In a recent and popular advertisement, DJI uses Chris Burkard to showcase the new Mavic Air. But when advertisements don't line up with reality and end up costing customers a few hundred, maybe a thousand bucks, what is there to do?
At two minutes and thirty seconds of DJI's advertisement of their new Mavic Air, Chris Burkard whips out his new drone to capture footage of kayakers running over a waterfall. The video shows Burkard piloting the drone just above a waterfall while capturing the athletes as they shoot down the falls. The drone appears to be much closer than 10 meters/30 feet to objects such as trees, water, and the waterfall. "[This drone] is so user-friendly," says Burkard. "I can put it in the air and not worry about being an amazing pilot..."
After watching this video advertisement by DJI again and again, I couldn't help but become furious. Recently, my brand new DJI Mavic Air crashed into the water while flying above a massive waterfall in western New York. I'm working on creating a drone video featuring New York's landscapes, and the day my drone crashed was perfect: little wind, blue skies, and not-too-cold air temps. Below is a video which shows the waterfall from a distance that my drone crashed over.
I flew the drone around all day with no issues. Upon arriving at the waterfall where my drone went down, the weather conditions were still solid. I proceeded to unfold the wings on my Mavic Air to prepare for takeoff. After opening the app on my iPhone and connecting the drone, I received a message that read something along the lines of: "Fly with caution. Low GPS signal." Because I usually flew my drone in forest areas with low GPS signal, I only briefly second-guessed my decision to fly before beginning my flight.
At 0:44 seconds into the flight, the home point was recorded and the GPS signal strengthened. Around 0:50 seconds, while flying the drone over the river and eventually the waterfall, I received a message on the app saying something along the lines of: "Low transmission signal. Fly with caution." While moving the camera upward and trying to turn the drone around at a height of 27.4 meters, two seconds later the screen went black and my DJI Mavic Air plummeted toward the bottom of the falls. I was devastated. There was no way I could retrieve the drone as the waterfall was raging and the river was about at least 50 feet below. Even if I could get to the bottom of the falls, I'm certain I wouldn't have been able to retrieve the drone as I stuck around for about half an hour after it went down and never saw it pop out of the water.
Below is the video that was recording at the time of the crash.
I sent an email to DJI as soon as possible. Having spent $89 for DJI's insurance in addition to the $999 drone bundle, I figured my case would be covered. I knew that I had the disadvantage of not being able to retrieve the drone to send it into DJI, but I was lucky to be recording video at the time the drone went down. Further, I knew that DJI's Care Refresh covered signal interference. After sending in all past and up-to-date flight records and video cache as requested by the timely and personable customer service, I received a message saying DJI could not and would not send me a replacement drone. Because I was unable to retrieve the Mavic Air and because I was flying "too close to the water," the accident would not be covered. They instead nicely sent me a 15% discount on my next drone purchase, but I kind of took it as a joke considering I already receive 15% off through a student discount.
A few disclaimers: I completely understand the need for DJI to contain in their Care Refresh the clause regarding the need for the pilot to send in a broken drone in order to get a new one. Anyone could potentially create a false story about how his/her drone was unable to be retrieved so him/her could get a new one. I also am aware that I definitely should have read and digested more thoroughly DJI's User Manual and Disclaimer/Safety Guidelines before flying my drone. Additionally, I realize that flying close to objects and/or water could cause interference to the aircraft's vision system, but why advertise this in promo videos differently?
A while back my friend was cliff jumping with a GoPro. Upon hitting the water, the GoPro's protective case unbuckled and his camera received water damage. This accident happened twice, and after, my friend explained his case to the company and they sent him two new refurbished GoPros after verifying his receipt. I'm aware that GoPro's insurance policy probably differs slightly from DJI's, but the way the companies handled the situations are comparable.
I do recognize that I should not have flown the drone until verifying a stronger GPS signal through a Home Point being marked before takeoff, and that I should've better studied-up on DJI's provided literature. But I do also think that if DJI - a multi-billion dollar company - wants long-lasting and loyal customers, they should rid of misleading advertisements and handle each customer appeal on a case-by-case basis. My warning to future DJI product purchasers: think before you fly and read the fine print carefully. Your case might not be covered by DJI and you'll walk away frustrated and empty-handed with no money left in your pockets to buy another drone.
Lead image photo by Kaleb Kendall on Unsplash under Creative Commons license.
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You flew your drone into the water and you're mad that DJI won't reimburse you. The only false advertising here is the title of this article...
