50 foot fall from the sky warning

Matt W Ruff · Jun 30, 2016

So I start this treat now and update it as soon as I get more info:

A friend I got into drones has a P3A and he forgot to put the Memory Card in his drone. Took it up to video a friend house and as soon as he presses the video record button the drone freaked out an fell from the sky!

He's on the latest Firmware.
I'm in route to his house to see if it's repairable (it only 6 week old) I'm going to do a test with my P3P but since there not the same can someone do a test without hurting your drone to see if we have a issue with the latest firmware or just a freak accident. I'll post my result as soon as I get back (tonight)

msinger · Jun 30, 2016

If you can get the TXT flight log, upload it here and post a link back here.

Multicoptertec · Jun 30, 2016

Matt W Ruff said:
So I start this treat now and update it as soon as I get more info:

A friend I got into drones has a P3A and he forgot to put the Memory Card in his drone. Took it up to video a friend house and as soon as he presses the video record button the drone freaked out an fell from the sky!

He's on the latest Firmware.
I'm in route to his house to see if it's repairable (it only 6 week old) I'm going to do a test with my P3P but since there not the same can someone do a test without hurting your drone to see if we have a issue with the latest firmware or just a freak accident. I'll post my result as soon as I get back (tonight)

I doubt that the record button would cause the drone to "freak out" and fall from the sky. As far as a test, are you seriously asking for someone to press the video record button, and see if their drone crashes? If this was the case, we would have a whole lotta crashed birds.

Matt W Ruff · Jun 30, 2016

Well not from 50 foot but I'm about to test my P3P with a person holding on to the drone to see if the same thing happens again. I have to finish up at work and head to his house so it will be 6 to 7 PM before I can reproduce the error. But everything had been fine until he left the card out and then about the circle the guys house with (Point of view) and pressing the video record button on the remote.

flpholt · Jun 30, 2016

sounds like another user error to me hitting record doesn't make it fall from sky

D'sAdvanced · Jun 30, 2016

I can attest that the drone doesn't fall - have done it a few times, not having realized the SD card was not in the camera. Chances of replicating this are slim to none

Mark The Droner · Jun 30, 2016

I wonder if he forgot to fully charge the battery too... ?

alokbhargava · Jun 30, 2016

We will get clues only after analyzing the logs, guesses will lead us no where.

Matt W Ruff · Jun 30, 2016

So I know nothing about the Flight log but it uploaded
Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

My P3P worked fine with or without the memory card

But he did nothing other than press the record button and then .... Crash
Battery was fully charge and still above 4 at 95%

Matt W Ruff · Jun 30, 2016

flpholt said:
sounds like another user error to me hitting record doesn't make it fall from sky

But that what happen.....

Mark The Droner · Jun 30, 2016

I don't see anything in the log. Maybe it was dawn and really cold up there in northern Maine, but it would show in the log as a voltage problem. But everything looks good.

He might have a warranty claim...

RocketBrew · Jun 30, 2016

Google Earth never gets old...

BigAl07 · Jun 30, 2016

I've taken off and hit Record/Shutter button many Many MANY times with the SD anywhere but in the aircraft. I'd bet my bottom dollar that it was just a coincidence that when he hit that button the aircraft failed.

Hopefully (for the owner and ALL of us) they will find the cause an a solution.

Matt W Ruff · Jun 30, 2016

OK so we tested it several time without the card again and no failure, so does anyone know the process for a warranty claim or do we go back to Amazon it only 45 days old!

Digdat0 · Jun 30, 2016

Matt W Ruff said:
OK so we tested it several time without the card again and no failure, so does anyone know the process for a warranty claim or do we go back to Amazon it only 45 days old!

contact DJI here : DJI Support - Phantom 3 Advanced

tell them what happened and you want to send it in. they will give you case number and will send you a fedex label to print and you can ship it. They will determine if warranty and contact you.

Multicoptertec · Jul 1, 2016

Curious, was the battery still in the bird after the crash? Were all props still attached?

Matt W Ruff · Jul 1, 2016

Multicoptertec said:
Curious, was the battery still in the bird after the crash? Were all props still attached?

One prop was gone and one broke, Battery was knocked lose but still in

Matt W Ruff · Jul 1, 2016

Proof - 3

Matt W Ruff
Jul 1, 2016

Proof - 2

Matt W Ruff
Jul 1, 2016

Proof - 1

Matt W Ruff
Jul 1, 2016

Wolfiesden · Jul 1, 2016

Matt W Ruff said:
One prop was gone and one broke, Battery was knocked lose but still i

Well, there is your clue.

I would bet one prop came off during flight due to improper tightening. If it was on the bird on takeoff, I can't imagine how it was not on it when it crashed other than it was lost during flight.

Wolfiesden · Jul 1, 2016

Looking at the CSV, it appears that at 1m 31.5s the roll and pitch went from normal to freaking crazy. Roll went from a normal 5.7 to 48 to 118 to 164 to -64. That pattern seems to continue until impact. This seems to indicate a violent rolling of the AC and appears to support the lost prop concept.