I lost my Mavic Pro while flying due to wind(most probably) on 28th Oct. Need help in locating possible crash site
1. Started flight with full battery from a mountain
2. Wind was present but not too much (Flown in more windy conditions without any problem)
3. Sensed the danger as the mavic started drifting due to wind.
4. I was in Point of interest mode and pressed RTH (battery was around 70%).
5. Mavic kept on drifting away when RTH was active or it was just holding position (not coming back)
6. Sensed the urgency at around 50% and since RTH speed was hardly 1Km/h, it was never goinmg to be back before battery runs out
7. Removed the RTH and started towards Home.. But it started moving away at greater speed (God knows why!!)
8. At 15% critical battery, started landing
9. Since it was above the forest, I tried to locate safe position... Could not help
10. Landed below Home point till -625ft and crashed somewhere

Now the search mission 1!
1. With the last known co-ordinates(13.411675, 77.676120), started searching for mavic with 4 frends
2. Reached the exact position but could not find the drone.
3. Since it was very dense forest with too many dense bushes, could not find the mavic
4. Searched for 3hrs and returned

Search Mission 2 after 4 days:
1. Same Story!

Log updated in below link
http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/WZ99SSHURA2YRH1LC7QD/#

Please help in locating the drone

Few more questions
1. Pressing RTH when intelligent mode is set (PoI) is not right?
2. Since no external GPS device is attached to the Mavic, is there any other technology that I can use to locate? Like long range Metal detectors etc?

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Hi, thanks for reaching DJI Forum. We do feel sad about what happened with your aircraft. For us to help you, kindly send an email to support@dji.com for us to investigate what happened. They will be needing to send in your flight data records as well for further analysis. Should there be any concerns, don't hesitate to reach us. We're here to help you. Thank you.

With 0% battery at 211m AGL i strongly assume the aircraft shuts down midflight and crashed to the ground.
It would take the drone approximately 10 secs. to fall to the ground, It might drift with the wind in SW direction.
It's hard to calculate or predict a precise impact point on falling tumbling objects.

As you already had been at the last known position, there is not much to do as scan the area again within, let's say 100m in diameter.

The green area indicates a possible search area.

TechNinja Posted at 11-2 10:37
Few more questions
1. Pressing RTH when intelligent mode is set (PoI) is not right?
2. Since no external GPS device is attached to the Mavic, is there any other technology that I can use to locate? Like long range Metal detectors etc?

hi - pushing RTH is recomended by dji but it seems most older flyers prefer to fly home manually.
One issue with RTH function is that the motion speed is quite slow.
This means if it is flying home into heavy wind it has less chance of beating the wind than if it was in sport mode and flying manually by pilot.

hi - really sorry to hear about yr situation.
The best i can suggest is that you trust the map location and search in that area for your drone.

Looking in bushes is difficult and must of course be done properly which will take time depending on the area and size and density of bushes.

A mavic pro will easilly get stuck inside a tree so you have to look at each tree seperately and properly.

Yr drone took a very long time in landing mode - i believe it landed softly and straight down which means very possibily it is inside a tree.

I suggest to use the rocks and other features to mark out your search zone - then to walk with your friends next to each other checking out each tree as you move forward.
Set up a search chart and do the search methodically - i am sure your drone will be in the area where the gps coords are shown.

Remember that you do not have to search the whole forest only that part along the flight route and perhaps a bit either side - best of luck to you

TechNinja Posted at 11-2 10:37
Few more questions
1. Pressing RTH when intelligent mode is set (PoI) is not right?
2. Since no external GPS device is attached to the Mavic, is there any other technology that I can use to locate? Like long range Metal detectors etc?

i think there is a reserve in the battery from what I read, so it could very well have landed of its own steam, I have watched a video where craft flew for 5 minutes with 0% battery, so with a bit of luck it will be at location where it forced landed and may be ok, Keule has given you good info as to where you may locate it.

Good luck in finding it!!!

