Interesting that the majority of the crashes involve pilots calibrating right before flight. It almost seems like calibration could be the issue.

But then, even with a compass gone haywire the Navic should be able to use GPS and visual positioning to get itself out of trouble instead of spiralling out of the sky with no user input.

Many of these crash posts fail to post a picture of the aftermath. The skeptic in me wonders if some of them are fabricated by Karma fans or people hired to create negative reports.

warrior200 Posted at 2016-11-6 01:19
Is anyone else getting worried or is it just me. When I get my mavic I will be in two minds  should  ...

I'm very worried. I have visions of my Mavic crashing and getting absolutely no help from DJI. Doesn't seem like anyone who has already crashed their drone is getting any help other than DJI Mindy asking to upload the video and logs...then silence.......

How long does it take DJI to analyze data and get a replacement out?

hallmark007 Posted at 2016-11-6 05:06
You probably won't here explanation from dji, if it's there problem it will be fixed by firmwear,  ...

I've seen so many posts from you calling it "firmwear" I am quite sure it's spelled firmware.
Sorry about your crash, and don't let these armchair drone pilot experts get to you.  Maybe it is wrong but I hope one of these professional drone pilot know it all's get their drone and it goes crazy and loses control and smacks them right in the face.
So they can crawl back to the forum and say actually guys you might be right it isn't pilot error because I'm a super duper expert who triple checks everything even checks humidity levels before flying and mine lost control too.

ferrari-458-ut Posted at 2016-11-6 15:53
I've seen so many posts from you calling it "firmwear" I am quite sure it's spelled firmware.
{:4_1 ...

Sorry English not my first language, Gaelic Irish, thanks for pointing that out.

hallmark007 Posted at 2016-11-6 06:24
It will be sorted a lot quicker than that if it is a problem, Warrior 200 I wouldn't worry about t ...

I figured the same thing, however, I keep thinking about how this is happening to experienced pilots, not just drone newbs.  That has me really concerned.

If Mavic is practically a carbon copy of the P4, then why are these problems occurring with experienced pilots, and why don't we hear about these problems wih the P4?  Clearly, the Mavic is different from the P4, and I'm not talking about the physical form.  The most obvious difference is Ocusync.  The rest, we can only guess at.

I really hope it can be solved with firmware updates, but my greatest fear is that it could be a manufacturing or design flaw.  No firmware update can fix that.

In my experience, it is always easy for a troubleshooter/tech support person to blame the user, but often, I see the problem really lies in the product they are using.  There have been far too many crashes, loss of control or fly-aways for this to be only user error.

If compass calibration is the problem, that doesn't explain why Mavic flew off in one direction without user input and without responding to the user's left-stick down commands.  It's really hard to say anything without all the information.

CADDJockey Posted at 2016-11-6 16:46
I figured the same thing, however, I keep thinking about how this is happening to experienced pilo ...

I would think prorata same amount of issues with P4 and these included experience flyers , yes issues could very well be firmware also could be pilot error, my thinking is it maybe a bit of each, some experience pilots may twig early that something is afoot and have the wear with all to do something about it, but inexperienced pilots have very little chance,
But as it is similar to other releases dji have been quick to sort out the problems, and hopefully this will be the case..

CADDJockey Posted at 2016-11-6 16:54
If compass calibration is the problem, that doesn't explain why Mavic flew off in one direction with ...

Well we didn't see the stick movements , but we did see in healthy drones a serious problem with the compass, also at 2feet of the ground it went into Atti mode, so you right nobody could say it was compass problem , but we can say he had a problem with the compass,
Really unless you have all the information people can only comment on the information they have, dji will be able to get full info regarding the flight black box, and what may have gone wrong will be explained to OP, And maybe he will pass on the info here, to give a clearer picture, so we can all learn.

Why are there so many crashes with the MAVIC is it an issue with the MAVIC or PILOT error........I would say its 99.9% PILOT ERROR.  

