Phantom 3 Advanced dropped from sky

This is why it' very hard to trust these things. I've been building / flying for many years . they can work flawlessly 99% of the time but there is always a chance of something can go wrong. It's very scary when it does. My p3p decided to land itself while I was 400ft over the bay with 48% battery and would not let me cancel. Luckily I made it back to shore with 10ft to spare. ??? I fell into the fw upgrade trap and now video feed is s%#t. Trusting it again will take some time.
you have options to rollback to earlier versions of DJI go. I tried updating to 3.1+ and had horrible video issues, back on 2.9.1 and perfect. Same for the firmware there are ways to go back to earlier version and get your vid back good :)
 
you have options to rollback to earlier versions of DJI go. I tried updating to 3.1+ and had horrible video issues, back on 2.9.1 and perfect. Same for the firmware there are ways to go back to earlier version and get your vid back good :)
Well i was able to roll back the controller to 1.6 but to my knowledge there is no rolling back the copter from the latest fw. the app won't open unless you do the update. For now the vid feed is better but the app will crash without warning from time to time. Usually when I'm very far away from home. Because of Murphy's law I suppose.
 
Hi All,
I am looking for some comments on my recent Phantom 3 crash. I had been flying it fine for 8 months until I decided to upgrade the firmware. In the first flight after the upgrade the quad just dropped from the sky with 96% battery remaining.
I have video of the crash. I was flying the quad in a straight line back to me. The video shows this, then the quad just tumbles and smashes on the ground.

You can watch the video here:
CRASH VIDEO.mpg

DJI's response to my warranty claim states:
"
1. The aircraft was piloted under P-GPS mode, and responded to the pilot’s control well;
2. T=366.2s, h=19.9m, aircraft crashed after pilot pulled throttle and elevator down, and pushed aileron rightward; "
AND a $705 bill for repairs.

What I am asking is, does the video and DJI's explanation bear any resemblence to each other.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Interesting, did you notice in the video, when it suddenly tilted and flipped to its death, one of the motors spinning but immediately shut down completely, I slowed down and you can see it clearly. Whatever the cause there was power still before it tilted and flipped then shut down...so even with strike etc. Yo would still have power or is there an automatic shut down. To me it looks like generals system failure or fried ESC which is also quite likely
 
Well i was able to roll back the controller to 1.6 but to my knowledge there is no rolling back the copter from the latest fw. the app won't open unless you do the update. For now the vid feed is better but the app will crash without warning from time to time. Usually when I'm very far away from home. Because of Murphy's law I suppose.

You are on Android now yes? You can rollback to 3.0.1 and block the prompt to update. Steps are here, follow method #4. How to: Fixing the forced upgrade in DJI Go for Android

But, Before you do that, download and install DJI Go 3.0.1 from here: Free Download APK File of the DJI GO v3.0.1 for Android - APK4Fun to your device

You can rollback the firmware as well, but I'd try to go back to earlier version of DJI Go first, much easier/faster. I had similar issues on the latest DJI Go, i cannot use it and 3.0.1 works perfectly.
 
Earlier this week 3.1.4 was released for Android. I wasn't forced to upgrade when I started up 3.1.3. I upgraded anyway though. I thought having support for Mavic and P4 might have helped with the video lags.
 
Hi All,
I am looking for some comments on my recent Phantom 3 crash. I had been flying it fine for 8 months until I decided to upgrade the firmware. In the first flight after the upgrade the quad just dropped from the sky with 96% battery remaining.
I have video of the crash. I was flying the quad in a straight line back to me. The video shows this, then the quad just tumbles and smashes on the ground.

You can watch the video here:
CRASH VIDEO.mpg

DJI's response to my warranty claim states:
"
1. The aircraft was piloted under P-GPS mode, and responded to the pilot’s control well;
2. T=366.2s, h=19.9m, aircraft crashed after pilot pulled throttle and elevator down, and pushed aileron rightward; "
AND a $705 bill for repairs.

What I am asking is, does the video and DJI's explanation bear any resemblence to each other.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.


Well I am new to drones and I am avoiding a firmware upgrade like the plague. I do not trust them at all. Not so much a bug in the firmware although that's possible. I worry about the controller and copter not having compatible copies of firmware. I also did enough research to know DJI tech support does what they can to avoid warranty repairs. I got a really smoking deal on a used P3 Advanced and I told the guy that sold it to me that I wasn't that worried about warranty coverage because DJI probably would blame any accident on me anyway. I had a P3S for about a week I bought refurbished and the firmware they pushed down scared me the motors were acting real weird after the update. I was afraid to fly it and sent it back ... thankfully Amazon forced them to give me a refund. So I bought the P3 advanced used for about the same price with a extra battery and hard case. Anyway what I am getting at is there are some really good deals on DJI if you look around. I saw a P3 Pro refurbished for $550 the other day with everything you need to fly. If not for the smoking deals... I would consider an Autel because of the better service. Frankly if DJI doesn't make some changes they are going to have their lunch eaten... and the proverbial bag popped in their faces.
 
