Hey everyone.

I wanted to share an unexpected experience I had with my DJI Air 3s while hiking in the stunning region of Glarus, nestled in the Swiss Alps.

I recently bought my DJI Air 3s– just three weekends ago – and have already had some incredible flights. In fact, I published a video last weekend of the Trift suspension bridge in the Swiss Alps (here the link: https://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=323862).
On this recent trip, I was on my second battery, flying the Air 3s back toward the home point when something unusual happened. The video feed suddenly got shaky, and my heart skipped a beat as I thought the drone might be falling due to motor or propeller issues. But then, right in the frame, an eagle’s head popped into view! I realized, in complete disbelief, that an eagle had actually snatched my Air 3s out of mid-air!

The eagle, with my Air 3s in its grip, flew towards the mountains and landed on a flat spot, as if wanting to inspect this new “catch.” For the next 15 minutes, the eagle seemed curious, playing with the drone and checking it out. I managed to get the exact coordinates, and after it eventually lost interest and left, I embarked on a recovery mission: a 3 km hike with a 250m elevation gain up the hill to the spot where it had landed.

Thankfully, I found the Air 3s! Besides three broken propellers and a few scratches, it survived the adventure remarkably well.Thx DJI for bulding such a though drone!

Below are some clips of the moment the eagle caught the drone and of its curious “inspection” on the ground.

Has anyone else had a close encounter with wildlife while flying?

Hi there,

Thank You for reaching out. We are truly sorry for the inconvenience and glad that your drone is good to fly. If you are facing any issue with your drone the best course of action would be to submit an online repair request here: {https://repair.dji.com/repair/index}. If you need assistance with creating a ticket, you may contact DJI support at https://www.dji.com/support.

We're glad that the issue is now being isolated. Feel free to contact us if you have other inquiries. Have a nice day ahead!

DJI Gamora Posted at 11-12 01:30
Hi there,

Thank You for reaching out. We are truly sorry for the inconvenience and glad that your drone is good to fly. If you are facing any issue with your drone the best course of action would be to submit an online repair request here: {https://repair.dji.com/repair/index}. If you need assistance with creating a ticket, you may contact DJI support at https://www.dji.com/support.

thx but the drone is fine even after all the abuse from the eagle. The Air3 is well built
However it would have been nice if we could record also the omindirectional cameras so I could now reply the footage and see how the eagle would have appeared from the back of the drone

Or is it possible to access the videos of the omindirectional cameras?

Wow what an amazing story, I have from time to time spotted birds attempting to attack but flying off . But for the eagle to pluck it out of the air then hold on to it landing it safe for you to recover how extraordinary is that . Great you retrieved and it lives to fly once again. Thank you for posting this and well done for recovering your drone good luck.

Once in a lifetime footage!! Glad you were able to retrieve it....and unharmed!! Wonder if that would have qualified as a 'fly away'

Wow! Thank goodness it ended well!! It happened to me once but the bird didn't take my drone. It was a huge group of pigeons. I was taking pictures for a client of a french castel, and the pigeons hit the drone. I saw the camera shake and I had one of the biggest scares of my professional life, because the drone was right above the tower of the castel, with a brand new slate roof....I could already see the drone crashing into the roof, my insurer firing me and my reputation done luckily I was able to bring the drone back but the screw thread of one of the propellers broke while removing it. The client was very happy with the pictures and the castel is doing well!

Wow, good that you found it (in one peace)

Hallmark007 Posted at 11-12 05:13
Wow what an amazing story, I have from time to time spotted birds attempting to attack but flying off . But for the eagle to pluck it out of the air then hold on to it landing it safe for you to recover how extraordinary is that . Great you retrieved and it lives to fly once again. Thank you for posting this and well done for recovering your drone good luck.

Yes, I was very lucky the eagle didn’t let it fall! I wouldn’t have been able to restart the props mid-fall, so I’m glad the eagle thought it was prey and held onto it in its claws until landing.

Exiled FPV Posted at 11-12 05:43
Once in a lifetime footage!! Glad you were able to retrieve it....and unharmed!! Wonder if that would have qualified as a 'fly away'

That was one of my first thoughts! My second thought was, ‘Oh no, I don’t have DJI Care Refresh!
But it was not needed

McGregor Posted at 11-12 05:50
Wow! Thank goodness it ended well!! It happened to me once but the bird didn't take my drone. It was a huge group of pigeons. I was taking pictures for a client of a french castel, and the pigeons hit the drone. I saw the camera shake and I had one of the biggest scares of my professional life, because the drone was right above the tower of the castel, with a brand new slate roof....I could already see the drone crashing into the roof, my insurer firing me and my reputation done  luckily I was able to bring the drone back but the screw thread of one of the propellers broke while removing it. The client was very happy with the pictures and the castel is doing well!

That’s a scary too —not only is the drone expensive if it fails mid-air and smashes to the ground, but there’s also the risk to anything beneath it…

I also hope the eagle did not get hurt.

2gh Posted at 11-12 10:31
I also hope the eagle did not get hurt.

I’m not sure exactly, but I do know that the props stopped almost immediately as soon as the eagle grabbed the drone out of mid-air. Further he played more then 15 minutes with the drone at the ground and I didn't find any blood where I found the drone.

