On July 4, 2019, I flew my drone while on a docked boat. 5 minutes into the flight my controller displayed a message which i have never seen before "connection error". I have seen "connection lost" many times. However, never did i see "connection error" nor did i know what it means. The phone screen was gray and the drone, although in eye sight, was completely inoperable. I pressed rth on the controller and the drone returned to within a few feet from me and began to land. As you are all probably guessing, the drone landed in water as i refused to pluck it out of the sky while the blades were spinning because i didn't want to lose a finger. Again, no button on the phone or remote nor the joysticks on the remote were working. I was completely helpless.

Although i retrieved the drone as soon as it touched water (blades stopped turning), the water damage killed the drone and battery.

I don't have DJI Care Refresh. So I sent the drone to dji support for warranty repair and explained that i experienced a malfunction with the controller and drone. Dji support and then their dispute resolutions didn't see it that way at all. Their final response to me was:

Good day. I hope this email finds you well.

I have received the result of the data analysis of your flight records and based on their findings, this has been considered as a non warranty case because we do not suggest to fly the aircraft over water nor transparent surfaces and over moving surfaces or subjects. This has been deemed as a final result. You can also check this on the disclaimer and safety guidelines posted on our official website: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/Mavic_2/20180823/Mavic_2_Disclaimer_and_Safety_Guidelines_EN.pdf



To which i replied:

On your own website for mavic 2, almost every picture advertisement is over or near a body of water. Here look:

Mavic 2 - See the Bigger Picture - DJI



How can you respond in a such blatantly hypercritical and obnoxious way that you recommend for people not to fly near water? Especially when my malfunction had nothing to do with water. Please escalate my case to management. I will be posting all your responses online. Potential customers need to know that you will find any excuse possible, including resorting to saying you engage in false advertisement, not to honor a warranty.

Sorry to say but they are correct. In all my years of flying I know it's not a good idea to launch from a boat.

Reason being it affect the compass. This is definitely pilot error. I have flown over many bodies of water

without issues but never from a boat. This is a case of read your manual before attempting this.

Hope it works out for you.

It sounds like a bot reply, you could opt to have a moderator to organize a second look opinion, not sure if it will help you,
Although to late, it looks like your app crashed judging by the grey screen if Rth worked its most likely RC was still working.
Pause was what you should have pressed switch off app and restart it, boats are continually moving even when tied up or anchored so home point will continue to move.

Loss of signal can sometimes invoke spur of the moment reaction when a modicum of calm can go a long way, but it’s all hindsight .

If you retrieve the flight log, upload it here, and post a link to it in this thread, someone outside DJI may be able to give you a better explanation of what happened.

Also, not that it does you any good to know now, but for others' benefit, you won't lose a finger if you get hit by the Mavic's blades; at worst, you would wind up with a cut.

hallmark007 Posted at 7-27 06:47
It sounds like a bot reply, you could opt to have a moderator to organize a second look opinion, not sure if it will help you,
Although to late, it looks like your app crashed judging by the grey screen if Rth worked its most likely RC was still working.
Pause was what you should have pressed switch off app and restart it, boats are continually moving even when tied up or anchored so home point will continue to move.

It would be interesting to see if it can be re-evaluated given the part of their reply to him that read, "This has been deemed as a final result." I can't say that I remember hearing of anyone having gotten that verbiage from DJI before.

Woe Posted at 7-27 05:44
Sorry to say but they are correct. In all my years of flying I know it's not a good idea to launch from a boat.

Reason being it affect the compass. This is definitely pilot error. I have flown over many bodies of water

"Reason being it affect the compass. This is definitely pilot error. "

Even assuming compass was effected, how would that result in "connection error"?
Why didn't pilot get a compass error message instead?

"this has been considered as a non warranty case because we do not suggest to fly the aircraft over water nor transparent surfaces and over moving surfaces or subjects."

DJI's response is non-sense.  Flying over water, transparent surfaces, moving surfaces, or moving subjects would not cause loss of connection.  As you point out DJI advertises their Drones being used to video moving subjects over moving water; which is hypocrisy if DJI is going to claim it is a No-No.

Gimpy Posted at 7-27 06:59
If you retrieve the flight log, upload it here, and post a link to it in this thread, someone outside DJI may be able to give you a better explanation of what happened.

Also, not that it does you any good to know now, but for others' benefit, you won't lose a finger if you get hit by the Mavic's blades; at worst, you would wind up with a cut.

Would be cautious about such a grab.  Yes we all get cuts, and I have had my share from paper to skinning knife.  But a deep cut can get a nerve, and even a shallow cut can get badly infected.

With all that there is risk of moving blades at arm's length to your non-replaceable and most valuable eyes.

Gimpy Posted at 7-27 07:02
It would be interesting to see if it can be re-evaluated given the part of their reply to him that read, "This has been deemed as a final result." I can't say that I remember hearing of anyone having gotten that verbiage from DJI before.

It seems like a bot reply, however it’s correct dji does apply a disclaimer for those failing to read the manual as well as those who fail to operate the craft as set out in the manual.

It seems a bit over the top this reply, it’s clear that app crashed , simply because if controller signal was lost then Rth would not work and would have initiated an earlier Rth . So imo dji should have and should always explain what happens if possible.

But we all should be aware of the disclaimer that says we must read the manual and fly craft accordingly.
Yes we can fly over water but is warranty going to cover us ? well it seems dji have the option and we sign up to it.

There are very few craft that meet their doom by crashing over water as a result of malfunction, if I have seen 2 in 4 years that’s it, I have seen in these 2 crashes dji honor warranty , so not using disclaimer.

I don’t believe OP’s outcome would change with second opinion, but the cause of his loss might be better explained.

hallmark007 Posted at 7-27 08:37
It seems like a bot reply, however it’s correct dji does apply a disclaimer for those failing to read the manual as well as those who fail to operate the craft as set out in the manual.

It seems a bit over the top this reply, it’s clear that app crashed , simply because if controller signal was lost then Rth would not work and would have initiated an earlier Rth . So imo dji should have and should always explain what happens if possible.

Just to clarify, dji's response was due to me disputing their initial finding which was:

Incident Date: 7-4-2019
1. The aircraft worked under GPS mode and responded to the pilot’s command well;
2. Flight Time T=2:24s, Relative Height H=87m, Distance to Home Point D=32m, pilot triggered RTH; the pre-set RTH altitude was 30m and the aircraft started to return home with its current altitude;
3. T=2:46, H=87m, D=0.5m, the aircraft returned to the recorded home point and started to descend;
4. Flight log cut off here as customer claim RC signal was lost, because antenna position and other signal interference
5.  The drone land into water because he set home point on a boat. and boat move
Conclusion: The incident was caused by the operation error of the pilot.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 7-27 07:54
Would be cautious about such a grab.  Yes we all get cuts, and I have had my share from paper to skinning knife.  But a deep cut can get a nerve, and even a shallow cut can get badly infected.

With all that there is risk of moving blades at arm's length to your non-replaceable and most valuable eyes.

Sure, if they've been using their props to clean toilets with and then failed to at least wash off the cut after it happened, I suppose theoretically it's possible that one could get an infection from being cut by the Mavic's props. Given all the people who say they routinely hand catch, though, it doesn't appear very likely or commonplace.

mpodval@gmail.com Posted at 7-27 09:04
Just to clarify, dji's response was due to me disputing their initial finding which was:

Incident Date: 7-4-2019

If you upload the flight log, someone may be able to provide more insight into what happened. Otherwise, we'll be left to assume that DJI made the right call.

Gimpy Posted at 7-27 09:13
If you upload the flight log, someone may be able to provide more insight into what happened. Otherwise, we'll be left to assume that DJI made the right call.

What's the best way to do that?

mpodval@gmail.com Posted at 7-27 09:04
Just to clarify, dji's response was due to me disputing their initial finding which was:

Incident Date: 7-4-2019

That explanation looks fair, if as you say you pushed Rth then aircraft was responding well to controller, which meant that you could have paused Rth at anytime by just pushing pause button once in VLOS you could have cancelled RTH and flown manually to safety.

Dji have never and I suspect will never accept responsibility for app crash, to many variables can cause this .

I’m finding it a little strange , when flying from a boat whether moored or anchored you should always be prepared to hand catch, maybe it was just out of reach.
It’s a brutal way to learn but usually from these accidents all you can do is learn .

If you want to post logs for us to surmise you can upload to link below come back here and post the link.

http://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/4DRP16ZBZOLF0VK1LL8T

hallmark007 Posted at 7-27 09:37
That explanation looks fair, if as you say you pushed Rth then aircraft was responding well to controller, which meant that you could have paused Rth at anytime by just pushing pause button once in VLOS you could have cancelled RTH and flown manually to safety.

