Hi - Pretty new to flying the Mavic Mini and was hoping to get some help analyzing what I did wrong or if there was something wrong with my actual Mavic Mini when I flew it recently. Here's the flight path: https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/4C6L2URPCGWNORF4LKNP/

I launched the drone with 10 satellites, set home point at 300-400 ft altitude to avoid crashing into nearby buildings when it returned, and launched it. Once it reached about 190 feet altitude the distance kept flying in the opposite direction due to high-wing and I was unable to lower it or direct the drone back and the remote controller wouldn’t take the drone back.

Once it was 450 ft away and I couldn't manually fly it back towards me, I set RTH. By then reception started going out with my controller and it kept drifting in opposite direction. Eventually I had zero reception of the drone and I couldn’t see anything around 900 feet. At a certain point I got a notification that it was going to land on its own without my control. I wanted to at least land it somewhere near land if the drone couldn’t return to me but I couldn't override anything. Instead I didn’t get any reception at all and it just landed on its own without my control into the water. I only knew about this when I came home and uploaded the flight path.

I'm going to assume that I made several user errors, including flying the drone in too high of wind, but I really would like to figure out if this was 100% my fault or if there was some internal error with the Mavic Mini as well.

Please post your flight log and I'm sure you'll get some help.  https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

Hello and good day. 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. Again I am sorry for the trouble and thank for your support.

Appears they already posted the flight log in the OP? ...

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/4C6L2URPCGWNORF4LKNP/

I am no expert but I think the wind was too strong for the MM. All indications were it was pointing in the right heading but going further away.  Sorry for your loss.

I posted the flight path before but it's right here as well: https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/X27OUVFASE0ETLZ0EAOS/

I contacted support about this and they are analyzing the flight log. I'm just going to assume that the wind was too strong which is 100% on me, but was hoping to figure out what I did wrong when trying to bring it back and why I was unable to even get control of it from my remote, and why RTH didn't appear to work at all with an error basically coming up that automatically landed the craft into the water.
I really wanted to be able to land it in the golf course further with the wind if needed but some emergency system took control that auto-landed the craft in the water making it unsalvagable. Thanks

djiuser_viHTZPhxgZei Posted at 12-28 14:16
I posted the flight path before but it's right here as well: https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/X27OUVFASE0ETLZ0EAOS/

I contacted support about this and they are analyzing the flight log. I'm just going to assume that the wind was too strong which is

It does seemingly appear that the wind became too strong, just going by the direction it flew in and your attempts to get it return..

Did you lose sight of your drone behind a building at any point?

Krissie Pearse Posted at 12-28 14:17
It does seemingly appear that the wind became too strong, just going by the direction it flew in and your attempts to get it return..

Did you lose sight of your drone behind a building at any point?

No, the opposite direction from the beach had 100-200 ft buildings (which is why I set RTH to 300+ft) but no visible interference other than trees and 1-2 story buildings between me and the the flight path.

There was a wide canal between where it landed and where I was controlling the Mavic.

stephjant Posted at 12-28 14:07
In my experience the MM cannot cope with winds more than 30km per hour. I bought a small anemometer and suggest you do the same if you get a replacement drone. Ok, it will only give you readings at ground level, but you can guarantee the wind at altitude will be at least the same as it is at launch

Wind speed at altitude is often double if not triple what it is on the ground, checking the wind at ground level is still a good idea but double whatever it's reading for flying under 100m.

https://www.ventusky.com/?p=28;8;2&l=wind-100m is a good tool to check wind speed/guests as ground and altitude to know for sure what you might be flying into.

