DJI Mini 3 Pro CRASH - DON'T MAKE THIS MISTAKE

[@DMProductions]

bad news - hope you don't make the same mistake!

[@charlesdove1345]

Hope you have a new mini 3 pro you have the best content

[@vivexx_]

Darren, you should contact DJI support, provide them with logs, videos, and describe the situation. It wasn't your failure, and most likely they will send you a new one. (and yes, this is a common practice for DJI, my friends was getting replacement after support confirmed that the problem was caused not by you but the hardware malfunction)

[@Dronesmms]

It’s was the sensor same thing happened on my mini 2 I could still fly it, but the camera doesn’t work no more

[@myeverythingworld8123]

Another thing m8 night time never land your drone at night omg mine bounced then went 3 meters high then hit the ground again several more time s like it had no idea were the ground was

[@darkwishpunkd]

I always notice when i'm flying over water weather sea or a lake with my mini 2 that the drone tends to be trying dipping down in altitude even if i'm high as 8 meters above water, and lately yes sometimes the drone tends to steer left or right without any input in my controller, i always land and recalibrate sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't , still no idea why this happens

[@robjeeves]

Love it when pros crash AND document the event for the community. Max respect bro. Easy for you to buy a new drone and never speak of this but you did the hard thing making this video. Painful day for you but appreciate you making this video for the benefit of the community. Sorry for your loss but RESPECT BRO 😎

[@DMProductions]

🤜🤜

[@front2427]

@@DMProductions its a bad time of the year, sorry to hear.

[@gu9838]

sounds like it might have been a balancing issues or something and maybe u could have recalibrated it or something i dunno? either way but good tip if you ever see the drone start to behave oddly. dont fly with it lol and try to check it out first! thanks for the v ideo!

[@connieparker8896]

Also drones need the same ( find my phone) app on all drones, I have lost 2 drones, and spent many hours looking for them,

[@torphotographic2888]

Hi Darren, I think we all realise that every time we fly we are a little closer to a drone loss. I think what really hurts is losing the footage as well. I make it a policy to swap out the Micro SD cards regularly through the day, especially when I think I've nailed some good footage. Coming from a photography back ground I always carry 3 or 4 spares. Another tip is to swap the RC card and the drone card at half time, that way the mornings footage is safely tucked away inside the RC

[@mikewazowski2040]

Wouldn’t want this to happen to my Mini 3 Pro. It’s too precious for me to just crash it. Thank you for sharing your experience so we can avoid it.

[@gregpalframan8260]

The exact same thing happened to me with my mini 2. I was filming my brother paddling down the dusi River and it also dropped into the water. Thankfully I was able to retrieve it. Sent it to dji with the flight logs and the fixed it for free because they said it wasn't my fault.

[@gazm1887]

My mini 2 was hovering badly on Monday but was just taking photos of frosty scenery but wouldn't stay still even in virtually no wind, checked props and screws and all was fine that day, had her out today and all seems well but had been sitting in cold car whilst in work on that day even tho i had batteries with me. Glad i never flew over water and will always check stability now before flying off. Thanks Darren for this advice and honesty even tho you learnt the hard way we now don't have too.

[@IaninLondon]

Hey Darren! So sorry mate!! All is not lost. You have the flight logs so you can raise a ticket with DJI. Not sure if you saw my Mini 3 Pro crash video last month but had a similar issue, crashed over water with no stick input from me. DJI repaired under warranty despite me not having Care Refresh. So raise a ticket, tick the box that says you think it's equipment fault, upload the logs and see what happens..... Best of luck buddy 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@DMProductions]

Ah really mate ? I may just do that 🙏

[@LukeRT]

@DMProductions keep us in the loop if you do this, would be interesting to find out the cause

[@MrksKr]

So sorry to hear and for your loss - thank you for sharing your analysis. My suspicion for the cause is two-fold: potentially lense fog on the downward vision sensors (aka cameras) due to cold weather causing those anomalies in the flight behaviour. Pair this with substantial voltage drops in Sports mode + very cold weather, it's probably caused a malfunction/height drop of some sort.

[@danwilson8911]

Sorry for your loss. For anyone out there, running a Mini 3 Pro in sports mode regardless of what you are flying over. I believe due to the angled rear props, the Mini 3 pro will loose altitude while flying so something to watch in all sports mode flying situations. In addition re-calibration could be a great alternative to see if this fixes the anomalies

[@chibi397]

can confirm, tested with my own

[@worldmuse]

So sorry about the loss of the M3Pro. Painful to watch but I appreciate your humility and willingness to avoid throwing DJI under the bus. I enjoy all your videos.