Dji have never and I suspect will never accept responsibility for app crash, to many variables can cause this .

I actually could not pause rth nor did i regain control. The drone was always in vlos. I literally could touch it during its landing but chose not to. The controller never regained functionality even with the drone 2ft away.

Here are the flight records that i sent to dji

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1-0bfeIjJtEX9AgT9HNdpWSGgnKJWJKlB

Gimpy Posted at 7-27 09:13
If you upload the flight log, someone may be able to provide more insight into what happened. Otherwise, we'll be left to assume that DJI made the right call.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1-0bfeIjJtEX9AgT9HNdpWSGgnKJWJKlB

Flight records

mpodval@gmail.com Posted at 7-27 09:45
I actually could not pause rth nor did i regain control. The drone was always in vlos. I literally could touch it during its landing but chose not to. The controller never regained functionality even with the drone 2ft away.

Here are the flight records that i sent to dji

You said you pressed Rth and drone returned so at that point you had control of controller, what I’m saying is Rth won’t work if you have disconnect from RC.
Maybe after it preceded to Rth you eventually lost RC this I don’t know yet. But the grayed out app and the fact that Rth button worked is what I was answering to .

mpodval@gmail.com Posted at 7-27 09:46
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=1-0bfeIjJtEX9AgT9HNdpWSGgnKJWJKlB

Flight records

I’m getting a 404 error on that link, I’m using iPad could be that, but phantom help logs usually prove best if you can upload .

Gimpy Posted at 7-27 09:11
Sure, if they've been using their props to clean toilets with and then failed to at least wash off the cut after it happened, I suppose theoretically it's possible that one could get an infection from being cut by the Mavic's props. Given all the people who say they routinely hand catch, though, it doesn't appear very likely or commonplace.

Doesn't have to be a prop used to clean toilets.  Infection can come from something after being cut.  Since it is your hand, chances are you are going to touch or handle things that have bacteria on them (shopping cart handles one of worst).  Cuts on hands are hard to get sealed for healing due to stretching of skin.

Still, I would worry more about one's eyes.  Granted if person wears glasses, risk is minimal.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 7-27 10:15
Doesn't have to be a prop used to clean toilets.  Infection can come from something after being cut.  Since it is your hand, chances are you are going to touch or handle things that have bacteria on them (shopping cart handles one of worst).  Cuts on hands are hard to get sealed for healing due to stretching of skin.

Still, I would worry more about one's eyes.  Granted if person wears glasses, risk is minimal.

Yes, props can cause a cut as shown in the video; in fact, I'm the one who originally mentioned the possibility unless you count the OP's "lose a finger" reference.

hallmark007 Posted at 7-27 10:01
I’m getting a 404 error on that link, I’m using iPad could be that, but phantom help logs usually prove best if you can upload .

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/RU6TONEFM50JMDZ582NX/

mpodval@gmail.com Posted at 7-27 10:24
https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/RU6TONEFM50JMDZ582NX/

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/NZDKKSL6IA6AJH5X47UP/

This is the log right before the last

mpodval@gmail.com Posted at 7-27 10:24
https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/RU6TONEFM50JMDZ582NX/

You retrieved and uploaded the log correctly, but that appears to show just a fragment (less than one second) of a flight. Are there others from around the same time than you can upload?

Gimpy Posted at 7-27 10:28
You retrieved and uploaded the log correctly, but that appears to show just a fragment (less than one second) of a flight. Are there others from around the same time than you can upload?

I posted the second to last log as well

mpodval@gmail.com Posted at 7-27 10:34
I posted the second to last log as well

Yes, thanks, the second one is the correct one. Unfortunately, it looks like you brought your drone down pretty close to the surface of the water and pulled back on the left stick when VPS indicated (perhaps incorrectly) that you were just a few feet above the surface of the water. With Landing Protection turned on, it initiated an auto-landing just as it does when you're directly above solid ground and pull back on the throttle.

This is actually the second thread like this I've seen in the past week, so you're not alone in making this mistake. The VPS sensor is used to determine how close to the surface the aircraft is, and it's less accurate when flying over water, so it may be that in reality you were more than three feet above the surface. Ultimately what matters, though, is that it thought you were close to a surface you wanted to land on, and you didn't cancel the landing (by pushing forward on the left stick) before it reached the water.

