Heads Up, Some DJI Drones Are Just Falling Out of the Sky

DJI has revealed that one of its drone products is having issues that are causing some to plummet from the sky.

The company released a warning on Friday:

DJI is aware of a small number of reports involving drones in the Matrice 200 series that have lost power mid-flight. Flight safety and product reliability are top priorities. Our engineers are thoroughly reviewing each customer case and working to address this matter urgently.

The release came on the same day that the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority posted a safety notice, stating that a few incidents were reported in which DJI Matrice 200 lost power even though the drones still had sufficient battery charge, resulting “in the aircraft falling directly to the ground due to the immediate loss of lift with the remote pilot unable to control its subsequent flight path.”

We’ve reached out to DJI for comment and to clarify what it means by a “small number of reports” of drones dropping out of the sky. We’ll update when we hear back.

DJI released the Matrice 200 in 2017. The company promotes it as an ideal drone for search and rescue purposes and industrial inspections. In June, Taser maker Axon announced it was teaming up with DJI to modify Matrice 200 series drones, among other UAVs, into surveillance drones for law enforcement

The DJI release about the falling drones states that their drones “are tested for thousands of hours” and the majority of users have “minimal disruption.” The company says it is “looking to implement additional safeguards” and recommends that customers update their firmware for their drones and batteries through the DJI app or DJI Assistant 2 software.

[DJI, CCA via BBC]