Hello all,

I come to this forum to learn, and to understand if I made a mistake with my Mavic mini or not. I was flying my Mavic mini, and I've started to get "strong wind alert", as many times before, I pressed the RTO button, but the drone never came, and I had such bad luck that it was crashed (I guess) inside a garden which is closed because of the corona. I've uploaded the logs to phantomhelp if this helps.

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/NI49KBCVITXZJ1WM4QLD

I'm sure I'm not going to get it back, but I would like to know if it was my mistake, was the wind, or It was a drone/remote/app failure.

Many thanks

Cheers

Javi

Sorry to read of your loss. Looking at the link it shows that the drone continued to fly away from the home point after RTH was even initiated at 3-4MPH. This is not a fly away as you were still in control of the drone with no errors showing but the force from the wind speeds were too powerful for the drone to counteract so it slowly flew away from your position and even slightly increased in altitude to over 190' towards the end of the flight.

You'll notice that the speed also slowed down as you pushed forward 100% on the pitch stick then as you released it the wind increased the speed as it flew further away. What you should have done is cancelled RTH, enabled sport mode, lowered the altitude to less than 100' AGL and pushed forward on the pitch stick as soon as you noticed the drone drifting away from you after RTH started. Better still, you should have located a safe to fly spot to land immediately at that point where the drone would have been retrievable. Of course, not to have flown the drone in those wind speeds in the first place would have been best - your drone was drifting at >11MPH away from your position whilst in RTH and 7MPH in full pitch - you must have been flying in a fresh breeze and at 180' AGL it's going to be even faster. The Mini is designed to handle wind speeds of <18MPH - not 20 odd MPH. The wind caused it but, as the pilot, this was unfortunately your mistake.

Saddened by another Mini's demise.

With a 9 m/s predicted and 11 m/s gusts you decided to take off with a reported 78% battery (it's not a mistake per se but it is when you stayed out for so long with such a high wind).

You ignored the repeated warnings of the Fly app and continued to do your business regardless. You had many occasions to follow the safety notices and bring down your drone.

At some point the Mini with the weak battery couldn't handle it anymore and started to be dragged away. Had you made a contingency plan you could have set the Signal Lost to Descent which results in a known and narrow search radius to locate your drone.

You didn't try to lower the altitude to aid the RTH or guide the drone manually.

This is not misfortune or the app's fault.

BTW: I don't think the Mini landed in the garden but rather more far outwards in the open, probably a field on the east.

Or in one of the parking lots.

With a Mavic Mini always flight into the wind on the out leg so that you can return with a tailwind.

Thanks all for your comments, I know it was my fault, I have to admit I was very nervous when I lost the control and I didn't know how to take it back to me

m80116 Posted at 8-1 14:20
Saddened by another Mini's demise.

With a 9 m/s predicted and 11 m/s gusts you decided to take off with a reported 78% battery (it's not a mistake per se but it is when you stayed out for so long with such a high wind).

You said more to the east, where should I try to look for?

i5JS Posted at 8-1 21:54
You said more to the east, where should I try to look for?

Looking at the flight log, chances are it's in a tree somewhere to the west of the Keukenhof Oranje Nassau Paviljoen, where the yellow trace on the map ends. Bad luck, an expensive lesson

Indeed @Blériot53, pretty expensive... both place are close now, so I can't search for it I don't know if buy another one.... Just the drone, I have all the accessories... So sad!

i5JS Posted at 8-1 21:38
Thanks all for your comments, I know it was my fault, I have to admit I was very nervous when I lost the control and I didn't know how to take it back to me

You're welcome - it's a gamble asking the land owner if you can look for it - fingers crossed

I already did the day after... Impossible Mission! It's a very famous place, 100% close till 2021

I guess it will not work now because the Mini's battery will be flat but if i5JS had opened the flight history map and or flight map in the app and walked towards the suspected crash sit. Then when presumably significantly closer activated the "find my drone" thing, could the "find my drone" lock onto the drone if a connection had been established between the drone and the controller?

i5JS Posted at 8-1 23:53
I already did the day after... Impossible Mission! It's a very famous place, 100% close till 2021

Damn - hard lesson to learn but buy the basic bundle next time as you already have the fly more accessories so at least it will be cheaper and you can sell the other remote on Ebay

i5JS Posted at 8-1 21:54
You said more to the east, where should I try to look for?