OK, I have had a new response from DJI. Their story has now changed.
The original fault claim was:
"T=366.2s, h=19.9m, aircraft crashed after pilot pulled throttle and elevator down, and pushed aileron rightward"

They are now saying:
"The drone flew backward and hit the obstacle behind. the video can not catch the rear obstacle normally."

I was flying at a height of roughly 200ft in a valley.

For any DJI reps that can assist with this matter the case number it is as follows: CAS-476991-W2K7D3

It appears they are just making up excuses not to repair.
 
I am now waiting to hear back from DJI after taking up my case with the chat line.

Francis from the chat line, and his supervisor, both agreed that it was suspicious that there are 2 completely different reports regarding the crash that "contradict each other".

He has escalated this issue to a higher service level. They said to expect an answer within 24-48 hours.

I have also opened a case with Dept of Fair Trading in Australia. We have very strong consumer protection laws in Australia, and any company that is seen to be making up excuses to avoid warranties will be prosecuted hard. Hopefully DJI will come to their senses before Fair Trading gets too involved.

I just want my baby back. 2 months and waiting is far too long. They really need to accept that the last firmware had issues. The previous 8 months on old firmware were perfect.
 
i also had a P3S fall out of the sky, I reviewed the logs with an experienced flyer, 46% battery, controller 65%, drone was 15meters away, 17 meters up, no warnings, I was going up, which is what the logs show (so only one stick movement), went to take a pic, no image, no drone, it had fallen out of the sky. now seeking a warranty claim via the reseller who need DJI to review the logs and confirm that it is a valid warranty claim. However DJI are seeking to repair the drone - sight unseen.

What has been the experience of flyers on this forum of seeking progressing a warranty claim via DJI ?
thanks

also i had tried to upload the latest firmware but it failed on each occassion
 
Hi All,
I just thought I'd update on my dealings with DJI. They continued to deny warranty repair in my case. Their final excuse was that I hit street power lines at a height of 40 metres. This is obviously impossible but that doesn't seem to bother them.

I decided to complete repairs on the Phantom 3 myself. Flying well again, thank goodness :D
Total cost of repairs came to roughly $120 Australian for a new frame and camera mounting plate. Thankfully this was somewhat less than their $705 + Shipping quote for repairs.

I did find it odd that their quote included extensive repairs for the camera, including damaged camera motors, but when I reinstalled the camera it is working just fine!

I guess the moral of the story is that DJI made up whatever excuses they could to avoid warranty repair in my case. They then inflated my repair bill by adding imagined costs for undamaged parts. And finally they gave the royal finger to Australian Government Authorities who said DJI and their Australian vendor, Rise A****, refused to even answer their calls and emails, flouting Australian Consumer Law.

So enjoy your Quads as they really are amazing hardware. Just don't rely on warranty when the time comes. And PLEASE don't update your firmware after the first few revisions. When its all working well, then don't go poking the sleeping bear.

/End Rant Enjoy your Sunday. Happy flying!
 
I am not in a warranty claim situation so we can put that aside ...

But here is a flight of my P3P ...

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You see that it suffers terrible video failures .... BUT the on board video recording and camera control is without error.

I had failure of change of FW which basically bricked the AC ...

It goes to DJI and service guy locally agrees with me - its bricked.

I agree to send it to main Repair Centre in Netherlands ...................

I finally get sent a list of repairs they say should be done to my P3P .....

Note this is EUROS ...

Item Quantity Unit Price(EUR) Total Nett(EUR)
Phantom 3 Gimbal Roll-axis ESC Board 1 7.44 7.44
Phantom 3 Video Downlink Module V14 1 90.91 90.91
Phantom 3 Roll-axis Bracket 1 5.79 5.79
Fan (Cable length=33mm) 1 26.45 26.45
Phantom 3 Main Controller Board Module (2312) 1 90.91 90.91
Phantom 3 Roll Motor 1 7.44 7.44
Phantom 3 Roll-axis Cover 1 1.65 1.65
Repair Service Fee 1 50.00 50.00
Freight: 0.00
Discount: -0
DJI Care deduction: 0.00
Sub Total Payment: 280.59
VAT(at 21%): 0.00
Grand Total Payment: 280.59

Now I am not disputing electronics - that's possible but why the mechanical parts ? They were all working fine ... AC has never had a crash that I know of and I checked ALL logs dat and txt when I bought it.

