Hey guys what's up,
  
I'm gonna "Tarantino" this post because I respect your time and wanna jump to the action:
  
Satallite lock: check
Compass: calibrated
Precisely record take off point: check
Slide to take off: SLIDE annnnnnddd drone takes off like has one very specific mission: a mission to kill. You know that .GIF of Honeybooboo saying "BYE"? Yeah, that times 10. I know that might sound a little hyperbolic so let me paint a picture of this take off. As soon as I swiped, my Mavic took off at a 45* angle, instantaneously achieved a height and speed of 30' and 30mph, respectively, and crash landed into a group of people waiting in line at public transit station. Luckily, the only casualty here was the Mavic. Photos of the lifeless, dismembered corpse below. I never found the camera/gimbal assembly, I can only assume that it's getting surgically removed from some undeserving fella..
  
  I know what you're thinking, "how'd this noob crash a Mavic? Whata tool"
I've been flying hobby quads ($200ish range) for a few years because I understand the importance of being a good pilot, especially when flying a brilliant chunk of technology that's worth more than your MacBook. When the Mavic came out, I started saving $100/month. 2 weeks ago, I finally got said Mavic and 10 flights later here we are. No bueno.
  
  This flight occurred during an event where several surface streets in Atlanta were shut down. I thought it would be a awesome time to get some shots of the city while it was quiet and relatively few folks around. It was a perfect day, with a light (3mph) breeze. All looked fine until the moment of take off. So what could have happened? My flight records indicate that 2 seconds after take off I got a "compass error" and 2sec after that the Flight Mode changed to ATTI. Normally I wouldn't have a problem manually recovering in ATTI but the Mavic was completely unresponsive to my commands. At this point I was like, "come home Mavic, you're drunk", so I initiated the RTH function just 12sec into my flight, no change in speed or heading. It was at this point I just focused on iphone screen and braced for impact. WHAMMMM. I start running to where I think it landed, a kind fella on the street saw me running with my controller in hand (still beeping like nuts), and pointed me to the site. There we're a bunch of people standing around it, looking at it as if it fell from outter space. I asked if everyone was alright, luckily I didn't hit anyone. I then apologized and started to pick up all of the pieces of what was one of my all-time favorite possessions. The battery was found about 50' from the rest of the carnage. It. Was. Embarrassing.
  
  I'm here because I need help on how to proceed. Can someone tell me what my next steps are? Is this covered under warranty? I absolutely loved the MAVIC and I REALLY hope that my flying days aren’t over. Thank you guys for reading. You ROCK and fly safe. -Ryan
Flight Record: http://app.airdata.com/main?share=pEdeyA


  

"crash landed into a group of people waiting in line at public transit station


flight records indicate that 2 seconds after take off I got a "compass error" and 2sec after that the Flight Mode changed to ATTI.


Mavic was completely unresponsive to my commands."


Wow that MP is completely destroyed but not surprised given the height it fell from onto concrete.

Based on what you reported, and MP not responding commands, don't see why DJI wouldn't cover?

If I were the pilot, my concern would've been as you turned the corner of the building  a lost of signal connection with the RC but it appears that you had trouble before even turning that corner?

Thanks for posting b/c for me its a learned lesson.

I would have expected this to happen when flying inside Atlanta at 32 feet high and 300 feet away especially flying around a building and out of LOS.  I hope DJI takes care of you, but this does look like pilot error to me.

edmaverik Posted at 2017-9-25 05:34
I would have expected this to happen when flying inside Atlanta at 32 feet high and 300 feet away especially flying around a building and out of LOS.  I hope DJI takes care of you, but this does look like pilot error to me.

Edmaverik, I would have never taken it out of line-of-sight. I didn't have control from the second it left the ground bro.

Well first question is why did you calibrate the compass? Did the app ask you to calibrate? Otherwise you should have never calibrated the compass you only do that if there is an abnormality or the app asks you to because you calibrate the compass you were probably standing over some kind of metal or rebar in the concrete or picked up interference from metal nearby and got  a bad snapshot of the compass calibration. . Resulting in a compass error

Edmaverik he said he didn't have control right from the get-go at takeoff but I still want to know why did you calibrate the compass did the app actually ask you to? For future reference you should not calibrate the compass unless the app asks...or unless  you notice an abnormality with the compasses like for instance the arrow on your map facing opposite. Also always calibrate away from netal away from concrete etc go to an open field calibrate and that should be it. I have had my mavic for a long time and only calibrated once

I'm sorry to hear the accident. It's lucky that nobody hurt. Please contact the support and start a case if the drone is in warranty period: http://www.dji.com/support. We'd like to see the exact crash reason and offer you the corresponding solutions.

