Phantom 3 Standard Dropped Out of Sky - Help!

Joined
Oct 13, 2016
Messages
14
Reaction score
8
Age
32
Hey folks! Somewhat recent to the drone hobby, but really enjoying it! Right up until tonight at least.

I was flying my Phantom 3 Standard just out the front of my house, sitting at around 11 meters high. I was in P-GPS mode, 71% battery (I double tapped it into place, just to be sure), fully calibrated, and am in the beginner mode that won't let me switch out of P-GPS. Everything was totally fine, and flying as you'd expect!

Out of nowhere, all the lights on my lovely new drone all begin flashing red; and it just drops out of the sky like a tonne of bricks. Bang! Straight into the pavement - the gimbal comes flying off, and the drone suffers a little damage. I've spoken to DJI online, and they're sending someone to pick the drone up tomorrow - but what are my chances of having this covered by the warranty? It's within the right time frame, and as far as I know - the drone shouldn't just drop out of the sky, right? Is there something I'm missing? Happy to answer anyone's questions.
 
Do you have any telemetry and/or fpv footage that you can share?

No FPV (the card shot out the camera before it could save), but I do have telemetry. I have no computer at the moment, so can't get the CSV - but see attached screenshots. Worth noting, this all happens in the space of 4 seconds; the sticks are pulled back at one point to try and lean back and land safely - it made absolutely no difference.

IMG_0261.JPG
IMG_0262.JPG
IMG_0263.JPG
IMG_0264.JPG



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Did you launch with a fully charged battery?

The entire session started off with 87% battery - could that be the culprit? Surely they wouldn't make that much of a difference.

I did manage to get the drone up sans camera for one final flight afterwards to see how extensive the damage was, and the battery started that session at 68% - so no noticeable drain.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
No FPV (the card shot out the camera before it could save), but I do have telemetry. I have no computer at the moment, so can't get the CSV - but see attached screenshots. Worth noting, this all happens in the space of 4 seconds; the sticks are pulled back at one point to try and lean back and land safely - it made absolutely no difference.

View attachment 67019View attachment 67020View attachment 67021View attachment 67022


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Oops!!!!!!!!. Atti mode due to lost GPS. You had full down stick and full backwards , down it came.

The flashing of lights were to indicate it had lost GPS signal, I think
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mark The Droner
Oops!!!!!!!!. Atti mode due to lost GPS. You had full down stick and full backwards , down it came.

So even if I had "multiple modes" turned off, does that not matter? I stuck the fingers back after it went into free fall too - will that show up when the DJI engineer looks at the data?

IMG_0265.JPG




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
  • Like
Reactions: Philltayl
It will go ATTI mode if there is a loss of GPS , in beginner mode included, you should have still had full control via the RC signal, and it shows that you did cause it responded to the full down and full backward commands. loss of GPS will just result in the drone being unable to maintain position, it will still fly normally but will drift with the wind. I feel for your loss but maybe DJI will come good. Yes the engineers will be able to see what control inputs were made.
 
foxwithstocks, please upload your TXT flight log here and post a link back here.
 
The motors shut off?
If so it's possible that you made a CSC???
Or did the motors continue to spin on the ground?
 
It will go ATTI mode if there is a loss of GPS , in beginner mode included, you should have still had full control via the RC signal, and it shows that you did cause it responded to the full down and full backward commands. loss of GPS will just result in the drone being unable to maintain position, it will still fly normally but will drift with the wind. I feel for your loss but maybe DJI will come good. Yes the engineers will be able to see what control inputs were made.

Oh no - so it quite possibly is my fault then? Does that explain the flashing red lights as well then?

Going into full grasping at straws mode; is anyone familiar with cost of a full gimbal repair (if that's possible - the camera module has snapped clean off from the rotating section), or how forgiving they are for idiots like myself who get bent over by a sneak ATTI mode? Not sure if changing subjects like that mid-post is allowed though. Apologies if not!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Even in atti, if you put left stick full back it wont fall of sky.... maybe it will land hard...

Its important to known if the motor stop spining or not in mid air...
 
Oh no - so it quite possibly is my fault then? Does that explain the flashing red lights as well then?

Going into full grasping at straws mode; is anyone familiar with cost of a full gimbal repair (if that's possible - the camera module has snapped clean off from the rotating section), or how forgiving they are for idiots like myself who get bent over by a sneak ATTI mode? Not sure if changing subjects like that mid-post is allowed though. Apologies if not!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


yes, it does explain the flashing lights...............DJI have come good before and I am sure they well might come good again. Don't lose hope.....:)
 
Going into full grasping at straws mode
All you'll be able to do is grasp at straws until you review your flight log. It should show exactly what happened.
 
All you'll be able to do is grasp at straws until you review your flight log. It should show exactly what happened.

I'll upload the data here once I've popped into the studio tomorrow, and see if any of you fine folk can help me make sense of it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
  • Like
Reactions: Philltayl
If you accidentally put the drone in CSC, they will probably not cover the damage under the Warranty , but its hit or miss with them , some they cover & some they don't , good luck with DJI .
 
If you accidentally put the drone in CSC, they will probably not cover the damage under the Warranty , but its hit or miss with them , some they cover & some they don't , good luck with DJI .
If you preformed a CSC, that is showing up in the flight logs and there is no way they are covering it. My p3s fell out of the sky the first month I had it. I believe it was an ESC failure that caused it, Boxed it up and repaired (twice) at no cost to me. They even expedited the repair speed and the shipping speed the second time around as a sorry for not fixing it the first time! ($30 ground shipping upgraded to $75 express shipping, impressive DJI!)
 
Brief update - had a look (albeit, an incredibly quick one) at the logs this morning, and from what I could see there was no CSC error; however there was a "speed" and "compass" error. Would that make any sense?

I'm out on a shoot at the moment so can't post the link right now, but I will when I get back into the studio this arvo. Drone was picked up by TNT courier this morning though, so at least the gears are turning!

Thank you so much everyone for the messages during this too - what a great community! [emoji846]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
But did the propellers stop spinning when it fell? Or were they spinning when it fell?

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,355
Members
104,934
Latest member
jody.paugh@fullerandsons.