I came within a hair of losing my drone one time. This was my 5th or 6th flight, so I was only a beginner (and still call myself that).

I was at a freecamp called Honeymoon Gap, a few kilometres outside Alice Springs. I sent the drone to take some video of the "knife-edge" ridge. In the process I lost sight of it, and from watching the video on screen instead, did not know where it was. So I pressed the Home button. That makes it ascend to 30 metres, return to the take-off point and then land. All under control, or so I thought.

Moments later, the controller popped up a warning "Path obstructed". The battery was now down to maybe 30% and I couldn't see it or hear it. Then it dawned on me that it must be over the other side of the ridge, which must have been over 30 metres high. It must have headed towards me but being below the top of the ridge it could not continue. Fortunately it's sensors stopped it before it hit the rock wall, and it would now be just hovering there on the other side of the ridge awaiting further instructions.

So with 2-3 minutes of flight time left, I ascended it to 100M and rotated while watching the video feed. I was then able to get orientation and point it towards me. Once over the ridge, it was safe to press the Home button. Phew.

While this tale may be a bit of a departure from the thread subject, it highlights the benefit of having a drone with some "smarts". Particularly while you are building skills.