would expect a free warranty replacement. But I wonder if DJI will refuse and declare it as your fault or weather conditions.

Hi Dadaist, we are so sorry for the crash accident, I see a case has been created, please send back the drone at your most convenience and our facility will help figure out what happened and provide the proper resolution, if any assistance is needed during this process, please keep me updated.

DJI Mindy Posted at 5-20 23:01
Hi Dadaist, we are so sorry for the crash accident, I see a case has been created, please send back the drone at your most convenience and our facility will help figure out what happened and provide the proper resolution, if any assistance is needed during this process, please keep me updated.

Crashs may happen, but what DJI Support did was just amazing: Thank you so much!

The communication was brilliant, I send in the Air-2 and the processing of that case was fast and transparent.
Everything was well documented, the calculated repair prices were very fair.
But in the end the repair was free of charge, because the crash happened without my interaction.

I was a little bit confused because I finally received a replacement instead of a repaired one, but that is obviously due to the original malfunction which leads to the crash, which is maybe tricky to detect.

Well, this is my first (and hopefully last) contact with DJI-support, and it was a superb experience - even when I crash my drone by my fault, I now know that there is a strong support backbone which will care about that device.

Thank you, DJI Team.


Well, that text may sound a little bit too positive - but a good support infrastructure is (from my point of view) so important, so I just write how I feel about that case.

Dadaist Posted at 6-3 05:37
Crashs may happen, but what DJI Support did was just amazing: Thank you so much!

The communication was brilliant, I send in the Air-2 and the processing of that case was fast and transparent.

Dadaist,

With a lot of negativity surrounding DJI on this forum we do need positive news to get some good balance :-).
Thank you for updating us on your case.

Mirek

Dublinphantom Posted at 5-20 06:21
This sounds very much like the situation I may have avoided... Mine has one motor spinning slightly stiff.. noticeable when I turn it off and it stops abruptly, whereas the others identically come to a halt more gradually.
I was torn between whether it was normal or not or whether its something to worry about. In the end I have sent it back today for assessment and refereed this thread as an example as to what may happen.
Im just glad it didn't drop out of the sky... But I think this definitely warrants a replacement free of charge too.

My Air2 has been doing that since new. I have done about 6hr since and was fine. But after yesterday’s  saga, Im now debating whether to send it back. Have you sent your? and how long have you been waiting for?

Thanks

Dadaist Posted at 6-3 05:37
Crashs may happen, but what DJI Support did was just amazing: Thank you so much!

The communication was brilliant, I send in the Air-2 and the processing of that case was fast and transparent.

Hello
That really  is good news.
Happy flying

Dadaist Posted at 6-3 05:37
Crashs may happen, but what DJI Support did was just amazing: Thank you so much!

The communication was brilliant, I send in the Air-2 and the processing of that case was fast and transparent.

Mine is due back tomorrow. didn't crash but initially I think I had the same stiff motor as you so decided to send it back after I read your crash post.
So going back to your message, I have to say I have had a very good experience with DJI in relation to this. The process has been easy and communication has been great. Whenever I had a question, i got a response wick enough with a good explanation about what was going on and the process etc.
I have been told I will get a new replacement and it will have been tested before sending it back to me in order not to have to go through the same thing again. So I'm excited for tomorrow to see.
All in all a very good experience from DJI customer care. Its my 5th drone but first with an issue so over all I'm happy with their products too

Dadaist Posted at 6-3 05:37
Crashs may happen, but what DJI Support did was just amazing: Thank you so much!

The communication was brilliant, I send in the Air-2 and the processing of that case was fast and transparent.

Great job, sometimes dji take a lot of stick about CS, but my dealings were similar, thanks for posting results. Fly safe.

Dadaist Posted at 6-3 05:37
Crashs may happen, but what DJI Support did was just amazing: Thank you so much!

The communication was brilliant, I send in the Air-2 and the processing of that case was fast and transparent.

I'm so glad to hear everything went smoothly, appreciate your update and positive feedback, which means a lot to us. Hope you have a good time on flying, should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us, we’d love to help.