$gambino$ Posted at 2017-9-25 05:55
Edmaverik he said he didn't have control right from the get-go at takeoff but I still want to know why did you calibrate the compass did the app actually ask you to? For future reference you should not calibrate the compass unless the app asks...or unless  you notice an abnormality with the compasses like for instance the arrow on your map facing opposite. Also always calibrate away from netal away from concrete etc go to an open field calibrate and that should be it. I have had my mavic for a long time and only calibrated once

Howdy gambino, I did not calibrate the compass prior to take off. I should have been a little more clear - I was just trying to indicate that I was NOT prompted to re-celebrate, which in my book means "good to go". The compass and IMU were set two weeks earlier in a field about 5 miles away from where this happened. Never had any compass or flight issues up to this point..

I feel for your lost. Quoted from you "Normally I wouldn't have a problem manually recovering in ATTI but the Mavic was completely unresponsive to my commands.", I have never found this answer nor seen any official statement from the manufacturer about the unresponsive ATTI mode. Happened to me once the first very time I tried to do a simple hovering with the Mavic in ATTI. Drifted back uncontrollably that I need to pull a physical stunt to prevent damages to both properties and Mavic, luckily there were none, just slight bruise on my palm. After that incident, I no longer dare to fly the Mavic without GPS lock and hoping I would never encounter compass errors to see that darn ATTI again. Mind you I've over 15 years of experience flying RC helis, all the orientation stick commands (inverted nose-in hovers, inverted backwards figure 8s, piros etc) are at the back of my head.

Nazar78 Posted at 2017-9-25 06:52
I feel for your lost. Quoted from you "Normally I wouldn't have a problem manually recovering in ATTI but the Mavic was completely unresponsive to my commands.", I have never found this answer nor seen any official statement from the manufacturer about the unresponsive ATTI mode. Happened to me once the first very time I tried to do a simple hovering with the Mavic in ATTI. Drifted back uncontrollably that I need to pull a physical stunt to prevent damages to both properties and Mavic, luckily there were none, just slight bruise on my palm. After that incident, I no longer dare to fly the Mavic without GPS lock and hoping I would never encounter compass errors to see that darn ATTI again. Mind you I've over 15 years of experience flying RC helis, all the orientation stick commands (inverted nose-in hovers, inverted backwards figure 8s, piros etc) are at the back of my head.

If your drone was unresponsive to your control - how did you "pull a physical stunt"?

You are mad.

method007 Posted at 2017-9-25 07:00
If your drone was unresponsive to your control - how did you "pull a physical stunt"?

Ditch the RC on the nearby couch, slowly lowered my right palm flat on top of the rotors to slow it down. The height was too low (CSC take-off) and dangerous risking my fingers to catch from below and I wasn't fully prepared as it was the first time lifting it up in the air. Not enough prop thrust, the Mavic dropped on the floor. No damages as I said only slight bruise on my palm (not cuts was ok the next day). Please don't try this at home, yeah it hurts a little. I wouldn't dare to do this on a 450 heli blades though...

method007 Posted at 2017-9-25 07:00
If your drone was unresponsive to your control - how did you "pull a physical stunt"?

I am assuming he means he sprinted towards the aircraft and physically wrestled it to the ground with his bare hands.

As for the OP, it's not all that surprising that the compass error occurred, but why would it not be responsive once it switched to ATTI?  He doesn't sound like many of the jokers running around loose on this site who couldn't fly a non-GPS drone to save their life.

Can we get the video please?  I want to see the look of terror on those people's faces.

Upload your flight record to http://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/upload/ and post the link.

Sorry for your loss.

One thing is bothering me.

Your flight log says:
Log Duration:        00m 17s (time in the air and on the ground)
Air Duration:        00m 15s (time in the air only)

Does this mean you took off with only two seconds to attain GPS lock and prepare for flight?

It maybe just me. My appoligise?

