My DJI Mavic  went from beginner mode to kamikaze mode

OK. I know you probably are fed up with Mavic crash stories but here is mine.
I write this , to hopefully get some advise and opinions from more skilled  and experienced drone pilots on what happened.. Yes I´m new to flying drones.
Here it goes:
While waiting for the Mavic to arrive I had 2 months to do my homework and prepare my self theoretically for the first flight. I red the manuals several times, red posts on this and other forums. Watched Videotutorials and lot of youtube videos about does and dont`s.
Finally the big day arrived. Ready to make the first flight. I was in a wide open field i the countryside. The weather was perfect. No wind.. +2C. No obstacles near by.

The firmware was updated a few days earlyer on RC , drone and batteries. Before start I was promt to callibrate the compass (as I expected). Horisontal and vertical Callibration was successful( blinking green).
Went trough all settings. IMU was was OK . Sensors enabled. RTH altitude set to 30 meters.
Turned on the RC and drone then the dji GO-app on my iPhone 6+.  Beginnermode enabled.
Lock on 19 sattelites. Ready to go on the display. Take of. Homepoint established. Flew 3 short flights (total airtime 17 min). The Mavic was preforming perfect. Steady and prescise. Hovered steady as a rock. Made one manual and one smart RTH. Landed spot on the landingpad.
On the 3. flight the disaster happend. After aproximately 2 minutes of low speed flying att an altitude of 8 meters(26 ft) the Mavic suddely vent berserk. RC lost control with the drone witch  plunged , full trottle,  head on to the ground. It took about 2 seconds. The only thing I was able to do was to let go of the sticks. The impact was hard, despite cushioned by long grass and 5 cm (2inch) of snow.
I have uploaded the flightrecords and DAT-files to DJI-support, and the drone is sent to The Nederlands for  damage assessment and repair. Last week I got a quote detailing the repair cost.
Lot of damage . Replacement of gimbal and camera, right front motor arm, upper shell and compassboard. Total price 272 Euro. Shipping and v.a.t is another 500 Euro.
Lot of money, but I will of course axept and pay if it really is my fault.
The remark on the invoice is short and says : NO WARRANTY , COMPASS ERROR.
I assume they have studied the Flight records and DAT-files ????
Why wouldn´t  they share this information and conclutions with me, the customer ?
I have sent DJI  two messages and asked for this information, before I pay the invoice.
Been waiting for a reply for more than a week. Nothing yet. I find this silence from DJI Europe in The Nederlands very arrogant.
Appreciate all suggestions to the cause of accident.
  I won`t dare to fligh this Mavic again untill i know.
I have uploaded the flight logs  to Healtydrones.com and filghtrecords on Youtube.
I´ve  lookt at the sensors in the flight record and it seems like something happend to the compass just before the drone went bananas.       What do you think ?
http://healthydrones.com/main?share=aeSwPl&page_id=GENERAL

If DJI team would loook into the matter I would relly appreciate this.
CAS-400502-P3P5K4 .

Thanks.
  

€500 for shipping an vat must be wrong,

It does look like interference with the compass I don't know the area you were flying , but yes everything looked fine up until last couple of seconds, but something caused that interference.

It looks very much like bad luck, and I feel for you, trying to do everything by the book and get caught with this.

I would see if you can do some sort of negotiation at least until they tell you exactly why your AC WENT DOWN.

Good luck..

500 on vat is insane?!
Some things though: I see you did not use the GO4 app, why?
Also until 06:52 the altitude 0', after this 08:54 "motor obstructed" (where it hit the floor?) and altitude plunges into an abyss (down to -426.5').
The strong interference could happen but unlikely the cause. Just curious, did you have your phone on "airplane mode/WiFi off" ?
In my opinion a "compass error" should be fixed under warranty? Sorry for you that you get the arrogant treatment, did,t even know that Mavic could be repaired in the Netherlands!

It seems that you had a problem with the compass from the very first moment, according to this: http://healthydrones.com/main?sh ... e_id=SENSORSCompass

However, if you didn't get any warning on the compass, I'd say DJI shall pay for it. I hope some DJI representative can come over and give some light over your case.

Good luck buddy!

Thanks  hallmark007.   Its puzzling me. It was a brief warning at startup saying "Strong wireless interference". But  lasted just for a few seconds. There is absolutely no nearby power lines, antennas, metall structures or base stations. It is an  privat wireless network inside the house 100 meter away  though. Could this really be the culprit ?
As for the insane shipping rates  DJI has certain demands when sending gods to their service facilities . You have to use DHL, UPS  and some other companies. Express delivery . Door to door. Insurance. I used DHL
and they charged me 2194 kr (220 Euro) . And that is one way. Its very expensive.