[@DMProductions]

Thanks so much bro appreciate it 😊

[@MaineMan086]

Darren - Having lost a Mini 2 in a rushing river, I share your feelings of loss and frustration as to why things like this happen. I hope that DJI can come up with a way to shut off the downward sensors so that they do not get confused over water, snow, or ice.

[@wipi0]

Thank you for the detailed report on your incident. The video of your wobbling drone reminded me of a near-loss of my mini 2 last winter in the alps, where it was about minus 10° C. It quickly started to get unstable, drifting to all sides, hard to control, impossible to hand-land. So, I simply flew it straight into the snow, where I could recover it undamaged. I used it later again in warmer conditions, no problem. It seems like some of the electronics in these drones don't take cold temps well, certainly something to keep in mind. Regards

[@geraldbrady5860]

Oh Darren so sorry to hear your story, not surprised you are gutted? It's the sort of thing that can happen to anyone but shouldn't. You are so good at telling us all how to avoid problems. Another lesson learnt by me!!

[@DMProductions]

I know mate, can happen to anyone! Hope people see this and can react/avoid any issues

[@MikBT]

Man I feel you. I almost crashed mine today against a tree while I was learning how to auto follow trace my car. I hope you feel better tomorrow and think how many drones you actually saved from all the different owners out there. Keep going with your guides and videos. Is the most normal thing to happen to someone as experienced as you. All professionals have to change their gear often. To become the best you have to fail. We all learn from you here, thanks a lot for this unfortunate video.

[@dalebrown6460]

totally understand the sentimental value you mentioned! We do build somewhat of a friendship with our equipment. I have been flying RC aircraft for many years and when they go down it's heartbreaking and sad. Lessons learned and I hope way more safe flying for you! Thanks for sharing this!!

[@PattyintheWoods]

Hey ! At 5:01 you can see the water ripples towards the edge of the screen which means you are only 5 CM above the water. Sorry to hear about the drone :( , I been followin you for quiet some time and I am thinking about getting a mavic mini 3 pro, but also started to lean towards the air 2s a lot more… I need your final opinion ! I’ll be shooting 4k30/24 most of the time. To match my Sony a7iv , however I do live in canada and it’s quiet bit windy, most of my shooting will be in the woods while camping and such. Love the fact you can do horizontal on the mini 3pro and the lower aperture. Would also mean that I’d need to get a license for the air 2s, and the air 2s is 300$ more. What would you recommend for the long term ?

[@manuchosd1]

i second this, the ripples are a clear visual proof of the m3p flying ultra low, main problem here i think he doesnt have actual seeing his drone real position or maybe he is far away from the shore to see it? (despite the actual sensores geting confused by water reflection

[@bashkillszombies]

I had a freak accident. Turned out it shed a blade. It basically flew up to 5,000ish meters (even though it's hard capped at 1k) and was going at m/s speeds I can't recall specifically but it was triple the maximum speed it's meant to fly at. It drained it's entire battery in like 2-3 minutes and turned up 5 suburbs away from where it's crash GPS report signal was from.

[@stuartd01]

Interesting. I've been flying my Mini 3 in the same conditions over the last week and noticed that the drone was wobbling around in the sky as I was bringing it back down to land, when there wasn't any wind, even at low level. I also noticed the drone drifting to the left when flying forwards from low level to medium level. I thought that it must have been my inputs, but now seeing this video I suspect I had the same issues, and it's brought on by freezing temperatures (maybe misting of the sensors?).

[@nickcooper7133]

4:51 ... Altitude indicator says 7.7m yet ground proximity sensors say 4.3m ... closer to the water than you thought maybe? It was super reflective so easy mistake to make.

[@redsox2258]

Thanks for the video, sorry for your loss! I fly over water all the time! I've definitely seen it get confused by the height, even when it's just flying straight. I try to keep it 10-15 feet above the water at all times, but do occasionally go lower. So it's a scary thing to know that it might just nosedive on it's own if it's confused..

[@sonphamngoc1366]

Nên luôn bay cao tối thiểu 25-30m thì sẽ an toàn tuyệt đối !

[@redsox2258]

@@sonphamngoc1366 tôi đồng ý! nhưng đôi khi thật vui khi bay thấp!

[@YoungBlaze]

im almost certain the reason it was doing the odd drifts was it needed to have a a compass calibration , i believe that could have fixed the swaying

[@Valisk]

I'm only just recovering from my first and only drone loss - and that was about 10 years ago. It was a sobering experience watching a couple of hundred quid disappear on a fly-away. I abandoned quads and stuck to RC aeroplanes. Now that tech has advanced to a quite frankly insane level, I'm about to pull the trigger on a Mini 3 Pro. I don't think I'll ever not be nervous when flying, god knows, I've taken plenty of aircraft home in black plastic bin bags. I think it's the outright cost of a total loss that scares me the most. Thanks for the vid!