Both DJI and the entire online drone community blame absolutely everything on user error. EVERYTHING. They'll tell you to RTFM, but I did RTFM and it really doesn't adequately explain all the scenarios that can lead to crashes. Anyway, sorry about your drone!
that's the difference between a pilot and a drone operator. a pilot has a certified, working knowledge of what everything on their aircraft does. they verify it all works prior to aircraft acceptance through preflight inspection. once signed off, they take responsibility for the status of the aircraft, as-is. should the aircraft crash, the pilot is held responsible unless reasons are found beyond their control, like insufficient maintenance or mechanical failure.
most drone operators dont even have a working knowledge of everything on their drone. not many could tell you why there's a fixed camera pointing downward, how it actually works and why it would be detrimental to flight safety if dirty or obstructed. fewer still could tell you why the red and green lights are mandatory for flight. they CAN however tell you that if their drone "sees" a tree, it will maneuver around it. in fact, they'll even brag about it.
or, in the case presented in the post, why a GPS signal lock is needed BEFORE flight. drones don't read their operators' minds.
#1 the manual for your automobile doesn't adequately explain all of the scenarios that could lead to a crash, much less death to yourself or other drivers. you must, however, get licensed to operate a vehicle; it proves you have a functioning knowledge of an automobile, to include it's control and safety features. knowing "how" and "why" is more important than the "whats," allowing an operator to make predictions, giving them the choice to avoid dangerous scenarios.
#2 have you attended any courses on drone operation that attempt to teach potential operators the basics, like how all of the sensors work in chorus to help prevent collisions and what you must do as an operator to inspect and ensure their proper function prior to flight? you can't learn the "how" and "why" if all you scream about is why the manual doesn't contain every, single, possible "what."
we blame user error because it IS user error in every case where a sensor or flight surface is operating normally. if you disagree, refer to #1 and repeat as necessary. refer to #2 once you've learned to accept responsibility.
your friend's GoPro didn't work as advertised. your drone did. that's the difference.
plus:
1. you didnt recover your drone for return
2. you didn't get a GPS home lock before taking off
3. you flew it into conditions that obviously disabled it's sensors.
three strikes, you're out.
"... I definitely should have read and digested more thoroughly DJI's User Manual and Disclaimer/Safety Guidelines before flying my drone."
welp, as you recognize it yourself, we're done here.
or maybe you want to argue that it's not unreasonable to expect a spontaneous pool party filled with all models and no fatties will happen whenever you crack open a can of Schmidt's Gay Beer? ads and promos, while misleading, exemplify the aspirational, not the actual.
BTW, failure to read, and understand, the manual is not the same as reading the fine print.
you failed to read the manual. DJI pointed that out by reading back to you the fine print.
I still don't think their response was justified. My drone was marked as being 27.4 meters above the water, while the manual sates 10 meters is a "safe distance." Further, why didn't the drone just RTH ... still confused as to how/why the drone just dropped into the water rather than return?
sounds more like you got too close to unstable air currents . (probably due to the 1,000 of gallons of water falling of a cliff a minute.)
it can't RTH if the air conditions prevent it from maintaining lift. the "10 meter" guideline is subject to lots of "ifs" and "buts." there's exceptions to every rule and it applies to calm conditions. just because a waterfall is "water," doesn't mean the 10 meter guideline applies. besides, the 10 meter guideline is because the ground facing camera can't see water very well and can be fooled by reflections and by the sea floor should conditions be calm and the water exceptionally clear; both of those are examples where the camera could give false distance readings.
combine hyperlocal air currents and air density, constantly moving surface and possibility for humidity and condensation to collect on the down-facing camera lens, the drone probably had no idea what it's altitude was, where solid ground was, or the ability to adjust quickly enough to the airspeed changes.
hell, the mist in the air could've shorted out power to the motors for all I know. but the problem is this: you don't know why it crashed, nor all of the reasons why it could crash in the environment you put it in (or any, for that matter), yet you're firm it wasn't anything you did. that's the folly.
drones aren't mind readers. if you put them into an unnavigable situation, at best it will RTH while some are programmed to just stop and demand input, but if the conditions change faster than it can keep up, it will fall from the sky just like any other flying vehicle that loses lift. physics doesn't care if you're ignorant or fully qualified.
