Hey Guys,

I am new to DJI forum and just bought my first drone not just film and create content but also have fun flying the thing around. But to my disappointment just after a few flight a one month down the line my drone just pretty much fell out of the sky. Was having a good time flying it on a sunny afternoon and just 5 minutes into the flight it just started veering left and going down on it's own, I had no control over the Mini 3 pro by now and it eventually just crashed into a wall. Now there is an IMU error, GPS error, Gimbal calibration error and is missing a couple of wings but other than the body looks fine. Can't fly the thing now, tried Calibrating the gimbale it failed, IMU calibration doesn't start, have replaced the wings though. Living India we don't have any DJI drone service centres here i believe, got the drone from Veitnam on my last trip and couldn't enjoy it even for a couple of months. What do I do now, wait for DJI to reply if they could replace it or go on my own to find a drone mechanic here in India and pay for the myself? Do let me know what you guys would suggest.

Thanks,
Bunny Virk

Your recorded flight data will help find the cause of the incident.

To get to your flight data, go to: https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
... where you'll find instructions to upload the data to that site and it will give a report

For help interpreting the data you can post a link for the report here.  Or just post the .txt file.

Without the flightlogs and perhaps a video too, we can only guess form the details you've give and mine is...

...it sounds like a typical magnetic interference issue, you turned it on near something that caused magnetic interference, be it metal fencing, steel grates, the car, rebar in concrete and so on...

Hello there Bunny Virk. I am sorry to read and to know what happened to your DJI Mini 3 Pro and thank you for reaching out. Since this unfortunate incident happened to your DJI Mini 3 Pro. I would recommend for you to contact our DJI Support Team at https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav for further assistance. We will do our best to help you and give out the best resolution for the said issue. Again, I am sorry and thank you.

DowntownRDB Posted at 9-12 03:25
Your recorded flight data will help find the cause of the incident.

To get to your flight data, go to: https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/6L8VKC1CJVMGJ2L34SAV/ . Here is the link to the flight report hope it helps. Thanks for your reply.

DJI Stephen Posted at 9-12 03:58
Hello there Bunny Virk. I am sorry to read and to know what happened to your DJI Mini 3 Pro and thank you for reaching out. Since this unfortunate incident happened to your DJI Mini 3 Pro. I would recommend for you to contact our DJI Support Team at https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav for further assistance. We will do our best to help you and give out the best resolution for the said issue. Again, I am sorry and thank you.

Hey Stephen,
Have already written a mail to DJI support, just waiting for their response now.  Only issue is there no DJI service centres in India.

Bashy Posted at 9-12 03:55
Without the flightlogs and perhaps a video too, we can only guess form the details you've give and mine is...

...it sounds like a typical magnetic interference issue, you turned it on near something that caused magnetic interference, be it metal fencing, steel grates, the car, rebar in concrete and so on...

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/6L8VKC1CJVMGJ2L34SAV/
Hope this helps

Bunny Virk Posted at 9-12 04:09
https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/6L8VKC1CJVMGJ2L34SAV/
Hope this helps

Hi Bunny,

Had a look at your log

at 2 seconds during autotakeoff warning > "Possible gimbal attitude error. Go to Settings to calibrate it before usete gimbal"
at 4 seconds in flight this warning again.

Until 4m31s all data looks normal (climb to 113 meter and descent again)

At 4m31s warning > "Possible gimbal attitude error. Go to Settings to calibrate it before usete gimbal"
But just before that your drone already falling out of the sky ; vertical speed down up to 8 m/s !
A4 4m32 in the log "motor blocked", craft rolling to 112 degrees....

After that more warnings:
- Gyroscope initialization failed. Restart aircraft
- Barometer initialization failed. Restart aircraf
- Motor stuck. Check for objects blocking motor or contact DJI Support for assistance

Don`t think that the error "gimbal attitude error" at start has something to do with your incident.
IMO the Motor blockage fail is the cause of falling down

Hope that DJI will help you out.

ofcourse DJI should change their messages ; "Gyroscope initialization failed. Restart aircraft" = nice to see warning while craft is falling to earth.....

cheers
JJB

Hello, there. According to India Import Policy, Drones are 'prohibited' except for R&D and defense use. There are no DJI Authorized Retail Stores in India to sell drones. So we cannot provide aftersales services for you. Sorry for the inconvenience caused and your understanding is highly appreciated.    Kindly note that since the unit was purchased from a local dealer, you are suggested to contact the point of purchase to seek further assistance on this matter. Thank you for your cooperation and support.