[@stef2198]

This is the second video I have watched this week where the drone started off with a strange issue, not hovering etc and it wasn't taken seriously. Sadly a drone lost but a massive lesson learnt I guess. Thanks for sharing

[@snakeB8]

Factor 1 moisture: Variation A: With the whole drone itself being at a greater temperature difference than the environment before launch causing potential moisture in various spots of the enclosed compact drone. Variation B: Acclimatized non operational drone to the surroundings temperature should not have or barely create any moisture hence upon launch drone should be ok until the natural occurrence of temperature raise of the battery creating again an immediate temperature difference at the area of battery back and the drones frame (fuselage) causing potential moisture in various spots of the enclosed compact drone. **I like to note that flying in sports mode the power pulled from the drone will increase its battery temperature hence greater moisture build up is possible. FYI: Drone's battery operate best at an optimum temperature hence it will ¨warm¨ up anyways during operation Factor 2 reflection: The downward sensors of the drone being flown over reflective matter could alter the drones ¨intelligence¨. THEROY: This crash could have been a combination of both factors especially with a single droplet in the sensor caused by moisture with reflection of the water. 1) With the droplets reflection plus the lakes reflection the drone could think its upside down and with the last input of joystick pushing UP on the controller the drone perhaps outputs it down movement. 2) With the droplets reflection plus the lakes reflection the drone could think its upside down and (regardless of last moment input of the joystick) its downward sensors thinking its very close to a surface and inputs its automatically correction of upwards movement but outputs downwards because it thinks its upside down. As confusing as it may sound the drone could actually be confused with these double reflections ¨measured/calculated¨ by these downward sensors. DJI: It has been mentioned before to have the option to turn off the downward sensors in all modes (C, N, S) regardless if that actually was the cause of this crash. So far, Darren and others are not totally to blame for a crash of this significance until proven.

[@bertgielen5228]

I had the same! When you made a video about the big update last week. I did the update and make a test flight to check the update and crashed also. Lucky it was in the grass. I looked ad 2 days ago and there was a new firmware. On the moment the drone is back stabile.

[@jeremyboxdotcom]

4:45 the sensors detected that the drone was 4.4m above the surface of the water. Was the altitude reading showing zero as wherever you launched from?

[@fendrou]

04:50 Downward (sensor) 4.2 m ... while the altitude on the left shows H7.7m Just an explanation of what happened

[@rexindouble9004]

Spot on!! And glossy smooth water surface makes it extremely difficult to judge height visually, perfect conditions for a wipeout...

[@PaddyStubbs70]

I've just taken delivery of a Mini 3 Pro, so found your experience (although devastating for you) an invaluable and salutary lesson, Darren. Thanks for passing this on and I hope sincerely that nothing like it ever happens to you again. Best wishes for more great footage and the rest of the festive season. 🤝👍

[@toysoldier46552]

It's bound to happen again, it's just part of being an aerial photographer. Every flight is one closer to the last for whatever piece of equipment that you're using.

[@SpeedsterIG]

If the sensors down are TOF sensors (time of flight), their measurement principle is sending out light and measure the time the reflection comes back. The time with light speed gets you the distance between the reflecting object and the sensor. In cold environments, if your drone is not fully acclimated, still warmer (and moister) from traveling in your car or being put out of a warm bag into flight, there may be fog building on the TOF optics. This is only a theory! But if the fog is leading to a almost-zero-reflection-time, can the drone eventually cut the motors because it thought it has been grounded or landed?

[@Alan316100]

Sorry to hear/see about the loss but I've learnt a lot so thank you for posting the vid.

[@DMProductions]

I appreciate that

[@ispooner9662]

Thanks for the honest video and guide. I often fly super low over water and have had a few 'close' calls and I totally understand how gutting this must be. But it's good to see your analysis of what happened and your review of the drones behaviour throughout the day. Sorry for your loss. 🙏

[@kapperoutdoors]

Sorry to hear this, but great video on recovering the flight and joystick logs. I know your pain though, as far as loosing the SD card with the excellent footage.. I filmed a complete Montana mountain UTV trail ride, and lost the GoPro unit later that day in a river! That was once in a lifetime (for me anyway) footage of that Montana mountain ride! But hey, we live and learn every day. Thank you, Cheers.

[@SamuelSotiega]

Oh No!! Insurance claim? If you have insurance in place it looks to me a pretty straightforward case….

[@aerialsvisuals]

That Mini 3 Pro of yours and the videos you got from it are what got me started into flying drones. I got a Mini 3 Pro and the fly more kit plus, all because of the stunning videos you created with your Mini 3 Pro. This is sad news indeed.

