Any insight on what I should do regarding this incident. I've emailed support, but not sure if that's the correct department. Has anyone else experienced a similar issue or have their drone have a mind of its own?

I was flying the DJI Mavic Air drone. I was in a backyard with plenty of space, landing the drone because the battery was running low and I was standing a safe distance back behind the aircraft . The drone was descending slowly and when the drone descended to about 5 feet above the ground, it suddenly and very quickly shot backwards striking me in the face and neck, causing cuts to my neck and my lip, and damage to my drone. A few inches higher and I could have lost an eye, but luckily did not. The drone shot back so fast that I wasn’t even able to react until after it hit me. It came at me so fast, that I didn’t even see it coming.

Keep in mind that all obstacle avoidance sensors were enabled, I was flying the drone in P mode, and the drone was landing itself. So why is the drone suddenly flying backwards and not stopping? What’s the point of having sensors if they are not going to work.

I don’t know if I want to continue using DJI products if they are going to malfunction and injure people.

Adding: Flight Log - https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/TVJHPOR2O7C6OEBT930L/

There were no large metal objects nearby? Or high current electrical cables? It is possible that the change in the magnetic field was interpreted by the drone as a change in its position in space, which it tried to compensate for. I had a similar case, but the blade protection was installed on the drone, so there were no consequences. And it would be strange to blame DJI for what happened.

Vofas Posted at 11-11 21:24
There were no large metal objects nearby? Or high current electrical cables? It is possible that the change in the magnetic field was interpreted by the drone as a change in its position in space, which it tried to compensate for. I had a similar case, but the blade protection was installed on the drone, so there were no consequences. And it would be strange to blame DJI for what happened.

No metal objects or electrical cables - lots of open space. Why would it be strange to blame DJI? Their aircraft/product malfunctioned and obstacle avoidance system didn't work.

There are many things that may have caused that accident. If you want some expert opinion, then go to this site and follow the instuctions to upload the flight logs, https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

Then take a copy of the link to the resultant file it produces, come back here and paste that link into a reply.

I agree with Geebax, post your flight logs and someone would be able to identify what caused the issue

Sorry to read that - post the flight logs otherwise peoples replies will be nothing more than wild guesses

I had a somewhat siilar case with my M2P last year. It was the result of a mulfunctioning IMU. The craft almost crashed itself while it was in auto landing procedure. DJI eventually replaced the whole craft under warranty, but what helped me understand the issue, was the help I got from the forums after uploading the flight data.

So your best option at the moment would be to upload the data and have them analysed by the guys here to define the problem.

Here is the flight log: https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/TVJHPOR2O7C6OEBT930L/

arthurk Posted at 11-12 17:47
Here is the flight log: https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/TVJHPOR2O7C6OEBT930L/

Hi arthurk,

Had a look at your flight.

Autolanding starts at 33.9 meters away from HP.
Normal descend values for down speed and pitch/roll angels of your MA.

After 1 second for about 2 seconds forward stick applied ; MA moves closer to HP with some speed.
Speed back to zero, distance to HP now 30.1 meter.

Again forward stick input, speed up and after relasing stick now distance to HP 26.2 meter.
Than fwd stick for 0.7s followed direct with full aft stick input (correction last movement?) for 3 seconds.

So this autolanding not only controlled by the software but 'disturbed'by RC inputs.


cheers
JJB

JJB* Posted at 11-13 00:55
Hi arthurk,

Had a look at your flight.
[Image]

There were remote control movements to maneuver the aircraft so that it would land on a solid surface, and not on tall grass. However, it still doesn’t explain why the aircraft shot backwards and collided with me when the joystick wasn’t pushed in that direction (you are saying that it was), and it doesn’t explain why the rear obstacle avoidance sensors didn’t prevent the collision.

So if the aircraft was landing and I purposely pushed the joystick forward toward a building, the aircraft’s sensors wouldn’t stop it from colliding with the wall? Do the sensors disable in landing mode?

Also, I tested afterwards to see what would happen if I pushed the joystick backwards while it was landing, and the aircraft moved extremely slow. During the accident, the aircraft moved extremely fast.

Hi, we're very sorry to know about the incident and I am hoping for your wellness. We strongly recommend that you go to a nearby hospital to treat the injuries first. I've pulled up the email you've sent and we'll urge the team designated to further assist. Rest assured that any further updates will be provided to you via email. Thank you for your patience.

arthurk Posted at 11-13 06:46
There were remote control movements to maneuver the aircraft so that it would land on a solid surface, and not on tall grass. However, it still doesn’t explain why the aircraft shot backwards and collided with me when the joystick wasn’t pushed in that direction (you are saying that it was), and it doesn’t explain why the rear obstacle avoidance sensors didn’t prevent the collision.

So if the aircraft was landing and I purposely pushed the joystick forward toward a building, the aircraft’s sensors wouldn’t stop it from colliding with the wall? Do the sensors disable in landing mode?

Hi,

Only you can tell what really happend (and where you was standing i do not know), in the log (see chart) the last RC inputs were

Pitch forward (ID 6229 - 6234) ; craft attitide pitch Down
Pitch aft (ID 6235 - 6257), craft from attitude Down to Up, speed follows. (V-xy)

Only the last records i see a different move heading ; was that the impact to yourself?

I do not have my MA anymore, but with 100% fore/aft input a speed of 2.2 m/s is not out of the normal. (if i remember it good)
OA does work on solid objects in view of the sensor, also during autoland + autoland corrections.OA doesn`t see small braches etc.

cheers
JJB