Expensive mistake....

So i went out flying yesterday and the wind seemed ok. Couple of minutes later my Mavic Mini got caught by gusts of wind and from there it only got worse. I tried to RTH but the wind was way too strong for that poor fella to come back. I tried to go after it but unfortunately i couldn't re-establish communications. Meaning i only have the last GPS position. Also my RTH was set to 100m so once it went up there, it could have flown pretty much anywhere. Battery was on 62% on last communication.

Question : What does a Mavic Mini do when there's just way too much wind, will it auto-land ? Or just continue until the battery runs out or crashes ?

I know i have to accept that i most likely lost it and will never retrieve it. But i have to try anyway :

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/CEOV87WG7PIK7XH7SM5Z

Can you guys help me point out a search area ? Also i have attached the flight logs from the phone as an attachment.

Thanks in advance. Lesson Learned.

Hi Frank,

Sorry for your loss. After the last connection lost your mini climbed to 100 meters, your RTH height setting.
This connection loss for 101 seconds, from 274 meters away to 458 meters away. (the white line in the chart)
Last data 497 meters away with 62% batt and in a RTH mode.

I think Mini will continue to do a RTH, finally autolanding at 5% batt. But as flying high it need some time to land, so will land at 10-15% batt.
Distance reached from last postion about 450 - 480 meters in the heading approx. 080 - 100.

Hard to find i would say.

Lesson learned ; mayby home was reached if height was lowered at the first disconnect, in sport mode.
cheers
JJB

JJB* Posted at 12-9 02:24
Hi Frank,

Sorry for your loss. After the last connection lost your mini climbed to 100 meters, your RTH height setting.

Hi jjB,

Thank you for your fast response and analysis, much appreciated. I will post the search area on some 'lost & found' facebook groups to see if people living in that area have found my precious drone. I've been flying everyday for a couple of weeks and always been very careful, I was really caught off-guard this time.

Question : Can you see the wind data ? Or at least how much I have pushed the Mavic Mini to the max ? The wind gusts in the open field must have been enormous. Do you think it landed or crashed ? (Does it look stable once it reaches 100m ?)

Question : What if somebody finds my drone ? Thankfully this area is full of honest people, is there a way for them to contact me through DJI ? And what if somebody with bad intentions finds it, can they fly/sell it ?

I have been flying the Mavic Mini everyday carefully with lots of fun, I'm very sad to lose it. Thinking about buying a new one.

Thanks again !

FrankR Posted at 12-9 03:17
Hi jjB,

Thank you for your fast response and analysis, much appreciated. I will post the search area on some 'lost & found' facebook groups to see if people living in that area have found my precious drone. I've been flying everyday for a couple of weeks and always been very careful, I was really caught off-guard this time.

yes, you did fly the mini to the max!

In sport mode 100% stick forwad, 26 degrees pittch down ; speed just 2.6 m/s. So slowly decrasing distance to home. As said 100 meters RTH setting too high. Fly as low as possible back home in sport mode against the wind. (often wind at low altitude is less, but not always)

Flying in RTH mode at 100 meters : yes, stable pitching down wit 18 degrees. But drifting further way.
If the fly-path was clear of obstructions (inclusing landing) than i think it just landed.

Ofcourse honest people in The Netherlands....a phone number on the drone or on the SD card as readme.txt file is not that bad idea.


cheers
JJB

Hello and good day FrankR. I am sorry to read and to read and to know what happened to your DJI Mavic Mini. Since this unfortunate incident happened. I would highly recommend to contact our DJI support team at https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav for us to be able to assist you further with regards to this issue.  We have the team who would do their best to find out the reason of the said incident and then the corresponding resolution would be provided. Please note that DJI will not perform data analysis for cases occurring after the expiry of the warranty period; otherwise, valid charges will apply. Again I am sorry for the trouble and thank for your support.