[@richiefrankproductions]

I feel ya brother. They definately hold a special part in you for being with you on some of your most epic journeys. I have no idea why this happened but this past Wednesday I had the mini 3 pro up doing a hyperlapse and while up there supposedly in a hover just taking photos of a large intersection I notice that it moving all over the place. Now mind you, the controller is in my lap no hands near it and no wind. Footage came out terrible and have no idea what went wrong. Also.....not a lick of wind that day but cold. Thanks for posting and helping us all learn.

[@SmartMeditationFilms]

Sorry for your loss mate! Thank you for this great post! I feel your pain!

[@ronmarvicsin7709]

Thanks for the info about it driving. My new one I’ve flown in the house was drifting and before I could make the change it tangled with a deer antler :( crash. It’s ok though. I’ll do a good look over it props and such.

[@skycam509]

Sorry for your loss. What a bummer. I've had my Air 2s act up a couple times. Once, I was flying out over a pasture and river and it was drifting sideways and also drifting when just hovering. I had just calibrated my compass because I was quite a ways from where I normally fly. I brought it back to try to figure out what was going on and had trouble landing accurately. I tried to calibrate the compass again, and was having trouble with that. I finally noticed that there were some pretty big power lines right behind me. I moved to a different area away from the power lines, recalibrated, and everything worked normally. Another time, I was flying at a different remote location in very cold conditions. I tried to calibrate my compass and the calibration kept failing. I noticed a metal picnic table nearby, so I moved away from that, but still kept getting "calibration failed." Eventually, I realized that the gloves I was wearing, which are made so that the end of the index finger and thumb can be folded back so you can expose those 2 fingers, were causing the problem! When you fold them back, there are little magnets in them to hold them folded back out of your way. These magnets must have been affecting the compass while I was trying to calibrate it. I know this probably isn't what happened to you, but I thought it might be useful information for some of your subscribers. Thanks for all your great content.

[@Inspirewithdrones3342]

I know the feeling brother as I had my first fly away of my Mavic 3 mid December of last year. I am a certified pilot and take great safety precautions when flying. I watched as the drone literally fell out of the sky and wasn’t able to retrieve it. Fortunately I did have DJI Care refresh to cover the fly away, but at the end of the day, I actually cried real tears 😢

[@ITech2005]

Did you ever figure out what caused the flyway? What were the circumstances around the event? Flying low? Over water?

[@mikecope4798]

Also crashed my mini 3 pro in water in December! Problem was a 'schoolboy error' on take off. Was performing a hand launch near water in an enclosed environment and took my hand away too quickly! Cost me £250 for a new replacement drone from DJI, but their turnaround time was fairly fast. Will be taking out a Care Refresh package with the new one! I'm a relative newby to drones and I'll be taking more care with take-off and landing in future. 'Experience is the merely the name men gave to their mistakes' (Oscar Wilde). Great channel by the way!

[@andrewlennie8243]

Hi Darren so sorry to hear you lost your mini 3 pro, the one positive is that everyone reading this has learned something and hopefully won't make the same mistake. Keep up the good work.

[@BrianKushner]

DJI GO4 used to allow you to shut off those bottom sensors which was always a must for flying over water, snow and ice...Fly app does not. Sure wish they'd change this.

[@DMProductions]

Me too 😊

[@bluesteeltraining]

Sounds like the mini three pro vision system became disoriented by the lakes surface. Unfortunately, this is a relatively common problem with DJI drone sensors. Thanks for sharing this experience, crashing a drone is always painful.

[@MrVideowill]

It's the speed at which it went down! Initially I was thinking I'll not fly below 12m but 8m is 26ft and for it to go down that fast makes you think something failed. On the plus side, try not to think of it as a crashed drone and more of a time capsule..... 😃

[@dr.yahiakhubrani814]

I had a similar problem 3 weeks ago. My DJI mini 3 pro landed in the water while I was filming a river. It drained the battery in a second and landed in the river. I contacted DJI company and received a free service and a replacement unit, haven't even opened it yet. I am excited and happy with DJI customer service. I was frustrated when that happened and blamed myself as you did. Keep your eyes on the battery indicator for accurate and consistent reading. My unit had issues with that, and the readings were off.

[@timsytanker]

I’ve got an Air2 which I use on canoe/kayak trips and have found out you need to be higher than normal to get a stable hover after take off. If I tap the lift of button ( hand launch) and take my eyes off it to sort out some piece of kit in the kayak, it will slowly descend towards the water. I now take off and give it a few extra meters and it’s quite happy to sit there whilst I square away the kayak. I would always be wary of flying in low temperatures, it can really suck the life out of those batteries.

[@TripsWithViktor]

I am just wondering about the mini 3 pro, when it crashes, does it beep once it crashes because if it lands in a tall grass field with no gps u wont be able to find it.

