Hey Guys,
So I had a mavic 2 previously, im pretty familiar with using this unit and how it works.

I started my unit waited for the home point to update and then took off as per usual, I do outdoor construction and take drone photos after work is completed. After taking off i flew low as it was feeling a bit weird it seemed to stabilize so then I took off to get my quick photo as I flew higher ( not very high ) it started drifting all over the place left and right front and back it was very hard to control I was by a building and it was drifting right for it but then pulled back i decided enough was enough and time to land. As i get lower to ground it drifts more and more I tried to save it but it drifted right into a tree.

Its so upsetting that I spent 5k CAD on this unit with the fancy controller and this happened, I sent my unit already to DJI to see what they can do for me wondering if anyone else ever had this issues and how it was dealt with from DJI?

https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/4C19B6FRAO0VAVZIVLO9/
heres my flight log. (I was actually at the hotel beside where the log shows, its not directly where I was but close to it... strange)

It actually had a really soft landing on a flower bed and the gimbal is kind of messed up along with some scratches on the motor... i mean if I had to pay i would but im hoping my drone is not defective. I have never experienced this before and I was just filming an hour before at another location (recording me while I work, steady as can be)

Another thing to mention that it does not seem to show in the log but showed in my DJI APP log - the home point updated twice randomly

There's no mystery behind your flight incident.
You were flying between tall buildings that blocked a large part of the sky and signal from the satellites in that part of the sky.
As a result your drone had very poor GPS.
Satellite numbers were low and the drone didn't have any position holding until you climbed past 80 feet.
You started to get proper GPS flickering on and off from 33 .2 sec.
It didn't stabilise until 44.2 seconds.
That lasted for only 15 seconds and dropped out again at 59.5 sec when you descended.

There was nothing at all wrong with the drone.
You didn't need to send it DJI.

The problem was where you chose to fly and you not realising that the drone had no or marginal GPS and what that would do for the flight.
You need full GPS to have the benefit of horizontal position holding.

Without full GPS your drone has no brakes and is subject to drifting.
In future, fly where the drone has a clear view of most of the sky and watch the satellite icon on top of your screen and wait for it to turn white which indicates full GPS reception.

I was actually at the hotel beside where the log shows, its not directly where I was but close to it... strange.
That's not strange.
It's just an indication that your GPS was giving only approximate location details, because of poor satellite reception.

You need full GPS to have the benefit of horizontal position holding. Without full GPS your drone has no brakes and is subject to drifting.

I think those need qualification.
Assuming, in this respect, that the Mavic 3 behaves in the same way as my Minis and M2P/Z, the VPS cameras will provide braking and position holding PROVIDING that the lighting is good enough for the VPS to work and that the drone is low enough for the VPS to work.
In fact I think a low drone, not at great angles of tilt, relies on VPS for position holding MORE than it relies on GPS. This stems from observations of flights flown in the same place with similar GPS counts but with some flights being in darkness and others in daylight, position holding in daylight was more stable than that shown at night.
Since the flight appears to have been at night I suspect that the lighting was insufficient and that at times the drone was too high which probably means VPS position holding was unavailable to the drone and that the instability stems from the combination of poor GPS and lack of VPS.

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 11-6 05:50
You need full GPS to have the benefit of horizontal position holding. Without full GPS your drone has no brakes and is subject to drifting.

I think those need qualification.

That's a lot of typing to say nothing at all.
The flight was at 9.20pm ... GPS was marginal or less for the whole flight.
The OP said that the location plotted wasn't correct, which confirms everything I already said.

There's no need to write an essay to show how much you can say about something that wasn't even involved.

Labroides Posted at 11-6 06:05
That's a lot of typing to say nothing at all.
The flight was at 9.20pm ... GPS was marginal or less for the whole flight.
The OP said that the location plotted wasn't correct, which confirms everything I already said.

Ive flew my unit with similar amount of satellites and never had this problem, will it act different even with the same amount of satellites but different locations because of the tall buildings?

5k for this unit lol , the building was blocking me on one side but i did have clear opening in other direction I figured it would be able to handle that no problem.

In any case, I will wait for DJI to take a look at it and see what they say - needs to get repaired one way or another.. Does DJI do good repair work? Will it come back to me as if its brand new?