JJB* Posted at 9-12 05:27
Hi Bunny,

Had a look at your log

So does it look like hardware malfunction or what ?

DJI Wanda Posted at 9-12 05:33
Hello, there. According to India Import Policy, Drones are 'prohibited' except for R&D and defense use. There are no DJI Authorized Retail Stores in India to sell drones. So we cannot provide aftersales services for you. Sorry for the inconvenience caused and your understanding is highly appreciated.    Kindly note that since the unit was purchased from a local dealer, you are suggested to contact the point of purchase to seek further assistance on this matter. Thank you for your cooperation and support.

No actually the drone has been bought from a DJI store in Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam, so if there is a replacement issue i have plans to travel to the region again anyways. Just want an update from the company on how to go forward with this.

JJB* Posted at 9-12 05:27
Hi Bunny,

Had a look at your log

I take it he was mistaken re compass error?

Certainly not bird issue at that height either. deffo malfunction of some sort.

Bunny Virk Posted at 9-12 05:42
No actually the drone has been bought from a DJI store in Ho Chi Minh city in Vietnam, so if there is a replacement issue i have plans to travel to the region again anyways. Just want an update from the company on how to go forward with this.

Can you not send it into Ho Chi Minh? Contact the shop directly, or does it have to be in person?

Hey Bashy,
Shipping it would be an issue as it could get stuck at customs with both countries having strict laws, so it's better to take it in person so send with someone. Both countries have legally allowed flying of drones but still sometimes custom officers create an issue.

Sorry to hear of your issue.  If for some reason it is cost prohibitive to repair, I would suggest looking into DJI Care Refresh if you decide to purchase another drone.

Bunny Virk Posted at 9-12 05:40
So does it look like hardware malfunction or what ?

not sure, many reasons why a motor is blocked, but could be a hardware fail ofcourse

Bunny Virk Posted at 9-12 05:40
So does it look like hardware malfunction or what ?

Hi Bunny
Sorry for your loss. Noticed from your flightlog that you were recording video during the incident.
Upload video to youtube and post link here, could possibly help in diagnosis.

Pleomax Posted at 9-12 11:55
Hi Bunny
Sorry for your loss. Noticed from your flightlog that you were recording video during the incident.
Upload video to youtube and post link here, could possibly help in diagnosis.

Sure i will upload and post the link here, but the video just shuts off right when the drone starts to veer off.

Does anyone have any experience with contacting DJI support earlier, how long do they take to reply. I can try and get the drone repaired here itself but what's the point if some manufacturing fault is there and this happens again. Thankfully it don't crash land on someone's car this time.

JJB* Posted at 9-12 09:32
not sure, many reasons why a motor is blocked, but could be a hardware fail ofcourse

Had some time to kill...

Looking at the data and google maps/earth, I am beginning to suspect that it wasn't a hardware issue but perhaps a tree/bush inconsiderately jumped out at the taircraft as it tried to fly past?

Video does not stop recording for a motor blockage unless it loses power and that's not the case here as over 2 seconds go by before the log stops, this suggests that the power is severed or shut down, i suspect the battery popped out on impact.

The height you were flying was quite low and at 37mph so you were in sports mode even though its not showing as sports mode (P-GPS)

As for those gimbal errors, did you forget to remove the gimbal guard?

I would like to see the video for sure, please? as it would dispel my thoughts

Bashy Posted at 9-12 20:50
Had some time to kill...

Looking at the data and google maps/earth, I am beginning to suspect that it wasn't a hardware issue but perhaps a tree/bush inconsiderately jumped out at the taircraft as it tried to fly past?

The drone was right infront of my eyes when i saw it drifting with no obstacle or bird nearby, it just started going down. Uploading the video soon. I was at my rooftop while flying it so i could see around. The Gimbal guard was off and it was in normal mode ( didn't switch to sport or cine at any time).

