Connection issues after a hard landing / crash - Anafi Ai

[3apa3a]

Hi everyone,
I’m facing a connection issue with my Parrot Anafi Ai after a recent crash.
The drone was carried away by a strong gust of wind and had a hard landing while flying backward. The impact was absorbed by the rear part, specifically around the battery area. Immediately after the impact, the connection was completely lost, even though both Wi-Fi and 4G were active at the time.
Current symptoms:

• Drone status: Powering on normally with the usual startup sound.
• Gimbal: Initializes properly (does its usual calibration dance) and holds its position correctly.
• Wi-Fi: The drone's Wi-Fi access point is completely missing (not visible on any device).
• Controller connection: The Skycontroller does not see the drone. When connecting via USB cable, the controller LED just blinks green continuously, but they never pair.
• Resets: Standard reset procedures do not help.

Could the impact have disconnected the Wi-Fi board located right in front of the battery compartment? Has anyone disassembled the Anafi Ai and knows how the Wi-Fi module connects to the mainboard (is it a ribbon cable, plug-in connector, or soldered)?
Any advice, troubleshooting steps, or repair tips would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

 

[waxcafe]

Hi everyone,
I’m facing a connection issue with my Parrot Anafi Ai after a recent crash.
The drone was carried away by a strong gust of wind and had a hard landing while flying backward. The impact was absorbed by the rear part, specifically around the battery area. Immediately after the impact, the connection was completely lost, even though both Wi-Fi and 4G were active at the time.
Current symptoms:

• Drone status: Powering on normally with the usual startup sound.
• Gimbal: Initializes properly (does its usual calibration dance) and holds its position correctly.
• Wi-Fi: The drone's Wi-Fi access point is completely missing (not visible on any device).
• Controller connection: The Skycontroller does not see the drone. When connecting via USB cable, the controller LED just blinks green continuously, but they never pair.
• Resets: Standard reset procedures do not help.

Could the impact have disconnected the Wi-Fi board located right in front of the battery compartment? Has anyone disassembled the Anafi Ai and knows how the Wi-Fi module connects to the mainboard (is it a ribbon cable, plug-in connector, or soldered)?
Any advice, troubleshooting steps, or repair tips would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!

Ahh man, that sounds like a pretty hard hit

I’m not an expert with repairs, but from what you described, it really feels like something inside got knocked loose. Especially since everything powers on fine but there’s just no connection at all, not even the WiFi showing up. The fact that both WiFi and the controller can’t see it makes it seem like it’s not just a simple reset issue. Could be something related to the communication part inside like you mentioned, but I honestly wouldn’t know the exact components.

Personally, I’d probably avoid opening it up unless you’re comfortable doing that kind of thing. It might be safer to have a technician or Parrot support take a look, especially since it took a direct impact. Hopefully someone who’s opened one before can give you a clearer answer, but yeah it definitely sounds more like a hardware issue.

Hope you get it sorted!