Question. In your heart does one loose/missing prop align with your recollection of the P3 being, "visibly powerless on its descent. It was tumbling out of the sky. I would have to assess that no power was going to the blades."
If you can't say with certainty that the props were still turning as it fell, we still can't disprove the lost prop theory. That theory has to remain a top possibility. I do also still think that a battery not fully seated (but still allowing power for data) could also be the cause. Assuming of course that there was no simple electronic failure which can happen to any of us at any moment.
As I said, I don't have a P3 to test but you could easily try it with yours if the motors will still spin up. Place the prop on loosely and spin up the motor. Shut it down and see how difficult it is to remove. That should answer your question.
Who cares if there is rebar anywhere? Its not relevant to this crash. It is impossible for a compass falling out of a P3 to cause a prop to spin off! Much less a magnetic deviation to cause it!
I always take off from the concrete road in front of my house. I am sure it would have rebar. Most sidewalks don't. They might have a wire mesh embedded. I have checked many places with a gauss meter. I have yet to find any of this mythical magnetic concrete.
Fortunately, I let the crash and its evidence point the conversation in a direction. Not my intentions. Yes, DJI has some issue. As does every company. But there is no other way to explain a prop coming off of a flying P3. Its not an attempt to make an owner feel bad, or misdirect fault. Its the facts speaking for themselves. A bad solder joint only causes a failure if it breaks contact. Its so insanely unlikely to magically RE-ATTACH its not even fathomable what the odds might be. If one of the 4 motors not failed to spin.. I might have taken that route in my deductions. But that isn't the case. The initial statement that there was no power to the props was an assumption developed out of observation of a lack of response and corresponding lack of a change in the crash pending. It was 300+ feet away. NOT close enough to see blades spinning and almost impossible to hear changes in props as well. The FACT is that power was present until impact with the ground. Obvious because there is data recorded all the way till that impact. Its also obvious a prop was not functioning, either because it was broke, missing, or the motor wasn't turning, because of the rapid changes in compass data during the decent. Changes that far exceed what can be manually applied. That also proved that poser was still being applied to the remaining motors. You can cry about fan-boys all day. But the facts are still going to be the facts! I have helped just as many people get their P3s replaced as I have said they are out of luck. This will very likely turn into an offer from DJI of a 30% discount on a replacement P3. Not because I said so, but because that's what happens most often. Again.. The facts speak for themselves.
