DJI Mini 5 Pro battery caught fire after hitting a tree — DJI blaming pilot error and quoting $455 for repair
READ THIS FIRST: I HAVE AN ACTIVE CARE REFRESH FOR THIS DRONE!!!
I was flying my DJI Mini 5 Pro for 8 seconds from the take off when it clipped a tree at about 6 meters height. Standard low speed collision. What happened next is what I cannot accept.
The battery caught fire and burned the entire drone to the frame. You can see from the photos this is not crash damage. This is thermal runaway. The whole center of the aircraft is completely melted and charred.
I sent the unit to DJI for assessment. Their conclusion: pilot error, non-warranty, $455 repair quote. AGAIN, I FILED IT UNDER MY ACTIVE CARE REFRESH!
My argument is simple. I accept that I hit the tree. I do not accept that a certified DJI Intelligent Flight Battery should catch fire and destroy the entire aircraft from a low speed tree impact. These are two separate issues and DJI is treating them as one.
To make things worse, the battery serial number in their official flight data report does not match the actual serial number printed on my physical battery. Their report lists 9DFPN7VCA073ZK, my battery reads 9DFPN7VCA072TN. Their entire technical assessment may be based on the wrong battery data.
The fire also destroyed my 256GB V90 microSD card that was inside the drone. A tree impact does not melt an SD card. Fire does.
I have DJI Care Refresh and they are still pushing me toward the full paid repair instead of honoring my coverage.
Has anyone dealt with a DJI battery fire situation and got a fair resolution?
Any advice welcome.
**GIVEN THAT I HAVE ACTIVE CARE REFRESH PLAN.**⛑️