this also likely applies in your situation especially since you you keep bringing it up: it can't RTH if it doesn't know where "home" is. you didn't get a GPS lock until 44 seconds into your flight. only you know where it was geographically when it finally got a GPS lock and recorded its "home" location. for all us readers know is the drone was over water at 44 seconds into the flight. we do know it wasn't near where you took off, though, unless you just hovered in place for a minute before beginning your flight plan.
you can believe their response wasn't justified all you want, but if you don't have a complete grasp of how your drone works and the physics of rotor flight, as you've clearly stated you aren't, what makes you believe you're at all qualified to judge their response? maybe you're leaving some pertinent information out that fully counters their response? based on your admissions so far, you don't have a grasp on the basics of flight, atmosphere or how sensors are used to navigate.
however, if a person who doesn't know how to drive gets into a car and causes an accident, do you blame the driver or the car manufacturer? that's how this all reads to this point. i feel for you. i really do. but it's impossible to side with you logically based on the facts you've given so far, or side with you emotionally based on your attitude toward DJI's response
I'm not familiar with this beer but the idea you presented is spendid.
Fake News!
I had to read this twice...yup I'm sure you sound "entitled".
You pretty much laid out the exact argument I would have used to tell you why I wasn't covering your unit. You shouldn't be frustrated with DJI alone...include yourself on the list.
One of my friends rides a motorcycle and the wheels have several loose and/or missing spokes. He's ridden it that way for quite awhile now. One of these days though that wheel will completely fail. What do you think his chances of getting the bike replaced by Honda will be?
could not agree with you more. water shots wonderful and dramatic. you should get a new drone. I had my drone crash into my pool and they were good enough to give me a new one. really good piece.
I have no opinion on the loss of your drone. However, I plan on getting the Mavic this year. I think it works best flying over marsh mellows. Sorry for your loss. We have a satire on the life insurance business. You are 100 % covered upon death. But read the fine print. The day you die, the policy cancels and does not pay to your beneficiaries because of retroactive automatic term cancelation 1 day before death.
This hard to read because I feel your pain and I understand why others may try and hold you responsible. These are sensitive machines and as Tony Northrop notes, the manuals are vast and comprehensive but don't cover 100% of the potential scenarios where we might use our drones; that's the appeal... we are creative! We use these tools in new and unexpected ways and that's how they are marketed. You're wanting DJI to restore your drone when you may have made some miscalculations or errors while pursuing your creative vision. You bought CareRefresh and thought/hoped that would cover you and now you see where consumer support and corporate financial interests intersect. Bummer for sure and it's a lesson for all of us creatives to demand better of the products we use, companies we support and how we support each other.
You expect someone else to read your mind and know how you're going to use the drone in all your "creative, new, and unexpected ways". Yeah, sounds totally reasonable...
I want to be kind about this but clearly you didn't understand how this works. Sorry for your loss.
Dude. You flew with low GPS signal, over water, AND DJIs plan obviously states it won't cover you if you can't recover the drone. So what's the problem here?
The problem is that he got to whine about this in an actual article on fstoppers.
Why did the drone crash? I have an Air, and I fly over the water. I thought with signal loss the drone would fly home, no??
still trying to figure this one out
I fly over water all the time and have never had problems. I have a phantom 3 still, so I’m not too worried about losing it though. I have two questions. First, why would it just drop like a brick from the sky? I would expect a fighting chance with manual control / no gps, not for it to just plummet like a rock. Secondly, it looks like you were below original takeoff altitude and down in the canyon a bit. Is that true? I’ve always wondered what would happen if return to home triggered if I flew down into a canyon below home point altitude rather than up and away from home altitude like a normal flight. Normally it goes up to 90 feet above home altitude when initiating return to home or something right? Would it still do that in the event you go down below grade? Lastly, I see everyone can’t wait to chastise you for expecting DJI to assist you in this case. Heh. Regardless, I agree with you that DJI is pretty lame for advertising these over water in their commercials but saying otherwise in print. They advertise with the customer saying as he flies it over a waterfall “I can put it in the air and not be a great pilot and not worry about it crashing.” Ha, thanks a lot DJI. Looks like we need to worry big time. Cool commercial though guys.
Trying to figure out why it just dropped rather than plummet. I was above, or maybe even higher than the original take off point, so not sure this would be an issue.
It did not plummet because it landed. You have it set to land qhen signal is lost. Sorry dude. Looks like your fault.
We have a good point here.
It wasn't set to land, it was set to RTH.
Confirm if you are set to Land when Signal is lost. ? Was it a controlled landing or did it rapidly fall??
