CRASH POLL

[DMac]

Hello,

I'm curious to know the main contributors to catastrophic crashes. The potential causes are numerous but probably sort to two categories: Mechanical Error & Pilot Error.

I've, unfortunately, experienced a catastrophic crash due solely to my error and have committed to NOT doing that again! (Right?)

I'm pretty confident there are mechanical errors that are solely the fault of product design. And I suspect some of these can be minimized by certain processes.

Certainly, our pilot errors are likely more prevalent. And I'm curious to know which pilot errors occur most frequently and the steps pilots are taking to prevent and minimize the likelihood of these errors.

My hope is that we can all share our experiences to minimize catastrophic crashes and enhance the joy of our hobby.

Please select the top one or two errors from the list below most influencing your crash and briefly state what could have been done to prevent or minimize the likelihood of the error.


MECHANICAL ERROR
Battery failure
Fly away
Wind
Prop failure
Compass error
RC failure
IMU error
Return-To-Home failure
Shot down :-(
Bird attack
Cracked Shell / Motor Mount failure
Modification error
Other


PILOT ERROR
Obstacle collision
Loss of Line-Of-Site
Purposeful Cancellation of Automatic RTH
Reckless flying
Poor choice of flying in poor environmental conditions
Unintentional engagement of CSC (motors off in mid-flight)
Hard-landing
Other


Let's learn together! [emoji3]

 

[DMac]

I'll start.

Error: Pilot
I cancelled the RTH feature believing I could fly longer before the battery charge expired. I got distracted. The battery lost charge on decent and fell to the ground. :-(

Plan to prevent: abide by RTH recommendations.

 

[cheebs]

All my crashes (P1 and Quanum Nova) were pilot error, specifically crashes into objects and loss of orientation. Never crashed my P3.

 

[flpholt]

Error: Pilot
my fault flew when it was to windy bird landed in the ocean

 

[Wolfiesden]

Well, I have had only one crash <knocks on wood>. And it wasn't technically a crash and definitely not catastrophic.

Honestly don't know how to categorize this. It wasn't, technically, pilot error. It was granddaughter error. See the full description on the video. But basically the granddaughter kicked the RC out of my hand and it hit the water tower (which I was preparing to do an orbit aorund) before I could get the RC back in hand. But I was able to flip to ATTI and get manual control (assuming it would loose GPS). It flew home. And suffered no ill effects of the near disaster.
Pilot Error? Other: Way out in left field for circumstances.

 

[drm]

Pilot error: obstacle collision (tree refused to yield!)
Damages: broken prop, broken yaw arm and flat cable after 20-foot drop
Plan: more careful flying

 

[captainmilehigh]

Incident: bumped into tree. Broken prop. Pilot error.
Incident: bumped into same tree. Again. No damage. Pilot error.
Plan to prevent incident again : Remove tree. [emoji12]


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Fplvert]

Pilot error; poor environment conditions.

Before I learned how to hand catch, I landed my P2V on the ground. This usually stirred up some dust and sand, but I didn't know better at the time. One evening, I was trying to get some video of an approaching thunderstorm, and for "some reason" my right front motor locked solid and the bird fell 330' into a tree and bounced off the ground.

Damage was minimal, as a tree broke the fall. Lucky, but the front motor felt different. I decided to take it apart and found three tiny magnetic particles stuck to the magnets. I used motor putty to pick the pieces up, changed the bearings, and checked the other motors just to be safe.

I'm more careful now, I always take off from my case or backpack, and catch the bird. No crashes for my current birds!
Hey, it's May the Fourth, my P3 turned one today!

 

[Reed L]

You have compass error in there and should add loss of GPS signal because I think a lot of crashes happen when the bird goes into atti mode and people aren't use to flying manually.

I've had 2 crashes, both pilot error with no serious damage. One was flying in a Redwood forest in atti mode under the canopy of the trees with no gps signal. Very tight quarters and it was running fine and holding steady with vps. Then I took it up to 30 feet and was in full atti, turned the bird to take a 360 and it started to drift. I had los but couldn't see which way it was pointing when it started drifting fast back. I didn't have the rc in home lock because this was the lesson learned for that one... lol. It was going left I thought so I hit right and it went back... behind a tree. Tried going right and it drifted into the side of the tree and came down. So I learned about home lock on that trip. It broke the camera mount, so I took it off and glued it with gorilla glue and was back flying in 30 minutes. It also took the tip off one prop so I changed those out to a new balanced set. I got lucky because there is a bunch of loose bark, tall ferns and dirt around the bottom of the tree so it had a pretty soft landing compared to bare hard ground.
Crash 2 was me getting a close up of a small sign reading the fine print on my tablet at maybe 3 feet off the ground. I got too close, clipped the sign, it flipped over and down it went. I went over and picked it up, the camera wasn't working so I checked the wires and the larger white ribbon lead had come out of the socket a bit. I put it back in and was flying in 15 minutes. I like taking some high stress shots, I plan on trying to fly through a 10' round culvert with a creek running thru it when it warms up a bit more if I can find a good los to fly thru it. I live in the mountains, so I have large fir type trees everywhere. Learning how to fly in atti is a must under the canopy of trees because there is no gps signal.

