Took off last evening after flying 5 batteries across town. This was the last flight of the day. As soon as I took off, the aircraft went nuts and just took off. It was all I could do to keep it from heading somewhere that could have caused harm. For what it's worth, I have over 90 hrs of flight experience across the P2, P3, P4, P4 Pro, Mavic Pro, Mavic Air, Inspire 1, Inspire Pro and Inspire 2.
I spent until dark looking in the one main tree there but a couple folks said they saw it go into the river. I am only in town for a few more hours and have tons of footage on the card that I would like to retrieve, even if the aircraft is damaged. What can I share here that will provide some insight?
Here is a Dropbox link containing my flight replay. https://www.dropbox.com/s/uot165vmhuu9kp4/mavic%20air.MOV?dl=0

Hi, Sorry about the loss of the drone, you could upload your flight log to the link below and post that uploaded link back here, there are some experts here that can help you dissect that log and let you know what the issue was and where it went down.
http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

Suren Posted at 2018-5-22 06:54
Hi, Sorry about the loss of the drone, you could upload your flight log to the link below and post that uploaded link back here, there are some experts here that can help you dissect that log and let you know what the issue was and where it went down.
http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/J67UGZFFEH0JFOZ60EOY/

Looks like it never lost GPS but you would have never known it the way it took off on its own. What do you see here other than an IMU message and the every present high wind notification?
Here is a second uploaded log, same flight, different flight log service - https://app.airdata.com/main?share=egBUwc

ddublu Posted at 2018-5-22 07:06
http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/J67UGZFFEH0JFOZ60EOY/

Looks like it never lost GPS but you would have never known it the way it took off on its own. What do you see here other than an IMU message and the every present high wind notification?

Unfortunately, it looks like it was still about 54ft high and moving at a rate of about 45mph.  It looks like the signal was probably intermittent those last few seconds of the log because there are gaps of more then 0.1 second between lines in the log at the end.

Is your RC set to the default mode 2 for stick controls?

Yes, mode 2.

Trying to decide if I should explore other areas around the last know location or if it’s pretty certain that it’s in the water. My flight leaves in 3 hrs.

Unfortunately, I don't think I've got anything good to be able to help you find your aircraft.  I think at 50+ ft high, it was probably above the trees and was continuing to move at a high rate of speed after the connection was lost.

Would it be possible for you to record the replay of your flight record again, but this time press the 2nd button from the left on the bottom that looks like an icon of an RC?  This will show the stick input.  For me, it helps to me to compare to what I see in the log files.

What was the wind like during the flight? It seems like maybe once you got up to altitude, it may have been blowing pretty hard.

I know it doesn't help recover your images, but I'd recommend opening a ticket with DJI to see if they will cover the loss of your aircraft under warranty.  

It wasn’t windy at all, actually. Here is that replay showing sticks. I never take off and point the nose back at me but trying to regain control failed almost immediately. I’ve opened a case with DJI last night and covered that area with a fine tooth comb. Are you saying it’s likely not where it says it is? I tried to beep or flash lights in the find my drone section but they were grayed our from the instant I tried.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/12y231gmdyx55mq/mavic%20sticks.MOV?dl=0

ddublu Posted at 2018-5-22 08:46
It wasn’t windy at all, actually. Here is that replay showing sticks. I never take off and point the nose back at me but trying to regain control failed almost immediately. I’ve opened a case with DJI last night and covered that area with a fine tooth comb. Are you saying it’s likely not where it says it is? I tried to beep or flash lights in the find my drone section but they were grayed our from the instant I tried.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/12y231gmdyx55mq/mavic%20sticks.MOV?dl=0

It’s strange that you were pushing elevator forward if you were trying to retrieve the drone, this movement was only making it go further away.

I realize that how it seems but you’ll notice that I didn’t turn the aircraft to point to me on takeoff either. Once I saw it was out of my control my first reaction was to go up but then I just tried to go left (from me facing it, nose out) to keep it away from traffic.

ddublu Posted at 2018-5-22 08:46
It wasn’t windy at all, actually. Here is that replay showing sticks. I never take off and point the nose back at me but trying to regain control failed almost immediately. I’ve opened a case with DJI last night and covered that area with a fine tooth comb. Are you saying it’s likely not where it says it is? I tried to beep or flash lights in the find my drone section but they were grayed our from the instant I tried.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/12y231gmdyx55mq/mavic%20sticks.MOV?dl=0

I'm not physically in that area, so it is hard for me to say for sure.  What is your perception of that area?
What could it have ran into at a height of 54 ft on the trajectory it was going?  

Going on what I see in the logs and looking at the area in Google Earth, it doesn't seem like those trees right there would be 50+ ft tall.  So unless it dropped some altitude after the log ended, I think it continued on past the trees.  Maybe the bridge structure?  Maybe something beyond that?

I'm not surprised the find my drone didn't work for beeping or flashing, if it hit something going 45mph, I wouldn't think it would likely still be turned on and working.  However, that is just a guess.  Some people on these forums have reported some crazy crashes and still had working aircraft.

Wish I could have been of more help.  Best of luck trying to get it figured out!

ddublu Posted at 2018-5-22 10:04
I realize that how it seems but you’ll notice that I didn’t turn the aircraft to point to me on takeoff either. Once I saw it was out of my control my first reaction was to go up but then I just tried to go left (from me facing it, nose out) to keep it away from traffic.

It looks like you picked up compass problems if triangle was not on the same heading, you also had very weak gps, and I’m presuming this is due to the envoirment you were flying in, pressing pause button or even trying RTH May or may not have worked, but they were options that don’t seem to have been used.

Hi, I'm sorry to hear about the accident. Glad to know that you have opened a case number, if your drone is still in warranty period, you are recommended to provide the flight records to our support team, they will arrange the data analysis for you: https://www.dji.com/support. If there is anything else we can assist you with, please feel free to let us know.