Thanks CuaC. I also think there is something wrong with the compass. Didn't get any warning . If you look  in  HealtyDrones link and under sensors /compass you can see the red alert. That happens during the crash.

CuaC Posted at 2017-2-3 04:57
It seems that you had a problem with the compass from the very first moment, according to this: http://healthydrones.com/main?share=aeSwPl&page_id=SENSORSCompass

However, if you didn't get any warning on the compass, I'd say DJI shall pay for it. I hope some DJI representative can come over and give some light over your case.

That's not from the beginning: just the last seconds..

Maclak. Flight time is misleading in the sense my 2 and 3 fight was without shutting down the drone battery. Just turned the motors of for a brief while, and then went on with the 3. flight.
When it comes to the GO vs GO4 app it just followed the tutorials. I had dowloaded it before christmas. I wasn't aware of the new GO4 app.

fansc2962bbc Posted at 2017-2-3 05:04
Thanks  hallmark007.   Its puzzling me. It was a brief warning at startup saying "Strong wireless interference". But  lasted just for a few seconds. There is absolutely no nearby power lines, antennas, metall structures or base stations. It is an  privat wireless network inside the house 100 meter away  though. Could this really be the culprit ?
As for the insane shipping rates  DJI has certain demands when sending gods to their service facilities . You have to use DHL, UPS  and some other companies. Express delivery . Door to door. Insurance. I used DHL
and they charged me 2194 kr (220 Euro) . And that is one way. Its very expensive.

Looking at the logs there is not much to worry about. You problems seemingly started @08:52 when the compass goes apesh!t . I don't even think this was displayed to you. The next 2 seconds it buried itself in the ground (motor obstructed) and after this it obviously was trying to make it's way to mother China through the Earth's crust.
Then again, looking at the logs I cannot really see the stick inputs made by you but DJI can. So as long as YOU did not direct the Mavic to ground level nose-down I'd say: DJI pay!

Maclak. I think your analysis is correct . After hitting ground the motors kept turning and finally the drone landed belly up. When the Mavic went berserk (last 2 seconds) i was sort of paralyzed and just lett the sticks go.(neutral position).

About the duration of the last flight. It lasted 2min 7 sec.

Forgot to answer the question regarding my iPhone 6+. I had turned off the wifi and the bluetooth. Not in flight mode though.

I really hope to see a DJI rep in this thread!!
Just some things just need to be clarified.

- Repair cost + shiping = price of new mavic,.. WOW
- How come with an obvious compass error DJI is not covering? A misbehaving component in a normal situation is beyond control of the user.
- Surely when you make someone pay this kind of money you provide a clear result of the analysis

Yes. I think some feedback to the customer as to what caused the accident is in order , so this can be avoid in the future. My feeling right now is DJI support in the Nederlands can claim its pilot error, but its very difficult for me to prove them wrong. Very convenient. The verdict har been reached. They can sit back and wait for me to push the pay button.   I really feel miserable     

Good luck getting DJI to own up to it. I had my s800 do the same thing and DJI's response was it's not their problem. Every time I look at this forum I'm in awe of how horrible they treat their customers.

Looking at the flight replay it would appear to me that either the Mavic hit something or something hit it, the gimbal panning up and down looks odd, and the Mavic spiralling down like it would if it suffered an impact.
Just my non professional thoughts.
Do you have any video from the Mavic ?
The on-board data that DJI can access would give more answers, and as they have said non warranty crash then there is not much you can do. Maybe ask them to show you the data to support their case...

Sorry didn't see your HD link, just checked them, it is almost certain that bad interference connected with compass to bring your aircraft down

You did get a warning about interference at the start of your flight, yes it was a very quick just take care almost nonchalant warning.
You did take heed of this warning , one by flying very close in beginner mode LOS in what appeared to be a safe place to fly.
You got no bad compass warning or , move or calibrate warning, if you had got these warnings you would not have been able to take off, until you corrected this.
While flying your compass and gps seemed to be working perfectly together no conflict, until that one moment right at the end .
It looks like there must have been some interference in the area to cause aircraft to react the way it did, I don't know if it's possible to find out what it might have been..

I think you have some leeway here for a case to support your actions during your flight. I would point out to dji that everything you could have done you done, and they must be in someways complicit if not fully responsible for this, what I will now call an accident.

1/ you got a warning interference,  You correctly followed this warning by being extra careful , flying in beginner mode, flying close, not flying to high, and for most of your flight you were in full control and AC and RC gps and compass all seemed to be working fine.
2/ when your AC spirals and goes down you had no warning and certainly no time to recover.

