Crashed my drone today on a lake

bobomet · Oct 31, 2015

telescott said:
What can be done to keep the birds away from the quad? A loud beeper or something like that?

And I try to always have a plan for getting the shot(s) I want by researching the surroundings fairly thoroughly before I ever launch.
Take your time and observe bird activity in the skies around your subject. If they have newborns nearby, then you'd better get your shot and get out of there.

Doug G · Oct 31, 2015

Similar thing happened to me... After several hundred flights my p3p grew a brain and tilted north and took off at full speed. Crazy speeds were recorded ava then GPS died and thus thing was history. I sever all info including flight logs and video of the flight. I learned to call them as soon as they open... Nine my time and you'll get through to them, any other time and forget it. I called every day and wrote down everybody's name I spoke to. They initially offered 30% off but they went to 50-off but that was all they would do. I ordered a p3a instead. I hope pictures are ok. I don't want to loose anymore money. I also pick up a uav locator so hopefully I can find it if it happens again

ROOF55NO · Oct 31, 2015

1. The most gust speed was 38.1 km/h, that's calculated to 10.58 m/sec. DJI did not commanded flight trip over 10.0 m/sec. Yes, the wind speed can be totally different other places compare to your RTH.
2. Power. Minor cell voltage deviation(0.01v) per minute Minor cell voltage deviation(0.01v) per minute. Battery Cell 1 in your have a leak as mark "44". This can be a bit of the complex solution for crash. Always start trip with full charged battery level, not 64 % .
3. Discount from DJI? Ha, just forget it. If you were the child of one of the owners of the DJI, perhaps???

katemonster · Oct 31, 2015

Did you ever consider hiring a diver, OP? Very curious to see this craft, plus your chances of a free fix go up immensely if you have the craft.

Denver_Flight · Nov 1, 2015

katemonster said:
Did you ever consider hiring a diver, OP? Very curious to see this craft, plus your chances of a free fix go up immensely if you have the craft.

Will it actually sink? Or is there enough plastic that it might float or drift?

Arctic Drone · Nov 3, 2015

olof Ekbergh said:
You took off with a brand new battery at 64%.

And it looks like you flew really hard against winds aloft.

It is always best especially if flying far to take off with a full battery.

Also, I know DJI does not document this, but I like to break in Lipos gently by not flying full power or below 50% on the first 10 flights or so. This helps to make the Lipo last longer. I also like to never charge above 1C on the first 10 charges or so, this is moot as DJI does the charge rate, not a smart charger.

I also like to make the first batch of flights close and over a field or lawn, just to break in a new battery and in case there is a problem with the Lipo. Lipos are complex and need care. I know DJI is trying to take the complexity out of flying MRs, but a Lipo is still a Lipo. I think for DJI is doing a good job making this hobby simpler, easier to learn and safer. But if you have flown a lot with Lipos there are some good procedure to follow conditioning them when new. And a few tricks to storage etc.
Here is a link to info about Lipos:
Understanding RC LiPo Batteries

My guess is the battery malfunctioned and for some reason just cut all power. That is what it looks like. Or it fell out, I can see this if it was not clicked in and the MR was bucking gusty wind. A bird strike is also possible.

I had a crash too the other day with my P3P. Started up the drone as usual, all systems working, and got "safe to fly". took it up to about 1 meter (3 feet), and let it hover, (i always do that), everything was working fine, after a few seconds (5-10) i started to go straight up at full speed, at 30m (90 feet) it cut the power, everything went dead, and it fall to the ground like a stone. Camera, gimbal, landing gear, all crushed. When i got back home, i remove the props and run it on the table, everything looks fine and working fine. Battery was 87%, no wind, about 0-1 degree celsius and it was dry. And yes, the battery was locked in place.

phantom13flyer · Nov 3, 2015

I have heard too many weird things happening after using the auto take off. I never have and never will use it.

olof Ekbergh · Nov 3, 2015

Arctic Drone said:
I had a crash too the other day with my P3P. Started up the drone as usual, all systems working, and got "safe to fly". took it up to about 1 meter (3 feet), and let it hover, (i always do that), everything was working fine, after a few seconds (5-10) i started to go straight up at full speed, at 30m (90 feet) it cut the power, everything went dead, and it fall to the ground like a stone. Camera, gimbal, landing gear, all crushed. When i got back home, i remove the props and run it on the table, everything looks fine and working fine. Battery was 87%, no wind, about 0-1 degree celsius and it was dry. And yes, the battery was locked in place.

Wow that was sad.

