So, today I had great fun as always  with my Avata in manual mode cruising around. On the last battery, I had  nothing left to film and was just chilling in normal mode filming the  view and finishing the battery.

Noticing my battery was about to reach  25%, I turned around to engage manual mode and go back home.

Right after  I turned around (at 0:14), I simply lost control. I didn't even have  time to turn on manual mode. The Avata started vibrating like some kind  of prop wash and just started a completely uncontrolled descent. As soon  as that happened I immediately pressed the brake key (at 0:17) but it  didn't break.

A red message is  saying "Check whether propellers are working" and right after we can  read "Attitude error. Aircraft braked", but it didn't break and just eventually hit  the ground.

The drone is, as of now, lost. Although I searched for it for a good while, I couldn't find it. It fell on private property with some very dense vegetation. I will try again tomorrow but It will be extremely hard to find it.

I  have DJI care Refresh. I know I can use the flyaway option, but that  costs me 200€ and I don't feel this is my fault though. The drone was  standing still, in Normal mode.

My Avata doesn't have any modification  at all and no 3rd party pieces and always worked great in manual mode.

What should I do? Do I really have to pay for a replacement?

not an expert but it looks like something stuck your drone or most likely you had a problem with your prop.  you were pretty high when it happened so that drone could be anywhere but even looking at the video, you should be able to narrow it down.  if you like to fly high and hard and fast, you might consider the dji fpv for your next round, they are pretty cheap these days.

The Saint Posted at 4-2 13:09
not an expert but it looks like something stuck your drone or most likely you had a problem with your prop.  you were pretty high when it happened so that drone could be anywhere but even looking at the video, you should be able to narrow it down.  if you like to fly high and hard and fast, you might consider the dji fpv for your next round, they are pretty cheap these days.

I don't usually fly that high with the Avata.. usually, I'm at 50-75m at maximum and most of the time, even less than 10m off the ground. this was just after finishing what I had to do. Usually, I don't even fly in normal or sport. There was barely any wind and I went up to take a final look at the landscape before returning home.
The props were in excellent condition.
And let's keep in mind that this happened in normal mode and the drone is completely still and no wind. It's definitely not supposed to behave like this.
The first DJI FPV is great and I did consider it for flying "hard and fast". But the avata is what I used for learning to fly in manual mode because is safer, harder and cheaper. I have grown a lot as an fpv pilot thanks to the avata and I'm even considering other "custom drones" thanks to what I've learned. But I like to use my avata mostly for stuff in tight spaces and cruising around near the ground.

Guessing you had a prop disintegrate. Were all the props intact?

Visual Air Posted at 4-2 13:28
Guessing you had a prop disintegrate. Were all the props intact?

Yup. All the props were in excellent condition before flying today. But because it's lost at the moment, I don't really know if it's missing any prop but I'm definitely curious. I fly this drone maybe once per two weeks so the props shouldn't be degraded at all. And I've flown with no prop issues (no wash or anything weird) at all with all the 3 batteries before this.

Hi. I'm sorry to know about this unfortunate incident that happened to your drone. Please rest assured that as long as the unit is within the service guarantee period, we can forward an investigation, and data analysis can be applied to determine its cause. We'll send you an offer depending on the results. Please find this link: https://dji.com/support helpful in contacting our Product Support team for further assistance on the request. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

DJI Diana Posted at 4-2 14:28
Hi. I'm sorry to know about this unfortunate incident that happened to your drone. Please rest assured that as long as the unit is within the service guarantee period, we can forward an investigation, and data analysis can be applied to determine its cause. We'll send you an offer depending on the results. Please find this link: https://dji.com/support helpful in contacting our Product Support team for further assistance on the request. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Thank you for the reply.
I will try to search for it again with the information I gathered tonight from GPS and footage.
I will then contact support.

So did you find it??? What happened to it? Why would a 2 week old drone do that?

Looks like a propeller broke since that’s the first error message

djiuser_1GcNkeLpvScH Posted at 4-2 21:09
So did you find it??? What happened to it? Why would a 2 week old drone do that?

