Chinese drone manufacturer DJI takes control over a drone & Crashes it!

The only "Automobiles" that could even remotely be "similar" to drones are the 1/8 scaled RC cars and trucks I have in my basement. Anything else is comparing apples to monkeys.
 
The comparison of an automobile who’s design, construction and operation is highly regulated (with an emphasis on safety) to that of a toy, by comparison, operated in the NAS amongst even higher regulated aircraft and operators is flawed ab initio in nearly any context.
With less safety features and control, there should be a lot more incidents with drones. Cars should have much less incidents with all the safety features and regulations. The real factor is the operator. Of course lets say per 100,000 since there are more cars.
But again what I said was misconstrued and this is getting off topic. DJI has no right to control my toy drone. It's only a toy. I wish some car drivers wouldn't drive their cars like a toys. The roads would be a lot safer. It's not regulation. It's the operator, be it car or drone. We are going down the path of the proverbial boiling frog.
 
If he didn't know about it then he is still at fault for not doing his due diligence.
Oh, I wasn't looking for blame. I know he is 100% at fault here. What I was trying to say is, if he knew there was going to be a TFR within 10 minutes from take off and it will take you 3 or 4 to your destination and 3 or 4 back, he should have left it for another day.
 
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If he didn't know about it then he is still at fault for not doing his due diligence.


No it wouldn't if the last time he had a connection the update didn't already have the TFR loaded. The way I know this is... I was flying within a brand new TFR yesterday that we established for a Search & Rescue incident I was working. I had the tablet on Airplane Mode (intentional to allow the flight) and never got the first warning about the airspace I was in. I could have easily gotten a Custom DJI Unlock but time was of the essence and we couldn't afford a possible delay with email/DJI etc. Since it was OUR TFR I had full authorization to fly so I was not "circumventing" any regulations.

From my perspective, I am PIC of my drone. I have a 107 certificate, a single/multi commercial and instrument rating, a few CFI ratings. I would like to be able to determine what I can/should be doing with my drone, and take full responsibility for it, and not have it limited here and with a bad database entry there. Unfortunately, the number of times I have been inappropriately prevented from flying my P4A is excessively high, and makes me question my purchase. It seems that more effort is spent by the vendor keeping the aircraft off the White House Lawn, than to provide powerful and programmatic recovery mechanisms to the pilot for when something goes wrong. For example, RTH could have different modes, with different obstruction clearance altitudes.

I haven't broken any TFRs that I am aware of, ever. But should somehow that mistake be made, I don't want my aircraft falling into a school yard full of kids.
 
If he didn't know about it then he is still at fault for not doing his due diligence.


No it wouldn't if the last time he had a connection the update didn't already have the TFR loaded. The way I know this is... I was flying within a brand new TFR yesterday that we established for a Search & Rescue incident I was working. I had the tablet on Airplane Mode (intentional to allow the flight) and never got the first warning about the airspace I was in. I could have easily gotten a Custom DJI Unlock but time was of the essence and we couldn't afford a possible delay with email/DJI etc. Since it was OUR TFR I had full authorization to fly so I was not "circumventing" any regulations.
Trying to understand everything. TFR does not make you land or was it because you had no connection it didn't exist on your drone. If someone else was flying would they be forced to land if the had connection?
 
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From my perspective, I am PIC of my drone. I have a 107 certificate, a single/multi commercial and instrument rating, a few CFI ratings. I would like to be able to determine what I can/should be doing with my drone, and take full responsibility for it, and not have it limited here and with a bad database entry there. Unfortunately, the number of times I have been inappropriately prevented from flying my P4A is excessively high, and makes me question my purchase. It seems that more effort is spent by the vendor keeping the aircraft off the White House Lawn, than to provide powerful and programmatic recovery mechanisms to the pilot for when something goes wrong. For example, RTH could have different modes, with different obstruction clearance altitudes.

I haven't broken any TFRs that I am aware of, ever. But should somehow that mistake be made, I don't want my aircraft falling into a school yard full of kids.