I had a similar issue with my MM today. Ventusky said wind speeds at 100m were 23mph. Flew it up to around 70m, and it started drifting. I assumed it was due to high wind speeds and attempted to lower it. The drone wouldn't lower, raise itself or move left or right, instead it stuck at 70m high, slowly drifting away. I tried RTH, but nothing happened, drone stayed at the same height and continued to drift with the wind. At 34% charge and around 500 metres away, the drone lost signal to the controller and entered failsafe mode. We used the find my drone feature to pin-point exactly where the drone had been last seen (a flat and empty field) and searched around it for hours to no avail. Got the drone as a Christmas present...

djiuser_yfeZF88CJVuT Posted at 12-28 14:50
I had a similar issue with my MM today. Ventusky said wind speeds at 100m were 23mph. Flew it up to around 70m, and it started drifting. I assumed it was due to high wind speeds and attempted to lower it. The drone wouldn't lower, raise itself or move left or right, instead it stuck at 70m high, slowly drifting away. I tried RTH, but nothing happened, drone stayed at the same height and continued to drift with the wind. At 34% charge and around 500 metres away, the drone lost signal to the controller and entered failsafe mode. We used the find my drone feature to pin-point exactly where the drone had been last seen (a flat and empty field) and searched around it for hours to no avail. Got the drone as a Christmas present...

in a flat empty wide open field, you could hear the drone beeping or see the lights flashing?

I see that the OP also posted over on the other site and got a detailed analysis from the folks over there.
It was another case of letting the Mini be blown away by a strong wind.

Sound similiar lime in my case.

Does anybody know, why the MM is so bad in fighting against the wind?

I checked my flifht-log. My fly away started around 300s....

The pitch was only about -5 Degree. The MM could have a much higher pitch?!

Maybe its just a inefficient return to home because of the firmeware?

fans15b5ed8d Posted at 12-29 05:08
Sound similiar lime in my case.

Does anybody know, why the MM is so bad in fighting against the wind?

Does anybody know, why the MM is so bad in fighting against the wind?
If you can row your dinghy at 5 mph and are in a river flowing at 8 mph, why would you have trouble rowing upstream?

I checked my flifht-log. My fly away started around 300s....
Flyaway?
If you put your drone up and left it in a wind stronger than it could fight against .. it did not fly away at all.

Maybe its just a inefficient return to home because of the firmeware?
Maybe, just maybe there are lots of new flyers with no awareness of what the drone is capable of, what their drone is doing and what to do if they are high up and battling a headwind?

Mine also flew away and I lost it, unfortunately.

To add to that, i can't see this flight logged anywhere.
Is that normal?

If wind is strong and you hit RTH bye bye drone, it does RTH in P mode and cannot fly back.
The best thing to do in those scenarios is put the drone in S mode and fly back either by eye (newbie drone pilots really  should fly VLOS) or using the GPS map.
You can also change to S mode while RTH and push right stick full throttle to fight back the winds.
Sorry for the various losses posted here.

djiuser_yfeZF88CJVuT Posted at 12-28 14:50
I had a similar issue with my MM today. Ventusky said wind speeds at 100m were 23mph. Flew it up to around 70m, and it started drifting. I assumed it was due to high wind speeds and attempted to lower it. The drone wouldn't lower, raise itself or move left or right, instead it stuck at 70m high, slowly drifting away. I tried RTH, but nothing happened, drone stayed at the same height and continued to drift with the wind. At 34% charge and around 500 metres away, the drone lost signal to the controller and entered failsafe mode. We used the find my drone feature to pin-point exactly where the drone had been last seen (a flat and empty field) and searched around it for hours to no avail. Got the drone as a Christmas present...

Hi,

Post your log on a new thread, mayby log will tell more how far it drifted away and where to search.

use this link > https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

cheers
JJB

The Saint Posted at 2019-12-28 15:16
in a flat empty wide open field, you could hear the drone beeping or see the lights flashing?

Sadly I believe the drone must have drifted maybe a few miles from the last known position as it couldn't lower itself. While it was a flat open field, it was separated by hedges, barbed wire, some swampy areas etc... I lost signal at 35% and my guess is it drifted until it died and fell from the sky.

Labroides Posted at 2019-12-29 05:46
Does anybody know, why the MM is so bad in fighting against the wind?
If you can row your dinghy at 5 mph and are in a river flowing at 8 mph, why would you have trouble rowing upstream?

In the defense of myself and other newbie flyers, this drone is designed for first time flyers and should be more clear about what winds are safe to fly in. The only message I ever got on the app before losing the drone was "strong winds - be cautious" (which is a message I saw very often), which to me suggests I'm okay to continue flying as long as I'm not hundreds of meters high... My dad owns a phantom and that same app tells him to land the drone if wind speeds are too high.