[@MyViewsOfTheWorld]

Sorry Darren for losing the drone and, most of all, the footage! I saw a tip a while ago (I don't remember where) to swap out your SD card with every battery change. I have 3 SD cards now and so I have been doing that, so that if it crashes, you loose the last card and content only. Also, I would think that a light, plastic drone would FLOAT and not SINK! That was surprising! I do have the Care Refresh and I have always had it because I just can't afford another drone any time soon if I lose mine! Thanks for the video. It is a great reminder of what can go wrong. Memo to self: buy more spare propellers!

[@chrisbaishdrones]

I would say it was because below a certain height the downward obstacle avoidance is responsible for maintaining vertical position. Because the water was so clear it did not read it as the ground level and so the sensors were confused. Fairly sure there's something in the manual about not flying below a certain altitude over water. Also, while your telemetry was saying 8m, your downward obstacle readout was saying 4.3m, so you were 4m lower than you thought to start with.

[@JerryBowley]

I was scanning the comments to find this! I also noticed the discrepancy on the screen recording.

[@carltonseals9043]

Excellent story and Thank you! Scrolling through KZbin and ran across your video. I had a Mavic 2 Pro and lost it over the water over a year ago. I was and still am a novice flyer, but I did notice the drone acting quirky as I took off a couple of times before I lost it in the water. I didn't heed the little voice in my head that was telling me to take a break from flying and check out the drone. Also, I did not have DJI Refresh. I just got my new drone Mini 3 Pro, got the DJI Refresh this time and also when I strart flying it will definitley pay waaay more attention to the quirks. Thank you again for the video.

[@DMProductions]

Thank you 😊

[@CalTek]

Curious if you were flying outside of its rated temperature range (believe is -10 to +40° C). Asking as I just got mine a couple weeks ago and have had it up in the colder temps close to the -10 range.

[@SylvainThomin]

Sorry for your loss, and thank you so much for sharing your experience.

[@DMProductions]

Thank you 😊

[@iwaswrongabouteveryhthing]

05:00 did you take off with your height at water level? at 4.6m you can see the water flicker like you are flying 1" above the water maybe you took off 5m below water level somewhere and when you were 5m in altitude you were at water level on the lake passanger planes have crashed for a similar reason

[@ralphmeder7842]

I'm sure I speak for all of your subscribers, we are very sorry for your loss! Although it was an expensive mistake, we are all learning from your great information and experience. We value all of your content whether displaying great video content and reviews or negative experiences. Keep up the great work!

[@DMProductions]

Thank you 🙏

[@dhoser9296]

@@DMProductions You didn't purchase the replacement plan?

[@ontheruntonowhere]

@@dhoser9296 He addressed that in the video.

[@djf18m]

Sorry to hear that Darren… never a good feeling when you crash a Drone, let alone lose it altogether. Thanks for sharing tho’👍

[@williamstilgoe61]

Sorry for your loss but thanks for owning up to it. Lots of good stuff has come from you having a mini 3 pro, not least that I bought one.

[@stephanepost]

I did almost exactly the same thing with my brand new (on second flight) Magic 3 Classic, about a week and a half ago. Only significant difference is that it didn’t show any odd behavior prior to the incident. I got some interference a second or so before, so I never saw the crash on screen. It just went black and said that the connection was lost. As I couldn’t see it and had started to raise the drone just before the crash, I kept hoping that it would just return home, but nothing happened. 😔 I’m sorry for your loss, Darren. I know how you feel…

[@rickkillian2378]

Oh Darren, Sorry to hear about the drone. I feel your pain man. I lost my 1st Mini 2 as I was bringing it back in sports mode after a 2 mile flight. It was almost home when it ran outta battery and descended into some brush that was in a lake. I tried to retribution it but she's gone. I felt like I killed my best friend. I did not have DJI Care Refresh either. I hope you can get a replacement under the Care Refresh

[@jt-f.l.s.g.]

Made the same mistake the first week owning my Mini 3 this past Summer. Watching yours take a dip brought back the bad memories. Totally my mistake for flying too low. There is definitely a small lag from the drone to the controller, so you must consider that when flying. The info is close to accurate but not exact. I learned to consider that when flying, riskier maneuvers, especially over water. I, fortunately, had the DJI insurance, paid the deductible and got a replacement. I did not have a lot of footage on the SD card, but what a bummer.

[@adunsky]

So, to begin with: Thank you, Darren, for sharing the chain of events and the unfortunate outcome. I think anyone flying a drone for enough time and locations, treats it like kind of a partner, and so the sadness is well understood. Having living in a place near the sea, I get to fly my M3P over water quite a lot. And I have long noticed that whenever the drone is ~10m or so above the water, its behavior could sometime be unexpected. So, I learned to ALWAYS have one eye on the altitude meter when flying it in that "death zone", and if I notice anything suspicious, I usually shoot it up and regroup. Also, when lowering altitude towards any water body, I usually have my gimbal looking straight down. I don't trust the altitude meter when over water, but I do trust my own eyes.

