Phantom 4 Advanced flyaway

[Slickvolt]

The battery may have disconnected without warning - it's a single point failure consistent with the log, but it would have put the Phantom in the parking lot below, which the OP said was searched.

Catastrophic failure due to a bird strike is also possible. Don't hear of that much, if ever though. And would likely have had the same outcome.

RTH reset on disconnect is always associated with an attempted RTH reset of some kind I think. No evidence of that in this case.

I doubt that they built a 700 ft structure in the car plant parking lot in the approach pattern to a moderately large airport.

The pilot (by proxy) was initially criticized for by a few of us for the flight, but if you read the rest of the thread you will find a lengthy discussion of various possibilities, although mostly anchored with the observation that the data, themselves, only shed light on the problem by what they don't say.

I believe the fact of a missing drone and sudden drop off speaks loudly of a failure, whether it fell from the sky or flew off to Australia for vacation away from its owner...it didn't return to home

 

[Slickvolt]

We see lost drones every week and almost all are due to pilot error rather than hardware issues.
But lost drones aren't really a serious risk to other aircraft (unless they get lost at high altitudes where they could have been just as much of a risk whether lost or piloted).
Lost aircraft simply hover and RTH.
They don't go wandering off on their own and invading airspace.
The DJI Phantoms are very reliable, unfortunately the users aren't always.

Now what's this about flying close to large steel buildings?
There's nothing to indicate the pilot flew close to any steel structures, but if they did that doesn't do any damage to the compass.

Different drones fly at different altitudes, I wored with every class drone, and we still lost them, but generally the larger higher flying drones use jet aircraft AHRS grade systems to feed their autonomous needs. On the smaller scale that very reliable stable technology is not really available due to its SWAP requirements.

 

[Slickvolt]

Maybe the OP friends AC was shot down. It’s another possibility.

No reported bang was heard

 

[Techcop50]

No one who ignores the obvious mistakes in the OP's flight log is doing him a favor. Flying at 700 ft within a mile of any airport is a recipe for disaster.
You are new here "Slick", so I'll cut you some slack. But some of us have been around this hobby long enough to realize that when some drone pilot does something stupid (and the media finds out), we ALL pay the price.
I cannot tell you the number of times this board has saved my a$$. Some of the folks here are golden, and true, some of them not-so-much. You have worked your way into that category, IMHO.
Welcome to the forum!

 

[Slickvolt]

No one who ignores the obvious mistakes in the OP's flight log is doing him a favor. Flying at 700 ft within a mile of any airport is a recipe for disaster.
You are new here "Slick", so I'll cut you some slack. But some of us have been around this hobby long enough to realize that when some drone pilot does something stupid (and the media finds out), we ALL pay the price.
I cannot tell you the number of times this board has saved my a$$. Some of the folks here are golden, and true, some of them not-so-much. You have worked your way into that category, IMHO.
Welcome to the forum!

Wouldn't it have been easier just not to welcome me, rather than insult me?

 

[Techcop50]

It ain't all about you.

 

[Slickvolt]

No one who ignores the obvious mistakes in the OP's flight log is doing him a favor. Flying at 700 ft within a mile of any airport is a recipe for disaster.
You are new here "Slick", so I'll cut you some slack. But some of us have been around this hobby long enough to realize that when some drone pilot does something stupid (and the media finds out), we ALL pay the price.
I cannot tell you the number of times this board has saved my a$$. Some of the folks here are golden, and true, some of them not-so-much. You have worked your way into that category, IMHO.
Welcome to the forum!