Not yet. I will search for it again later today.
This is not a two-week drone. I have had it for about 7 months now.
I meant I maybe fly is once every two weeks.

djiuser_1GcNkeLpvScH Posted at 4-2 21:09
So did you find it??? What happened to it? Why would a 2 week old drone do that?

Found it! A propeller was missing.

DJI Diana Posted at 4-2 14:28
Hi. I'm sorry to know about this unfortunate incident that happened to your drone. Please rest assured that as long as the unit is within the service guarantee period, we can forward an investigation, and data analysis can be applied to determine its cause. We'll send you an offer depending on the results. Please find this link: https://dji.com/support helpful in contacting our Product Support team for further assistance on the request. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

I found it! It has a missing propeller, so probably the propeller disintegrated at the moment of failure.
This is... a bit concerning. The screws were still intact. It wasn't even a propeller blade that came off. The whole "core" of the propeller was missing. How can I fly now without fear of it happening again? The propellers were in basically mint condition.

On the positive side, except for a high amount of dirt, it still turns On and looks like it pretty much still works if I put in a new set of propellers. The propeller guard isn't even bent and neither is the grey frame.
Should I still talk to support for maintenance just to be safe?
Credit where it's due though. this thing survived a ~150m fall at 70km/h

In case anyone wants to see the aftermath:

damn, that's good that you recovered it.  A lot of people say that the weakness is in the core of the props.  The distance between the screws and the center shaft is very narrow.  They need to start making the inner core out of metal or something.  

hm.. for sure You did not fly it aggresive in this video - more and more propellers problems - DJI for sure know what production date are affected and this might be quality issue of this composite material

KREMi Posted at 4-3 10:16
hm.. for sure You did not fly it aggresive in this video - more and more propellers problems - DJI for sure know what production date are affected and this might be quality issue of this composite material

100% This can not happen randomly. Specially in normal mode flight.

djiuser_Q3i7qblrSHm9 Posted at 4-2 13:32
Yup. All the props were in excellent condition before flying today. But because it's lost at the moment, I don't really know if it's missing any prop but I'm definitely curious. I fly this drone maybe once per two weeks so the props shouldn't be degraded at all. And I've flown with no prop issues (no wash or anything weird) at all with all the 3 batteries before this.

Oh I hope you find it.

djiuser_Q3i7qblrSHm9 Posted at 4-3 09:44
I found it! It has a missing propeller, so probably the propeller disintegrated at the moment of failure.
This is... a bit concerning. The screws were still intact. It wasn't even a propeller blade that came off. The whole "core" of the propeller was missing. How can I fly now without fear of it happening again?  The propellers were in basically mint condition.

Thank you for the information. Again we're sorry for the incident. We suggest sending your drone back for repairs this way, our certified technicians can undergo your drone through damage assessment. Please find the link provided above to start a case. Thank you in advance for your patience.

Really thinking about adding one of these to my little fleet. After recent reports, NO CHANCE!

yogi053 Posted at 4-4 02:08
Really thinking about adding one of these to my little fleet. After recent reports, NO CHANCE!

drone itself is not so bad. as cinewhoop behave reasonable.

but be aware of few issues:
- someone who did put (design) microSD card slot behind propellers in that small hole with this #$@$ cover should had his balls cut off!
- I think some batch of propellers have material issue - which should be taken care of DJI by a callout action and free replacements (looking as some ppl who fly normal are loosing propelers midflight)
- midair flip issue - with full speed flights and sharp turns (manual mode only) - smooth flying should not force that + some software fixes reduce that danger (but not remove it!)
- there is still problem with runaway/fullthrottle after hiting something (sometimes is a branch You hit near tree, or bounce from terrain/object) - there are few reported cases - what is bad drone even ignores disarm commands in few cases
- battery needs extra secured clip/belt when You do some freestyle/acro - as it might be catapulted from frame

KREMi Posted at 4-5 02:42
drone itself is not so bad. as cinewhoop behave reasonable.

but be aware of few issues:

Thank you KREMi for listing those problems you have identified with the Avata. There is NO way I am going to spend over £1000 on this machine until people who have experienced these issues are satisfied that Dji have taken the necessary actions (if possible) to remedy the current problems.

Glad you managed to recover your bird