In order for an Auto-Land to end up in a "School Yard full of kids" would mean you was already flying your drone over a School Yard full of kids which is pretty much just shy of worst case scenario.
 
Trying to understand everything. TFR does not make you land or was it because you had no connection it didn't exist on your drone.


Since it was a brand new TFR it wasn't in any of the most recent databases/updates in MY aircraft/Controller/Device. It was established while I was on site and I intentionally did not take my tablet out of Airplane Mode so that the new information wouldn't be uploaded into my system.

If someone else was flying would they be forced to land if the had connection?

If they had made a connection previously and the DB had added our TFR there are a couple of things that could happen:

A) Ours was not 24/7... so if they were flying AND they had the current TFR DB installed at the time the TFR went HOT their aircraft would Auto-Land at that spot.

B) If they were still on the ground, had the current TFR DB, and they tried to engage the motors on the aircraft while the TFR was HOT they would not power ON.

Hope this helps some.
 
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Interesting. I know of 3 times I flew in an area where I had no internet or cell service. I checked ahead of time to see the airspace and to cash the maps. When I arrived I found out no cell so I couldn’t get the latest update. Always makes me nervous. One was a small falls by a lake on a beautiful fall day. I assessed the situation. The hills rose up quickly, so I flew under 100 ft. It still makes me very uneasy not having the latest information. That’s West Virginia. My friend has a private strip one mile from me and I message him every time I fly. He said i didn’t have to do that. I said I feel a lot better doing it and he didn’t have to respond, but know where I was.
 
Auto RTH is your friend, Obey it!

I wonder if he had not cancelled RTH if it would have not auto-landed and returned home instead

If you watch again, the pilot activates RTH to get his drone heading back to home. It's going ~ 26 mph. They cancel RTH and switch to sport mode. Now they're flying back at 40 mph to get out of the TFR area.
 
This is the third time I've seen that post in different forums, and I'll say the same thing.

This is 100% pilot error, and this is what happens when you don't pay attention to what you're supposed to be doing with you fly. Especially in a crowded urban corridor like this.

I'm sorry it happened to him, and in another thread Brendan said that maybe they'll look into putting a 5 minute warning or something into a TFR issuance.

But again, check your TFRs when you are flying, especially in a urban environment and near baseball stadiums.

You can check them here: Federal Aviation Administration - Graphic TFR's

For what is called the Stadium TFR (actually NOTAM 4/3621), go here: https://www.faa.gov/uas/resources/policy_library/media/Sports_TFR-UAS_Handout.pdf

Print this out and carry it with you. Not only will you know when a stadium TFR will go into affect, you can also show this to stadium security if there is ever a question about when you can fly there. Many of them are simply told "no drone today". And the TFRs aren't in affect until 1 hour before and 1 hour after the scheduled event.

Also, many venues use this TFR as a way to keep drones away, but in reality, it's very limited in scope.
 
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The pilot knew full well that there was a flight restriction time window.
It was the pilot's fault that he did not return to home within that time
window.

Jerry
 
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... DJI has no right to control my toy drone....

That is for sure! BUT obviously a long lost battle fought many times. The draconian and unannounced control of my old Phantom 3 Advanced, way back when it was purchased should have had a label on the box or leaflet attached ("Oh by the way, new owner, when you purchase our products, we at DJI will retain a lot of control and you will have no other options regarding that."). That would have been nice to know up front. The responsibility should be MINE, not some big brother's half a World away. Same with cars or any other product. BUT, Oh well, that is just the the way it is with DJI. Thank goodness there ARE other companies in the mix now.

That said, Jerry (@lasersbee ) is right on target in this case. The OP probably should have been more aware. Too bad that happened.
 
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Im
If he didn't know about it then he is still at fault for not doing his due diligence.


