So I've have my MAVIC since my birthday in may 2017, of course my dji care refresh expired on may 28th, 2018 and never used it once. While flying whenever I lost connection it would return home to the take off point. For some reason this time it went off on it's own. My flight record shows all these weird turns and throttle movements after disconnection then ends after 13 minutes of flight reducing altitude to 212ft and stopping. I went to the location as recorded by the find my drone feature and it's not there. How can I find it or found out if someone stole it and it has been turned on again? What is the best course of action DJI or any others that have had similar situations and we're able to recover their drone?

Hi, sorry to hear that. Kindly contact our support so that we can create a case for you. Please use this link: https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav

Hayley       
Hayley (Support)

Jul 8, 00:32 CST

Dear Jonathan,

Good day!

Thank you for contacting DJI Technical Support.

First off, please take my sincerest apologies for the experience you have had with your Mavic Pro drone and providing us a copy of the proof of purchase as well. We have a process where we can find the caused of the incident. However, this will be hard for me to inform you that checking the proof of purchase and as what you have mentioned that you got the drone on May 2017. I am so sorry to let you know that it's already beyond the one(1) year warranty and that in this case warranty service is not available.

This being said, we apologize, but for drones that are already beyond the one(1)-year warranty, we can no longer provide data analysis as per our policy. Please see the photo I attached and you may also visit our After-Sales Policy on this website: https://www.dji.com/service/policy and click on General Terms.



Again, I understand that no words can no longer comfort you with this incident, but we will also need your kind understanding for this situation. Thank you so much for your time.
Best Regards,

Hayley
DJI Technical Support
Website  http://www.dji.com/support

Attachment(s)
How to export Flight records and video cache.pdf

That's the response I got from from DJI when I logged a ticket - basically so sorry your out $1300 but nothing we will do... Really. I will persist until I find out why out of no where my drone went off on it's own after a year of flawlessly flying

Flight map1

Flight map2

How does it stop at 44% battery at 212ft

"This being said, we apologize, but for drones that are already beyond the one(1)-year warranty, we can no longer provide data analysis as per our policy. "

Well, if you will buy a new drone, buy ANAFi Parrot. It does every thing DJI Mavic does, and it is a lot cheaper( $699.99 ).  
https://www.parrot.com/global/drones/anafi#anafi
That is what I will do if my mavic flies away.

alexmbraMav Posted at 2018-7-21 06:47
"This being said, we apologize, but for drones that are already beyond the one(1)-year warranty, we can no longer provide data analysis as per our policy. "

Well, if you will buy a new drone, buy ANAFi Parrot. It does every thing DJI Mavic does, and it is a lot cheaper( $699.99 ).  

Can get a Mavic Pro for same price with no controller. Anafi has a lot of issues right now. That being said, this is the risk you take flying out of sight.

The question is, did the drone disconnect from controller or did the phone disconnect? If the drone disconnected you will not see any flight info the log after that moment. Did your phone disconnect and then you crashed it on accident? The controller movements would be your fingers.

I've had 3 parrots, 1 Bebop and 2 bebop2's and a 3dr solo. Parrot customer service is definitely superb

The drone disconnected from the controller. On the flight path is pops up disconnected from controller then does all sorts of craziness.

Flyhimedia82 Posted at 2018-7-21 06:28
How does it stop at 44% battery at 212ft

You probably hit something. Your altitude of 200 feet only applies at your takeoff location. If the land rises by 100 feet and you come upon a 99 foot tree you only have 1 foot of clearance between you and drone.

After I got the disconnected message I put the controller down in open area for return to home landing. So I was even touching it

Flyhimedia82 Posted at 2018-7-21 06:57
The drone disconnected from the controller. On the flight path is pops up disconnected from controller then does all sorts of craziness.

Like I said, if the controller disconnects there is no data. This is the local playback of your stick movements.

If I hit something wouldn't it be within a 20 yard radius of that spot? I've been there 4 times and looked everywhere and even asked neighbors for help

Sorry for your loss.

You can upload your flight list for that flight to:  http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/upload/    and return the link here on the forum. Then I'm pretty sure there are people here that can come with a probable reason for what went wrong.

EDIT: Follow the instructions in the link.

Regards Leif.

If the *drone* has disconnected from the RC there'll be no flight path updates (how can it?) so the loops and turns aren't real.
If the app has died but the drone has disconnected it wont RTH immediately as its still connected.
So which was it?  Drone disconnected (in which case the position data is null and void) or app disconnected?  Its an important difference.
Im going with "it hit something" on this one.

Gnirts - I'm a bit confused as to your question. But I agree with the likely hood of it hitting something. It was evening - dusk. That's how I could see the lights on he mavic. My phone was connected to the controller and I was getting nice video and photos (unfortunately not catching to my new phone locally) so I only have 1 photo from the flight included in the log. As I crossed the other side of the pond 1st I got weak signal notice but could still see the drone, then RC disconnected. Never did the app close or phone disconnect from the controller.
So if I'm reading what your saying correct that last point on the flight record is the last updated gps location BEFORE the disconnect? So likely hood is it continued on the strait path and hit something making the last location null?

Landbo Posted at 2018-7-21 07:01
Sorry for your loss.

You can upload your flight list for that flight to:  http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/upload/    and return the link here on the forum. Then I'm pretty sure there are people here that can come with a probable reason for what went wrong.