Even local DJI are arguing with Netherlands over it ...

Nigel
 
It happened to me something like that. I updated last June and i was flying 200m away from me and it started lading without any possible cancellation. I uploaded every info to DJI and they offered me 15% discount in a new unit. They keep saying that is my fault and repeating this phrase: "The cause to the incident was that pilot triggered RTH when it's less than 20m from home point. "
Always excuses, next drone i buy (i´ve just bought a 2nd hand p3 adv) won´t be DJI for sure.
 
I am not in a warranty claim situation so we can put that aside ...

But here is a flight of my P3P ...

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

You see that it suffers terrible video failures .... BUT the on board video recording and camera control is without error.

I had failure of change of FW which basically bricked the AC ...

It goes to DJI and service guy locally agrees with me - its bricked.

I agree to send it to main Repair Centre in Netherlands ...................

I finally get sent a list of repairs they say should be done to my P3P .....

Note this is EUROS ...

Item Quantity Unit Price(EUR) Total Nett(EUR)
Phantom 3 Gimbal Roll-axis ESC Board 1 7.44 7.44
Phantom 3 Video Downlink Module V14 1 90.91 90.91
Phantom 3 Roll-axis Bracket 1 5.79 5.79
Fan (Cable length=33mm) 1 26.45 26.45
Phantom 3 Main Controller Board Module (2312) 1 90.91 90.91
Phantom 3 Roll Motor 1 7.44 7.44
Phantom 3 Roll-axis Cover 1 1.65 1.65
Repair Service Fee 1 50.00 50.00
Freight: 0.00
Discount: -0
DJI Care deduction: 0.00
Sub Total Payment: 280.59
VAT(at 21%): 0.00
Grand Total Payment: 280.59

Now I am not disputing electronics - that's possible but why the mechanical parts ? They were all working fine ... AC has never had a crash that I know of and I checked ALL logs dat and txt when I bought it.

Even local DJI are arguing with Netherlands over it ...

Nigel
Hi Nigel,
I've only watched the first few mins of your vid, but it looks very much like a device struggling to process the apps. I had an identical situation - laggy, dropouts, black pixelation etc. when I had my iPad Air tethered to my phone that when it picked up the 3G signal, restated streaming a YouTube video Id been watching a couple of hours prior to flying. I closed the YT app and all was well again.
 
I am not in a warranty claim situation so we can put that aside ...

But here is a flight of my P3P ...

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

You see that it suffers terrible video failures .... BUT the on board video recording and camera control is without error.

I had failure of change of FW which basically bricked the AC ...

It goes to DJI and service guy locally agrees with me - its bricked.

I agree to send it to main Repair Centre in Netherlands ...................

I finally get sent a list of repairs they say should be done to my P3P .....

Note this is EUROS ...

Item Quantity Unit Price(EUR) Total Nett(EUR)
Phantom 3 Gimbal Roll-axis ESC Board 1 7.44 7.44
Phantom 3 Video Downlink Module V14 1 90.91 90.91
Phantom 3 Roll-axis Bracket 1 5.79 5.79
Fan (Cable length=33mm) 1 26.45 26.45
Phantom 3 Main Controller Board Module (2312) 1 90.91 90.91
Phantom 3 Roll Motor 1 7.44 7.44
Phantom 3 Roll-axis Cover 1 1.65 1.65
Repair Service Fee 1 50.00 50.00
Freight: 0.00
Discount: -0
DJI Care deduction: 0.00
Sub Total Payment: 280.59
VAT(at 21%): 0.00
Grand Total Payment: 280.59

Now I am not disputing electronics - that's possible but why the mechanical parts ? They were all working fine ... AC has never had a crash that I know of and I checked ALL logs dat and txt when I bought it.

Even local DJI are arguing with Netherlands over it ...

Nigel

I feel your pain Nigel.
I agree with the other user that your controller device isn't processing fast enough. I had to go through several devices before I settled on a Samsung S2 Tablet SM-T810 model.
If you ever move to DJI Go4 then things get even worse. Constant bugs and in flight crashes. Take a look at the comments on Google Store.
My thoughts with this company is software and support is like rolling the dice, but you're in a game with a shark.

Best of luck!
 
I had similar issue too with the DJI go app. Use litchi and its miles better. Shouldn't have to buy a 3rd party app but... Truth is, its a lot more stable
 

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