Oh one more thing all the drones I tested operated out of active military airfields, not 700 ft altitude and a mile or so away. Right off the airfield...there is no data to support careless operation at all, except I had one that was ignoring the repeated compass failure messages...but I was told by the "experts" that was normal expectation for experienced pilots. It wasn't when I worked on them...if we had any NAV system or Guidance errors...that sucker landed pronto. Autonomous flight was much more reglulated back then, FAA has actually loosened up quite a bit. All our flights were restricted to Restricted Zone airspace, and that only after you went through the lengthy process of obtaining a COA...That's how restrictive the FAA used to be on drones

 

[Meta4]

I'm rapidly learning , as seen real other people pointed out yesterday, that this forum is NOT the place to come for help whatsoever...I do t think that was the goal of this forum...but that is what it became...the nerve of
the experts to attack a person who literally was looking for help...the nerve, nor a shred of evidence the user was negligent or careless, not one FACT. I pointed out FACTS in the data. You guys really need to check your egos at the door, people are already telling you...youre of no help.

If you think that all those who made a fuss about altitudes and FAA regulations were experts, you are mistaken.
There are only a small number of users on the forum that would qualify as experts.

I pointed out FACTS in the data. You guys really need to check your egos at the door, people are already telling you...youre of no help.

You pointed out your opinions on what you thought the data might have indicated (but didn't).
You need to revise your definition of fact.

In fact I would not be surprised to find out, there maybe some DJI employees on this board, as thats what the above behavior is indicative of...blame the user, ignore that the drone didn't perform as advertised...These are FACTS

You really are going way outside your area of expertise here.
This forum is 100% independent of DJI and I'd be more than surprised if you are even halfway correct on that.
And you state that the drone didn't operate as it's supposed to - despite having no idea what it did and what the explanation might be.
You are out of your depth on this.
The data does not say what happened to the drone, your suggestions about compasses and voltages are irrelevant. Yet you still act like you know exactly what happened.

I believe the fact of a missing drone and sudden drop off speaks loudly of a failure, whether it fell from the sky or flew off to Australia for vacation away from its owner...it didn't return to home

It's impossible to say that anything failed when you don't know what happened.
SAR's guess about it possibly returning but being blown away during descent is the most likely scenario of any put forward but it's just a guess as there is no data to fill in those blanks.

 

[Slickvolt]

It ain't all about you.

Odd... you sent a welcome message to me to insult me...that would mean it's safe to say...it's about me...where would I be wrong on that?

 

[Meta4]

Wrong Again, 1. there are four different anomalies in the log...four, not one. I'm not going over them all again. It's a fact. 2. The drone is gone, it's not suppose to do that PERIOD. Another Fact 3. It DID NOT return to home...a failure in itself...Another Fact...this is really getting rather pathetic. 4. The flight path shown while stable in altitude shows erratic course changes...that may be only appearance, as not enough user information was given, other than a "long time experienced pilot", which isn't a fact, every bit of info on the pilot we have is called heresay, not Facts...yet these yahoo's blame the operator?

The bottom line given the FACTS, there is ample evidence to support a system failure.. on the human side we have NO FACTS in the pilot, yet the very first inclination of the knuckleheads in here was to torque off on and blame the pilot...that to me is just plain despicable behavior.

1. The anomalies you are holding out for are trivial and not related to the loss of the aircraft. They are irrelevant.
2. There are a number of possible causes for the loss - but no data to confirm or eliminate any of them.
3. Same as #2
4. Did you look at the joystick inputs to see what the operator was doing?
The simple fact it that the data doesn't explain the loss. There's no clues in the data to help us guess what may have happened after the record ends.
Slick ... I haven't seen anyone blame the operator for the loss of the Phantom. You've made that up like your "facts".

 

[sar104]

1. The anomalies you are holding out for are trivial and not related to the loss of the aircraft. They are irrelevant.
2. There are a number of possible causes for the loss - but no data to confirm or eliminate any of them.
3. Same as #2
4. Did you look at the joystick inputs to see what the operator was doing?
The simple fact it that the data doesn't explain the loss. There's no clues in the data to help us guess what may have happened after the record ends.
Slick ... I haven't seen anyone blame the operator for the loss of the Phantom. You've made that up like your "facts".

That last point has been puzzling me. It's weird the way he keeps asserting that everyone is blaming pilot error for the aircraft loss. Much of the time it's almost as if he is not actually reading the posts at all. Not sure he would pass the Turing test.

