E-Stop (Emergency Stop)
E-Stop is the fastest way to abort a drone mission when something goes wrong mid-flight. It immediately halts the mission and holds the aircraft in a hover while you choose the safest follow-up action.
What E-Stop Does
When you trigger E-Stop the dashboard sends an abort command to the aircraft. The drone stops what it was doing — whether that is executing a waypoint mission, performing a dock routine, or following a path — and hovers in place at its current position. It does not cut motors or drop from the sky.
The dashboard then shows a confirmation modal with three options so you can decide what the drone does next.
Do not confuse E-Stop with a motor kill switch. The drone continues to fly after E-Stop — it is waiting for your next instruction. If you close the modal without choosing an action the aircraft continues to hover until battery forces a failsafe.
When to Use E-Stop
Use E-Stop any time you need to take immediate manual control of the situation, including:
- An obstacle appears in the flight path that the mission planner did not account for
- The drone is approaching a restricted area
- A pilot-in-command instruction requires you to stop automated flight immediately
- You notice unexpected behaviour during a mission and need time to assess
How to Trigger E-Stop
- Click the E-Stop button in the Fly Dashboard control panel during an active flight.
- The mission abort confirmation modal appears. The drone is now hovering.
- Read the modal message — it confirms the aircraft is holding position.
- Choose one of the three follow-up actions (see below).
Follow-up Actions
After the mission is aborted you must choose what the drone does next. The modal presents three options:
Take Manual Control
Clicking Take Manual Control enables Virtual Stick mode and hands control to you directly. The on-screen controller (or your connected gamepad) becomes active immediately. Use this option when you want to fly the drone to a specific location yourself.
Go to Safe Location (or Return to Dock)
The primary modal button sends the drone to a pre-configured safe location. If you are operating a DJI Dock 3 the label changes to Return to Dock and the drone navigates back to the dock station instead of a generic safe location waypoint. The drone ascends to its return-to-home altitude and flies back autonomously.
Close the Modal
Clicking the X button (top-right of the modal) or dismissing the modal does not command the drone to go anywhere. The aircraft remains in hover mode at its current position. This gives you time to assess the situation, check telemetry, or coordinate with other team members before issuing a follow-up command.
After Using E-Stop
- Confirm the drone is stable and at a safe altitude before issuing the next command.
- If you chose Take Manual Control, remain in Virtual Stick mode until you are satisfied the situation is resolved.
- If the incident was caused by an obstacle or airspace conflict, do not resume the original mission without replanning.
- Document the incident and, if required, submit a report via the In-App Feedback tool.
E-Stop aborts the active mission job on the aircraft. If the mission was a scheduled dock routine, the dock will treat the job as cancelled and you will need to re-queue it manually.