FFS Posted at 2016-11-6 14:48
But then, even with a compass gone haywire the Navic should be able to use GPS and visual positionin ...

You will see if you look at healthy drones he downloaded that he went into Atti because he lost gps .

hallmark007 your a funny guy

MHM1170 Posted at 2016-11-6 17:41
hallmark007 your a funny guy

No need to try to hijack this thread.

MHM1170 Posted at 2016-11-6 12:22
Why are there so many crashes with the MAVIC is it an issue with the MAVIC or PILOT error........I w ...

Based on ...?

hallmark007 Posted at 2016-11-6 12:38
You will see if you look at healthy drones he downloaded that he went into Atti because he lost gp ...

I read several times that the Magic lost gps. Why would that be? Honest question not trying to poke the hive.

CabinPete Posted at 2016-11-6 18:36
I read several times that the Magic lost gps. Why would that be? Honest question not trying to pok ...

Hi CabinPete, many reasons you loose gps from bad IMU CAL to just loss of signal,
In OP case he lost signal 2 feet of the ground, so I'm not to sure what happened, usually when your taking off controller will tell you if signal is bad , usually 10 sats or less,
the GPS system can be faulty an may need to be evaluated, although I haven't seen many cases of that happening,
It's almost impossible to know what happened here, we only have bits of info, but it's all worth discussing , it's all a learning  curve.
It's also possible and can happen often when flying fast to loose gps for a split second, it's not a problem you might not even notice it, but when you play your flight back you will notice loss of gps 1sec.
I think if you prepare properly and fly in the right locations, and I'm not saying this happened here, it's less likely to happen.

ferrari-458-ut Posted at 2016-11-6 23:53
I've seen so many posts from you calling it "firmwear" I am quite sure it's spelled firmware.
{:4_1 ...

Armchair pilots? Lol. I'm not even an expert but I wish I could report a single crash. I've got different issues with the Mavic mostly concerning the Camera and the D-Log color profile that I started a thread with but that's about it.

Just because some of us are not crashing our Mavic it doesn't mean that there's no problem either. I'm just smart enough to fly mine in a really open area - acres of open green grass. And you know how I got so paranoid with these reported crashes? It got to a point were I tethered the Mavic to the ground while testing all modes the first time! I tied a 30 meter string on one of the rear landing feet so just in case it goes haywire, it's not going anywhere.

No Man's Drone Posted at 2016-11-6 20:49
Armchair pilots? Lol. I'm not even an expert but I wish I could report a single crash. I've got di ...

Interesting with the string, but being careful you will gain more confidence better to be safe than sorry,

No Man's Drone Posted at 2016-11-6 15:49
Armchair pilots? Lol. I'm not even an expert but I wish I could report a single crash. I've got di ...

Good point about no crashes reported doesn't mean there isn't a problem.  We don't know how many more people have had a problem, but just don't use this forum to talk about it or report it.  Of course, the flip side is also true... we don't know how many people have been flying their Mavic and have had no problems.

My greatest fear is that when I get my Mavic, who knows when, it will fly away on me and I'll never get it back.  If it crashes, at least I'll be able to get another one under the Care Refresh plan.  

"...It got to a point were I tethered the Mavic to the ground while testing all modes the first time! I tied a 30 meter string on one of the rear landing feet so just in case it goes haywire, it's not going anywhere."
Did you really do that, No Man's Drone?  I thought about doing that also, but I was worried that it would affect the flight characteristics or increase the likelyhood of a crash.  How did it perform with the leash?

hallmark007 Posted at 2016-11-6 11:59
I would think prorata same amount of issues with P4 and these included experience flyers , yes iss ...

Okay this is good to know.  I don't know the P4 history.  If the same was true for the P4 when it first came out, then I feel a better about sticking with it.

I figure there isn't just one factor here.  Some of it is pilot error - inexperience, but when experienced pilots have this problem, I'm leaning more toward other factors like firmware or hardware.  

hallmark007 Posted at 2016-11-6 12:18
Well we didn't see the stick movements , but we did see in healthy drones a serious problem with t ...

