This is my first DJI product & we're off to a bad start. As the thread title says, the drone crashed in "return to home" mode & they send me a bill for repairs! Before this last take off the drone successfully recorded a new home point & I got no error or warning anytime during the flight.  See the crash for yourself. The video is darker than it actually was al I was shooting into the sun, I had an ND32 on the camera. I didn't bother taking the flight log because the video tells it all.
DRONE CRASH
https://vimeo.com/545090483/44ce2aefc4

I have DJI care & the drone was less than 2 weeks old. Any other manufacturer would speedily send you a new replacement for a defective item if it failed in less than a month, DJI sends me a bill.

Hi there, sorry for the inconvenience caused. I've managed to get your case number, your situation has been escalated to our supervisor team to follow up. We'll have someone contact you within working hours. Thanks for your patience.

It looked dark, the sensors don't work so well in the dark. If you were standing near as it was coming down why didn't you stop it as it was too close to the building? RTH only brings the drone down close to the original spot. Also if you don't wait for the home point to set before lift off RTH could be set to come down on the building. I do not have your flight log so I can't determine the cause. But DJI should have the logs.

Thanks for your reply. It wasn't as dark as it looked in the picture, the picture looks that dark because I had an ND32 on the lens. The home point was updated before I took off.

Hi
I have the original Mavic Pro which does land very close to the take off point, when I use RTH, however I always stand close and have my fingers ready to take control if necessary. I couldn't see you in the car park on the video, which i  would have expected, I wonder how far away you were.

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I was in the black car right below the drone. I was 40ft away from the last take-off landing point I'd taken off/landed on & had no issue with the RTH. I thought about interrupting the landing when I saw it looking sketchy but I figure since the downward-facing sensors were a big selling point they would do their job, it's not like the obstacles were obscure. I've been doing research since I've gotten the invoice this AM & it seems DJI has a track record of not taking responsibility for the malfunctioning of their products.

djiuser_bVjgbu64UOa7 Posted at 5-4 12:39
Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I was in the black car right below the drone. I was 40ft away from the last take-off landing point I'd taken off/landed on & had no issue with the RTH. I thought about interrupting the landing when I saw it looking sketchy but I figure since the downward-facing sensors were a big selling point they would do their job, it's not like the obstacles were obscure. I've been doing research since I've gotten the invoice this AM & it seems DJI has a track record of not taking responsibility for the malfunctioning of their products.

Post your flight logs here and some forum experts can take a look for you.

RTH works like this. You wait until you have enough sats for craft to mark its RTH , if you took off before RTH was set then your drone may set Rth when it has enough sats to do so if you have already moved from exact takeoff then it wont land at take off, but where it first recorded homepoint.

This can easily be seen in your flight log if you post it. Its looks like this could possibly have happened. Also if you press dji they will tell you exactly why your drone crashed, otherwise post link below.

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

djiuser_bVjgbu64UOa7 Posted at 5-4 12:39
Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I was in the black car right below the drone. I was 40ft away from the last take-off landing point I'd taken off/landed on & had no issue with the RTH. I thought about interrupting the landing when I saw it looking sketchy but I figure since the downward-facing sensors were a big selling point they would do their job, it's not like the obstacles were obscure. I've been doing research since I've gotten the invoice this AM & it seems DJI has a track record of not taking responsibility for the malfunctioning of their products.

Sitting in a tin box (car) while controlling the aircraft is a recipe for trouble. You are reducing the radio range while doing so.

DJI are mostly quite reasonable about replacing defective drones, but in this case there is really no defect to blame it on. The aircraft was coming down on the edge of the building, it might just have well decided to land on the roof of that building rather than continue to the ground. It would have been safer to cancel RTH and land it manually. I score this as an operator error.

Operator error as stated above is my opinion also. But post the log file and it may show something else.

Geebax Posted at 5-4 14:49
Sitting in a tin box (car) while controlling the aircraft is a recipe for trouble. You are reducing the radio range while doing so.

DJI are mostly quite reasonable about replacing defective drones, but in this case there is really no defect to blame it on. The aircraft was coming down on the edge of the building, it might just have well decided to land on the roof of that building rather than continue to the ground. It would have been safer to cancel RTH and land it manually. I score this as an operator error.

You've got to be kidding me. The drone received the RTH message, what does me being in a car have to do with anything si the drone received the message to return to home? U must work for DJI

GaryDoug Posted at 5-4 15:00
Operator error as stated above is my opinion also. But post the log file and it may show something else.

Am I in the Twilight zone? When I took off the drone recorded the new home point. I flew the drone & when I decided I hit RTH ( & took my hands off the sticks). The drone proceeded as it always had & attempted to RTH & in route crashed into some of the most NON-OBSCURE objects. What in that description points to "User error"? The drone at no point said "there was no home point" that it lost signal, nothing. Just crashed on its way home. How much is DJI paying you guys?

djiuser_bVjgbu64UOa7 Posted at 5-4 15:22
You've got to be kidding me. The drone received the RTH message, what does me being in a car have to do with anything si the drone received the message to return to home? U must work for DJI

Obviously the drone received the RTH signal, but it's what happened after that that caused the incident.

It not possible to speak authoritatively about the cause of the incident without seeing the recorded flight data.
If you post that it will show what actually happened.
If you want further help, you need to come up with the data.

I just watched the video and as harsh as it sounds, you were at the controls of the drone and you could see the drone VLOS and on the screen so you were aware of where it was going and you made the decision to let it keep going right into the corner of the building.   It sucks that it crashed but this is clearly operator error and NO I don't work for DJI.  

If you were flying an plane and the autopilot was going to crash you into a building, would just let it happen because you expect it to work or would you take manual control of the aircraft to avoid the crash?