The signal cut out and it just dropped ... I've lost signal to the drone a month or two before and it RTH. Still unsure as to why it was an uncontrolled plummet in this situation vs a RTH.
Vortex Ring possibly, usually caused by fast descent but with all that fast moving water around
I only created an account to post this. It seems to be pilot error. It did not plummet, it landed. Your drone can be set to RTH or hover or land when signal is lost. Signal was lost and the drone was set to land.
The signal cut out and it just dropped ... I've lost signal to the drone a month or two before and it RTH. Still unsure as to why it was an uncontrolled plummet in this situation vs a RTH.
If you hired a pilot and helicopter to shoot video of this waterfall, and he took off with a warning flashing in his face saying this thing may crash, the navigation system is faulty, be careful, fly with caution, and it did crash, because the navigation system failed, do you hold the pilot, the helicopter manufacturer, or yourself responsible
Some questions:
- Did you set your UAV to return home on signal loss?
- Did you initiate flight before your home point was set and did you check wether it was set to the right location?
- Did you take off with poor GPS signal?
- Did you switch off the downward positioning systems?
You were flying in a canyon near a waterfall so the indicated altitude (measured by a barometer) is tricked,
as a pilot you should know that,
1/ flying below takeoff point will result in your altimeter not showing the right distance to the ground because your barometer won't work properly and your downwards positioning system is tricked by the diffraction of the waves.
2/ flying into cold air (near the waterfall) has the same effect as flying into a low pressure area resulting in the altimeter showing a higher than actual altitude.
Be aware that the spray of a billowing waterfall is rising high (watch the rainbow in your footage), you might have flown into the fog which might have caused short circuit.
Flying low over water is always a risk, your downward positioning system should be switched off to avoid incorrect info messing up the altitude input to your IMU, always maintain a safe distance to the water so you would be able to correct a sudden drop.
I'm almost 100% positive that RTH was set upon signal loss. I've lost connection to the drone a month or two prior to this signal loss and the Air RTH - I then retrieved it. I didn't turn off the downward positioning systems and I did take off with poor GPS signal. It did however gain a strong signal and HP shortly into the flight. I definitely take a lot of responsibility for this, as stated in the article, but still confused as to why the drone just plummeted upon signal loss rather than RTH. Hopefully others learn from this mistake and also take note before buying DJI's care refresh.
You got your home point set during flight... that’s not THE home point, be very careful, this might be somewhere midair.
Flying over water you should turn off downward positioning systems for the reason I explained before.
I expect what you encountered being “signal loss” might have actually being the complete shutdown of the IMU due to short circuit caused by spray leaking into the craft, even when you still received video downlink.
Water and circuit boards are not good friends.
Sad you lost your aircraft, luckily nothing worse happened and I am sure you learned a lot from this crash.
Next time run your checklists and make sure everything is as should be, no guessing, nor assuming in aviation.
I definitely agree! Hoping others can learn from my mistake and also think twice when buying Care Refresh. Thanks for the feedback, Marteen.
There should have been an audible notification from the app talking about homepoint. Usually happens just before takeoff. Im assuming since you took off before you had good gps signal, you didnt hear that notification right?
The reason i bring that up is because just a few days ago i was flying my P4A, had taken off without good GPS signal and the "homepoint updated, please check it on the map" notification didnt happen until about 1min later, 60ft where it took off from.
Is it possible your mavic did something similar?? You takeoff with bad GPS, it gains signal over the falls and records that location as it's homepoint, you fly around until transmitter signal falls out for whatever reason, mavic goes into RTH (over the falls), starts going down then wind/water have adverse effects on it, it drops like a rock..
Stinks but I'd use this as a lesson. Practice your flying skills and procedures a little more before getting into risky spots. Usually it comes down to pilot error in the end.
As far as the care plan is concerned, that is 100% on you. People wonder why some cops are a-holes, they get tired of dealing with dumb people every day. I'm not calling you dumb at all, but think of all the idiots calling DJI non-stop because they buy a drone to take with them on vacation and end up dropping it in the ocean because of CSC command or a dead battery, running it into a tree or building, then call DJI all upset demanding a new unit because somehow its DJI's fault the pilot decided to be careless/ignorant.
There's an old saying about events like this.... "Charge it to the game".. I'd be willing to bet all this mishap is gonna do for you is make you a better pilot in the end. You have probably learned a bunch from these comments. Use the 15% discount, get another one and go practice.