So, forgive my lack of knowledge and experience here, but I would think if there was a compass problem the drone would try to orient itself, so it would only spin around instead of fly in a straight or semi-straight path.  

Correct me if I am wrong, but if it was an IMU error, then I can imagine all kinds of other drone behavior could occur - like flying off in a straight or curved path without user stick input.  But I would think that would happen from the very beginning of the flight, at take-off.

If the drone is flying off in a direction, or spinning around, and not responding to user stick input, then it seems most logical that there is a communication problem between the RC, and the drone.  Or, the app is interfering with the controller and causing the wrong signal to be sent to the drone?  

Again, I don't know exactly how it all works, and I'm just throwing my own analytical thoughts on this problem.  I really want to see these problems get resolved - and ideally before I get my Mavic .

Bottom line, I'm saying there could be multiple problems and we shouldn't assume all these problems are the same, or even related.  For those who do fly and experience problems, you should pay close attention to how the aircraft is behaving, what you are doing, and be able to break each part into separate problems if necessary.

CADDJockey Posted at 2016-11-7 05:21
Good point about no crashes reported doesn't mean there isn't a problem.  We don't know how many m ...

Yes I did. The same thing I did when I got my Phantom 2. I used a thin nylon string. Very lightweight and I didn't see any effect on flight characteristics. As long as I don't go near 30 meters forward or up, I'm not pulling the string at all. It's just a pre-caution I learned from my local DJI dealer. When they test their new equipment in their backyard, they always have their drones tethered to the ground. They did this because they told me they had a Phantom fly away once while testing.

CADDJockey Posted at 2016-11-6 21:47
So, forgive my lack of knowledge and experience here, but I would think if there was a compass pro ...

You are basically answering your own questions, it's important I think people present as much detail here as they can, if for nothing else just to get debate going and we can all learn a little more about what happens in these situations, it can be hard when a person says one thing and logs maybe show something else, so sometimes you have to be able to use your own savvy and the knowledge you learn from this along with the recommendations from the manual, to apply this to how you go about flying, the more we do this the more we learn how the aircraft works safely.
Below is some info about IMU which helped me understand how important it is to know how it works.
Sorry about the long winded answer.

IMU "Inertial measurement unit"
This was not written by me , but was an answer to a question I posed.
As far as I see it, IMU calibration on a level surface updates a table of values the flight controller software uses as a reference for a level stationary hover. From there the craft responds predictably to flight commands.  It also likely measures any sensor noise and thermal drift so that these technical imperfections are accounted for when using IMU sensor data in flight. - this is likely why there must be no vibrations during the calibration process.


Bad IMU calibration could cause drift and attitude issues as the flight controller fights to hold the craft in what it thinks is the correct attitude as opposed to the correct physical attitude.


The IMU usually has 2 types of sensors – angle and acceleration and in turn 3 sensors of each type measuring in the X,Y and Z axis. These sensors can, through vibration, aging, impact etc, drift in their response over time and thus an IMU calibration will establish a new reference for the IMU’s level/stationary state that the flight controller can work with to restore stable flight.


Think of calibration as the bringing back into line the measured craft attitude with the true physical craft attitude.


As to how often an IMU calibration is needed, I wouldn’t like to say; certainly after any impact or if there are suspicions the craft can’t hover in a level attitude in a windless environment. Also after a firmware update is a good opportunity just in case the stored values get corrupted or are incompatible with the later firmware.

I did put this piece together because at least 1 person seemed to have a problem, I think Bad IMU.

Its also good to mention that the IMU is the reason why you are able to shut off the motors using just the throttle down command when on the ground. The IMU reads that the aircraft is unable to move any further, and after three seconds it determines that is has officially landed and can shut off the motors safely.