Thanks Leif for the instructions. I followed your instructions:

Here is the link to my flight log the day i lost my drone:

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/8WLT4PTF38FJ3FD5O42X/

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/8WLT4PTF38FJ3FD5O42X/

This is pretty amazing, i wasn't aware this tool was available. I'm starting to think it hit something as a previous member commented in regards to elevation difference or got hit by something.

Any help or advice as to where i should start looking other than the last reported location would be super appreciated, as I said i have been to that spot 4 times now. Its a corner spot, 2 trees and bushes below, of which i've been inside and out of. I brought binoculars, even though the 2 trees are only around 50-75' high and saw nothing. Does it makes sense according to the log thats where the Mavic stopped? Or is it possible it continued on that strait path and may have hit something down further?

I'm just not sure how far to expand my search and in what direction... Is there anyway to find out if the drone was found and turned on? Would it send a signal to DJI?

*Worse case scenario - it was found and taken, and someone else is flying it - wouldn't it raise a red flag somehow as the drone is registered to me.

These drones are so advanced - there has got to be someway to track where it is in case it was stolen or where it last was according to GPS lock of the drone - it was connected to 17 sats!

Flight Log

Flight Log

Flyhimedia82 Posted at 2018-7-22 01:04
Gnirts - I'm a bit confused as to your question. But I agree with the likely hood of it hitting something. It was evening - dusk. That's how I could see the lights on he mavic. My phone was connected to the controller and I was getting nice video and photos (unfortunately not catching to my new phone locally) so I only have 1 photo from the flight included in the log. As I crossed the other side of the pond 1st I got weak signal notice but could still see the drone, then RC disconnected. Never did the app close or phone disconnect from the controller.
So if I'm reading what your saying correct that last point on the flight record is the last updated gps location BEFORE the disconnect? So likely hood is it continued on the strait path and hit something making the last location null?

Yes, once the RC has disconnected the app and controller obviously have no idea where the drone is from that point forward so the GPS you get it going to be the last location before it disconnected.
Obviously what the drone will now do is ascend to RTH height, point itself in a straight line to home and start going in that direction.  So typically in these cases the drone is found in a direct straight line between the home point and the loss of signal point.

Theres no way a disconnected drone can communicate with the RC or app to say where it is.  Because its disconnected.
A few other things, its dusk so chances are obstacle avoidance isnt working in RTH so it cant go over or around.  So if there is anything like a tall tree combined with high ground in the way it'll hit it.  Mavic is light, if it hits a big tree it tends to stick in the tree rather than fall.

However sometimes the app disconnects from the RC BUT the RC stays connected to the drone.  In this case the drone wont immediately initiate an RTH and continues to respond to controller commands.
But if the RC itself said "Connecting...." it was the former.

Street view of last GPS recording

gnirtS Posted at 2018-7-22 01:57
Yes, once the RC has disconnected the app and controller obviously have no idea where the drone is from that point forward so the GPS you get it going to be the last location before it disconnected.
Obviously what the drone will now do is ascend to RTH height, point itself in a straight line to home and start going in that direction.  So typically in these cases the drone is found in a direct straight line between the home point and the loss of signal point.

So I was basically moving the sticks, thinking i was disconnected when in fact i was most likely still connected and flying myself into an obstacle.

I'm going to go and widen my search range today, thank you all for your help!

Flyhimedia82 Posted at 2018-7-22 02:13
So I was basically moving the sticks, thinking i was disconnected when in fact i was most likely still connected and flying myself into an obstacle.

I'm going to go and widen my search range today, thank you all for your help!

Well what did the RC screen show?
The RC is your most important flight instrument.  If that still shows data, the RPMs moving and so on you're still connected and in control of the drone.
If it shows "Disconnected..." or "Connecting..." then you're not.
Any issue with the app, freezing or suspect something isn't right the first thing to check is the RC.

*IF* the RC was still connected and you were manually flying then the bad news is the thing could be anywhere.


FWIW, your log does show a few weak signal warnings and a few brief downlink interruption and reconnects prior to the loss so you didnt have the best signal out there.
The log just ends normally though with no obvious warnings or errors - its not reporting disconnected.

Flyhimedia82 Posted at 2018-7-22 01:44
Thanks Leif for the instructions. I followed your instructions:

Here is the link to my flight log the day i lost my drone:

I can not see anything wrong on your flight log other than you should have been on your way home at the time you lose connection.

The best you can do is draw a line from where it was disconnected and where you took off on a map and look the places the line goes from the place you vas disconectet.

Hope you find your Mavic without any damage. Good luck, Leif.

Hi Flyhimedia82,

Had a look at your flight, great distance flying in low ambient light conditions.
In the last part of your flight for about 13 seconds you had full pitch fwd, almost full roll right and full power down.
In this period your MP lost height from 356 to 208 feet, after this last height connection was lost.

What happend after the connection loss? 2 options i guess ; or it tried to RTH (after 3 seconds) or it flew against a tree or house.
Last option is IMO what have happend. (Forward Obstacle Sensing is not functioning.__Ambient Light is too weak)
Hope you will find your MP in that area.

Added 23 july ; takeoff height relative to sea level = 505 feet, relative height last postion 692 feet.187 difference, so height indication 208 feet was actually 208 minus 187 feet.

cheers
JJB

JJBspark Posted at 2018-7-23 00:27
Hi Flyhimedia82,

Had a look at your flight, great distance flying in low ambient light conditions.

wow quite impressive analysis JJBspark

hope you find your drone soon Flyhimedia82

dronto Posted at 2018-7-23 04:34
wow quite impressive analysis JJBspark

hope you find your drone soon Flyhimedia82

Thanks, edited my post #26.