Today, My Mavic 2 Pro disconnected suddenly without any warning during the flight and falls from an altitude of 115 meters. I was flying it in the forest, but luckily I was able to find it with the help of DJI Find My Drone option in the DJI Go 4 App. However, by the time I find my drone, the battery was popped out and I was unable to find the battery within 50 meters radius from the location where I found the drone, even after a deep search.
I have purchased DJI Care Refresh along with drone, but I am not sure how is this incident will be handled by DJI because there was no fault from my side in operating the drone and weather conditions were just perfect to fly the drone. I have been flying drones from last 2 years and even today I was flying it in my visible range and there were no birds around.

Since it is weekend, I was unable to reach DJI support through chat or phone, so I have sent them an email with the information I have. I am looking forward to getting a positive response from DJI. I have been waiting to shoot fall colors from a very long time, but  I didn't expect to face this situation when fall colors are at peak here in Arkansas.

Btw, I tried connecting drone with and additional battery I have, It connected but realized that gimbal was damaged so I didn't try to fly.

From your description of what happened and battery not being near MP2, sounds like battery came loose from drone while it was flying.

I would start looking for battery from point where you found drone, back along flight path of drone to area where drone last reported it's position.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 2018-10-27 08:53
From your description of what happened and battery not being near MP2, sounds like battery came loose from drone while it was flying.

I am sure battery was not loose, I made sure I hear the ticking sound when I attached to drone before flying, I flew the drone for about 5 mins successfully and shot a video and few pictures before it falls.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 2018-10-27 08:53
From your description of what happened and battery not being near MP2, sounds like battery came loose from drone while it was flying.

I would start looking for battery from point where you found drone, back along flight path of drone to area where drone last reported it's position.

I assume battery would have been stuck in the tress since I was flying it over the deep forest.

Upload your flight logs to

https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/Upload/

Maybe others can help diagnose what could have happened.

HedsIc Posted at 2018-10-27 09:06
Upload your flight logs to

https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/Upload/

Thank you. Here are the flight records.

https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/SRL5OKUQN2FUN9EH8Z29/#

Yes please, @fans88de6c01 . There is a lot of experience on this forum. Don't give up yet!

Dorset_Horn Posted at 2018-10-27 09:29
Yes please, @fans88de6c01 . There is a lot of experience on this forum. Don't give up yet!

Sure, thanks for the encouragement.

wintersun_x Posted at 2018-10-27 09:17
Thank you. Here are the flight records.

https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/SRL5OKUQN2FUN9EH8Z29/#

Looking at your flight log , nothing looks strange, regarding loose battery, Mavic 2 has a failsafe if you don’t insert correctly and you would have received a warning regarding this, it looks like some sort of power failure but log is cut short. The information should be in your .dat file which is in your aircraft dji will be able to read this and maybe give you some more info on what caused your aircraft to just suddenly cut out and drop out of the sky.
With most dji consumer drones battery can be easily dislodged on impact and I presume that was the case, so buried in the ground or stuck up a tree who knows, might be worth going back with a fresh pair of eyes and give it a last look.
To me it has all the hallmarks of a malfunction and should be covered under warranty.
Good Luck.

hallmark007 Posted at 2018-10-27 10:48
Looking at your flight log , nothing looks strange, regarding loose battery, Mavic 2 has a failsafe if you don’t insert correctly and you would have received a warning regarding this, it looks like some sort of power failure but log is cut short. The information should be in your .dat file which is in your aircraft dji will be able to read this and maybe give you some more info on what caused your aircraft to just suddenly cut out and drop out of the sky.
With most dji consumer drones battery can be easily dislodged on impact and I presume that was the case, so buried in the ground or stuck up a tree who knows, might be worth going back with a fresh pair of eyes and give it a last look.
To me it has all the hallmarks of a malfunction and should be covered under warranty.

Thanks for your views @hallmark007. Appreciate it. I have got an email response from DJI Support team, I have registered a repair request and sent my drone and remote controller back to DJI. I will look forward to their response.

On a side note, judging from the picture of the drone itself lying there after a 115m fall, without any visible damage, they must be tough little guys.

xagoras Posted at 2018-10-27 12:46
On a side note, judging from the picture of the drone itself lying there after a 115m fall, without any visible damage, they must be tough little guys.

You are right, I am was shocked to see the fallen drone doesn't have any visible damage, it could be because the trees would have reduced the drop speed and the amount of leaves that stacked on the ground. Did you get a chance to look at the logs I posted earlier? It would clearly show where the connection broke. Anyways I would leave it up to DJI for judgments and conclusions since they log everything out of your drone activity.

I'm not an expert at reading logs, but they don;t show anything abnormal happening prior to the fall. Maybe someone more experienced on the matter can help out.

wintersun_x Posted at 2018-10-27 09:01
I assume battery would have been stuck in the tress since I was flying it over the deep forest.

It is possible battery is stuck in trees.  Given shape of and weight of battery vs. MP2's arms with props to catch on stuff and it's weight, it should have been stuck in trees, with battery on ground.

Least most expensive thing made it to where you could find it and recover it.  


