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Pulling Footage Off a Crashed Drone's SD Card

The drone may be totaled but the SD card almost always survives — even crash landings and shallow-water impacts. This guide covers the post-crash recovery workflow: inspecting the card physically, reading it without a damaged drone, deep-scanning for fragmented MP4 keyframes, and the saltwater rinse procedure for water-impacted cards.

Key Topics Covered

  • Physical inspection of SD card after crash
  • Using a USB card reader instead of the damaged drone
  • MP4 keyframe-based recovery for fragmented video
  • Saltwater rinse procedure for wet SD cards
  • DJI, GoPro, and Autel card format differences
  • When to escalate to professional data recovery