Fly safe all
Alex

Unfortunately, while the Mavic Pro is large fully extended, in an accident the legs may be folded making the drone difficult to spot in a dense area. My biggest advice is to try and see if you could use another drone for the search and rescue.

The aircraft's Smart_Battery algorithm calculated a remaining flight/landing time being at 260m from roughly 65 secs.

Then telemetry was lost for 123 secs.

After telemetry was restored, you can see in the graph below that cell #3 started to lose voltage and went down the drain.
The aircraft was still flying at T=957 secs, at an height of 260m AGL.
Within the remaining 49 seconds cell #3 deviated to much to supply enough energy to keep the aircraft in the air.
It's verly unlikely it landed safely.

Finally, the flight log ended at T=1006 secs @ height 211 m AGL.

DJI Gamora Posted at 11-2 11:48
Hi, thanks for reaching DJI Forum. We do feel sad about what happened with your aircraft. For us to help you, kindly send an email to  for us to investigate what happened. They will be needing to send in your flight data records as well for further analysis. Should there be any concerns, don't hesitate to reach us. We're here to help you. Thank you.

Thank You for the reply. I have mailed dji support with logs

Thank You everyone for the input.

Is there a chance that aircraft lost the contact will remote and hence the logs maybe incomplete?

TechNinja Posted at 11-2 21:00
Is there a chance that aircraft lost the contact will remote and hence the logs maybe incomplete?

Yes, that could be.

TechNinja Posted at 11-2 20:54
Thank You for the reply. I have mailed dji support with logs

Perfect. You may check also your case number ( CAS ) to our website via the link below. Should you have any concerns, don't hesitate to reach us. We're here to help you. Thank you.

REPAIR PROGRESS INQUIRY

@Tech ninja: Any update? i also lost my Mavic air at Nandi Hills in similar fashion. did you find your drone? I hope DJI should implement some kind of reserve battery to send GPS signals for atleast 1 to 2 days in such failure scenarios.

DJI Gamora Posted at 11-3 00:44
Perfect. You may check also your case number ( CAS ) to our website via the link below. Should you have any concerns, don't hesitate to reach us. We're here to help you. Thank you.

REPAIR PROGRESS INQUIRY

I have not got any CAS or any other reply from DJI for the mail so that I can check...

TechVoyager Posted at 11-4 23:02
@Tech ninja: Any update? i also lost my Mavic air at Nandi Hills in similar fashion.  did you find your drone? I hope DJI should implement some kind of reserve battery to send GPS signals for atleast 1 to 2 days in such failure scenarios.

No.. Not yet... I am waiting for input from DJI so that I can go there again and search... It's  a thick Forest where entering is difficult with lots of bushes and thorns... Went twice so far, couldn't get anything...

That must have been very windy......8 to 11 min,  you were in P-GPS,  full forward going 3 to 5mph....AND going backwards....you were literally getting further away.

It's ashamed you could not have realized there was no forward progress and picked a landing spot you could get to when you were in the 35% range.....there was no way to get back at that point.

10 min 16.5s   This may have been a warning that popped up " High wind velocity. Fly with caution and land in a safe place ASAP. "

I hope you can find your bird!!
Something I don't get......10 min 40sec    Sticks are centered,  P-GPS with 19 sats....going 9.4mph  but the bird is still going backwards and further away???   I know these are different birds,  But I have had my P4Pro in 30mph wind on a mountain, and that thing wiggled but it DID NOT DRIFT.

Randy

Any update Tech Ninja?

rwynant V1 Posted at 11-5 10:21
That must have been very windy......8 to 11 min,  you were in P-GPS,  full forward going 3 to 5mph....AND going backwards....you were literally getting further away.

It's ashamed you could not have realized there was no forward progress and picked a landing spot you could get to when you were in the 35% range.....there was no way to get back at that point.

I had set the control (forward and backward) to act slowly to get cinematic views.. hence when I removed the Go Home and tried to use manual control, it went further away with the wind (realized this after I lost the bird)...

