Phantom dropped out of the sky

[WV. Rootman]

It's partly about # of flights. Keep in mind I may have a "problem" in that I fly almost every day and sometimes I fly for literally hours a day. "Stuff" happens and even though I have aircraft with over 300 hours of perfect service (Hope I didn't just jinx myself) if you fly them enough you will have some type of failure.

The one "pictured" was an airframe that had 190 hours at the time it crashed. I was flying about 2 miles away (over a lake taking some money shots of the dam) when I got "Battery Error" or something like that. I started the return flight home and watched as the battery amount was dropping at an insane rate. It was falling something like 2% every few seconds as if it has a massive "short" in the system (which would have caused a shut down I imagine). Anyway I found a clearing half way between where it was and where I was and initiated my landing there. Unfortunately this "clearing" put the aircraft on the FAR side of a stand of very OLD Oak Trees. As the aircraft was descending the battery was getting critically low and the beeping increasing greatly. All was great (no people under the aircraft etc) until the aircraft descended below the Tree Line and I lost connection between the Tx and Rx. After just a few seconds of me running around a corner to re-establish the connection (so I could force it to land) RTH initiated. The airscraft ascended to the preset RTH (it was based on my location and did NOT factor 100+ year old oak tree heights). Once it hit that height it made a bee-line for my location and WHAMO into the oak trees. Several "witnesses" heard it impact the trees but no one saw anything at all.

We used the last known location (immediately prior to RTH kicking in) and plotted it's intended course. Unfortunately due to very heavy foliage and the LAKE we never found the aircraft until 16 months later. The lake was lowered to facilitate dam repair and I walked over and saw it within mere seconds and it was exactly where the "plotted flight path" had indicated but it would have been about 6-8 feet under murky water.

I need to pull the SD Card and see if anything is on it. . . .

Great story and good lesson.

 

[PhantomHero]

Mine gave me a bit of a scare today as well, luckily I was able to bring it back safely. Luckily I was within a couple hundred ft. Strong interference detected, Very strong wireless interference detected, aircraft disconnected, lost video, warning, aircraft disconnected brought back it home. Shut it down, closed dji go, powered AC,RC, and app back up and all was ok..

 

[solentlife]

The comment about 0% battery made me go back to the photos to look again ..... BHAM - that's it.

So either battery ran out of 'juice' or maybe the rain incident damaged contacts / leads / power side of the AC / Battery ?

As I mentioned earlier ... rain is not the friend we think it is ... the corrosion may be exceedingly slow to show - but its there. Ask Mother Earth what it does to her rocks etc. !

Nigel

 

[Neon Euc]

Hi guys sorry for late reply. So many great stories [emoji4] haven't spoken to DJI get or even checked the flight log. Last battery count was at 68% before the crash. I did check the battery cell and cell 1 was nothing but pure red Lol. I won't give up the hobby, but will have to be a while before I get another drone as I'm still paying that one off Lol. But I will still be on the forum regardless anyway. That's to good to give up [emoji4]

 

[eaglegoaltender]

Neon - you posted this (in blue italic font below) I think, last Sunday - perhaps your flying in "heavy rain" and then after your crash - it was exposed to 14 hours of rain has likely had a negative effect on your bird. Then you mention let it dry "naturally" for 24 hours and you were up and flying again. No electronics can properly function after being exposed to that much water and it appears these units are not as "tough" as you mentioned (actually they are pretty rugged, but not when it comes to water).

If I have misunderstood when this noted crash by you (below) wasn't prior to this recent one - my apologies - regardless, ya might want to reconsider future flying in the rain. Hope you manage to get back into the game - safe future flying.

"Higher then 500 metres as I launched off a 100 metre cliff, went out to 3 miles, and flew in heavy rain. Even crashed it on a roof where it landed upside down and rained 14 hours not stop with rain pouring in all the vents. Didn't open it. Let it dry naturally and 24 hours later I was up and flying my P3A again. These things are tough"

 

[Chuck1906]

If you lost GPS signal, why didnt you fly it back in ATTI mode or use the RTH option?

 

[N017RW]

If you lost GPS signal, why didnt you fly it back in ATTI mode or use the RTH option?

RTH needs GPS.

How else would it find home?

 

[Neon Euc]

If you lost GPS signal, why didnt you fly it back in ATTI mode or use the RTH option?

I didn't lose GPS signal at all. I had full bars and about 18 SAT's. Just decided to plunge to its death.

 

[Neon Euc]

Neon - you posted this (in blue italic font below) I think, last Sunday - perhaps your flying in "heavy rain" and then after your crash - it was exposed to 14 hours of rain has likely had a negative effect on your bird. Then you mention let it dry "naturally" for 24 hours and you were up and flying again. No electronics can properly function after being exposed to that much water and it appears these units are not as "tough" as you mentioned (actually they are pretty rugged, but not when it comes to water).

If I have misunderstood when this noted crash by you (below) wasn't prior to this recent one - my apologies - regardless, ya might want to reconsider future flying in the rain. Hope you manage to get back into the game - safe future flying.