GekoCH Posted at 11-12 09:39
That’s a scary too —not only is the drone expensive if it fails mid-air and smashes to the ground, but there’s also the risk to anything beneath it…

Yes, in this case, I didn't care about the drone but about the castle and the people below! I hope your Air3S won't have any after-effects from this mishap!

The most spectacular bird attack I've ever seen! Unique footage, I'm glad that it ended well.

McGregor Posted at 11-13 00:41
Yes, in this case, I didn't care about the drone but about the castle and the people below!  I hope your Air3S won't have any after-effects from this mishap!

I flew it now a few times and it seems fine. I probably wont "repair / inspect" it although it is a sort of FlyAway

According to this YouTuber red tape can help against bird attacks, literally red tape. And add a flashing light to top it off.
Stop Birds Attacking Your Drone With These THREE Things!!

(It seems I'm not allowed to post a link to the video so you have to use search)

I'm planning to add neon orange decals to my drone, when I get one.

GekoCH Posted at 11-13 21:50
I flew it now a few times and it seems fine. I probably wont "repair / inspect" it although it is a sort of FlyAway

yes a kind of

AgentSmith Posted at 11-15 13:22
According to this YouTuber red tape can help against bird attacks, literally red tape. And add a flashing light to top it off.
Stop Birds Attacking Your Drone With These THREE Things!!

thx for the info. Later in the winter I will definitely go back to a similar spot in this region to fly again when Snow has accumulated in the mountains.
Red tape would even help to find the drone easier when it crashes in the white snow

Oh wow. That is quite weird and interesting to see.
Good thing the drone was still intact!

Pretty sure the omnidirectional sensors aren't cameras in the sense that you are hoping for, could swear i read somewhere that they are more like those used with lidar systems. Can't remember exactly right now.

Interesting video though, glad you were able to find it and damage was minimal!

AlexC_Photos Posted at 11-27 21:13
Pretty sure the omnidirectional sensors aren't cameras in the sense that you are hoping for, could swear i read somewhere that they are more like those used with lidar systems. Can't remember exactly right now.

Interesting video though, glad you were able to find it and damage was minimal!

thx

They are normal cameras you can even see the feed of those cameras when you swipe the map on the left corner. So it would be nice if they would als be recorded on the drone

I had a similar experience with my Mini 4 Pro, being attacked by a Peregrin Falcon (three consecutive attacks before I actually was able to land it - yellow and red marks on the drone did not scare it).

I have learned that if you see a bird, go up and then start to go home (but is these cases, the birds are so fast).  At this time I used some unoriginal propellers that aren't as brittle as the original ones, otherwise, at least one propeller would probably have been broken and the drone lost far below in an area difficult accesible.

AgentSmith Posted at 11-15 13:22
According to this YouTuber red tape can help against bird attacks, literally red tape. And add a flashing light to top it off.
Stop Birds Attacking Your Drone With These THREE Things!!

It does not seem like the big birds are bother by any colouring or light on the drone.  If you suspekt big bird activity in you location, you should avoid it.

fgange57 Posted at 11-28 01:07
It does not seem like the big birds are bother by any colouring or light on the drone.  If you suspekt big bird activity in you location, you should avoid it.

Thank you for the information and for describing your incident. Bad news that coloring the drone or attaching LED blinking lights won't resolve the issue.

GekoCH Posted at 11-28 21:40
Thank you for the information and for describing your incident. Bad news that coloring the drone or attaching LED blinking lights won't resolve the issue.

I am not alone in experiencing that red reflective red tape of bright yellow or a strobe light will no matter for the big birds. They will attack. . Personally I am trying to avoid places where you may have big birds of pray, because they come so fast that even if you keep an eye on your drone, it is difficult to react fast enough.

fgange57 Posted at 11-29 02:20
I am not alone in experiencing that red reflective red tape of bright yellow or a strobe light will no matter for the big birds. They will attack. . Personally I am trying to avoid places where you may have big birds of pray, because they come so fast that even if you keep an eye on your drone, it is difficult to react fast enough.

so I need to deal with potential bird attacks since not flying in regions where big birds live would be a huge part of our country...

GekoCH Posted at 11-29 02:35
so I need to deal with potential bird attacks since not flying in regions where big birds live would be a huge part of our country...

My best guess is to ring a spotter that may be able to see the birds coming, and the tactic then is to go straight up as soon as you see them, because that is a move birds cannot do.  They have to circle around.  If necessary, you might have to do this move more than once if you are far away, because these birds do not give up.

fgange57 Posted at 11-29 03:16
My best guess is to ring a spotter that may be able to see the birds coming, and the tactic then is to go straight up as soon as you see them, because that is a move birds cannot do.  They have to circle around.  If necessary, you might have to do this move more than once if you are far away, because these birds do not give up.

That's true - my drone's attack could have been prevented if someone had warned me about the bird approaching. Before the attack, I was descending while flying forward, and in this scenario, the Air 3s is really quiet. This gave the stone eagle the perfect opportunity to strike.

It is a testament to the quality of engineering of the Air3 when you consider how powerful and fast such birds of prey are.  I’m truly happy that you sustained as little damage as you did.