As the video shows: Phantom 4, 65 degrees and no wind, flying in P mode about 4 am. Obstacle avoidance comes and goes depending on how dark the area is, it was on during this portion of the flight.
Flying along, there are no wires or ropes strung across the road.
Suddenly, jerked sideways and "dragging" at the rear. No error on screen at the moment the event starts.
I struggle for control and discover that despite being really twisted it's still flying, somewhat. I go for a landing and just about nearly do when, I don't know why, it starts heading back up and then yawning off to one side until finally the other rear prop hits a light pole and both of its blades are immediately sheared off and I get the "motor idle, prop missing" message.
The crash leaves it on the ground, upside down, but otherwise undamaged. I replaced the two back blades, powered off and on again and she took off and flew again perfectly fine.
The prop that broke off (not the one that shredded on the light post) I recovered. It has some brownish colored "dirt" or "stuff" on its leading edges... did it hit a bird/bat?
So, the question is: what caused the incident?
Flying along, there are no wires or ropes strung across the road.
Suddenly, jerked sideways and "dragging" at the rear. No error on screen at the moment the event starts.
I struggle for control and discover that despite being really twisted it's still flying, somewhat. I go for a landing and just about nearly do when, I don't know why, it starts heading back up and then yawning off to one side until finally the other rear prop hits a light pole and both of its blades are immediately sheared off and I get the "motor idle, prop missing" message.
The crash leaves it on the ground, upside down, but otherwise undamaged. I replaced the two back blades, powered off and on again and she took off and flew again perfectly fine.
The prop that broke off (not the one that shredded on the light post) I recovered. It has some brownish colored "dirt" or "stuff" on its leading edges... did it hit a bird/bat?
So, the question is: what caused the incident?
Last edited: