Avata suddenly drops out of sky

[Eagle Crow]

I normally fly Mavics and the FPV, but 2 weeks ago purchased the Avata. Today, I was flying at about 5.5 metres height, and slowly, on my way back to the takeoff point, roughly 49% battery, no prior high speed maneuvers. It was just a quick fun, no frills flight before dinner.

Suddenly, the drone just fell out of the air onto some very soft, tall, grass. I tried using turtle mode to right it, but it did not work.

On finding the drone using the esc beep, I noticed that the drone it was still transmitting video, but that the battery connector was partially out. However, some power was still getting to the drone, but it would not respond to any commands, not even pressing the controls on my fpv goggles V2 to bring up the menus worked.

No damage but a prop was completely missing, although the screws holding it in place were still there, fully seated and tight. It looks like the prop may have sheared in half at the base, whether in the sky or on impact. I saw no sign of bird collision and no "jolt" which would be associated with one. I could not find any part of the prop.

Could someone look through the attached flight file and give some advice on what may have happened. There were three files on the drone all taken around the relevant time, but I think the attached file is the correct one.

I am interested to know if it was a partial power failure which caused the crash and the prop came off on impact, or was there a sudden motor surge (prop loss?, bird or other strike) which caused the impact and the battery partially popped out. Thanks

 

[Eagle Crow]

Heres a link to the last few seconds of the flight. The drone appears to do an Un commanded left yaw, then flips several times whilst airborne.

 

[rktman]

A theory... Nothing is manufactured without a defect rate. It's quite possible, although remotely so, that the prop had some defect weakening it, maybe a blade, and it blew apart under stress.

Also, just checking, was this the prop where the SD card port is, and did you forget to close it?

 

[Eagle Crow]

Yes it was, but I am pretty sure I closed it, however, it could have popped open just enough to block the prop. I think the location of the sd and usb ports was badly thought out. Good suggestion. Cant see any nicks on the sd card port cover.

 

[Barbara]

Looking at your flight log I couldn't see anything noteworthy. It also appears the cover for the SD Card port isn't the culprit. Have you struggled with access to the port in the past and possibly stressed the prop? I know I constantly struggle and have worried that I'm stressing the prop in the process. But then for me it's my tremors causing me grief for the most part.

 

[rktman]

I gave up on the SD card, and just get a new Avata every time the internal storage gets full.

 

[BudWalker]

I normally fly Mavics and the FPV, but 2 weeks ago purchased the Avata. Today, I was flying at about 5.5 metres height, and slowly, on my way back to the takeoff point, roughly 49% battery, no prior high speed maneuvers. It was just a quick fun, no frills flight before dinner.

Suddenly, the drone just fell out of the air onto some very soft, tall, grass. I tried using turtle mode to right it, but it did not work.

On finding the drone using the esc beep, I noticed that the drone it was still transmitting video, but that the battery connector was partially out. However, some power was still getting to the drone, but it would not respond to any commands, not even pressing the controls on my fpv goggles V2 to bring up the menus worked.

No damage but a prop was completely missing, although the screws holding it in place were still there, fully seated and tight. It looks like the prop may have sheared in half at the base, whether in the sky or on impact. I saw no sign of bird collision and no "jolt" which would be associated with one. I could not find any part of the prop.

I have reviewed the drone sd card video, which funnily enough stops a fraction of a second before the drone dropped. There is no recording on the drones sd card or the goggles sd card of it actually falling, although I did see it through the goggles.

Could someone look through the attached flight file and give some advice on what may have happened. There were three files on the drone all taken around the relevant time, but I think the attached file is the correct one.

I am interested to know if it was a partial power failure which caused the crash and the prop came off on impact, or was there a sudden motor surge (prop loss?, bird or other strike) which caused the impact and the battery partially popped out. Thanks

Here is the flight path.

Is this the correct flight?

Can you provide the .DAT log file. It will have the required data to determine if there was a motor or prop failure. The .DAT will have a name like
FLYXXX-077-YYYYMMDDHHMM.DAT
and will be found in the FlightRecords/MCDatFlightRecords directory

 

[Eagle Crow]

Looking at your flight log I couldn't see anything noteworthy. It also appears the cover for the SD Card port isn't the culprit. Have you struggled with access to the port in the past and possibly stressed the prop? I know I constantly struggle and have worried that I'm stressing the prop in the process. But then for me it's my tremors causing me grief for the most part.

Yes I do struggle with it. Stupid place to put it and to me, another indicator that the avata was rushed out. I now use these usb connectors (slightly modified with a metal file) to connect the usb cables at right angles, much easier!. Available from amazon for a couple of bucks each. They make it much easier to insert the cable, and are much less stressing on the cover and usb port, as well as the props. As a retired engineer who worked on electronic equipment design, I believe the current design creates a stress point on the drones usb connector which could, over time, become a fail point. Struggling to insert the sd card and connector could also have caused cracking and eventual failure of the prop (if thats what happened, which seems likely).

 

[Eagle Crow]

Here is the flight path.
View attachment 6111
Is this the correct flight?

Can you provide the .DAT log file. It will have the required data to determine if there was a motor or prop failure. The .DAT will have a name like
FLYXXX-077-YYYYMMDDHHMM.DAT
and will be found in the FlightRecords/MCDatFlightRecords directory

Yes, it is correct.

I found the dat file on the drone using the Assistant for consumer drones version (nb, the only one that works with the avata). Although there are a couple more all dated around that time, I believe it is the correct one as it is the largest. I have sent it to Onedrive as it is so big. Here is a link.

In the assistant app, they are all labelled just with a time and date stamp, and download as Avata-xxx.dat

Microsoft OneDrive

1drv.ms

 

[Eagle Crow]

Yes, it is correct.

I found the dat file on the drone using the Assistant for consumer drones version (nb, the only one that works with the avata). Although there are a couple more all dated around that time, I believe it is the correct one as it is the earliest. I have sent it to Onedrive as it is so big. Here is a link.

In the assistant app, they are all labelled just with a time and date stamp, and download as Avata-xxx.dat

Microsoft OneDrive

1drv.ms

Just in case, here are links to the other files file

Microsoft OneDrive

1drv.ms

DJI_Avata_2022-12-08_14-29-02.DAT

DAT File

1drv.ms

Thanks for your assistance in this.

 

[BudWalker]

Yes, it is correct.

I found the dat file on the drone using the Assistant for consumer drones version (nb, the only one that works with the avata). Although there are a couple more all dated around that time, I believe it is the correct one as it is the largest. I have sent it to Onedrive as it is so big. Here is a link.

In the assistant app, they are all labelled just with a time and date stamp, and download as Avata-xxx.dat

Microsoft OneDrive

1drv.ms

Please use the method described here
.DAT available
to retrieve the .DAT

I was assuming that you had retrieved the .txt from the goggles using this method. Just curious - how did you manage to retrieve the .txt?

.DAT files retrieved via the Assistant are encrypted making them useless. Also, there are several .dat files through out the system that are also useless. The only way to get a useable .DAT is by using the method referenced above.

From the discussion here and on the Mavic forum it seems pretty clear that the cause was a prop failure. Seems unlikely more could be learned from the .DAT. But, if you retrieve the .DAT please attach it to a post.

 

[Eagle Crow]

Please use the method described here
.DAT available
to retrieve the .DAT

I was assuming that you had retrieved the .txt from the goggles using this method. Just curious - how did you manage to retrieve the .txt?

.DAT files retrieved via the Assistant are encrypted making them useless. Also, there are several .dat files through out the system that are also useless. The only way to get a useable .DAT is by using the method referenced above.

From the discussion here and on the Mavic forum it seems pretty clear that the cause was a prop failure. Seems unlikely more could be learned from the .DAT. But, if you retrieve the .DAT please attach it to a post.

Hi
I retrieved the txt file directly from the drone via the fly app.

I downloaded the dat file using the method advised, but for the life of me cant find where it is located on the android phone. I have looked in the folders suggested, and run searches, and just cant see them. I did find one in the files-Hmsrecord-glasses folder, but its one for 2 days before. I will carry on looking

 

[BudWalker]

Hi
I retrieved the txt file directly from the drone via the fly app.

I downloaded the dat file using the method advised, but for the life of me cant find where it is located on the android phone. I have looked in the folders suggested, and run searches, and just cant see them. I did find one in the files-Hmsrecord-glasses folder, but its one for 2 days before. I will carry on looking

I don't do much with Android devices. But, connected my Samsung Galaxy S6 Lite to my PC USB port and then used the Windows FileManager to access this directory

on the Samsung. You should see a .DAT with name
FLYXXX-077-YYYYMMDDHHMM.DAT

 

[Eagle Crow]

Thanks. Thats how I connected up. I even tried searching using the android files app. I still cant find them so I will try another android, or my ipad.

 

[Kilrah]

I still cant find them so I will try another android, or my ipad.

It will be on the device you connected to the goggles with the cable, no other.

Did you sync your flights with DJI servers? At some point the dat would be deleted once the sync was done.

 

[rktman]

Here is the flight path.
View attachment 6111

Looking at that path, it looks very poorly planned.

Did you file a flight plan with the FAA?

I think they shot it out of the sky. Yes I do.

 

[Fpvbefokt]

Mine fell out of the sky as well, second day, 4th flight. DJI just don't care.

 

[Fpvbefokt]

The fault is a software problem. Happens at a very specific time i.e. Predictable. DJI knows about it, but as usual, not profitable to remedy.

 

[rktman]

The fault is a software problem. Happens at a very specific time i.e. Predictable. DJI knows about it, but as usual, not profitable to remedy.

Are referring to the left-yaw at speed issue?

 

[Fpvbefokt]

No, this relates to the memory being full.