Good luck

Harbourside. It did not hit anything. It was 8m (26ft) up in the air in an open field. The gimbal pitch indikator show movement of the cameragimbal when the drone hit the ground. See altitude figures. After the crash the altitud shows false readig. -143 meter I think.

Correction. I think you are right in a way. The Mavic dived in an abrupt tvistig way that probably infuenced on the gimbal  pitch.

'Shipping and v.a.t is another 500 Euro.' Are you sure? Not 50 euro?

Harbourside Posted at 2017-2-3 06:44
Looking at the flight replay it would appear to me that either the Mavic hit something or something hit it, the gimbal panning up and down looks odd, and the Mavic spiralling down like it would if it suffered an impact.
Just my non professional thoughts.
Do you have any video from the Mavic ?

I agree with Harbourside.

Its strange that first the gimbal goes crazy.

NavigatorNL. I probably was screwed by DHL but the shiping cost was  2194Nkr( 220 euro) I know it crazy,

I am not sure how the repair centers are supposed to work. It could be that they just repair and send the bill. But it might be up to DJI to decide if the bill goes to DJI or the customer. I doubt that the repair centers all over the world are trained well enough to analyse flight logs amd make the  decisions that the engineers at DJI make. So, if you sent the drone to a repair center, you might have made the second step before the first.

That is why I think you should be talking to DJI now and ask them to analyse the flight logs and tell you what you did wrong. I have to admit, I cannot see a bad mistake of yours in the replay of the flight. There are still many things that can happen like someone hit the drone with a stone. I don't know what this looks like in the replay :-) Assuming that nothing like that happened, it looks like a technical defect.

If so, DJI should provide you (and us) with a short explanation and pay the repair costs.

Hallmark007. The way you dercribe it is exactly the way I think is correct. I am really at a loss when it comes to wireless interference. As I have mentioned in an earlier answer I have a Wireless router inside the hose approximatly 100 meter (400ft) south of the  homepoint. Could this really be part of the scenario. I know the singnal its to weak to give connection to my iphone. I have actually tied I after the crash to make sure.
Another signarsource is a  basestation antenna 2km 1 1/2 mile south of homepoint. Thats about all sources I can think of.

fansc2962bbc Posted at 2017-2-3 07:16
Harbourside. It did not hit anything. It was 8m (26ft) up in the air in an open field. The gimbal pitch indikator show movement of the cameragimbal when the drone hit the ground. See altitude figures. After the crash the altitud shows false readig. -143 meter I think.

So sorry, could not watch the video before (as I stated I could not see your stick movements based in the healthydrones data) just now I watched the youtube link). Gimbal acts weird indeed as it probably tries to stabilize when the Mavic bricks. Stick movements are ok. And this warning indeed... it has little meaning unless it said: " DO NOT FLY, EXTREMELY STRONG INTERFERENCE!!!!!"
But this...sink your teeth in this. DJI has no right taking your money and keeping not only you, but also the rest of Mavic community in the dark.

fansc2962bbc Posted at 2017-2-3 08:45
Hallmark007. The way you dercribe it is exactly the way I think is correct. I am really at a loss when it comes to wireless interference. As I have mentioned in an earlier answer I have a Wireless router inside the hose approximatly 100 meter (400ft) south of the  homepoint. Could this really be part of the scenario. I know the singnal its to weak to give connection to my iphone. I have actually tied I after the crash to make sure.
Another signarsource is a  basestation antenna 2km 1 1/2 mile south of homepoint. Thats about all sources I can think of.

I don't know what the interference was , I think you can rule out router and 2 mile mast.

But anyway I don't think you are responsible for the interference.

I do think you deserve a proper explanation from dji, and the right to reply.

I think maybe it would help for you to get in contact with a moderator here i.e. Dji Ken , and see if can help you put your case in a different light, I have found moderators here very helpful .

I wish you good luck and hope something good comes out of this for you..

I wonder why no moderator stepped up and asked for the flight logs yet.

Just want to tell you, that the Mavic battery is rated for 5C and up but it should have have made a difference.

That playback looks funny at the end.. They said compass error, might have been DJI saw the warning in the log before flight, concluded you flew with a bad calibration? Still that loss of control looks really bad.