"Higher then 500 metres as I launched off a 100 metre cliff, went out to 3 miles, and flew in heavy rain. Even crashed it on a roof where it landed upside down and rained 14 hours not stop with rain pouring in all the vents. Didn't open it. Let it dry naturally and 24 hours later I was up and flying my P3A again. These things are tough"

Totally agree. It was my keenness to get it up and ruining. That said tho.... That day where it was upside down for 14 hours in the rain happened in sept last year and been flying great ever since.. Well... Up until then lol

 

[Journey]

I sent mine for a swim Oct 2016 and found it a few weeks ago (total loss)

Maybe a prototype of Putin’s underwater drone?

 

[Journey]

Mine gave me a bit of a scare today as well, luckily I was able to bring it back safely. Luckily I was within a couple hundred ft. Strong interference detected, Very strong wireless interference detected, aircraft disconnected, lost video, warning, aircraft disconnected brought back it home. Shut it down, closed dji go, powered AC,RC, and app back up and all was ok..

Aliens! They don’t like us flying in their airspace.

 

[ussvertigo]

Maybe a prototype of Putin’s underwater drone?

Spray some wd-40 on it and it’ll fly. Actually have recovered 2 from fresh water within an hour and recovered all but the batteries and camera. Had thought it was pilot error but now think the Russians were involved. He might salvage only the screws on this one though.

 

[Neon Euc]

Maybe a prototype of Putin’s underwater drone?

Lol wow, still... What a trophy and talking point to own [emoji4]

 

[lnh2424]

where is the crash footage

 

[RodPad]

where is the crash footage

He kind of had three threads going,

Crash footage
details of P3A death drop please guys :-)

Rod

 

[JoBe]

Had a great day flying. Snow stopped, sun came out so launched on a full battery. Coming into land at around 150 metres when I get compass error. Then it dropped from the sky and landed on a snowy empty golf course. Camera snapped off but shell is in a good condition. Not even a crack. Using litchi but wondering how a compass error can happen so high up.

Can anyone post a link on where to upload my DJI files please. I am only used to doing litchi so haven't a clue. If its compass error and a failure I take it DJI will repair it for free despite it being over a year old?

If not then I am done with drones. Thanks anyway guys and will upload the DATA as soon as someone will put a link on here [emoji4]View attachment 95592View attachment 95593View attachment 95594View attachment 95595

hey man i am going crazy with all the snow here in new york so i have been tempted to fly in the snow. i searched and saw that you flew in the snow last month and that it led to a crash that dji fixed for you for free. do you think that if i also flew in the snow and it caused a crash that they would also pay for it? did they ask you about flying in snow or ask about the internal moisture indicators? i just want to get my baby up the air. i've been starting her up every week or so to try to keep the memory chip on the gimble board from going bad but i want to really fly it. thanks in advance.

 

[Fly Dawg]

starting her up every week or so to try to keep the memory chip on the gimble board from going bad

I have heard of the "unused" memory chip "going bad", however, these just don't go bad with non-use, although many may seem to perceive that fact. Powering up without flying can do more harm than good as well. It's a double edge sword if you want to think of it that way. The gimbal boards tend to overheat without airflow and that will damage them. This is why it is advised to use a house fan, or an AC vent for firmware updates. Just pointing those two things out is all.

 

[BigAl07]

hey man i am going crazy with all the snow here in new york so i have been tempted to fly in the snow. i searched and saw that you flew in the snow last month and that it led to a crash that dji fixed for you for free. do you think that if i also flew in the snow and it caused a crash that they would also pay for it? did they ask you about flying in snow or ask about the internal moisture indicators? i just want to get my baby up the air. i've been starting her up every week or so to try to keep the memory chip on the gimble board from going bad but i want to really fly it. thanks in advance.

FWIW that's a very dangerous and reckless attitude to have. If you're going to fly in the NAS it's every operator's obligation to do so in with the utmost caution and safety. Intentionally engaging (or considering it) in a flight you assume can cause a crash/failure is negligent and careless.

I sincerely hope you abandon such a notion even if you "think" DJI is going to replace it.... that's kind of borderline fraud anyway . . .

 

[JoBe]

I have heard of the "unused" memory chip "going bad", however, these just don't go bad with non-use, although many may seem to perceive that fact. Powering up without flying can do more harm than good as well. It's a double edge sword if you want to think of it that way. The gimbal boards tend to overheat without airflow and that will damage them. This is why it is advised to use a house fan, or an AC vent for firmware updates. Just pointing those two things out is all.

this is what i read that made me get in the habit of starting up my p3a from time to time

Winter is here

 

[Fly Dawg]

I am presuming this would be the Flash Nand. They do have a "finate" number of cycles, but without the more detailed knowledge of the Nand itself, I can't offer further comment, other than what I stated previously. Power is required for any changes to occur, otherwise they are in a "dormant" state. Also, without knowing more about the circuity involved, I can also not comment on this in a completely "knowledgeable" manner.