Airdata shows poor sat count for the entire short duration of the flight. Taking the area into account I wonder if the Mavic encountered GPS signal multipath. It happens when the GPS signals are bounced off and reflected from buildings. I don't know if the GPS receiver in the Mavic has a multipath rejector but it's entirely possible it thought it was "somewhere" but tried to put itself where it *thought* it had to go to maintain that "somewhere". Hypothetically the compass could have thought *it* was encountering the error during the crosscheck with the GPS receiver and threw a message. This is why a true ATTI mode is really important to include at some point. GPS and GLONASS signals are riddled with issues that are compounded if the device it isn't WAAS or RAIM capable.

Maveriksam Posted at 2017-9-25 08:08
Sorry for your loss.

One thing is bothering me.

First. You guys are awesome. I was a little afraid/embarrassed to post a "noob crashed his mavic" thread. I appreciate you guys trying to figure out what happened. I really think this one was unavoidable (equipment malfunction) and I REALLY hope that DJI is able to glean that from the flight data. I went ahead and created a ticket.

1) During the year that I was saving up I watched pretty much every youtube vid out there on how to safely fly this puppy. Both Mavic and controller were powered on for at least a minute prior to take off.  I think the flight record of 17s is the amt of time the propellers were spinning.

2) I didn't even have time to press the record button, so sadly no video of the crash. Given the yaw and orientation, I think the vid would just be sky and concrete though.

First, DJI needs to give us manual control of ATTI mode so we can fly these things properly without an errant control system!

Second, you flew with poor GPS coverage, something you should expect in the city at low altitude (takeoff).  I would only consider flying there if I launched from a location that was and STAYED above the majority of roof lines so you could assure yourself of solid GPS at all times.

Third, you say you hit RTH.  You can't RTH when in ATTI mode.  You can't RTH without GPS!  How is it going to know where home is from its location?

While I am very sorry for the loss, it is clearly pilot error, partially brought on by the fact that DJI just won't give us manual control of ATTI mode.  If you had started in a manually locked ATTI mode to begin with (not available on the Mavic), you could have maintained control all the way through.  Wake up DJI!!

AG0N-Gary Posted at 2017-9-25 11:14
First, DJI needs to give us manual control of ATTI mode so we can fly these things properly without an errant control system!

Second, you flew with poor GPS coverage, something you should expect in the city at low altitude (takeoff).  I would only consider flying there if I launched from a location that was and STAYED above the majority of roof lines so you could assure yourself of solid GPS at all times.

I completely agree.  All of the drones need to have a switchable ATTI mode so people can practice and prepare for the eventual GPS drop.

hmmmm.. hard to tell if it was unresponsive to your commands given multiple failures occurred.. Atti mode + Compass failed, this can appear as if your controls are being ignored since it suddenly and completely appears that way even if it is accepting input, it may be inverted or off axis from input your telling it to do.  the other issue may invalidate your claims with Dji's repairs is the GPS lock was fairly weak.. there is a known issue (you wouldn't know if you dont lurk these forums) where there is what i call "phantom GPS locks" where it for reason idk it indicates wrong amount of satellite locks in app/on RC sometimes registering your last flight's satellite lock count or sometimes just a number it pulls out of nowhere it seems..  you either experienced "phantom gps lock" issue or you experienced reflected GPS signals off of buildings..based on how short the log was before you took off, and you claim you had full GPS lock sounds like you didn't, and your mavic realized this way to late..

the other issue, again hard to fault you since DJi isn't clear with this and only place to know this for certain if this forums..  but NEVER USE RTH WITH COMPASS/GPS ERRORS, just wrestle the controls and land it somewhere safe and run after it or have someone run after it for you to catch it.. RTH replies on compass/GPS if both are throwing off bad data or invalidate from interference or something, RIP.. RTH cannot be expected to function correctly..


so a summary of what i think happened here:

you powered on the drone, all seemed solid and good, given the short runtime of the log, you must have experienced the "phantom gps lock" where shows incorrect count of satellites and says ready to go.. you took off and almost right away after gets away from you, the mavic pro freaks out, has multiple failures, GPS data isn't there like it was expecting and the compass is freaking out because of everything around it interfering, the compass is extremely critical in atti mode if both compasses are down, nothing to reference from at all, and your controls will feel as if they dont work... because reference is pointing every which way and the drone is failing to self compensate.. alternatively maybe the signal got blocked briefly from the uplink side (RC), but does not appear to be the issue..  then you used RTH (a fail safe the relies on GPS and compass) and results were as expected having neither working properly..