Bizarre crash from low altitude

[anthonye81]

Hi, I've only been flying my Phantom 2 + H3-2D for just a couple of days. I had an odd incident yesterday where the Phantom was at low altitude, about 20-30ft, and I was bringing it down to land, when suddenly it started banking side to side back and forth violently before dropping to the ground.

I know it's impossible for anyone to conclusively determine the cause, but perhaps as a noob I'm doing something wrong and maybe someone could point me in the right direction. I was flying in an open location with a little wind, but after reviewing the GoPro footage it seemed a bit gusty at altitude (the gimbal can be heard clipping on its limits once or twice). On the next flight I was shooting stills so there's no video of the crash, but after the flight I was bringing it down, and maybe I shouldn't have had the left stick pulled all the way down. It had flown fine until it started banking out of control.

I wonder if a freak gust caught it as I was bringing it down quickly, and it didn't have enough altitude to recover? Although the angle it was tilting back and forth was quite severe, so maybe it was never going to recover and I was lucky it was not far from the ground.

I haven't powered it up since due to broken props, but I'll have to try that and see if it still flies ok.

 

[Visioneer]

If you descend quickly straight down, the Phantom (as any 'copter) can get caught in its own prop wash and lose lift. I haven't seen this happen so I don't know if what you described fits. The fact that you mentioned having the left stick all the way down may indicate your descent was too quick. If you must descend quickly, add some lateral movement so the craft is always in "fresh" air.

Hopefully this was the problem as usually it's easy enough to avoid.

 

[nintendrone64]

Hi, I've only been flying my Phantom 2 + H3-2D for just a couple of days. I had an odd incident yesterday where the Phantom was at low altitude, about 20-30ft, and I was bringing it down to land, when suddenly it started banking side to side back and forth violently before dropping to the ground.

I know it's impossible for anyone to conclusively determine the cause, but perhaps as a noob I'm doing something wrong and maybe someone could point me in the right direction. I was flying in an open location with a little wind, but after reviewing the GoPro footage it seemed a bit gusty at altitude (the gimbal can be heard clipping on its limits once or twice). On the next flight I was shooting stills so there's no video of the crash, but after the flight I was bringing it down, and maybe I shouldn't have had the left stick pulled all the way down. It had flown fine until it started banking out of control.

I wonder if a freak gust caught it as I was bringing it down quickly, and it didn't have enough altitude to recover? Although the angle it was tilting back and forth was quite severe, so maybe it was never going to recover and I was lucky it was not far from the ground.

I haven't powered it up since due to broken props, but I'll have to try that and see if it still flies ok.

If you were holding the left joystick all the way down - it wouldn't make anything easier, but it also wouldn't make it crash per say. I think we could definitely conclude that the commentator above said it right. It was prop-wash from bringing it down in said manner. This happens a LOT, but you will become a talented enough flier to not make it a habit anymore, right?!
Right!