JJB* Posted at 2019-12-29 10:44
Hi,

Post your log on a new thread, mayby log will tell more how far it drifted away and where to search.

I would but I used the drone at my home and I'd prefer to avoid revealing where I live.

Lord of Chickens Posted at 1-3 10:06
In the defense of myself and other newbie flyers, this drone is designed for first time flyers and should be more clear about what winds are safe to fly in. The only message I ever got on the app before losing the drone was "strong winds - be cautious" (which is a message I saw very often), which to me suggests I'm okay to continue flying as long as I'm not hundreds of meters high... My dad owns a phantom and that same app tells him to land the drone if wind speeds are too high.

In the defense of myself and other newbie flyers, this drone is designed for first time flyers and should be more clear about what winds are safe to fly in.
Your Mini has a top speed in P-GPS mode of 8 metres/sec (in still air).
That's half the speed of your father's Phantom.
That makes it very clear what it's ability to deal with wind is.

The only message I ever got on the app before losing the drone was "strong winds - be cautious" (which is a message I saw very often), which to me suggests I'm okay to continue flying as long as I'm not hundreds of meters high...
You got a warning (very often) but that wasn't enough.
You ignored it and flew without caution and you think DJI's to blame!!

Your app gives full instrumentation showing how fast your drone is managing to fly against whatever wind you put it up in.
If you don't have proper awareness of what your drone is doing, you are very likely to lose it.

So you've flown a slow drone, ignoring warnings and what your instrumentation was telling you and you lost your drone.
That's not at all surprising..

But it's DJI's fault, not yours??
Double Loser - you lost your drone and didn't learn anything from the experience.
Man up and accept responsibility

Lord of Chickens Posted at 1-3 10:06
In the defense of myself and other newbie flyers, this drone is designed for first time flyers and should be more clear about what winds are safe to fly in. The only message I ever got on the app before losing the drone was "strong winds - be cautious" (which is a message I saw very often), which to me suggests I'm okay to continue flying as long as I'm not hundreds of meters high... My dad owns a phantom and that same app tells him to land the drone if wind speeds are too high.

Sorry for you loss...
I´ve been saying this for a while, the term ¨drone for beginers or everyday fly cam¨ can lead to many disappointments, the mini is not a toy and should come with a pre flight check list and a very good manual that must indicate all of this.

DJI should also ¨suggest¨ users to install apps like UAV Forecast.
I did so much research before buying the mini, I was very aware of this even before owning any drone at all, mainly Mavic 2 videos.

Before my mini arrived, the first thing I wanted to do was fly to a nearby lake at 4km, guess after reading so many crashes, looses and fly aways I never flew farther than 250m and 50 meters high.

Another thing to recommend new pilots is a vifly beacon, cheap tiny sensor that beeps super loud for over 30 hours and it flashes a strong led if it detects a crash, works like a charm.

Labroides Posted at 1-3 10:48
In the defense of myself and other newbie flyers, this drone is designed for first time flyers and should be more clear about what winds are safe to fly in.
Your Mini has a top speed in P-GPS mode of 8 metres/sec (in still air).
That's half the speed of your father's Phantom.

you talk as if you live in the 1980s.  this is 2020.  I think you are forgetting who this drone is designed and sold to.  it's not seasoned pilots.

InspektorGadjet Posted at 1-3 10:57
Sorry for you loss...
I´ve been saying this for a while, the term ¨drone for beginers or everyday fly cam¨ can lead to many disappointments, the mini is not a toy and should come with a pre flight check list and a very good manual that must indicate all of this.

I concur on the vifly beacon locator.  great product.

The Saint Posted at 1-3 11:09
you talk as if you live in the 1980s.  this is 2020.  I think you are forgetting who this drone is designed and sold to.  it's not seasoned pilots.

So DJi should include an experienced tutor to hold the hand of losers that can't read manuals and specs, ignore repeated warnings and have zero situational awareness?

