Phantom 4 malfunction and loss

[GadgetGuy]

DJI is a Chinese company I highly doubt they are just freely sharing information with the US government!


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They sell their drones in the U.S. and are proactively cooperating with the FAA to preserve their market share. Storing data that the FAA might want, to find the scofflaws, in the event of a serious incident, doesn't seem beyond the realm of comprehension to me.

 

[Kiron70]

Would it be possible that someone hack into the system and gain control of your bird...this is the only possibility that I can think of...very unlikly bird

 

[Szon3]

What... and remove one of the most looked at post. Also ,now that they kind of hooked up with Apple does this mean they will encrypt their data and not share with the FBI. And on a serious note what exactly would the flight data show that would determine it was the drones fault if it was a fly a way.

 

[GadgetGuy]

What... and remove one of the most looked at post. Also ,now that they kind of hooked up with Apple does this mean they will encrypt their data and not share with the FBI. And on a serious note what exactly would the flight data show that would determine it was the drones fault.

The telemetry could easily establish that your drone was at the crime scene at the date and time of the crime, and if the drone was thereby in violation of the Safety Guidelines, that would go a long way towards proving reckless flying, whether or not they could definitively prove you caused the incident. If anything was left of the drone that could independently tie it to you, the glove would fit!

 

[GadgetGuy]

Through the DJI GO app, DJI can prevent you from arming the motors at any time. If they can require you to log into their servers to register and activate the aircraft before you can fly it, trust me, they can also deactivate it remotely at any time, should they choose to do so. Hypothetically, if they rolled out a firmware update to limit flight to within 1500 feet of the launch point, and you did not download and install the update, they could deactivate your aircraft.

 

[menwithdrones]

All,
This might be my first post. I don't know Ralph. I own a P4 (just picked it up from Apple yesterday). I also own a P2 and P3. My FAA hobby registration is on all of my aircraft. Here is my story:

I did the same thing Ralph did, but I still have my aircraft. As soon as I got it, I charged the battery, registered with DJI, and went for my first flight...even though the aircraft was asking for a firmware update. I returned without incident and landed.

THEN I decided to recharge the battery and update all of the firmware, calibrate the IMU, etc etc.

Once completed, I prepared the aircraft for a test flight, using DJO GO app version 2.7.1, RC firmware version 1.5.80, and aircraft firmware version 01.00.0288. However, the aircraft would not allow me to take off at all. I received a message stating "GPS not connected". I tried to switch into ATTI mode and take off, but it still would NOT allow me to arm the motors. I received a warning stating, "To takeoff in non-P mode, toggle Flight Mode Switch to another mode and then toggle it back." I tried this a few times, but no luck. The aircraft continued to tell me that the GPS was not connected. This was after multiple reboots of the aircraft, controller, and app.

Strangely enough, as I am typing this and rebooting again, I am now receiving a "Safe to Fly GPS" and I am picking up 8 satellites in my kitchen. Just switched to ATTI mode indoors, and now everything is working as advertised. I am wondering, if by some strange Chinese magic, Ralph updated his firmware and was able to takeoff, but the aircraft then disabled his GPS, exactly as he stated - just like it disabled mine, except I never got off the ground for flight #2.

Thoughts?
Best Regards,
Dan

 

[GadgetGuy]

All,
This might be my first post. I don't know Ralph. I own a P4 (just picked it up from Apple yesterday). I also own a P2 and P3. My FAA hobby registration is on all of my aircraft. Here is my story:

I did the same thing Ralph did, but I still have my aircraft. As soon as I got it, I charged the battery, registered with DJI, and went for my first flight...even though the aircraft was asking for a firmware update. I returned without incident and landed.

THEN I decided to recharge the battery and update all of the firmware, calibrate the IMU, etc etc.

Once completed, I prepared the aircraft for a test flight, using DJO GO app version 2.7.1, RC firmware version 1.5.80, and aircraft firmware version 01.00.0288. However, the aircraft would not allow me to take off at all. I received a message stating "GPS not connected". I tried to switch into ATTI mode and take off, but it still would NOT allow me to arm the motors. I received a warning stating, "To takeoff in non-P mode, toggle Flight Mode Switch to another mode and then toggle it back." I tried this a few times, but no luck. The aircraft continued to tell me that the GPS was not connected. This was after multiple reboots of the aircraft, controller, and app.

Strangely enough, as I am typing this and rebooting again, I am now receiving a "Safe to Fly GPS" and I am picking up 8 satellites in my kitchen. Just switched to ATTI mode indoors, and now everything is working as advertised. I am wondering, if by some strange Chinese magic, Ralph updated his firmware and was able to takeoff, but the aircraft then disabled his GPS, exactly as he stated - just like it disabled mine, except I never got off the ground for flight #2.

Thoughts?
Best Regards,
Dan

Anything is possible, but until the OP provides a flight log, it's all speculation.