All i can see is a Transformer nearby, can it kill the battery completely ?

https://youtu.be/EhZ1IzIyH1Y

1st clip is it flying from the same space without issues earlier, although at a  greater height.
2nd clip is it when it just goes offline.

Bashy Posted at 9-12 20:50
Had some time to kill...

Looking at the data and google maps/earth, I am beginning to suspect that it wasn't a hardware issue but perhaps a tree/bush inconsiderately jumped out at the taircraft as it tried to fly past?

Hi Bashy,

Had a look at googlemaps too, and checked data again.
You could be right, low flying over some trees....
Would like to know from wich height this flight started, if started at the roof of the house than the 7 meters baro height is misleading, absolute height (level ground there) thus higher.
No idea how tall the trees are there.

VPS height was shortly indicating 4.8 meter, so mayby a higher in the air sticking branch...

Weird in the log from 4m31.2s to 4m33.0s data in the log does not change, but warnings were written.

Mayby the video shows what happend. I flew one against a high tension power cable, not seen by me at the time but nicely captured on video  ;-)

Starting rotors with gimbal protector ON : message on the screen "Gimbal Stuck", not in this flight.

See the chart for pitch and roll values of the drone.

cheers
JJB

JJB* Posted at 9-12 23:15
Hi Bashy,

Had a look at googlemaps too, and checked data again.

Have uploaded the video on youtube just shared the link above

Bunny Virk Posted at 9-12 23:22
Have uploaded the video on youtube just shared the link above

Thanks, i only see one link though...

JJB* Posted at 9-12 23:15
Hi Bashy,

Had a look at googlemaps too, and checked data again.

Yeah, youre correct, he confirms rooftop, from the 1st link supplied (only so far) he was fairly close to objects, need to see what the next one shows...

Bashy Posted at 9-13 00:04
Thanks, i only see one link though...

could only see one video too

Bashy Posted at 9-13 00:06
Yeah, youre correct, he confirms rooftop, from the 1st link supplied (only so far) he was fairly close to objects, need to see what the next one shows...

there was some close flying on the first video so probably more of the same on the 2nd.

In the same link only the first clip show flying easily through the same region, when there is a cut in the video that's the next clip
In the end you can see drone just towards left that was not me that's when it crashed and the video just cut off there. That is all no touch any tree or any wire. The drone just went haywire there.

There was no obstacle near the drone when it went out of control. I could just see it veer of in front of me from the rooftop.

Check the last 5 second of the video there looks like some glitch in the video also and then it just goes left and then video cuts off

so the video changes at 12 seconds.  I can see the top of a tree and cables overflown but nothing hit.  when you veer to the left the video stops recording but the drone doesn't look in any sort of stress

chillibadger Posted at 9-13 00:48
so the video changes at 12 seconds.  I can see the top of a tree and cables overflown but nothing hit.  when you veer to the left the video stops recording but the drone doesn't look in any sort of stress

Yes, something just failed there. The recording shouldn't have stopped there, so we could've gotten the full crash video as well

As you can see the drone cleared these tree and was above these lines. It went crazy in the empty space pointed in the picture. No trees there as well.

Bunny Virk Posted at 9-12 21:23
https://youtu.be/EhZ1IzIyH1Y

1st clip is it flying from the same space without issues earlier, although at a  greater height.

Hi Bunny,

Watched your video, no trees and no obstacle.
so must somehow be a motor/power failure.

cheers
JJB

DJI's first response has been weird now, It was just we don't sell in India so contact the place you bought it from. But i've bought from their official store only, just from a different country. I am willing to travel to get  it replaced if it a hardware malfunction issue just need them to check the flight records and the video.

And my first flight was over water from docked ship in Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, imagine if this had happened there.

JJB* Posted at 9-13 01:02
Hi Bunny,

Watched your video, no trees and no obstacle.

Hi All

Still have some doubts.

The reason why I asked Bunny to upload video.

Why upload edited video, video recording throughout incident.

Uploaded flightlog to AirData just to get their take on it.

Wasn't surprised by what it showed.

Pleomax Posted at 9-13 03:58
Hi All

Still have some doubts.

Airdata uses their own add-ons to to the log, those 2 yellow marked messages are not in the log.
I do the same in my FRAP logic/algorithm

cheers
JJB