I was very nervous when I lost the control and I didn't know how to take it back to me.
When RTH started the drone was only 244 metres from home.
The drone climbed to the set RTH height of 60 metres and was being blown backwards as it tried to fly home.
The wind is always stronger up higher.
Bringing the drone lower, it would have had less wind to fight against.
Cancelling RTH and using Sport Mode, you could have flown faster then RTH and had a chance to bring it back.

where should I try to look for?

With the low battery level and the rate it was burning battery, the drone would probably have reached critical low voltage level about 60 seconds after signal was lost.
At the speed it was being blown to the northeast, it would have gone approx 120-300 metres further.
A likely search area would be along both sides of the pink line, maybe within 20-30 metres of the line.

Hey Labroides, many thanks for your explanation, but I'm afraid I could not find it anymore. It's a private place and I can't go to search it myself. If some of the gardeners who take care the place found it, perhaps I could take it bak, but I have no hope for it. Hard and expensive lesson learnt...  Thanks all for your tips and advices.

Sorry to hear about the loss.  Hope you can get yourself another one.....  

@i5JS it's never too late to learn from experience with drones. I am relieved you acknowledge your fault... may you have better luck (and far better knowledge) next time.

Now... while there may be someone here that can give you a decent estimate of the position where your Mini landed, your best bet is to head to the Mavic Pilots forum (Crash and Flyaway assistance) and ask them. There certainly are at least a couple of persons that can give you a detailed map based on mathematical models out of the known data for the projected search patch of land.

Personally I'd do whatever possible to retrieve the drone, it's not only an economic loss (considering the time of the year your drone is likely to remain flyable if not damaged for quite long) but also by experience a personal belonging scattered around... nobody should want that. It's an unpleasant feeling and position. Authorities may even track back to you should they need to. I am not saying you should trespass (I'd even do that in case I really needed, especially for a community garden, not personal property) but you can at least ask the keepers permission to get in and search for your drone: explain to them it is a valuable product, containing important (to you) media.

Then for the replacement keep in mind DJI can only do so much, the spare part (the whole drone + battery) may be just a shy of the original asking price once shipped, so do your math and consider your options. It should be in fact the cheapest option to obtain a new drone, but not the most advantageous economical choice.

Good luck for your quest.

@m80116 Thanks! This garden is a very famous one, biggest of tulips here in The Netherlands, so It's complicate to go inside. I'm sending some messages including the last data that @Labroides gave me.  Of course I'm trying to do my best to get it back but it's complicate, of course would be easier if I could try to look it myself, but It's not allowed...

Hello there Javi. I am sorry to read and to know what happened to your DJI Mavic Mini. Since this unfortunate incident happened and you have lost the said drone. I would recommend for you to contact our DJI Support Team at https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav for further assistance. If the said drone is still under the warranty period and it is evaluated as a non-pilot error, the warranty service will be provided. Again, I am sorry for your loss and thank you for your understanding.

Hi @DJI Stephen, many thanks for your message,I'm going to do it now. Fingers cross.

Cheers.

Hello all,

Final chapter, I've just received the new Mavic Mini! Many thanks all for tips, advices and support!

Now I've to start (continue) to learn how and where I can fly it.

Cheers!

Javi

i5JS Posted at 8-12 06:58
Hello all,

Final chapter, I've just received the new Mavic Mini! Many thanks all for tips, advices and support!

Cool!
Maybe you can try to look for the other Mini, like a rescue mission, or maybe not lol
Anyway glad you got back in the air... there are many apps that are good for drones, one is UAV forecast for weather, and there are plenty for airspace, in Spain we use IcarusRPA but there are many specific to other countries.
Have fun!

i5JS Posted at 8-12 06:58
Hello all,

Final chapter, I've just received the new Mavic Mini! Many thanks all for tips, advices and support!