Labroides Posted at 11-6 06:05
That's a lot of typing to say nothing at all.
The flight was at 9.20pm ... GPS was marginal or less for the whole flight.
The OP said that the location plotted wasn't correct, which confirms everything I already said.

Another question - at very beginning of flight it says 9 sat full GPS next line says 10 sat, lower GPS signal... would the GPS not be better if there is more satellites?

Labroides Posted at 11-6 06:05
That's a lot of typing to say nothing at all.
The flight was at 9.20pm ... GPS was marginal or less for the whole flight.
The OP said that the location plotted wasn't correct, which confirms everything I already said.

"Nothing at all" ????
I am glad you think so, I think it is better to explain stuff and cite examples, especially for when you question what I say.
You tend to be terse to the point of rudeness.......... as many people have said to you.
A little explanation go a long way at times.

The fact remains that
You need full GPS to have the benefit of horizontal position holding. Without full GPS your drone has no brakes and is subject to drifting.
was in complete, the drone would have braked and held position if VPS had been available to it.

MavicMoney Posted at 11-6 06:13
Ive flew my unit with similar amount of satellites and never had this problem, will it act different even with the same amount of satellites but different locations because of the tall buildings?

5k for this unit lol , the building was blocking me on one side but i did have clear opening in other direction I figured it would be able to handle that no problem.

It is possible that during those flights there was sufficient light and the drone was low enough for the VPS to work.

Which may well prove the point that Labroides seems to dismiss with ''There's no need to write an essay to show how much you can say about something that wasn't even involved.''. I.e. VPS can hold position.

From page 21 of the ver 1.6 manual

" The Infrared Sensing System consists of two 3D infrared modules. The Downward Vision System and
Infrared Sensing System helps the aircraft maintain its current position, hover in place more precisely,
and to fly indoors or in other environments where GNSS is unavailable."

It is likely that the drone sent to you will be a replacemment rather than your own drone repaired, such a replacement should be as good as new even if not brand spanking new.

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 11-6 08:49
"Nothing at all" ????
I am glad you think so, I think it is better to explain stuff and cite examples, especially for when you question what I say.
You tend to be terse to the point of rudeness.......... as many people have said to you.

That's how "he" has been for years!  
You won't experience any "improvement" anymore...   

frankymusik Posted at 11-6 09:02
That's how "he" has been for years!  
You won't experience any "improvement" anymore...

I know, lol.
I wear a crash helmet with EXTRA padding on the front, there's a nice dent forming in the wall, and they are HARD bricks lol

MavicMoney Posted at 11-6 06:19
Another question - at very beginning of flight it says 9 sat full GPS next line says 10 sat, lower GPS signal... would the GPS not be better if there is more satellites?

There's more to full GPS reception than just the number of sats.
You also need a good spread of sats across the sky.
Your GPS reliability was <3/5 for most of the flight when it has to be >3/5 for proper GPS reception.
9 or 10 sats is very low for the Mavic 3 which receives sats from 3 different GNSS constellations.
9 or 10 sats from only a small part of the sky is not good GPS as your drone's performance demonstrated and the red/yellow/white sat icon would have shown if you had paid attention to it.

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 11-6 08:49
"Nothing at all" ????
I am glad you think so, I think it is better to explain stuff and cite examples, especially for when you question what I say.
You tend to be terse to the point of rudeness.......... as many people have said to you.

I am glad you think so, I think it is better to explain stuff and cite examples
And I think it's a lot better to keep things clear and simple and not complicate the issue with irrelevant examples.

A little explanation go a long way at times.
And a lot of obfuscation just confuses things, particularly with flyers who have no idea about even GPS basic principles.

The Infrared Sensing System consists of two 3D infrared modules. The Downward Vision System and
Infrared Sensing System helps the aircraft maintain its current position, hover in place more precisely,
and to fly indoors or in other environments where GNSS is unavailable.
Which is another example of poor wording in the DJI manuals.
Infrared sensors measure distance from the ground, but are not used for position holding which is provided by optical sensors which need sufficient lighting and a recognisable surface pattern/texture to function properly.

Hi there, I am sorry for the accident that happened to your drone, that must be frustrating for you. Noticed that the drone is now sending back to us, the local team will help to check the drone when they receive it and provide you with a corresponding solution. Any further assistance is needed at the moment, please feel free to ask.