I can't throw the blame over to DJI but yup, pilot error.

Basically I pushed the battery to the limit while flying over water and fighting head wind trying to get to the home point. I actually made it back home (I think because I cancelled RTH and went into Sport mode - used up more juice there too). If not, I most definitely would've descended into the river. There was tons of wind on my return. Anyway, at 8% battery and by the skin of my teeth, I made it near home base but as I was trying to control the landing, it clipped a fence and landed on the grass. If it had been concrete below, the MP probably would've had more damage.

The damage sustained: two broken props and gimbal is misaligned. 'Gimbal overload, not connected etc and I noticed the two rubber plugs are hanging with the gimbal. I flew when I installed the new props and can see through gimbal and it shakes a lot.

Playing Monday night quarterback; few things that I think would've prevented. Face the gimbal down to land on grass, switch back to (P) mode upon sight and not push the limit on battery/distance.

Sending off the MP for repairs and should be back flying hopefully soon.

See pics:

Broken props.



Has ding on edge.




New installed props in this photo below.

Sorry to hear....had my first crash today too.  Sounds like it was a bad day for a few folks.   Hope you get yours up and running again quick.

LP

Sorry to hear about your crash. And you decided to send the drone back, we will take good care for you. Hope you can get the drone back to the air soon.

well that's life, and sometimes you have tough decisions to make, like where to crash, having little other options if any..    i was flying my mavic pro yesterday in fact and i had my first crash myself!   sustained no damage i could find other then i sheared off a blade and scratched up the top of my Mavic with the dirt.  i had no choice either.  

i was flying it and one of the kids at the party (he is like not even 5 years old) comes full on running out from seemingly nowhere, as little kids do.. sport mode blasting by, just the worst place to be in any position.. i swerved my drone full braking and left to avoid the little guy,  and let it smash into a tree..in all honesty, $1000 drone being destroyed is a lot better than hitting a kid anyday..before i even checked on my drone i walked him back to his mom and dad...then i walked over looking for my mavic pro in the tree not realizing it nailed the tree so hard that it flipped out of the air skidded itself across the dirt and folded one of its arms in..i thought was broken but it wasn't, just folded back in under impact, it still tight and springs back into position.... once i finally found it changed the props out, said no errors or anything i did a few test runs further away from other people, seems to be happy.. but i called it a day, figuring better not push my luck too hard

LeafPeeper Posted at 2017-9-23 19:47
Sorry to hear....had my first crash today too.  Sounds like it was a bad day for a few folks.   Hope you get yours up and running again quick.

LP

Thanks. I think I'll be flying sooner than later.

DJI Thor Posted at 2017-9-25 00:42
Sorry to hear about your crash. And you decided to send the drone back, we will take good care for you. Hope you can get the drone back to the air soon.

Thanks Thor, appreciate it. Actually was able to fly yesterday with the two new added props but of course the gimbal isn't working properly so kept the flights in LOS.

HereForTheBeer Posted at 2017-9-25 01:18
well that's life, and sometimes you have tough decisions to make, like where to crash, having little other options if any..    i was flying my mavic pro yesterday in fact and i had my first crash myself!   sustained no damage i could find other then i sheared off a blade and scratched up the top of my Mavic with the dirt.  i had no choice either.  

i was flying it and one of the kids at the party (he is like not even 5 years old) comes full on running out from seemingly nowhere, as little kids do.. sport mode blasting by, just the worst place to be in any position.. i swerved my drone full braking and left to avoid the little guy,  and let it smash into a tree..in all honesty, $1000 drone being destroyed is a lot better than hitting a kid anyday..before i even checked on my drone i walked him back to his mom and dad...then i walked over looking for my mavic pro in the tree not realizing it nailed the tree so hard that it flipped out of the air skidded itself across the dirt and folded one of its arms in..i thought was broken but it wasn't, just folded back in under impact, it still tight and springs back into position.... once i finally found it changed the props out, said no errors or anything i did a few test runs further away from other people, seems to be happy.. but i called it a day, figuring better not push my luck too hard

" have tough decisions to make, like where to crash, having little other options if any   

i was flying my mavic pro yesterday in fact and i had my first crash myself!   sustained no damage i could find other then i sheared off a blade

i had no choice either

in all honesty, $1000 drone being destroyed is a lot better than hitting a kid anyday.

better not push my luck too hard"


Yep you know the feeling. It def was a tough decision and I'm glad that I decided to switch back to Sport mode b/c at least I'm in possession of the AC.