Is it possible to work out form the OP what the last function used was before this issue. Reason i ask is i had a phantom 4 (yes i know different aircraft) where after trying to use tap fly i switched to normal mode and tried to use stick inputs and the bird was not move. It was like it was still stuck in a another mode other then normal, could it be that the mavic is becoming somewhat confused on what mode it is in? I know some people have reported they hit RTH i'd just like to know what modes where they in immediately before the issue occured?

hallmark007 Posted at 2016-11-6 17:14
You are basically answering your own questions, it's important I think people present as much deta ...

Thanks for the confirmation, Hallmark007.

I definitely appreciate the long-winded answer.

CADDJockey Posted at 2016-11-6 23:59
Thanks for the confirmation, Hallmark007.

I definitely appreciate the long-winded answer.

Your welcome, good luck

warrior200 Posted at 2016-11-6 10:08
I know you can't get everything right the first time and some drones are going to be faulty and I kn ...

I am having the same concerns as warrior200 £1250 on a drone that might go crazzy and crash is worrying me .......

I have seen a couple posts asking me to post a picture of my mavic post crash, they are posted here. It is sad that I need to do this to prove I am not making this up. None the less, they are here: http://imgur.com/a/JlOlk

That is why if you have an issue, it is important that you contact dji.com/support.  They can analyze the flight data logs.  It will tell them exactly what happened.  To speculate here without data is useless.  Even the healthy drones interpretation leaves much to be desired.  The flight data shows what is happening internally, on the sticks, compass, IMU etc.  That is how we determine the cause, part failure or pilot error.  If there is a question, we give the pilot the benefit of the doubt.  I do find it interesting that most of the users with these issues never report back that their issues was solved, service was excellent, service sucks, nothing.  I would request as a benefit to other users that you give a status report back to everyone.  Thanks.

Tahoe Ed Posted at 2016-11-6 22:15
That is why if you have an issue, it is important that you contact dji.com/support.  They can analyz ...

It's Sunday and it crashed yesterday on a Saturday. I have already sent them an email and I will be following up on the phone with them tomorrow when their support line is back open. There is literally nothing else I can do until tomorrow. I will report back, you have my word.

CREVICE22 Posted at 2016-11-6 19:30
It's Sunday and it crashed yesterday on a Saturday. I have already sent them an email and I will b ...

I appreciate that.  I have spoken to our GM and he agrees that the ability for us to follow up on your behalf benefits both DJI and our users.  

Tahoe Ed Posted at 2016-11-7 13:15
That is why if you have an issue, it is important that you contact dji.com/support.  They can analyz ...

Yes that will be great. BUT maybe nobody had they case resolved yet?

If they have a case number report it here and we can follow up.  I checked with our LA office and they are not seeing many new RMA's.  I want to make sure that these users do not fall through the cracks.  

Tahoe Ed Posted at 2016-11-7 04:14
If they have a case number report it here and we can follow up.  I checked with our LA office and th ...

Now that's service for you , I hope it's like this in the UK ?   Do we have anyone in the Uk ?

Tahoe Ed Posted at 2016-11-7 17:14
If they have a case number report it here and we can follow up.  I checked with our LA office and th ...

Good stuff ;-) nice to hia some good news on sorting any issues!! It benifits all partys in solving these issues for future gains from this product :-)

CREVICE22 Posted at 2016-11-6 05:02
Here are my logs for the flight. You can see a couple things First how I didnt even go that high and ...

did you take photos of the drone you said that shatter into pieces.

watuse Posted at 2016-11-7 08:20
did you take photos of the drone you said that shatter into pieces.

Post 69  matey

CREVICE22 Posted at 2016-11-7 10:30
I have seen a couple posts asking me to post a picture of my mavic post crash, they are posted here. ...

Sorry for the crash dude its pretty bad did you get the DJI care refresh pack if not I don't know about the guarantee, but really it does not look good the gimbal totally destroy and one arm broken..... I heard about this spinning out of control shit with the mavic...

Just as an aside: is it recommended that we put our phones in flight mode whilst connected to the RC? Just to prevent wifi searching on 2.4Hz (and 5Hz) ranges..