Assuming battery stayed with drone all way down to trees, and battery got knocked loose upon impacting with tree - battery should be located very close to where you found drone.  Possibly in crock of a tree, or on tight group of branches.   A strong wind could cause battery to fall loose from branches.  Even medium sized trees' trunks move in strong winds.

wintersun_x Posted at 2018-10-27 08:57
I am sure battery was not loose, I made sure I hear the ticking sound when I attached to drone before flying, I flew the drone for about 5 mins successfully and shot a video and few pictures before it falls.

From MP2's internal logs (BlackBox data), DJI should be able to tell if cause of crash was MP2 suddenly loosing power at altitude or was caused by something else.  

Whether you can get DJI to give you details of what cause was, is a different matter.

The fall/loss of power was caused by something.

Looking at the logs, and not getting overly analytical ..... the TIME on 90% battery,  then the time on 89% battery.....seems very strange when looking at the time on 88% battery..........and moving along pretty good......I wonder if the battery puffed and popped out.....but I see no High speed, or reason for this.

IF you find the battery take a picture ASAP......so you know if it's puffed......this "might be the reason" the battery is not near the AC.

Very sorry for your crash!!

Randy

rwynant V1 Posted at 2018-10-27 16:16
The fall/loss of power was caused by something.

Looking at the logs, and not getting overly analytical ..... the TIME on 90% battery,  then the time on 89% battery.....seems very strange when looking at the time on 88% battery..........and moving along pretty good......I wonder if the battery puffed and popped out.....but I see no High speed, or reason for this.

That's a good observation, Randy. I don't think I can give another try to find battery since the crash place is far from my home and its hilly place to pull over the car for a long time.  But I am lucky that it didn't fall on the road or the valley on the other side of the road, which would have made the situation worst.

Hi wintersun_x, we are so sorry for the crash accident, the shipping label will be sent to you soon, when you receive it, please send in the drone at your most convenience, our data analysis will help to figure out what happened and provide the proper resolution, if you need any assistance, please keep us updated.

That sucks dude. I hope they replace your unit without having to use your DJI Care Refresh. And I also hope they replace your battery. With the battery prices increased that is a huge loss for just the battery. Hopefully DJI can provide a reason this drone fell from the sky. Inquiring minds want to know.

DJI Mindy Posted at 2018-10-27 18:47
Hi wintersun_x, we are so sorry for the crash accident, the shipping label will be sent to you soon, when you receive it, please send in the drone at your most convenience, our data analysis will help to figure out what happened and provide the proper resolution, if you need any assistance, please keep us updated.

Thanks for your response @DJI Mindy. I have got the shipping label and shipped the item. Looking forward to hearing from your team as soon as it reaches you guys.

wintersun_x Posted at 2018-10-27 19:22
Thanks for your response @DJI Mindy. I have got the shipping label and shipped the item. Looking forward to hearing from your team as soon as it reaches you guys.

Alright, hope everything goes smoothly and good luck to you.

Bing Err Posted at 2018-10-27 19:21
That sucks dude. I hope they replace your unit without having to use your DJI Care Refresh. And I also hope they replace your battery. With the battery prices increased that is a huge loss for just the battery. Hopefully DJI can provide a reason this drone fell from the sky. Inquiring minds want to know.

Yeah, it was very disturbing to watch your expensive drone just falls from the sky. Yeah, I hope DJI finds the reason for fall and replace the drone without my DJI Care Refresh since the drone is still under warranty and there is nothing I did for the crash.

wintersun_x Posted at 2018-10-27 16:50
That's a good observation, Randy. I don't think I can give another try to find battery since the crash place is far from my home and its hilly place to pull over the car for a long time.  But I am lucky that it didn't fall on the road or the valley on the other side of the road, which would have made the situation worst.

Bummer crash site is far from your home.  A found battery, with possibility of swelling, would be informative.  

Although if battery were found swollen, it could be due to it's sudden deceleration upon impact.  

I just noticed if you push down on the battery near to one side only one side clips in not both sides, one to remember also.

Christian

Stone Stomper Posted at 2018-10-27 23:10
I just noticed if you push down on the battery near to one side only one side clips in not both sides, one to remember also.

Christian

This a good point to be checked before every flight

Yup,  and something else to remember,

Different MFG Dates use different LOT#s of bulk plastic used in injection molding.  There is a tolerance built into the mold based on the characteristics of the plastic being used, shrink after cooling.

Virtually every LOT will have a slightly different amount of shrink.   It is possible to have an ILL Fitting battery due to the tolerances on the AC, vs the Battery.

Randy

hallmark007 Posted at 2018-10-27 10:48
Looking at your flight log , nothing looks strange, regarding loose battery, Mavic 2 has a failsafe if you don’t insert correctly and you would have received a warning regarding this, it looks like some sort of power failure but log is cut short. The information should be in your .dat file which is in your aircraft dji will be able to read this and maybe give you some more info on what caused your aircraft to just suddenly cut out and drop out of the sky.
With most dji consumer drones battery can be easily dislodged on impact and I presume that was the case, so buried in the ground or stuck up a tree who knows, might be worth going back with a fresh pair of eyes and give it a last look.
To me it has all the hallmarks of a malfunction and should be covered under warranty.