No it wouldn't if the last time he had a connection the update didn't already have the TFR loaded. The way I know this is... I was flying within a brand new TFR yesterday that we established for a Search & Rescue incident I was working. I had the tablet on Airplane Mode (intentional to allow the flight) and never got the first warning about the airspace I was in. I could have easily gotten a Custom DJI Unlock but time was of the essence and we couldn't afford a possible delay with email/DJI etc. Since it was OUR TFR I had full authorization to fly so I was not "circumventing" any regulations.
I’m pretty sure it is the pilot’s responsibility to keep up with all relevant information before and during flight. If his drone knew there was a TFR, he should have as well. And no, DJI does not directly take control of the drone, the onboard systems do, based on the most current data they have.
 
The pilot shares a measure of the blame here, he lost situational awareness and that leads to crashes in the aviation industry, having said that NO automatic system should ever result in catastrophic failure of an aircraft it is always supposed to have a failsafe mode when it fails ie return to home... isn’t the p4p able to back track it’s course exactly? (I don’t have a p4 maybe someone who does can coment ).. additionally in the aviation industry if an automatic system causes a catastrophic failure even if human failure contributed to it the manufacturer is responsible for not only fixing that automatic system but is liable atleast in part for damages. I don’t they they should get to wash their hands of it and walk away.
 
A TFR notice should generate a console warning for the operator and not take over control of the aircraft. If a private jet flies over a sporting event should the jet manufacturer be able to kill power to the jet engines and force a landing?

In California most TFR notices relate to an ongoing fire where aircraft are in the area to provide suppression. Nonetheless it is routine for news operations to operate helicopters in the area so they can televise the fire.

I doubt many people realize that while I am typing this a TFR could be generated with a 30 NM radius from an "event". I would need to have a smartphone with constant access to the FAA website and be constantly checking for new TFR notices in my area. A wildfire could start up 20 miles from my location and I could be in the TFR zone that could come into effect during the time I am flying the drone. This is crazy.

I have stunt plane pilots practicing over my area at 1000 feet AGL or less and if they hit a house the effect will be far greater than a DJI drone hitting the house. But the FAA ignores the stunt pilots but wants to control users of 2 lb plastic drones. Common sense is becoming increasingly rare.
 
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DNF is situationally different from TFR. I believe there is a gap in information here. Other companies besides DJI should implement programming to better respect DNF and close proximity to TFR. DJI should better handle these situations through better warning systems, education, and intelligent rth. But the key here isn’t placing blame, but education. Good luck getting a Chinese company that sells a product that is dangerous to provide you with the proper education to use it. Go to Walmart. Buy it. Fly it irresponsibility. IMO the responsibility falls on the company to educate the consumer, then the consumer to take responsibility for their mistakes. All that being said, if you fly in a DNF or TFR, you should seriously reconsider owning a drone because this tech is not a toy. Agree or don’t, I don’t care. Just forward our businesses and recreation responsibility!
 
A TFR notice should generate a console warning for the operator and not take over control of the aircraft. If a private jet flies over a sporting event should the jet manufacturer be able to kill power to the jet engines and force a landing?

In California most TFR notices relate to an ongoing fire where aircraft are in the area to provide suppression. Nonetheless it is routine for news operations to operate helicopters in the area so they can televise the fire.

I doubt many people realize that while I am typing this a TFR could be generated with a 30 NM radius from an "event". I would need to have a smartphone with constant access to the FAA website and be constantly checking for new TFR notices in my area. A wildfire could start up 20 miles from my location and I could be in the TFR zone that could come into effect during the time I am flying the drone. This is crazy.

I have stunt plane pilots practicing over my area at 1000 feet AGL or less and if they hit a house the effect will be far greater than a DJI drone hitting the house. But the FAA ignores the stunt pilots but wants to control users of 2 lb plastic drones. Common sense is becoming increasingly rare.

Regarding your second sentence, TFRs often have an altitude specifications so it is commonly 'legal' to fly ABOVE them.

Regarding your second-to-last last sentence, can you give me a specific example of how the FAA "ignores" stunt pilots?
 
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