 

[msinger]

I have no idea except to make it easier to spot ... how about we ask @msinger himself.
Mike ... why are cell voltage deviations >0.1V shown in red?

The red items in my log viewer are unusual occurrences that should be reviewed when troubleshooting with the help of flight logs. Those items don't necessarily mean something is wrong and/or malfunctioned.

Are you aware of this being a serious issue?

A few seconds of odd cell deviation have never seemed to cause any issues for pilots in the past.

 

[Slickvolt]

If you think that all those who made a fuss about altitudes and FAA regulations were experts, you are mistaken.
There are only a small number of users on the forum that would qualify as experts.

You pointed out your opinions on what you thought the data might have indicated (but didn't).
You need to revise your definition of fact.

You really are going way outside your area of expertise here.
This forum is 100% independent of DJI and I'd be more than surprised if you are even halfway correct on that.
And you state that the drone didn't operate as it's supposed to - despite having no idea what it did and what the explanation might be.
You are out of your depth on this.
The data does not say what happened to the drone, your suggestions about compasses and voltages are irrelevant. Yet you still act like you know exactly what happened.

It's impossible to say that anything failed when you don't know what happened.
SAR's guess about it possibly returning but being blown away during descent is the most likely scenario of any put forward but it's just a guess as there is no data t fill in those blanks.

The red items in my log viewer are unusual occurrences that should be reviewed when troubleshooting with the help of flight logs. Those items don't necessarily mean something is wrong and/or malfunctioned.


A few seconds of odd cell deviation have never seemed to cause any issues for pilots in the past.

Well thank you for giving me background. That absolutely supports what I was saying..can't tell what went wrong, but all the logs you created do show four very clear anomalies on the flight that ended in a missing drone and a distraught owner. That's exactly where I started my responses. There is data to support there were issues with the aircraft that never returned...how that data plays to what actually haopened is what is unknowable, as I put in my very first post.

 

[Bakersfield Quad]

If the compass had errors, it could have lost its location and track, not knowing where to go? But without any more information, it is impossible to determine exactly what happened. However, RTH is supposed to work, yes, but it cannot work if there has been an error that prevents it from doing so. Did that happen, we don't know. Was it a failure of the aircraft or interference at work, we don't know. But, I doubt there is a claim here based on what is known, DJI is unlikely to pay, unless he had a refresh and he claims pilot error.

 

[msinger]

DJI is unlikely to pay, unless he had a refresh and he claims pilot error.

Unfortunately, DJI Care Refresh cannot be used when a Phantom is lost.

 

[Bakersfield Quad]

Unfortunately, DJI Care Refresh cannot be used when a Phantom is lost.

That is true.

 

[BSMDBT]

Hi.
My friend lost drone. It flew away.
Can you help me to define approximate area of drone landing?
Data from latest flight can be found here:
DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

Wow sorry to hear that, that would break my heart. Looked at your info, I don’t see any data that would help locate the drone, but maybe your friend saw the last images and orientation before losing it, that can help a little. It will be a big job finding it. Not a fun day losing a P4P.So sorry.

 

[BSMDBT]

Different drones fly at different altitudes, I wored with every class drone, and we still lost them, but generally the larger higher flying drones use jet aircraft AHRS grade systems to feed their autonomous needs. On the smaller scale that very reliable stable technology is not really available due to its SWAP requirements.

What is SWAP?

 

[BSMDBT]

When I look at the data, I see the compass error keeps coming up. That is scary to me. I would have brought it home right a way. Bad thing things happen when that pops up.

If you have a friend with a drone, fly over the roof and see if it is there. If it is, you might be able to do a rescue with the other drone.

That’s a good idea!

 

[BSMDBT]

He get permission from airport stuff and also from nissan factory, because he shoot for a newspaper. He has been flying for more than a year. In Russia there is no restriction on flight altitude for drones. The permission to fly from the supervisory authority was received. The security service of the Nissan factory has already conducted searches on its territory. They did not find anything.

Sorry to see folks are skewering your friend.