[@benpieper1521]

I actually really appreciate this video as i have the mini 4 pro. This is the first drone i have own with sensors on the bottom, so this information is extremely important. Thank you.

[@brumtownvloggers]

hi darren. feel your pain and completely get where your coming from. my mavic 2 pro dropped out the sky after 3 years of faultless flying. bulging battery issue. I was gutted but I managed to get it fixed and I'm keeping it around like an old friend that's been on many adventures with me. it did worry me tho. at that point I had complete confidence in dii products and I was a bit gutted dji didn't put something out there to tell you about the battery bulging issue. it has made me more careful with my mavic 3 tho and I have just got the mavic mini 3 pro and when I was flying it in my garden it wasn't staying still at all it was drifting all over the place and loosing altitude. it dont just sit in the exact place like the mavic 2 and 3. there was no wind so at that point I was like I won't be doing any camera setting changes while its hovering because I dont think it sits where u want it to sit.

[@ramault]

Could it be iced condensation on the sensors ??

[@dereksmith9448]

Dji cloud is a great idea

[@DMProductions]

I think so too!

[@dennispatrick3207]

Is it me or maybe I'm reading it wrong because I don't have a Mini 3 Pro. Thinking about purchasing. But at 4:51 in your video, your downward sensor said 4.3m. Your height said 7.7. Seems it was more accurate as to your height. No?

[@mcbewild]

i can't wait go get some new footage since i just downloaded your luts pack for the mavic 3. They look SUPER nice man!

[@DMProductions]

Ah awesome thank you 😊

[@americansoldier7776]

I’ve had roughly 10 drones in my life. I learned early on that the drone will let you know if something is wrong. You hit the nail on the head when you said you took off and it was moving erratically and you thought something may be wrong. If it doesn’t rise up and sit rocksolid in the air, land it , turn it off, and clean the sensors. Turn it back on and try it again. Sorry to hear about your drone. Don’t feel bad, it happens to all of us. I’ve had roughly 4 crashes. We learned from all of them.

[@pauljogever3282]

I had similar thing happen. I was on a boat, launched the Mini 3, it hovered and before I could fly it the boat drifted and the Mini 3 went under a roofline and hit a pole, lost control and ended up in the water. Thank goodness for the DJI refresh which will replace it for $345 AUD. We live and learn, thanks for the great channel.

[@mariovermeulen]

Sad news indeed, you are my go to for great DJI Drone vids, I hope they sort you out with a free one, as your advertisement of their product alone made me buy the Mini 3 Pro!

[@cadenwhite8505]

On the dji mini 3 pro when it’s in sport mode obstacle avoidcene gets turned off

[@deepotter6774]

So sorry for your loss. I get it. And coincidentally, I had similar issues with my Mavic 3\DJI RC testing out the new waypoint features 4 days ago right after updating the firmware on both devices. The drone had a hard time relocating the launch pad on RTH and even tried to RTH through the wall of a church, then came down onto some power lines. Thankfully I was able to recover control of it and land it manually, but I’ve been afraid to fly it since. I posted this info on DJI’s website but haven’t heard anything back from them. I’ve been hoping they’re aware of the glitches and are updating the firmware to correct whatever is going on.

[@johnmoore9282]

Darren, sorry you lost your drone. I am new to drone flying. Recently lost mines after two weeks. Saw somewhere that before flying you should always first "calibrate or recalibrate the compass". Not sure it had anything to do with your issue, but interested to hear what you think about calibrations.

[@guneskilicistanbul1744]

I am so sorry, to hear that you lost your mini pro 3. Thanks for sharing this unfortunate happening. Having lost one myself (my first mavic mini went down into the Eagean sea, showing -7 meters at its last effort) I know the feeling. May you keep on shooting great videos 😊

[@Con10ntCre8tivesClub]

Sorry to hear about this story of yours. I was flying my mini 3 pro on Monday morning after the heavy snow in london and I noticed that I had tiny ice crystals on the propellers. Do you think that could have happened to yours? Maybe ice buildup in the motors. I managed to get my lens fogging up which is a problem I have not seen many people have. DJI are gonna replace my drone which I think is great of them.

[@Dave062YT]

Thanks for sharing and 100% certain you will save a good few of us from going thru the same one day.I will remember this video whenever my drones play up like that and not going near water if they do .Cheers and sorry for your loss

[@ralphy2521]

This happened to me with the mini 2…I did an update and went flying’s right away. Just like you I was flying over a lake and when I was bringing the drone back I was fighting it to keep altitude but end up crashing into the lake. I contacted dji and they were awesome and send me a new one, is a process that you have to follow and I’m not saying they will send you a new one but it is with trying.

