Back in 2018, I was experimenting with my drone’s battery until that day in March.. After that I’ve been much more careful. So I took my group to this wonderful winter location with open water and while everyone took photos, I took the drone for a spin. Here a photo of the area from above:

Winter shadows

At some point I noticed the battery level being low, but I continued. There was this nice, small waterfall and I just wanted to take ‘one more video’. But as usually, that took a while and suddenly the drone warned me that it will land. Now.

I tried to pull up, but it kept decending. At that point it was about 30cm above the flowing water, so a ‘landing’ there would have meant the drone is gone. Only seconds to go. Here is what happened:

That big snow-covered rock was my only chance and I hoped that the snow was thick enough to not harm the drone. Next was to figure out how to get it out. There was only thin ice and I wasn’t sure how deep the water was. But all ended well, I got the drone, cleaned and dried it. And until today it is still flying, maybe even better than before 🙂

The photos below were taken by Helga, one of my group. Maybe you can see a part of the drone in the snow and a very, very relieved drone pilot.

Have a wonderful day and stay safe!

The crashed drone
Relieved and happy