InspektorGadjet Posted at 2019-12-29 09:54
If wind is strong and you hit RTH bye bye drone, it does RTH in P mode and cannot fly back.
The best thing to do in those scenarios is put the drone in S mode and fly back either by eye (newbie drone pilots really  should fly VLOS) or using the GPS map.
You can also change to S mode while RTH and push right stick full throttle to fight back the winds.

[If wind is strong and you hit RTH bye bye drone, it does RTH in P mode and cannot fly back ...]

[You can also change to S mode while RTH ...]

How do you mean ?

Lord of Chickens Posted at 1-3 10:06
In the defense of myself and other newbie flyers, this drone is designed for first time flyers and should be more clear about what winds are safe to fly in. The only message I ever got on the app before losing the drone was "strong winds - be cautious" (which is a message I saw very often), which to me suggests I'm okay to continue flying as long as I'm not hundreds of meters high... My dad owns a phantom and that same app tells him to land the drone if wind speeds are too high.

Everything comes with your drone, and is pretty easy to understand, nobody is happy when someone crashes or loses his drone, but the responsibility is I’m afraid down to you.

The OP made it clear in his post that he was 100% wrong about the wind strength , asking if there was anything he could/should have done to minimise drifting/flyaway or to initiate RTH. He is new to drones, lost his because of inexperience (like myself) and I therefore think it's not exactly helpful to tell him to "man up and take responsibility". My guess would be that he eventually comes to that conclusion anyway. Some get it sooner, others later. Nowt wrong with that.

jonny007 Posted at 1-3 11:39
RTH in P mode and cannot fly back ...]

[You can also change to S mode while RTH ...]

Basically the mini initiates RTH in P mode, but not in it´s full throttle, if the speed of the wind is stronger than the speed that the Mavic Mini is able to fly/fight back in P mode, the drone wont make it and it will drift with the wind.

However you can switch to Sports mode while returning to home, you can also input the right stick full forward to increase the maximum speed at which the drone is coming back, increasing throttle and hopefully able to fight the wind and return home safely.

You can also input changes in altitude while RTH just not change of direction.
Hope it helps.

The Saint Posted at 1-3 11:10
I concur on the vifly beacon locator.  great product.

Man! I have to say... THANKS!
You were who told me about the beacon, bought one but also the Vifly Finder 2, which I turn on as I take off to have visual feedback,they are soooo bright and loud!! Amazing.

The beacon is crazy with the light sensor and crash sensor, it actually really works!
Seems the ¨find my drone¨ option is not that helpful if GPS loss or battery detaches from AC...
This ViFly sensors really add several layers of security.

I recommend it

Labroides Posted at 1-3 10:48
In the defense of myself and other newbie flyers, this drone is designed for first time flyers and should be more clear about what winds are safe to fly in.
Your Mini has a top speed in P-GPS mode of 8 metres/sec (in still air).
That's half the speed of your father's Phantom.

I never said I wasn't in the wrong for flying it in strong winds. I said that DJI could have done more with this particular drone's app interface (as they have done with the Phantom's) to tell the user when they shouldn't be flying the drone. The moment I noticed the drone was drifting I attempted to drop it down and land it and I couldn't, even in strong winds that shouldn't have been an issue.

Lord of Chickens Posted at 1-3 12:53
I never said I wasn't in the wrong for flying it in strong winds. I said that DJI could have done more with this particular drone's app interface (as they have done with the Phantom's) to tell the user when they shouldn't be flying the drone. The moment I noticed the drone was drifting I attempted to drop it down and land it and I couldn't, even in strong winds that shouldn't have been an issue.

I feel bad that you had the fly away. Nobody wants that to happen to anyone else. I think you've learned something from what's happened though. But given what the MM is, light weight, recommended maximum wind of 8 m/s and all, about the only thing you could have done was to immediately switch to sport mode, get it down into less turbulent wind and try to get it back home. I try to plan my flights, and yes i realize spur of the moment flights sometimes get good results, but planning ahead lets you find possible "ditch" spots so if you need to land with emergency status, you can try to get to that spot instead of trying to bring it home. It's not always possible, but something I try to do just in case.

