I started the DJI Neo from the Android mobile App to do a Dronie 10 meters away and back. The Neo started OK but then accelerated and pushed further away into a cloud and audibly came to a stop hovering in the cloud somewhere invisible. The WiFi connection to the phone got lost and we stood there listening to the motors singing in some distance in the cloud. Below the Neo was a cliff with a depth of around 1500m so following her wasn't possible in any way. I tried to fiddle with the app but because of the lost link there was no way to tell her to come back. I then reached over the railing and suddenly there was a link again. I then changed to manual control, pushed her to more height and full speed forward, hoping at least she was still looking in my direction. For a felt eternity nothing really seemed to go on but the motor sounds modulated with my attemps to control her to come back. Suddenly it came out of the cloud some meters above our heads and I finally managed to land her safe on the terrace of the hotel.

I really don't know why the Neo blasted away this way. Hopefully the firmware update she received did address this kind of failure.


And off she went...

I must admit this is one of the funniest fails I ever encountered using a drone. And I am really lucky to have got it back in the end. This is a lessons learned.

That is funny. The Neo lost its positioning once it got past the edge of the cliff, like it forgot where it was. Sort of the same erratic behavior I've read about when flying over water.

Like the Action 5, there are bugs to work out yet.

My suspicion is this happened because it lost a visual lock on the subject when the drone flew into the fog.

Yes, that will certainly be the case, I think so too. But the Neo has a GPS and should therefore simply return to the starting point in the event of a loss of visibility, instead of flying 50 or even 100 meters away and then suddenly stopping and waiting.
I think in future I will no longer think "get the Neo out and let it take in the great view", but will be much more careful about where I fly the Neo in the first place. Trust has been lost. Which is a real shame. Because the Neo would be perfect for situations like this. Hopefully the firmware will be improved so that situations like this don't have to occur again.

Update:
When analyzing the flight logs I found out what happened was a pilot error:



Obviously I did not wait long enough so that the Neo has set its Home Point correctly where I started it. Instead it got the GPS fix about 103m out over the canyon. And then stopped there waiting for anything to happen. Well ... you gotta be aware of that! It should be noted to not letting start the Neo before it has the Home Point set up correctly. You have to wait for it. Even if you are in some kind of hurry and just want to get the Neo out of your pocket for a quick fly-around. This is a lesson to learn for me!

SeehawerB Posted at 10-3 23:58
Update:
When analyzing the flight logs I found out what happened was a pilot error:

Hi there, thank you for the update shared and we're glad to hear that you're able to find the cause from the logs. We appreciate your effort and contribution in sharing this information with Forum members.

Thank you for your valued support!

DO NOT FLY THE DRONE USING THE MOBILE APP. If you lose connection you can be screwed. You are very lucky you got connection back!
Even a simple android process priority issue can boot you out of connection and understandably you need a stronger signal to reconnect than what you had when you lost it.
Stick to using a proper controller for now

I just did what the Neo is made for, I let her do a dronie from my hand! Using the phone just was for emergency control if something went wrong. Which it did.
Usually no one will use the Neo with a controller in situations like this.

Btw. your shift key might have a mechanical issue.

There still is some things to do with the firmware of the Neo. GPS isn't used doing quickshots from the palm. It fully relies on the Vision sensors as far as I can see. So in the mist and a cliff drop there could be some issues.
Hope DJI can get things better with firmware updates. Thank god you got the drone back.