Flew away! Strange circumstances this time

prostreetcamaro · Aug 14, 2015

I have one that is very puzzling for you guys. Turned my remote on, bent over and turned p3p on and turned around to walk away and it came to life, shot up and away as fast as it could and would not respond to the remote. I frantically tried to open and get the app connected while trying to get it to respond to the controls but the app also would not connect. Very quickly it was gone out of sight. Since the app would not connect it did not create any logs at all. This thing was only maybe 2 weeks old with just a few flights on it. Bought it along with the 2 year square trade warranty from BH photo. Gotta get in touch with DJI and square trade today and see if either of them can offer a solution. I have my doubts about dji since there are no logs and I dont think square trade will cover it if I cant retrieve it to send it to them? Everybody cross your fingers for me.

If DJI wont do anything I will be DJI's worst nightmare.

Buckaye · Aug 14, 2015

Sorry about your loss... that's definitely one of the weirdest stories I have heard. Had you just updated or something?

dlbyers · Aug 14, 2015

Please tell me you received your Flytrex and it was installed.

suprphreak · Aug 14, 2015

Did you try flipping the flight mode switch out of P to A to gain manual control?

woobisah · Aug 14, 2015

prostreetcamaro said:
I have one that is very puzzling for you guys. Turned my remote on, bent over and turned p3p on and turned around to walk away and it came to life, shot up and away as fast as it could and would not respond to the remote. I frantically tried to open and get the app connected while trying to get it to respond to the controls but the app also would not connect. Very quickly it was gone out of sight. Since the app would not connect it did not create any logs at all. This thing was only maybe 2 weeks old with just a few flights on it. Bought it along with the 2 year square trade warranty from BH photo. Gotta get in touch with DJI and square trade today and see if either of them can offer a solution. I have my doubts about dji since there are no logs and I dont think square trade will cover it if I cant retrieve it to send it to them? Everybody cross your fingers for me.

If DJI wont do anything I will be DJI's worst nightmare.

You've been flying for a while now, was this a backup P3 or a replacement?

johnnyu · Aug 14, 2015

maybe some sort of spurious signals in that area?

prostreetcamaro · Aug 14, 2015

Buckaye said:
Sorry about your loss... that's definitely one of the weirdest stories I have heard. Had you just updated or something?

I had maybe 3 flights on the most recent update. I flew it once earlier in the day. This flight was a little over 15,000' away. Everything worked fine here.

prostreetcamaro · Aug 14, 2015

suprphreak said:
Did you try flipping the flight mode switch out of P to A to gain manual control?

I tried all the possitions. I dont think the remote ever gained connection with it. The light at the bottom was red instead of green when they link up.

prostreetcamaro · Aug 14, 2015

woobisah said:
You've been flying for a while now, was this a backup P3 or a replacement?

My first one I am sending back to dji for severe horizon tilt and cracks in the arms. I decided I didnt want to wait up to 2 months so I bought a new backup.

suprphreak · Aug 14, 2015

Wow....sorry to hear!

Colorado68 · Aug 14, 2015

Certainly a strange one.
Did your P3 go through the engine start up we typically see when performing a CSC or did it just up and fly away?

Fplvert · Aug 14, 2015

prostreetcamaro said:
I have one that is very puzzling for you guys. Turned my remote on, bent over and turned p3p on and turned around to walk away and it came to life, shot up and away as fast as it could and would not respond to the remote. I frantically tried to open and get the app connected while trying to get it to respond to the controls but the app also would not connect. Very quickly it was gone out of sight. Since the app would not connect it did not create any logs at all. This thing was only maybe 2 weeks old with just a few flights on it. Bought it along with the 2 year square trade warranty from BH photo. Gotta get in touch with DJI and square trade today and see if either of them can offer a solution. I have my doubts about dji since there are no logs and I dont think square trade will cover it if I cant retrieve it to send it to them? Everybody cross your fingers for me.

If DJI wont do anything I will be DJI's worst nightmare.

Are you saying the motors started themselves?

JohnK · Aug 14, 2015

First of all, so sorry to hear this bad news. Second, I am starting to hold my breath through flights now due to all of the stories of flyaways I have heard. I've been fine through 25 flights and an upgrade so far, but omg it sounds like a random "could happen to anyone at any time" sort of thing. It actually has me considering limiting my flights ahead of a one-month road trip out west this fall.

prostreetcamaro · Aug 14, 2015

Colorado68 said:
Certainly a strange one.
Did your P3 go through the engine start up we typically see when performing a CSC or did it just up and fly away?

It didnt do the initial wind up then idle it just went full power and away she went.

prostreetcamaro · Aug 14, 2015

Fplvert said:
Are you saying the motors started themselves? View attachment 27459

LOL yes indeed they started themselves.

Sfacs · Aug 14, 2015

I'm sorry your phantom flew away. All these stories makes me think twice before taking off.. Will it be my last flight?

I'm interested in knowing the answer to Colorado68 question: Did the drone did the usual startup routing? (2 Thrust acceleration to tighten the props)

Are you certain you turned on your remote first? Did you try the simulator to see if maybe your controller is defective?

Fplvert · Aug 14, 2015

That got to be a first! Wow.

So, your bird maybe at the first home location, or somewhere between? Man, that sucks!

RoyVa · Aug 14, 2015

That is a new one. Hope you had a phone number on the run a way. She had to land somewhere.

Buckaye · Aug 14, 2015

JohnK said:
First of all, so sorry to hear this bad news. Second, I am starting to hold my breath through flights now due to all of the stories of flyaways I have heard. I've been fine through 25 flights and an upgrade so far, but omg it sounds like a random "could happen to anyone at any time" sort of thing. It actually has me considering limiting my flights ahead of a one-month road trip out west this fall.

Don't get too stressed over "all these stories" - I'm not saying that weird stuff doesn't happen - but you have to remember that human nature is to report abnormalities.... so for each crash/fly-away story you read - think about the 1000's of successful flights that people don't bother posting anything about. It's called the availability bias - people always get more afraid to fly when a plane crashes than when they haven't heard about a crash in a long time. Don't let these very specific instances ruin your enjoyment of the hobby... just see if you can learn from them or help the poster....

dlbyers · Aug 14, 2015

What was your fail safe mode set to?

Does anyone know if that mode setting & others are saved/persistent on the aircraft, or if it downloads them from the RC upon each power up?