Hi Javi,

Another tip, put your mob device number on your drone and/or in a txt file on the SD card.
FRAP landing position (orange marker) calculation for your missed is bit further....see the chart.

check this to learn more about flightlogs > https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=203659

Many happy landings with your new MM!

cheers
JJB

Hello guys, me again definitely I have bad luck. I came back from my holidays yesterday very excited to enjoy my new drone again, but it doesn't turn on! I've tried to turn it on as usual, first  a small press to see the leds then, press the power again till the drone turn on. But, with the first attempt, the leds never turned on. The battery was not full charged, so I charged it, but with out any change. I've also tried with the other batteries but still no luck. Any tips?

Thanks.

i5JS Posted at 8-23 05:08
Hello guys, me again  definitely I have bad luck. I came back from my holidays yesterday very excited to enjoy my new drone again, but it doesn't turn on! I've tried to turn it on as usual, first  a small press to see the leds then, press the power again till the drone turn on. But, with the first attempt, the leds never turned on. The battery was not full charged, so I charged it, but with out any change. I've also tried with the other batteries but still no luck. Any tips?

Thanks.

Did you charged the batt with the standard charger or the 3 in 1 hub charger?

First time charge, to get a batt out of hibernation, must be done with the single charger

I didn't know it... Which is the single charger? Because indeed, I used the charger for the three batteries. Do you mean the USB white charger? I've just plugged the drone with one battery but doesn't power on

i5JS Posted at 8-23 07:21
I didn't know it... Which is the single charger? Because indeed, I used the charger for the three batteries. Do you mean the USB white charger? I've just plugged the drone with one battery but doesn't power on

if you use the charger for 3 batts on a battery wich is never used before (in hibernation mode)....battery become useless   a fault by DJI.

Get support from DJI and they will replace battery for a new one.

There is a thread on this forum about this akwards situation but cannot find it !

I can't believe it.... but, what about the other two batteries? why don't they work? different firmware between drone and batteries?

A J Posted at 8-1 13:55
Sorry to read of your loss. Looking at the link it shows that the drone continued to fly away from the home point after RTH was even initiated at 3-4MPH. This is not a fly away as you were still in control of the drone with no errors showing but the force from the wind speeds were too powerful for the drone to counteract so it slowly flew away from your position and even slightly increased in altitude to over 190' towards the end of the flight.

You'll notice that the speed also slowed down as you pushed forward 100% on the pitch stick then as you released it the wind increased the speed as it flew further away. What you should have done is cancelled RTH, enabled sport mode, lowered the altitude to less than 100' AGL and pushed forward on the pitch stick as soon as you noticed the drone drifting away from you after RTH started. Better still, you should have located a safe to fly spot to land immediately at that point where the drone would have been retrievable. Of course, not to have flown the drone in those wind speeds in the first place would have been best - your drone was drifting at >11MPH away from your position whilst in RTH and 7MPH in full pitch - you must have been flying in a fresh breeze and at 180' AGL it's going to be even faster. The Mini is designed to handle wind speeds of

On my case,DJI FLY told me this, strong winds....Mini is not possible to return back, please descend manually and return it ,,,, if i don't bad remember ,, i didn't cancel the rth but i did descend manually, and brought it using the sticks, after some hundreds of meters the drone was able to rth and land itself

djiuser_RIeSM3mAo5mf Posted at 8-23 11:55
On my case,DJI FLY told me this, strong winds....Mini is not possible to return back, please descend manually and return it ,,,, if i don't bad remember ,, i didn't cancel the rth but i did descend manually, and brought it using the sticks, after some hundreds of meters the drone was able to rth and land itself

Good for you

More news, the mini is at SAT now, and they’re going to replace the Power ESC Board Module....

Drone received and working... time to enjoy it (carefully )

i5JS Posted at 9-7 03:33
Drone received and working... time to enjoy it (carefully )

many happy landings!