You’re trying to use your ability to publish an online article to publicly pressure DJI to give you a new drone, which is clearly the ploy here. Very self-serving and not an article to inform potential drone buyers. Most DJI drone forums clearly discuss the fact that DJI’s insurance doesn’t replace a drone if you can’t recover yours and send it back to them. That’s why many DJI owners buy personal property insurance for their drones from Allstate for about $40 a year in case the drone is lost and unrecoverable. I’m sure you already knew this and wanted to pressure DJI with bad publicity to send you a new drone. Tacky and unethical use of journalism.
Yep, I did put a lot of the blame on myself. I have that insurance on the rest of my camera gear. I messed up big time for sure. I felt confident in the Care Refresh - should've done both! Sorry you feel it's a tacky and unethical use of journalism - trying to let other people learn from my experience and pose the questions of false advertisements. Maybe at the end of DJI's advertisement they could put a quick blurb of something along the lines of: "This is a dramatization - your drone may not act properly and may go down when flying above water."
DJI's decision to switch to wifi connection in their drones is the worst thing they did. Spark, and Mavic Air, are highly susceptible to interference. My old Phantom 3 can fly to 3km without a second though. Lucky to get 100m on the Spark. In either case, if signal is lost, it seems the failsafe is unpredictable. I'll not buy another wifi based drone.
This is not to say this crash wasn't the result of your flying as well, but why would flying over water lead to connection loss and a dive?
This 1,000%. I get DJI using the wifi for smaller and cheaper drones but as someone who has had every model phantom (since the p1) the Mavic pro and a Spark I can tell you first hand inwould never buy a wifi one again. You cant fly in urban areas due to interferance and in remote areas where you actually want range and a stable signal (so its not lost in he trees or this case a river) they dont work. Your better off with a lottle more size for the lightbridge or ocusync set up and its worth the extra cost.
You both know that FAA Registration says you have to Keep the unmanned aircraft within visual line-of-sight. So flying your Phantom 3km away is against registration.
You know there are more countries than USA, right? And 100m is still line of sight, and unreliable.
Regardless, a better signal means better safety and control. If you can do 7km as the Mavic Pro, then doing 500m and less will be very strong and reliable. The OccuSync/lightbridge systems are far superior to wifi in this regard.
Heck, even diy FPV systems are better for signal reliability.
In not saying that they should only stick to wifi. They could always improve on the connection to prevent a loss of signal. I just think it doesn't make any sense when people freak out (not you) that their drone can't fly over a mile away.
My point is that the video feed is crappy in an urban area with the wifi as it has interference from surrounding wifi signals. As a result, you don't get smooth video feed which can be an issue while filming. This has nothing to do with range. My old Spark would get interference within 10 ft of me.
Tim, have you had previous experience flying your drone over water in a variety of conditions (still, moving, turbulent, clear, murky water)? I have a Mavic Pro and when flying over sea I noticed it behaving erratically -- it would drift, change height unprompted etc. Long story short, it seems that downward positioning sensors may be fooled by moving water (particularly murky) and under certain height the drone would follow them rather than the GPS signal. I can only speculate but your drone may have attempted to compensate for what it perceived as ground running from underneath it. Also, your first clip indicates you started from the base height of the waterfall so the indicated height was to the bottom of the waterfall, not its top, where you were flying. Your lesson was far more painful than mine but the conclusion is the same: disable downward positioning sensors when over water and test the drone behaviour in new enviornments gradually.
Edit: Like many others, I agree DJI should explain far better the pitfalls of flying over water. Just saying "don't" in a second sentence in section 7 paragraph 13 (location may not be accurate) is not good enough. You're essentially left to your own devices, learn from experience and hunt random Reddit posts trying to figure out what had happened and how to prevent it from happening again. Consumer drones are still a new technology and some education as to how they work should be provided by manufacturers.
Ok, figured it out. No matter what setting for Loss of Signal (return to home or land) he was screwed. His drone didn't set home point until he was already over water. Loss of Signal in that case = your drone is landing in water.
There is a difference between chinese vs american warranties. My experience with any chinese company is not satisfying.
Soon you will have same experience with gopro too. Chinese company is taking over gopro soon.
My home owners insurance covers my drone and camera equipment from damage, loss and theft. Look into it next time.
I have it on the rest of my camera gear. I messed up big time for sure. I felt confident in the Care Refresh - should've done both!
Should have went with autel drone. They would have sent you a new drone.