[@mananddroneuk]

Any chance of ice, prop freeze Darren?

[@DMProductions]

Could be but I was only flying in that area for about 5 mins before the crash

[@WhereNerdyisCool]

I wonder if you picked up some icing on the drone?

[@gunnsteinnjonsson7449]

I lost my Mini 2 that l hadn't had for long a few months ago, so l was very disappointed. l had been flying the whole day and filming very nice places here in Vancouver BC Canada, so losing the SD card was nearly as disappointing as loosing the drone. I purchased a Mini 3 Pro a few days ago that l haven't hardly tested yet. I don't want to lose this one, so now l am trying to learn from you guys 😀 Thanks for all your videos. They really help 😀

[@0starman0]

Hi Darren thanks for the video and my condolences on your loss. I’d just like to say that my 3pro has been “acting up” since the last RC and drone updates. Almost like it’s drunk! Mine has a tendency to drift off course, more leftwards and backwards too if hovering. Swapped props and still it happens even indoors with no influence. Could this be a glitch in the new firmware and software? ESP as the other drone was fine. I’m not trusting mine just at the moment, even less after seeing your video.

[@durbancraig]

Sentimental drone value - experienced this for the first time with my Mini 3. Accidentally left behind in Doha on layover whilst dead tired. Paid $700 a month later for a round flight to fetch my little buddy & valuable SD card from airport security. Have experienced the same erratic hover & flight only once over glassy water. Crapped myself. Maybe a salvage video in the future - couple ££ for a diver in a dry suit with GoPro in hand? I'd be glued mate.

[@terryneilbooth]

Yes any drifting or odd behavior of the drone can indicate a problem that requires immediate checking. Could be a propellor problem or just a need for Craft and RC Calibrations. Another reviewer lost their Mini 3 Pro recently due to sudden loss of GPS while flying near to a built up river bank and the avoidance sensors did not detect twigs. Sometimes its also a good idea to have a extra set of eyes with you during high risk Sanrio’s 👍

[@MrCrossyTV]

A couple of weeks ago I noticed my Mini 3 Pro was drifting to the side when flying in a straight line over water, I was flying about 7m above the canal going in a line with it and it was definitely drifting to the right. So this could be a similar issue flying over water.

[@poxlife123]

Hi darren... The same happened to me wt my mavic 2 pro in sport mode extrem low alt flyn in the sea luckly i realized it before hit the water.. In sport mode all the sensor and alt hold was not functional proper, so i never use sport mode anymore when flying extrem low alt....

[@alifpentavisualimaji161]

Mr. Darren... I feel so sorry about the lost of your Mini 3 Pro. I was so shocked when first time I saw this video. I learnt a lot from you to be how to fly this drone amd got many skills from you from your videos. Greets from BALI INDONESIA.!

[@dji1tommy29]

Had a similar event with my Mini 3 Pro as well. First flight after getting it and updating the firmware. It was a little dark outside but wanted to get a shot of my house all lit up. Acquired plenty of satellites and home point updated so took off using the Screen(ie press and hold to lift off). Immediately it starts drifting all over the place, I had to take full control to keep it from drifting into my fence or bushes and also to keep it off the ground. But then once I got it a bit more stabile it refused to land. Had to fly it over the soft grass and e-stop the propellers. My thoughts were the downward sensors couldn’t see in the dim light and it was a low enough altitude that it would try and use them. Wonder if it’s a larger issue with the Mini3 pro as now you and also Ian in London lost his too.

[@SirSteveFury]

Dumb question but... I wonder if these are light enough to float for a while in calm water? If so, maybe the SD could have been retrieved and the hit on the DJI care wouldn't be so bad.... If you had the DJI care refresh. Just say'n.

[@kristinabrookes6777]

I feel your pain, I lost my dji mini 2 back in September on a mountain in Glen Nevis Scotland and could not retrieve it. I was just beginning to get confident with flying it as well. I was so upset, unfortunately did not have the dji care refresh. Also I had only just finished paying for it, now looking for a 2nd hand one

[@acronymphotography]

Sad news, thoroughly agree about the attachment we have to our kit. Thanks for sharing your story.

[@lllCAP]

Sorry for the loss.. I come from an FPV community and just got my first GPS drone last week. I have lost a custom FPV build in a river so I can relate. Really sucks, especially considering the time and work I put into it. That being said, now I am concerned because I have recently noticed my DJI Mini 3 exhibiting similar symptoms as yours. None of the issues with landing, but some wobbling and drift. I can line it up what seems perfectly, I point the gimbal all the way down for one of those epic downward facing shots, and little by little it drifts off course to the left without any user input. I did some research and saw others had similar issues caused by warped props. From the looks of mine they looked ok so I don't know. Was planning on going to the lake with it this week, you may have saved me. Definitely going to look further into my issue, if anyone has any suggestions please offer them up. Happy flying!