I'm sorry for your loss, but DJI does warn about flying over water and the lack of VPS accuracy there, so their decision doesn't seem unreasonable. Were you offered any sort of discount on a replacement drone? That's a common (but not universal) practice in these cases, and you may be able to ask for and receive it if it wasn't already offered.

mpodval@gmail.com Posted at 7-27 10:24
https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/RU6TONEFM50JMDZ582NX/

Your log is very straight forward, you pressed Rth your craft returned at present height , you then later took over when craft was landing , by pulling throttle back 100% until craft reached approx 1 meter when it landed. ( you can see this in log as pgps mode)

I’m not sure why you thought you had no control but you had full control and this shows clearly in your flight log.

You may have been confused because your app crashed, but your log shows exactly what happened.
I’m sorry you lost your drone, if it was me I would try negotiate with dji for a discount off a new drone, I know that in similar cases they have offered 30% discount if this is worth anything to you.
Good luck .

hallmark007 Posted at 7-27 10:47
Your log is very straight forward, you pressed Rth your craft returned at present height , you then later took over when craft was landing , by pulling throttle back 100% until craft reached approx 1 meter when it landed. ( you can see this in log as pgps mode)

I’m not sure why you thought you had no control but you had full control and this shows clearly in your flight log.

The controller itself was displaying connection error and neither joysticks was working. I was trying to take control and the drone was within reach which is why it's so frustrating

mpodval@gmail.com Posted at 7-27 10:52
The controller itself was displaying connection error and neither joysticks was working. I was trying to take control and the drone was within reach which is why it's so frustrating

It may have seemed like the remote wasn't working, but it was. At the end of the log, you were pulling back on the left stick, but the drone paused as it normally does before auto-landing, and once you had been pulling all the way back for a full second, it began landing.

mpodval@gmail.com Posted at 7-27 10:52
The controller itself was displaying connection error and neither joysticks was working. I was trying to take control and the drone was within reach which is why it's so frustrating

Yes that’s normal it’s just telling you that the connection to the app is bad . It’s probably just an experience thing, the fact that it was over water is s#it , anywhere on land you drone is like new .

Ok thanks everyone

Hi, On behalf of DJI I extend my sincere apologies for the issues that you have experienced. We already forwarded this issue to the Designated Team for them to respond to your issue via email as soon as possible. Please wait patiently while the relevant team checks on this case. Thank you.

Hopefully the experience you had was a learned lesson.

You'd mentioned and steps to probably take:

"I flew my drone while on a docked boat.
Hopefully you waited long enough to establish a GPS solid lock. Should've also locked connection to RC.


However, never did i see "connection error" nor did i know what it means.

Looks like craft/RC/App lost connection. Wondering if you saw the mobile/app banner turn RED ?


the phone screen was gray and the drone, although in eye sight, was completely inoperable.

First thing, don't PANIC ! I've disconnected app/device/craft/rc on purpose just to see what happens and the craft remains idle in the air. Yes inoperable but don't panic and reconnect APP/RC/Craft back up quickly. Try a couple of times then wait.


I pressed rth on the controller and the drone returned to within a few feet from me and began to land.


Yes - Ok to press RTH only if you're going to cancel RTH closer to you then steer the craft over to you because you were on a boat. Or if on land, allow the RTH to follow through.


As you are all probably guessing, the drone landed in water


Sounds like you did not cancel the RTH and then take over the commands to steer it to you. Craft went into auto-landing mode.


i refused to pluck it out of the sky while the blades were spinning because i didn't want to lose a finger.


You're not going to lose a finger if you grab it from the bottom quickly then turn it upside down immediately - it auto shuts off.



Again, no button on the phone or remote nor the joysticks on the remote were working. I was completely helpless."


Sounds like the RC and mobile device needed to be completely reconnected. I've tested reconnecting and disconnecting mobile device/app and RC several times and as soon as it's reconnected, it works. If it doesn't work the first time, try, try again. If the craft have battery life, that alones gives you more time to reconnect craft.

Once i had a message like that and grey screen due to bad USB cable connection. I didn t put it right and my drone didin t take off. I was lucky because it occurred before i took off. And i did prefer back home to make some test avoiding any risk.