1000% that destroying AC is much more better option than running into anyone. Good move on your part to avoid further damage + good control at the sticks.


Pushing a bit too much on the battery/distance was a red flag I will not forget.   

Before you decide to send it back, check to see that the gimbal absorbing board in in place.  First part of this tutorial -[/url]

Thanks Griffith, I checked and it was unhinged in back of the gimbal whic I adjusted but unfortunately still not working properly. I even tried to recalibrate but went nowhere. The gimbal doesn't even move upon turning on the AC.

Really sorry about the crash....but thumbs up to you for taking the heat!
There is no more gut dropping feeling then crashing your UAV.......I did it  18 months ago and can still remember my reaction like it was yesterday.
Good Luck and I hope you get it back soon!

Sportbike_Pilot Posted at 2017-9-25 04:32
" have tough decisions to make, like where to crash, having little other options if any   

i was flying my mavic pro yesterday in fact and i had my first crash myself!   sustained no damage i could find other then i sheared off a blade

ya, i still call your return a success, even if you completed torn out the camera.  replacement cameras are $300-$350 on ebay with entire gimbal and everything so worst case scenario.. not all that terrible..

  however i try my hardest to avoid flying back into a headwind unless i have somewhere i know i can land and quickly retrieve it if sh**t is hitting the fan..  like some small islands/barrier islands out in the water or maybe rock s or something.. and have a boat at the ready to race that way..  also if nothing above you or around you, sometimes best bet it to force the aircraft to illegal heights and use height to pull it back to u and let auto landing drag it down as u push it forwards..


aka have to have backup plans..  

It happens to beginners and it also happens to the best of us.
I avoid flying my Mavic in strong wind, Beaufort 4 is my personal limit.
The Beaufort scale:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale

Tmygun Posted at 2017-9-25 10:30
Really sorry about the crash....but thumbs up to you for taking the heat!
There is no more gut dropping feeling then crashing your UAV.......I did it  18 months ago and can still remember my reaction like it was yesterday.
Good Luck and I hope you get it back soon!

"There is no more gut dropping feeling then crashing your UAV.......I did it  18 months ago and can still remember my reaction like it was yesterday."

Thanks.  

You said it best ! I often don't make the same mistake twice so crossing my fingers and not ever forgetting this experience for sure.

HereForTheBeer Posted at 2017-9-25 12:09
ya, i still call your return a success, even if you completed torn out the camera.  replacement cameras are $300-$350 on ebay with entire gimbal and everything so worst case scenario.. not all that terrible..

  however i try my hardest to avoid flying back into a headwind unless i have somewhere i know i can land and quickly retrieve it if sh**t is hitting the fan..  like some small islands/barrier islands out in the water or maybe rock s or something.. and have a boat at the ready to race that way..  also if nothing above you or around you, sometimes best bet it to force the aircraft to illegal heights and use height to pull it back to u and let auto landing drag it down as u push it forwards..

Agreed. I think I underestimated the wind conditions. I checked before flight and it was probably 6-8 mph winds however way out, conditions were a lot higher.

Interesting point b/c I also thought about landing on a small little island as the tide was low but decided to RTH. Don't have a boat.

MARSAN Posted at 2017-9-25 12:25
It happens to beginners and it also happens to the best of us.
I avoid flying my Mavic in strong wind, Beaufort 4 is my personal limit.
The Beaufort scale:

Nice......I really like that scale reference and plan to refer to this thanks.

MP en route for repairs.  

