My mavic air turned on and tried taking off on it's own. The drone and controller were both powered on, but not yet connected to each other. My DJI GO 4 app said I needed to download a GEO Zone update. As I began the update, the drone propellors fired up and the drone began to take off, directly into my legs. I batted the drone down three times and it kept rising up into my legs and hands. I finally knocked it to the ground, flipping it upside down, and then I was able to reach in and power off the battery.

After my nerves settled and I cleaned up a lotta blood, I removed the propellors to see what would happen if I turned it on and tried again. Again, the update began to download and, again, the drone turned itself on and tried to take off despite not being connected to my controller.

This occurred in Spain, in an open area near an olive tree farm. There is no flight log of the incident. I also flew the drone two days prior to the incident, in Spain, with no issues.

Has anyone encountered this before?

I have a very vague recollection of reading DJI instructions that say the props should be removed during some procedures. If my memory is correct this incident might explain why that instruction exists. I've never encountered the situation you describe but I haven't updated a Mavic Air.

As far as I know DJI drones must be switched on to update them, starting motors is not the same thing as switching-on.
If the controller and drone were not connected to one another how were you updating the drone?
Out in the open unless you had a laptop and USB cable with you then, as far as I know, the controller must be connected to the drone to install the update.

As far as I remember, it is strongly recommended to remove the propellers from the motors during upgrades.

Hello, there. Sorry for any inconvenience caused. Did you get your wounds treated? May we know if you created a case and reported it to our support? Please let us know if you have any questions.

Sean-bumble-bee Posted at 10-14 18:06
I have a very vague recollection of reading DJI instructions that say the props should be removed during some procedures. If my memory is correct this incident might explain why that instruction exists. I've never encountered the situation you describe but I haven't updated a Mavic Air.

As far as I know DJI drones must be switched on to update them, starting motors is not the same thing as switching-on.

That’s what was strange to me when it said it couldn’t connect, but that an update was required. The update started to download but never finished, perhaps because it couldn’t connect?

Definitely taking the props out from now on though

DJI Wanda Posted at 10-16 00:50
Hello, there. Sorry for any inconvenience caused. Did you get your wounds treated? May we know if you created a case and reported it to our support? Please let us know if you have any questions.

I reached out to online customer service but did not see how to make a case report. How do I go about doing so?

Gwilly3 Posted at 10-16 05:55
I reached out to online customer service but did not see how to make a case report. How do I go about doing so?

Sorry for the late response. Didn't they help you create a case?
You can submit an online repair request here:
https://repair.dji.com/us/repair/index