Should have used sports mode (thought about using it during the flight but felt that may drain the battery faster!)  
I did fly the bird 30min before it actually lost without any problem... Wind started shortly after I started second time

TechVoyager Posted at 11-11 18:23
Any update Tech Ninja?

No... Haven't heard anything from DJI... Even CAS number is not generated yet! Looks like time is running out for me

DJI Gamora Posted at 11-2 11:48
Hi, thanks for reaching DJI Forum. We do feel sad about what happened with your aircraft. For us to help you, kindly send an email to  for us to investigate what happened. They will be needing to send in your flight data records as well for further analysis. Should there be any concerns, don't hesitate to reach us. We're here to help you. Thank you.

Sent the mail twice so far to DJI support till now... No response from them! Dont know what to do next!

TechNinja Posted at 11-16 01:29
Sent the mail twice so far to DJI support till now... No response from them! Dont know what to do next!

Hi TechNinja, upon checking we haven't receive an email from you. I suggest to send an email again to support@dji.com for us to assist you. Thank you.

DJI Gamora Posted at 11-16 01:47
Hi TechNinja, upon checking we haven't receive an email from you. I suggest to send an email again to  for us to assist you. Thank you.

Please find the screenshot of the mail I have sent.
Is there any specific "Subject" I need to mention? Or am I missing anything here?

TechNinja Posted at 11-20 07:42
[view_image]

Please find the screenshot of the mail I have sent.

Hi TechNinja, still we haven't received an email coming from you. Have you check all your folders?  You may also retry sending  using a different email address. Thank you.

DJI Gamora Posted at 11-22 02:01
Hi TechNinja, still we haven't received an email coming from you. Have you check all your folders?  You may also retry sending  using a different email address. Thank you.

I have checked all the folders and also I do not get undelivered mail response. Looks like mail is either rejected by DJI servers or something similar (mail went to junk folder or something in DJI?).

However, I have sent the flight records from another mail id now.

Did you found yours? I found my MA

TechVoyager Posted at 1-21 21:39
Did you found yours? I found my MA

Ohh Wow! How did you find urs? u said it was taken by someone

I went for searching last sunday as well (4th time) But no luck!
This time around, villagers had put fire to grass in the area (routine every year)... It was mostly clear, but still could not find! May be someone has already taken it!

TechNinja Posted at 1-22 06:02
Ohh Wow! How did you find urs? u said it was taken by someone

I went for searching last sunday as well (4th time) But no luck!

The person who stole it from the crash site, tried a lot to sell it off for 2 months period, but failed to get any buyer as no-one wanted to buy a drone without a remote and a dead battery and no license.
So finally, he made up a story about how he found it, and contacted me and then shamelessly tried to sell my own drone to me in Rs 20000 . With the help of local cops, i tracked his address and caught the guy and finally my lost bird is back with me. The drone has crash landed from a very high altitude as seen from the SD card footage. But to my surprise, not a single scratch or broken parts and its flying without any problem. As the batteries were not charged since 3 months, the battery has died.

I hope, you have put contact details on your drone, as in my case that is how the person contacted me. Labeling the drone with your contacts is really very helpful. Proved in my case. All the best buddy.

BTW, did DJI provided any help / replacement? Did you purchase a new one?

TechVoyager Posted at 1-22 21:56
The person who stole it from the crash site, tried a lot to sell it off for 2 months period, but failed to get any buyer as no-one wanted to buy a drone without a remote and a dead battery and no license.
So finally, he made up a story about how he found it, and contacted me and then shamelessly tried to sell my own drone to me in Rs 20000 . With the help of local cops, i tracked his address and caught the guy and finally my lost bird is back with me. The drone has crash landed from a very high altitude as seen from the SD card footage. But to my surprise, not a single scratch or broken parts and its flying without any problem. As the batteries were not charged since 3 months, the battery has died.

Lucky You!

I have not pasted any information about me on the bird! My ignorance! But, I have informed ppl in nearby places also about the lost mavic. Hope to get it from them! I have made them aware that they cannot use even if they find it! also, they will get caught when they try to fly! I have their contact details and I keep on calling them in a week or two...