Thank you all for interesting  and vise comments. I hope some of the DJI support team read this and maybe they can go trough the data material i have suppied In the CAS-400502-P3P5K4. Buy the way. Just got a mail from the support center in The Nederlands. Its a reminder that I havent payed the repair. They have obviesly not read my request regarding analyzes and why they canselled my warranty. And yes I have send the mail to   support.eu1@dji.com
Don't they read their mail ?

fansc2962bbc Posted at 2017-2-3 11:38
Thank you all for interesting  and vise comments. I hope some of the DJI support team read this and maybe they can go trough the data material i have suppied In the CAS-400502-P3P5K4. Buy the way. Just got a mail from the support center in The Nederlands. Its a reminder that I havent payed the repair. They have obviesly not read my request regarding analyzes and why they canselled my warranty. And yes I have send the mail to   support.eu1@dji.com
Don't they read their mail ?

Depending on the receiving end..China is still cripled because of new year.

Yes. You may be right about that.
Thanks

Sorry for your crash.
I have reviewed your case.
The aircraft was working in beginner mode and responded to the RC command actively.
At t=632s, relative height=8m, you pushed pitch stick forward and pushed rudder stick to the left, and then the aircraft was flying forward with a speed 1.5m/s and flying to the right with a speed 1.1m/s.
The aircraft was performing as expected before the crash. We determined the cause of the crash to be pilot error.
Please refer to the image.

@DJI Mindy: Can you elaborate on this a bit further please? I am asking as your analysis and the story of fansc2962bbc don't match and this leaves a bit of a bad taste in this discussion.

From the replay video and the GPS data in the log files, we can see that the drone was in open space. Yes, there is a large tree close by but I think it is safe to assume that it is away 5-10m from where the crash happened. You analysed the flight and your conclusion was "pilot error" which suggests that the drone crashed into an obstacle in the air. And here your analysis differs from the story fansc2962bbc told us. No I am wondering, who is right?

On the one side we this story:

• Open space in 8m height
• No obstacle avoidance
• A mad Mavic that loses RC connection, fell down and crashed into the ground
  

On the other side we have:

• Analysis of flight
• Conclusion: Crash in the air due to pilot error
  

I am missing that tiny piece that provides some proof for the one or the other version of this case.

So, can you shed some more light on this and tell us why you are so sure that the crash happened in the air already? Is there maybe data from the IMU that measured some impact or data from the obstacle avoidance system that mabye failed to avoid the crash but that at least detected an obstacle much closer than my guessed 5-10m?

So compass error wil crash the craft.
You do know what the compass is used for right?

And this is why we need user selectable atti yet again..

To the op though, where did you buy it?
How long ago?

DJI Mindy. Thank you for answering. I'm by no means a tchician but when you refer to the pickture I assume you mean the diagram. I don't understand what you mean by saying that I was flying to the right just before the accident. Thats wrong. I was flying forward and left. I refer to the youtube video of the flight record and the HealtyDrones rudder diagram. How this can be a piloterror at an altitude of 8 meters  (26 ft) i a mystery to me. I would think I must have pulled the left stick down hard and the right stick in some strange way to make the Mavic dive head on to the ground in such an abrupt way. Honestly I dont think it humanly possible to preform such an acrobatic act willingly or by accident. We can clearlyy see in the flight recordings during the last two seconds how the drone pluge down in an erratic
And abnormal way despite the sticks on the RC are not moving. With th sticks in neutral position should not the drone just hover in on spot ? According to the DJI manual and tutorial it should. Sorry but I disagree on your conclution that this is a piloterreo. I have to quote the analyses of my flight data on HealtyDrones. In the sensor- compass section ther is an rea alert regarding abnormal compass behavior during the last seconds. It says that this can only be caused by strong winds, crash or compass failure. It was no wind. The drone was 8 meter above ground in an open field and nothing hit the Mavic. I think the compass failed .

Mrimstad.  I bought it in Kompett.no. Ist an net

Sorry pushed the wrong button. Its a net store in Norway. Ordered in beginning of october and got it 3 of january..

Mrimstad. You might be right about compass not being the culprit. The compass error could be symptoms not the cause of the abrupt violent behavior. Maybe the IMU failed  for some reason. I have no clue.
As I have mentioned before I dont know much about drones, but I am trying to be 100% honest in my answers supported by the flight records.

I also bought mine from komplett. I live 1km away from the sentral point in sandefjord.
Wich is also why i ask, there is probobly no corelation between faults and batches produced but you newer know.

i was trying to be a bit pointy towards dji. A craft plumeting to earth from a compass failure should be taken from the shelfes at once.
Compas has nothing to do with flight stabilization at all, flight heading maybe.
Even so the craft is supposed to have 2 imu's and therefore also 2 compasses.
Takes a preaty destructive ammount of interference to knock them both out, or maybe just one smal hardware error.