Accept responsibility for your decision to not intervene and to let it continue to descend into the building.

There is a red X- cancel RTH you should of hit the X and took control of the bird, sorry it looks like you lose.

djiuser_bVjgbu64UOa7 Posted at 5-4 15:28
Am I in the Twilight zone? When I took off the drone recorded the new home point. I flew the drone & when I decided I hit RTH ( & took my hands off the sticks). The drone proceeded as it always had & attempted to RTH & in route crashed into some of the most NON-OBSCURE objects. What in that description points to "User error"? The drone at no point said "there was no home point" that it lost signal, nothing. Just crashed on its way home. How much is DJI paying you guys?

None of us work for DJI. This is a user forum, that means DJI do not get into discussions with you about technical subjects, nor do they offer any help. The help comes from members of the forum, and while it might not suit you, it is given without fear or favour.  You were given good advice, own up to your error in judgement.

djiuser_bVjgbu64UOa7 Posted at 5-4 15:28
Am I in the Twilight zone? When I took off the drone recorded the new home point. I flew the drone & when I decided I hit RTH ( & took my hands off the sticks). The drone proceeded as it always had & attempted to RTH & in route crashed into some of the most NON-OBSCURE objects. What in that description points to "User error"? The drone at no point said "there was no home point" that it lost signal, nothing. Just crashed on its way home. How much is DJI paying you guys?

If you think that this product will operate in a perfect way, as you perceive it, then it is likely that you are in the Twilight Zone. Nothing wrong with that because you are a new user and do not know the limitations not specified as clearly as you like in the manual. It just takes some experience to know that something is going wrong and needs intervention. You will get there if you want.....eventually. You are not helping your case by not posting the log file. I am usually a big fan of video for analysis, but only in a supplemental way to add detail to the log file. As for working for DJI...they couldn't afford me ;-)

Because the camera was aimed down, not usual, I assume you were watching the screen and could see the looming problem. Why no action?

Savage3006 Posted at 5-4 17:09
There is a red X- cancel RTH you should of hit the X and took control of the bird, sorry it looks like you lose.

As stated

The drone operator is responsible for his flight as well as understanding the way the drone works.

If the drone is inside a 30 to 50 meter radius when you hit return to home,  it will simply land straight down......once the decent starts it is the drone operators responsibility to have eyes on the drone, and be ready to take control.  <--- That's a PERIOD.

Now,  also stated....put your flight log in here so one of the pros can take a look.....if in fact your drone had errors not reported....then......you have a chance.

Randy

Operator error

Video starts with a turning to start heading drone, thus before that drone was flying towards home...
Drone stops above HP, wich is so close to the building that HP must have been set in flight and not before take-off.Flying away without a proper GPS lock and HP setting in flight ?  [ if so ; user error 1 ]

During landing no pilot in control....only OP knows why he did not cancel RTH or adjust position to stay clear of the building [ user error 2 ]

But only flightlog.txt will show all the details to make a good assesment what went wrong in the first place (HP setting)

Obvious ofcourse a pilot error. Landing a drone must be done in full control, even in an automated mode, to take necessary actions if needed.

So waiting, as others have stated too, for the flightlog.

PS i do not work for DJI   ;-)
cheers
JJB

You say this is your first DJI drone. I think you should've practiced more in a wide open area (no trees, buildings, telephone poles, etc) until you became more familiar with it's take-off and landing procedures. RTH is never to be considered perfect. Nor is it not adjustable once it's heading down. You CAN still maneuver it's position (left, right, forward, back), even if it's a forced landing due to no battery left. The easy thing here would've been to just nudge it away from the roof and into the parking lot.

I'd say is too dark for the sensors to work (or maybe is just ND filter idk)... but anyways drones don't work allways perfectly, so setting a good RTH point is one of the basics to try to minimize accidents like this. Remember that when controller/phone malfunctions is RTH what saves your drone from being lost, so a nice RTH point is mandatory.

For example once I was with my drone and had to leave it to face an emergency in the ground nearby, I knew my RTH was good so even though my drone was far away I just pressed RTH, left the controller unatended and I knew it would come and land itself and yep, that's what it did.

My mini 2 once drifted off automatically a few meters when I was just pushing up and nearly hit a near building... allways have the eye on the drone when you are climbing/landing to ensure it's not drifting to a building or obstacle.

Highly doubtful the Air 2S is defective in this case. Your "vid proof" shows quite the opposite that this was an operator error, i.e., inexperienced pilot. So far everyone that has responded has experience and has not agreed with your side.

Its an expensive lesson to learn and hope when you do get a replacement, please take the time to fly this properly. Learn the ins/outs on drone operations.

Now what's your address & info so we all can send our bill to you as well?

Be glad you have the care refresh.

He's been silenced!

djiuser_bVjgbu64UOa7 Posted at 5-4 15:28
Am I in the Twilight zone? When I took off the drone recorded the new home point. I flew the drone & when I decided I hit RTH ( & took my hands off the sticks). The drone proceeded as it always had & attempted to RTH & in route crashed into some of the most NON-OBSCURE objects. What in that description points to "User error"? The drone at no point said "there was no home point" that it lost signal, nothing. Just crashed on its way home. How much is DJI paying you guys?

RTH is an automatic mode not autonomous, meaning you still have control of the drone’s movements, its also your responsibility to be at landing point insuring drone lands safely and area is clear. You cannot just push RTH and abandon the drone.
Sometimes it can be a difficult learning process and 5” in the other direction and you get away with it, but posting your log will help you greatly to understand what happened but most of all to avoid in the future.
You have care refresh “good Move” takes some of the pain away.