DJI did not do anything except asking me to buy a new one (drone only).. that too without discount!

I'm so sorry to hear about your Mavic Pro loss. I've been flying my Mavic Pro since last February, from your thorough description I can totally understand how your flight went due to wind causing the Mavic Pro to drift away. My biggest recommendation is to find yourself another DJI drone to perform search and rescue, you can fly a Spark over the area, trust me my friend lost his Mavic Pro and we used my Spark and immediately the Mavic Pro was located thanks to the Spark!

davidmartingraf Posted at 1-22 23:25
I'm so sorry to hear about your Mavic Pro loss. I've been flying my Mavic Pro since last February, from your thorough description I can totally understand how your flight went due to wind causing the Mavic Pro to drift away. My biggest recommendation is to find yourself another DJI drone to perform search and rescue, you can fly a Spark over the area, trust me my friend lost his Mavic Pro and we used my Spark and immediately the Mavic Pro was located thanks to the Spark!

This is a great idea. Search the tree tops with another drone. That is most likely where it is!

Bob Brown Posted at 1-23 12:42
This is a great idea. Search the tree tops with another drone. That is most likely where it is!

Last two times when I went searching, I took my friends Spark... Nothing helped! It is not an easy place to locate!

I have this attached to the back of my Mavic Pro (over the DJI logo):
https://loc8tor.co.uk/
Helped me once to quickly locate it when the bird crash-landed in deep snow.

Bob Brown Posted at 1-23 12:42
This is a great idea. Search the tree tops with another drone. That is most likely where it is!

Best of luck hoping you are successful!!

Thank You all for responding and helping with suggestions. It was really helpful!

After 5 months, I got my lost drone back! I had informed the locals about its probable location as suggested by you guys and had taken along with us during our 3rd search mission (after 1 month of it was lost)
They said they found the drone after 5 months. May be they got the drone after 1 month itself and tried selling it to others... Since they feared of selling because they thought it can be traced or no one bought the drone alone, they called me. I had to give some money to get it back!

And guess what, it is working!!!!  There are minor issues related to gimbal vibration when moving front but it flyes! There are no visible impact except on the propellers which has minor damage (it flyes with the damaged propeller though!)

Thank you once again Keule, TechVoyager, rwynant V1, davidmartingraf, Bekaru MP UAV and everyone! You guys helped me more than DJI engineers in locating the probable search area! DJI was just blind to it and they refused to analyse the logs also! The only solution they gave was to buy a new drone (and the link to buy!)

TechNinja Posted at 4-9 22:18
Thank You all for responding and helping with suggestions. It was really helpful!

After 5 months, I got my lost drone back! I had informed the locals about its probable location as suggested by you guys and had taken along with us during our 3rd search mission (after 1 month of it was lost)

What a great result!

I am amazed that your Mavic Pro is still operational and I love stories that have a happy ending

TechVoyager Posted at 2018-11-4 23:02
@Tech ninja: Any update? i also lost my Mavic air at Nandi Hills in similar fashion.  did you find your drone? I hope DJI should implement some kind of reserve battery to send GPS signals for atleast 1 to 2 days in such failure scenarios.

I totally agree- this would be the BEST UPDATE to any DJI drone imo.  Not sure how their existing batteries hold up to crashes (ejecting) so some small Li-Ion battery internal that allows transmission for at least 10 min would suffice...this would give the RC a definitive FINAL GPS position that would make the GO4 'Find My Drone" a precise way to locate a drone in the case of flyaways or crashes from height into trees when telemetry may be lost for several min.  Because DJI does not offer this ability (crazy they do not) the only option is to use a small cell-based GPS pet tracker; they would survive most any fall and work so long as there is cellular reception (this is why it would be GREAT for DJI to integrate this as Occusync works upto 7kms and no no cell required).  Other option is the Marco-Polo tracker but this is cumbersome.  I highly suggest attaching a 'noise/speaker' to any drone.  They cost maybe $20 and emit a loud scream when motion is not detected for say 10s...perfect for recovery ops!