After reading a few of these cases I checked with my own M2P and there are absolutley no warnings for a loose battery.

It may log to .txt file under Batpresent but there no indications to the user.

wintersun_x Posted at 2018-10-27 16:50
That's a good observation, Randy. I don't think I can give another try to find battery since the crash place is far from my home and its hilly place to pull over the car for a long time.  But I am lucky that it didn't fall on the road or the valley on the other side of the road, which would have made the situation worst.

This is why I never fly over busy roads. You see it all the time on youtube. Maddness. I hope you get it fixed and some peace of mind it wont happen again to you and the rest of us from DJI

For what it's worth, my guess is that the battery is buried deep in the thick carpet of fallen leaves. What a shame you aren't closer to the crash site. A metal-detector or leaf-blower could have been useful. Any other members in the North Arkansas/ Missouri are who want a treasure hunt?

Hi,

Sorry for your loss, had a look at your flight log too.

There is something strange in your flightlog data, i see a dramatic increase in current at the end of the flight; up to 19! amps.
Never seen that before. Not a slow increase but a rapid increase from normal values to 18 - 19 amps.
19 amps until the flightlog stops.
Something wrong inside, DJI should be able to find out what malfunction happend to your drone. I think it will be a valid DJI warranty claim.

Battery fail in flight, swollen and pop-out?  


cheers
JJB

JJBspark Posted at 2018-10-31 02:17
Hi,

Sorry for your loss, had a look at your flight log too.

Could be an internal short circuit.

fans68308231 Posted at 2018-10-28 23:59
After reading a few of these cases I checked with my own M2P and there are absolutley no warnings for a loose battery.

It may log to .txt file under Batpresent but there no indications to the user.

I once received a warning about my battery very shortly after take off.  Don't remember the wording now.  I landed and sure enough only on side of the battery was latched.  

I am not sure if it will detect all battery issues but it probably saved me that time.

JJBspark Posted at 10-31 02:17
Hi,

Sorry for your loss, had a look at your flight log too.

@JJBSpark This is a very good analysis and makes sense now and this should be the possible reason for the fall. I am hoping for a replacement under warranty. I am yet to hear back from DJI team.

wintersun_x Posted at 11-3 11:40
@JJBSpark This is a very good analysis and makes sense now and this should be the possible reason for the fall. I am hoping for a replacement under warranty. I am yet to hear back from DJI team.

Hi wintersun_x,

Thanks, i think DJI will give you a satisfying answer and solution to your "out-of-the-sky-falling" drone.

cheers
JJB

This is the latest response from DJI. I am not sure what is the damage that they are deferring. I am sure there was no physical damage to the drone and was like new one.

"This is Sherrie from Technical Support team, and I will be assisting you on this case from now on for related inquiries about data analysis.

For your case CAS-XXXXXX, we have finished the analysis, and the result is as follows:

1.) No crash found in available flights.
2.) Obvious damage that impairs normal function to unit.

Based on the available data on your flight records no was crash found. The incident was not caused by any product malfunction factors. There were obvious damage that impairs normal function to aircraft. Cause of the issue is due to physical damage.

We can still proceed with the repairs however, you need to cover the repair fees. We will have our quotation team to follow up on your case soon.

Your understanding and cooperation will be highly appreciated.

Once again, sorry for any inconvenience, and thanks for your support.

Should you have questions or clarifications please feel free to contact us.

Thank you for choosing DJI."

wintersun_x Posted at 11-8 16:53
This is the latest response from DJI. I am not sure what is the damage that they are deferring. I am sure there was no physical damage to the drone and was like new one.

"This is Sherrie from Technical Support team, and I will be assisting you on this case from now on for related inquiries about data analysis.

I’m truly sorry that you now need to fight DJI’s decision, especially after seeing the high spike in Current.

I’m sorry to say, but this seems like typical DJI behavior. My faith in them is quickly diminishing.  

(I’m sure that all the DJI loyalists, who defend DJI for their poor behavior will once again attempt to defend DJI)

Were you recording video at the time? What did the footage show?

JJBspark Posted at 10-31 02:17
Hi,

Sorry for your loss, had a look at your flight log too.

I believe DJI intelligent batteries will shut down when the amp draw exceeds a level the engineers figure the aircraft could not draw.. i.e. like short protection... of course if the battery shuts down the quad glides.. and since a quads glide ratio is ZERO compared to an aircrafts 13:1 or 20:1 you flameout landing options are kind of limited....

wintersun_x Posted at 11-8 16:53
This is the latest response from DJI. I am not sure what is the damage that they are deferring. I am sure there was no physical damage to the drone and was like new one.

"This is Sherrie from Technical Support team, and I will be assisting you on this case from now on for related inquiries about data analysis.

Hi wintersun,

Think you should ask DJI to have another and better look at your flight data.

No crash found? no, ofcourse not when battery starts his own flying life. DJI did not found a normal landing in your data either, or did they??

cheers
JJB