Question 1

FPV-specific question — what's the best chance of recovering crash footage?

Accepted Answer

Three rules. (1) Don't let the drone power on again with that card — even RTH attempts overwrite blocks. (2) Pull the card immediately, even from a wrecked airframe. (3) Plug the card into a USB-C reader, NOT back into another Avata. We see ~95% recovery on the last-clip-before-crash when these three rules are followed. We see ~60% when the pilot 'just tried one more flight' to check if it still works.

Question 2

What about the goggles cache — when does that matter?

Accepted Answer

DJI Goggles 2 and Integra record a 1080p H.265 proxy of every flight to internal storage. If the drone is destroyed and the card is unrecoverable (lost, crushed, burnt), the goggles cache is your backup. It's 1080p not 4K, but it's a complete record of the flight. Pull the cache via USB-C from the goggles.

Question 3

Avata 2 vs Avata 1 — different recovery approach?

Accepted Answer

Same approach, slightly different rates. Avata 2 at 4K/100 is denser and produces more card errors — recovery rate ~94%. Avata 1 at 4K/60 — recovery rate ~96%. Both write standard H.265 .MP4 with DJI's private metadata atoms.

Question 4

DJI FPV (the bigger drone) — same recovery as Avata?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Different airframe, same camera firmware family. H.265 4K/60 .MP4 with DJI metadata. Recovery rate ~96% — slightly higher than Avata because the bitrate is lower and the card runs cooler.

Question 5

Can you recover footage from an Avata that landed in water?

Accepted Answer

If the card is intact: yes. Extract the card within 24 hours, dry it (rice or silica), and run AerialRestore. We've recovered Avata footage from cards pulled out of drones that ditched in lakes and saltwater. Saltwater is harder on the card contacts but the data is usually fine.

Question 6

What about HD Zoom mode or 2.7K modes?

Accepted Answer

Both write standard H.265 .MP4 files at lower resolution and bitrate. They recover identically to 4K — actually with a slightly higher success rate due to smaller file size.

DJI Avata & FPV Recovery — Crash Footage, Goggles Cache

What to do before recovery

Recovery coverage

Start with a non-destructive scan