HereForTheBeer Posted at 2017-9-25 01:18
well that's life, and sometimes you have tough decisions to make, like where to crash, having little other options if any..    i was flying my mavic pro yesterday in fact and i had my first crash myself!   sustained no damage i could find other then i sheared off a blade and scratched up the top of my Mavic with the dirt.  i had no choice either.  

i was flying it and one of the kids at the party (he is like not even 5 years old) comes full on running out from seemingly nowhere, as little kids do.. sport mode blasting by, just the worst place to be in any position.. i swerved my drone full braking and left to avoid the little guy,  and let it smash into a tree..in all honesty, $1000 drone being destroyed is a lot better than hitting a kid anyday..before i even checked on my drone i walked him back to his mom and dad...then i walked over looking for my mavic pro in the tree not realizing it nailed the tree so hard that it flipped out of the air skidded itself across the dirt and folded one of its arms in..i thought was broken but it wasn't, just folded back in under impact, it still tight and springs back into position.... once i finally found it changed the props out, said no errors or anything i did a few test runs further away from other people, seems to be happy.. but i called it a day, figuring better not push my luck too hard

Why were you flying at 35mph, at a party, at the height of a 5yo kid?

ghostrdr Posted at 2017-9-25 16:05
Why were you flying at 35mph, at a party, at the height of a 5yo kid?

hard to explain my thinking if i was even thinking.. i think the panic of seeing the kid run my way erased any thought i did had or rationale for doing that if i did have one...  in hindsight being 20/20..everything would have been ok i imagine... just the surprise of the little kid running towards it out of nowhere.. ya know..the party was further away and all so i just wasn't expecting such a little kid to come out of nowhere..

but lesson learned, and i'm glad only thing got hurt was the tree and my drone....i need to be more aware and alert and fly more mindful maybe a 3-5 yr old running out of nowhere, party or not.  

Sportbike_Pilot Posted at 2017-9-25 15:37
Nice......I really like that scale reference and plan to refer to this thanks.

Another important guideline is of course the "large wind velocity" warning in DJI GO 4.
If you constantly get to see these warnings, it would be advisable to fold up the Mavic and go home, unless you're flying your drone in an open area without an obstacle in sight and you're willing to push your Mavic and your luck to the limit.

Dear Sportbike_Pilot,
I am so sorry about your crash experience!
Hope you can have it fixed as soon as possible to return "on duty"!
Cheers.

MARSAN Posted at 2017-9-26 00:03
Another important guideline is of course the "large wind velocity" warning in DJI GO 4.
If you constantly get to see these warnings, it would be advisable to fold up the Mavic and go home, unless you're flying your drone in an open area without an obstacle in sight and you're willing to push your Mavic and your luck to the limit.

Yeah I bet; I've gone out and have seen those alerts, sometimes sporadically show on the screen however when they persistently on the screen well...... I typically pack up for the day. Or I may also fly much closer to LOS

Some may continue to fly , for me...I like to err on the side of keeping the Mavic.

DocAraxá Posted at 2017-9-26 03:25
Dear Sportbike_Pilot,
I am so sorry about your crash experience!
Hope you can have it fixed as soon as possible to return "on duty"!

Thanks, yeah I should returning to duty real soon. Crossing my fingers.

Sportbike_Pilot Posted at 2017-9-26 05:17
Yeah I bet; I've gone out and have seen those alerts, sometimes sporadically show on the screen however when they persistently on the screen well...... I typically pack up for the day. Or I may also fly much closer to LOS

Some may continue to fly , for me...I like to err on the side of keeping the Mavic.

The big problem here are the gusts of wind.
Our light-weight Mavic is no match to a gust of wind of 5 to 7 Beaufort.

MARSAN Posted at 2017-9-26 07:21
The big problem here are the gusts of wind.
Our light-weight Mavic is no match to a gust of wind of 5 to 7 Beaufort.

I think that was one of the factors b/c as the AC was RTH, the mph on return was I think between 7-12 mph vs 20-25 mph that I'm used to seeing on that very same flight.

Def in that Beau of 5 on return which made it super difficult.


Seems like the wind conditions were less inland but much higher two miles out on the estuary.

Sportbike_Pilot Posted at 2017-9-26 08:17
I think that was one of the factors b/c as the AC was RTH, the mph on return was I think between 7-12 mph vs 20-25 mph that I'm used to seeing on that very same flight.

Def in that Beau of 5 on return which made it super difficult.

You may want to keep an eye on the movements of trees, bushes and tall grass when the wind is blowing.
This will give you a good idea of what your little Mavic has to fight.

I'll definitely be aware for that in addition to the Beau chart.