JodyB Posted at 1-3 13:06
I feel bad that you had the fly away. Nobody wants that to happen to anyone else. I think you've learned something from what's happened though. But given what the MM is, light weight, recommended maximum wind of 8 m/s and all, about the only thing you could have done was to immediately switch to sport mode, get it down into less turbulent wind and try to get it back home. I try to plan my flights, and yes i realize spur of the moment flights sometimes get good results, but planning ahead lets you find possible "ditch" spots so if you need to land with emergency status, you can try to get to that spot instead of trying to bring it home. It's not always possible, but something I try to do just in case.

I was hovering the drone 75m above my house when it started drifting. Couldn't lower it, switching to sport mode did nothing, auto land and RTH did nothing. Post drift I'm not sure what more I could have done.

when cars starting crashing in poor weather and people were getting hurt and property damage, many people told drivers to pay attention, learn to counter steer, slow down in low visibility and look ahead and drive 55.  but people like me went further and implemented anti-lock brakes, traction control, airbags, and other computer aids designed to prevent accidents and make it safer for everyone. are we waiting for me to come in and solve this problem?

me = my generation

Lord of Chickens Posted at 1-3 10:09
I would but I used the drone at my home and I'd prefer to avoid revealing where I live.

Understandable, and nothing wrong with that.  There are criminals who would steal decent drone, and social-justice vigilantes who might target a drone owner.

On topic of privacy concerns, would suggest against posting DJI repair / tracking numbers, it is possible to get a person's name and address.

InspektorGadjet Posted at 1-3 10:57
Sorry for you loss...
I´ve been saying this for a while, the term ¨drone for beginers or everyday fly cam¨ can lead to many disappointments, the mini is not a toy and should come with a pre flight check list and a very good manual that must indicate all of this.

I´ve been saying this for a while, the term ¨drone for beginers or everyday fly cam¨ can lead to many disappointments,

Yes, chalk it up to Marketing Hype.  When one considers target market of MM is general public, one can foresee problems.  General public reads "drone for beginers", as the drone having training wheels or built-in safeties to prevent mistakes newbies would make.


In regards to RTM (or RTFM).  Again, one must keep in mind target market is general public.  General public rarely reads instructions or manuals for any product.  Knowing from threads here that drone enthusiasts and hobbists have crashed Mavic Pro, Mavic Air, or Mavic-2 for either failing to RTM or manual being less than clear; it is only reasonable to expect MM flight problems due to targeted market.

The Saint Posted at 1-3 15:23
when cars starting crashing in poor weather and people were getting hurt and property damage, many people told drivers to pay attention, learn to counter steer, slow down in low visibility and look ahead and drive 55.  but people like me went further and implemented anti-lock brakes, traction control, airbags, and other computer aids designed to prevent accidents and make it safer for everyone. are we waiting for me to come in and solve this problem?

me = my generation

And latest, car sensing (via radar?) to fast a closing rate, and car's system automatically applying brakes.

Ah, good old days, when Darwinism was allowed to thin herd of stupids...  

Sorry for those who have had issues and it's not good reading some of the inappropriate responses to request for help.  Hope you are all able to take some good from this thread.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 1-3 16:03
Understandable, and nothing wrong with that.  There are criminals who would steal decent drone, and social-justice vigilantes who might target a drone owner.

On topic of privacy concerns, would suggest against posting DJI repair / tracking numbers, it is possible to get a person's name and address.

Understandable, and nothing wrong with that.  There are criminals who would steal decent drone, and social-justice vigilantes who might target a drone owner.
What a load of bunk.
The chances of any miscreant tracking him down from flight data and stealing or causing mischief is so close to zero that it's not worth thinking of.
The chance of him learning something from a proper analysis of his flight data on the other hand, is significant.

Lord of Chicken Posted at 1-3 13:15
I was hovering the drone 75m above my house when it started drifting. Couldn't lower it, switching to sport mode did nothing, auto land and RTH did nothing. Post drift I'm not sure what more I could have done.

Couldn't lower it?
That's extremely unlikely.
It would be interesting to see the flight data to see what was really happening.
I suspect there might be a few lessons in there.