 

[rigor]

Well you make a good point but even if Ralph is just BS'ing us, I have learned a lot about flying by reading this thread. Some insightful comments from some of the responders. The OP should at the very least acknowledge that he has stirred up a hornets nest and that he will post the logs or that he is not able to for any reason but to sit back and remain silent is bad..

I have learned a lot too i have had my phantom 3 since last may and fly it all the time i also have a p2v+ but i never thought once of learning how to fly in atti mode incase i ever run into trouble. I will be doing that today.

 

[Mark The Droner]

lol @ new thread title. It's ironic that this thread is probably the most active on the site right now.

I was willing to give this guy the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he works 16 hours a day or something. But today's Sunday. If he doesn't post some kind of evidence today, I'd say his behavior is not - what's the word? His behavior is not membershiplike. And that's being kind.

 

[KyleMaxxUAV]

Maybe he did have a fly away and DJI told him to stop posting in the forums and they will replace it because it is a bug they just found and they want to keep it hush hush and just fix it quickly ....

Or ..

Maybe he's just bored and looking for attention lol


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[Dirty Bird]

Ralph has had many days to post a flight log of the event, yet there is nothing. People aren't in denial as there is nothing to deny. There is no evidence this alleged flyaway ever occurred. Had I just lost my $1400 quad I would be using every resource at my disposal to find it & figure out what happened. So where is Ralph? He started the flyaway thread here & on Facebook. Now Ralph himself had a flyaway....

You've been here a month dude. Relax...

It's just not healthy to censor just because you don't agree. The guy clearly isn't on the forums every day like some of us. But he's not new and has posted on several different topics. He posted one comment and now we have page upon page of people in denial because they are afraid they wasted their money on a P4. He may be the first but won't be the last with a flyaway. It happens.

 

[Haleymon]

They sell their drones in the U.S. and are proactively cooperating with the FAA to preserve their market share. Storing data that the FAA might want, to find the scofflaws, in the event of a serious incident, doesn't seem beyond the realm of comprehension to me.

I totally agree with you during a catastrophic event. that's not the point I was trying to make. I was speaking more in terms of Joe blow flying his phantom 401 feet in the air. I highly doubt that information's going to make it back to the FAA.

The last thing in the world DJI wants is more government regulations that will hurt sales


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[Dirty Bird]

Perhaps it was a wee leprechaun, drunk & full o' mischief from St. Patty's day celebrating, who stole Ralph's P4 & flew off to check on his pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow?

I am wondering, if by some strange Chinese magic, Ralph updated his firmware and was able to takeoff, but the aircraft then disabled his GPS, exactly as he stated - just like it disabled mine, except I never got off the ground for flight #2.

Thoughts?
Best Regards,
Dan

 

[Szon3]

The telemetry could easily establish that your drone was at the crime scene at the date and time of the crime, and if the drone was thereby in violation of the Safety Guidelines, that would go a long way towards proving reckless flying, whether or not they could definitively prove you caused the incident. If anything was left of the drone that could independently tie it to you, the glove would fit!

edited it I meant DJI's fault for flyaway. I would prefer (if the glove don't fit acquit)

 

[KyleMaxxUAV]

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[Meta4]

Did a moderator change his forum topic title? Why would someone do that? Whether it's true or not, are people really that freaked out that the P4 could not be a perfect machine?

VERY good point. That's pretty crazy censorship. Will they start to edit comments when we mention the battery life and range both being less than the P3?

Why it give the benefit of the doubt and not edit speech? If it's a fake post it's a fake post. But chances are better than not this won't be the only P4 flyaway.

Censorship is generally not a good thing.

As I explained, I changed the title to something that better reflects what we know rather than what Ralph imagines happened.
It's not censorship at all.
When/if Ralph gets around to posting any details or data, I'll be happy to change it if appropriate.

If Ralph had a P4 and lost it, the chances are that it was due to user error.
Flyaways are very rare but it's bogus threads like Ralph's that give new flyers the false idea that Phantoms are likely to fly away.

 

[Drone fever]

It looks like your flight was on the White House lawn open at you they took control of it themselves LOL


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[Droner412]

Can't say I blame the guy for stepping out, I would have done the same if I got called a liar almost instantly.

Can you even get flight data if you don't have the drone in your possession hooked up to the app or a computer??

 

[Meta4]

Can you even get flight data if you don't have the drone in your possession hooked up to the app or a computer??

Yes .. you can. It's the standard method for investigating lost Phantoms and often results in finding them as well as finding the cause of the problem.
The app records flight data so you can replay the flight and see what happened.

 

[Droner412]

Yes .. you can. It's the standard method for investigating lost Phantoms and often results in finding them as well as finding the cause of the problem.
The app records flight data so you can replay the flight and see what happened.

I guess I could have opened the app and tested that one myself lol. Never realized that, good to know if I ever run into an issue and the bird doesn't get home.