[@timzimmerman1310]

Thank you for posting this. I have just ordered the mini 3 pro. I have lost just about every drone I’ve owned since the Phantom 3. I like flying close also. I love my DJI FPV for that. Great content.

[@andream760]

Oh Darren, I wish this video was out before Sunday as something similar’s happend to my Mini 3 Pro. It was foggy and under 0 degrees. The drone wasn’t overing correctly as your, at some point while trying to let the drone land, it decided to run away straight into a pole and dropping from 3 meters. Arm broken but luckily I got care refresh, the service is fantastic and I already have the new drone. I guess it’s not safe to fly under 0 degrees. Thanks for your videos mate.

[@freeforester1717]

Might it have needed re calibrating? I flew my Mini 3 Pro the other day in -7°C, the first flight the gimbal was all over the place, with warning messages; I RTH’d it and swapped out the battery, but before I took off it prompted me to recalibrate the gimbal, next flight was perfectly normal. Something similar may have occurred, but with the flight management rather than the gimbal? Sounds unusual that it wouldn’t stabilise too well, especially where we can see from your footage over the water that it was essentially in calm conditions, ie not that windy?

[@AlTheEngineer]

I'm sorry for your drone loss. I think an important thing is to consider is the temperature at which you are flying in. Batteries tend to perform really weirdly when its super cold. Also the bottom facing sensors could have froze over .... basically blinding the drone entirely to its bottom (and giving it false altitude readings) .... remember the drone gives you ONE altitude reading, but in reality it uses multiple sensors to generate that reading. If its within 10 meters from the ground / water it can usually use its bottom facing sensor to generate that reading, but when its higher up it'll give you that info from the GPS. So if you have a faulty bottom facing sensor - that reading is NOT going to be accurate at all unfortunately. It's a good idea to have a pre-flight check-list before using your drone, testing the functionality of the bottom facing sensor should be fairly easy to do. The only other thing I do is swap the SD card between flights - its a small investment to have a few smaller SD cards v.s. one HUGE one. I find that owning 4 or 5 64GB cards is better than having a single 512GB card. The drone max flight time is about 15 minutes anyways in most scenarios, it'll never fill that big card, so why bother? Just swap it!

[@MaCJaX88]

Sorry for your loss bro. I noticed while in sport mode, especial with the FPV drone if I raise the altitude stick just a little bit while pressing hard on the forward stick, the drone actually dips a meter or 2 and sometimes more. Try it next time while up high and watch how much it drops. This looks like it's the exact same thing that happened to you.

[@ebsbx]

I am OTT cautious flying over water and always change SD card after each flight usually with a battery swap. For me, better to have several smaller SD cards than one big one so at least I save something. (And I put them straight into a full-size SD adapter so they are less easy to lose.) Sorry for your loss, thanks for your analysis - like Ian in London and his erroneous water tracking crash. What do you think of the new VLOS rules. My guess is as many people are going to follow it as fully read through the terms and conditions on software license agreements before clicking the tick.

[@StephenEhrlichPhotos]

Thanks for sharing this story. I crashed my mini 3 pro on my second day flying. Yes a newbie mistake. Thankfully I had the DGI insurance. You made me feel better knowing everyone, not just newbies can have drone crashes.

[@mustanghuey89]

I had issues right out of the gate with mine. It wouldn't fly straight, the gimble would get stuck and you would have to go left and right to unstuck it. It acted funny I also had issues it didn't want to land. I sent it back and got my money back. I probably never should of bought it until at least a year old. I did buy the DJI FPV drone though and I absolutely love it. It's so much fun with the motion controller. I really use the motion controller the most I am glad I bought it. I dont know if i will ever fly full manual, but I certainly love sport mode!

[@Zandian]

I made the mistake of hand launching my mini 3 pro from a pontoon boat last summer and I didn’t hold my hand up long enough and my m3p dived right into the lake. Lu July though it was only about 3ft deep and a swimmer found it for me! Took the battery out immediately, dried it it rice and it worked fine! I was amazed it would work after being 3ft under water for about 10-25 min! Resilient little thing! Sorry for your loss :-( Z

[@StreakyP]

Kudos for being honest enough to allow others to benefit from your unfortunate experience. Note to "Auditors"... even when you do nothing obviously wrong the worst CAN (& does) happen. Minor change this from smacking off a soft wet lake with no consequential damage to smacking off a hard COMAH site & starting a fire with damaged batteries. That is going to be an interesting legal "discussion" regarding personal liability & whether consequential damages were foreseeable. ("I'm less than 250g & can do everything without any consequences" might not quite cut it).