 

[dirkclod]

Other than a battery wire coming loose then a esc wire coming loose..
All mine have been from flying like a crazy chimp

 

[Mark The Droner]

First crash was a bad original battery new out of retail box on first launch. Not catastrophic but damaged the gimbal hinge and slightly stripped a gimbal wire. Not hard to fix. Partly my fault because I shouldn't have tried to fly with the battery but I was a brand spankin' new n00B and didn't know better.

Second crash was pilot error. Landed in a tree because I took my eyes off the craft for a few secs to look at the FPV screen. It was the very first time I flew with FPV. No damage but it was tricky getting it out of the tree 40 feet up. I was still a n00B. This was after owning the P2V a couple weeks at the most.

Third crash was pilot error. I had the P2V maybe 4 weeks. I was showing friends my cool drone which is always dangerous and showing off the RTH by turning off my remote and turning by back on the craft. For some reason it flew over a spot about 100 ft away and began descending into my willow tree. Calmly, I flicked the S1 switch down and up to gain control. Nothing. Remaining calm I did it again. Nothing. It descended into the tree and fell through the willows to the ground. No damage. Turns out I forgot to turn my controller back on.

Fourth crash was pilot error on a waypoints mission. Had the altitude set too low at 180 ft because the ground elevation went up significantly a mile out and I also ran into a drone-eating tree at the tree line after crossing a corn field. Major crash, fell from a good height and hit lots of branches on the way down. Flytrex Live 3G showed me exactly where it was located. Lots of damage (all four props wasted, broken gimbal, broken modded antennas) and could have been catastrophic but I was able to fix everything in a day at virtually no expense. Got lucky.

 

[D'sAdvanced]

Pilot error both times:
1. Thought I'd use the drone as an exercising tool for my bulldog. Once, the bulldog got the better of the drone. Only the plastic camera bracket broke.
2. Flying at night, didn't see a tree and its bare branches. Drone dropped around 25'. 1 prop and again, the plastic camera bracket broke.

 

[Crawdaddyjc]

Pilot error.
Clipped a tree when i zigged instead of zagged. Dropped 72' broke the gimbal and seperated the shell on the front. I believe the quad hit every branch and landed in a bush- saving it from worse damage. Didnt even break a prop. Replaced gimbal and camera, snapped shell back together and replaced the stickers. Returned to flight the next day.

 

[dirkclod]

Forgot about this one . Totally not my fault ,bad cell in battery .Almost hit creek

 

[dg8882]

Only one crash the almost 3 months I have had my P3S due to a mechanical error - ESC failure.
It was my 29th flight with my phantom and took it out like any other day and flew normally. With zero warning or any indication of a problem before takeoff, it fell out of the sky like a rock, into a tree, in a neighbors backyard. It was retrieved and after a nightmare of dealing with DJI support (that's another story) they replaced the board under warranty.
My advice is if you just bought your bird, for the first 30 or so flights, do not take it anywhere or fly it anywhere that you would not be able retrieve it. If you can't get it out of a tree at the top of a forest or go diving for it at the bottom of a lake, DJI will not give you anything other than a discount on a new bird.

 

[Walkers13]

All my crashes (P1 and Quanum Nova) were pilot error, specifically crashes into objects and loss of orientation. Never crashed my P3.

Similar to me too. I got all my crashes out of the way with my old Blade 350qx's. Pilot errors. I haven't crashed a Phantom yet.

"knock on wood"! Hope we aren't jinxing ourselves.

 

[HueJorgan]

enemy tree spotted!

 

[jskdog]

Well, I have had only one crash <knocks on wood>. And it wasn't technically a crash and definitely not catastrophic.

Honestly don't know how to categorize this. It wasn't, technically, pilot error. It was granddaughter error. See the full description on the video. But basically the granddaughter kicked the RC out of my hand and it hit the water tower (which I was preparing to do an orbit aorund) before I could get the RC back in hand. But I was able to flip to ATTI and get manual control (assuming it would loose GPS). It flew home. And suffered no ill effects of the near disaster.
Pilot Error? Other: Way out in left field for circumstances.

Awesome recovery!