Have you posted your flight log to HealthDrones?
I would also contact DJI.

I like to T/O and land in atti, and I like to climb to at least 10' after T/O (a leftover from having model heli main rotors break, those are like flying swords, never hover at face or body level close in). Also in atti you get real feedback on what the wind is doing. I like to climb up to planned flying hight in atti as well, this gives you a good idea of the winds aloft, before flying "the mission". Only then do I switch to GPS mode or smart mode.

And it is a great idea to be really familiar with atti flying, in case the GPS system fails. This way you stay in practice. And I find I can make my smoothest landings in atti, only one pilot flying.

viet vo · Nov 3, 2015

ROOF55NO said:
1. The most gust speed was 38.1 km/h, that's calculated to 10.58 m/sec. DJI did not commanded flight trip over 10.0 m/sec. Yes, the wind speed can be totally different other places compare to your RTH.
2. Power. Minor cell voltage deviation(0.01v) per minute Minor cell voltage deviation(0.01v) per minute. Battery Cell 1 in your have a leak as mark "44". This can be a bit of the complex solution for crash. Always start trip with full charged battery level, not 64 % .
3. Discount from DJI? Ha, just forget it. If you were the child of one of the owners of the DJI, perhaps???

They actually offered me 30% off on my next quadcopter, but i'm gonna fight for at least 50%.

viet vo · Nov 3, 2015

katemonster said:
Did you ever consider hiring a diver, OP? Very curious to see this craft, plus your chances of a free fix go up immensely if you have the craft.

I'v thought about it, but haven't gotten around to doing it yet.

ROOF55NO · Nov 3, 2015

viet vo said:
They actually offered me 30% off on my next quadcopter, but i'm gonna fight for at least 50%.

It's depends of, why crash? Generally talking, DJI did not offer discount for human being failure witch ends with a crash.

viet vo · Nov 3, 2015

There has been a lot of cases like mine, where people fly it over the river, lake, or even ocean where mid way through the flight everything lose signal, and at the end of the day DJI still gave them a discount.

I think I have a strong case going into this generally speaking. It's just a matter of whether i have the patience to deal with their tech support, because I've heard it's a long wait to get anything done through them.

BudWalker · Nov 3, 2015

viet vo said:
There has been a lot of cases like mine, where people fly it over the river, lake, or even ocean where mid way through the flight everything lose signal, and at the end of the day DJI still gave them a discount.

I think I have a strong case going into this generally speaking. It's just a matter of whether i have the patience to deal with their tech support, because I've heard it's a long wait to get anything done through them.

Do you have the FLYXXX.DAT file from the internal SD card? If so, could you please upload it to www.flylog.info

viet vo · Nov 3, 2015

BudWalker said:
Do you have the FLYXXX.DAT file from the internal SD card? If so, could you please upload it to www.flylog.info

I've attached the txt file to this reply.

viet vo · Nov 3, 2015

BudWalker said:
Do you have the FLYXXX.DAT file from the internal SD card? If so, could you please upload it to www.flylog.info

Sorry i just gave you the wrong file, i'll have to look for it when i have access to my iPad.

BudWalker · Nov 3, 2015

viet vo said:
I've attached the txt file to this reply.

This is the file from the RC device. I'm referring to the file on the Phantom 3 itself. It'll have some information not found on the .txt file. I.e., it's not on your iPad. Visit www.flylog.info to see how to retrieve these files.

viet vo · Nov 3, 2015

BudWalker said:
This is the file from the RC device. I'm referring to the file on the Phantom 3 itself. It'll have some information not found on the .txt file. I.e., it's not on your iPad. Visit www.flylog.info to see how to retrieve these files.

I don't have access to this file, as the quadcopter is beneath a lake.

BudWalker · Nov 3, 2015

viet vo said:
I don't have access to this file, as the quadcopter is beneath a lake.

Ooops, sorry I missed that. Good luck with DJI.

trigon · Nov 3, 2015

Well as I can see you did it all wrong

First - the wind... what you were flying in thats not a wind its more like a hurricane to your phantom. I always try to stay below 15mph (cause I read it somewhere thats max wind for drones) and when I have to fly in more than 15mph I always double check what Iam doing and I am counting on my drone control to be less precise and I have to pay more attention...

Second - never fly where you cant see your drone. I know this forum is filled with ppl trying to reach 2 klicks or more but from my point of view thats just stupid and risky.. If you got hit by bird...not sure but if it did happen its mainly because you couldnt see your drone with your own eyes and therefore you couldnt react accordingly...

Sorry for your loss but I guess we all learn the hard way right