GadgetGuy
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Catastrophic crash tonight - Phantom 3 Pro destroyed!!
- Thread starter Australis5
- Start date
At first I was like, why does everyone say RTM?! Now I'm like......... I cannot believe the sheer number of new owners here that you just know haven't bothered to RTM!! You hear so many people say that's the last thing they do, and make a joke of it. But for the kind of expense for these things, it's simply beyond belief that they're actually not reading it, or just skimming over it. I don't get it. Oh! The box says ready to fly!
In the aviation world, more than 80% of the accidents and incidents are attributable to "human error". And we are talking of a system with strict regulations, procedures certifications , licenses, oversight......
Now guess how many Phantom accidents are human error when to begin with a significative number of pilots have not even bothered reading the Flight Manual.
Of course blaming DJI is fashionable and I am sure they have their own responsabilities on some of them, guess how many are simply human error.
Flying, with pilot onboared or not is a very demanding activity that forgives no mistakes.
And I just want to say I do not mean the accident related on this very post is human error. I am talking in general about the "Phantom world"
Now guess how many Phantom accidents are human error when to begin with a significative number of pilots have not even bothered reading the Flight Manual.
Of course blaming DJI is fashionable and I am sure they have their own responsabilities on some of them, guess how many are simply human error.
Flying, with pilot onboared or not is a very demanding activity that forgives no mistakes.
And I just want to say I do not mean the accident related on this very post is human error. I am talking in general about the "Phantom world"
I'd be curious, does the prop you found actually spin on to the motor in the direction it's supposed to? I know there are marking on the props indicating their direction to lock and unlock. Does the actual spin direction match what the particular color should be? Could it be mis-threaded?
[QUOTE="And I just want to say I do not mean the accident related on this very post is human error. I am talking in general about the "Phantom world" [/QUOTE]
Thanks for adding that. I, for one, did RTM cover to cover, in addition to exhaustive research, watching instructional videos, etc. That being said, I have no doubt that many do not. An expensive mistake as the owner, and potential risk to others (and fueling public perception towards the hobby in a negative manner). I think there is a lot to be learned through piloting these things, but putting everything into pre-flight safety, and checks shouldn't be overlooked.
A part of my first reaction on a failed motor spinning off a prop was "how is it that a prop would ever come off - why isn't there some sort of retainer mechanism to prevent it" (although it still would have went down). I know my situation is rare, and was unpreventable. It's mechanical, **** happens. I still feel like DJI needs to "dummy proof" the prop installation procedure - whether that is a prop that almost has a torque setting that just stops it from going on too tight, or some type of retaining mechanism, just reducing another potential point of failure or human error - especially for new pilots. Because as you said - not everyone is going to RTM. And even if they did, the prop tightening language is still a bit vague (as evidenced by the confusion of many).
[/QUOTE]Thanks for adding that. I, for one, did RTM cover to cover, in addition to exhaustive research, watching instructional videos, etc. That being said, I have no doubt that many do not. An expensive mistake as the owner, and potential risk to others (and fueling public perception towards the hobby in a negative manner). I think there is a lot to be learned through piloting these things, but putting everything into pre-flight safety, and checks shouldn't be overlooked.
A part of my first reaction on a failed motor spinning off a prop was "how is it that a prop would ever come off - why isn't there some sort of retainer mechanism to prevent it" (although it still would have went down). I know my situation is rare, and was unpreventable. It's mechanical, **** happens. I still feel like DJI needs to "dummy proof" the prop installation procedure - whether that is a prop that almost has a torque setting that just stops it from going on too tight, or some type of retaining mechanism, just reducing another potential point of failure or human error - especially for new pilots. Because as you said - not everyone is going to RTM. And even if they did, the prop tightening language is still a bit vague (as evidenced by the confusion of many).
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Sorry to hear that!
The props counter the motor direction, so the motors actually tighten the props to the optimal tightness.
I dont take my props off. I dont like the fact that they are nylon threads, over time, the spinning on and off will cause wear... I only take them off to go into the back pack when hiking
The props counter the motor direction, so the motors actually tighten the props to the optimal tightness.
I dont take my props off. I dont like the fact that they are nylon threads, over time, the spinning on and off will cause wear... I only take them off to go into the back pack when hiking
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Thanks for explaining that, I will take it as a compliment - branding me a conservative.
I happen to know a few things about threads but will heed your advice.
I am anxious to hear the followup re how DJI responds to you. I don't own a P3 yet, and am reading everything I can to learn all about them, then I will make an informed decision before laying down over $1000 for a quadcoptor.
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Right now it is the best out there... I dont care what anyone says, DJI rushed to market with the P3. In 6 months it may be awesome, when all the bugs are out. I am sure I am one of the REALLY unlucky ones. And yes I am really annoyed that I am waiting so long, hopefully they replace Australia5s soon!
The P2 is a great quad but what i have experienced of a friends P3, it is much better...
Personally, I would wait another 3 months or so... GoPro may be a very big challenger to it!
That's a smart way to approach it. I did the same thing. It's early, but I personally don't feel like there is some widespread pattern of issues that should cause concern or reason to avoid the P3. I believe mine was fluke, and a rare mechanical issue that I, and most others, would be unlikely to encounter.
I already received my replacement (since I went through Amazon, I was able to deal with them, not have to go through DJI, at least while I was still under my Amazon return period). They were great to deal with, and I'd recommend going that route just for the awesome customer service (DJI could learn a lot on this front). Was a little anxious easing back into it with the new one, but no problems so far - and I don't anticipate any.
Despite what happened, I think the P3 is just awesome, and an incredibly stable platform, and a ton of fun to fly. I looked at the 3DR Solo, which had some great features, but was a lot more expensive unless you already own a GoPro 4, and as Stephan mentioned, GoPro is said to be coming out with one later this year or next year (a big threat for DJI). The main consideration for me was that from a stability standpoint, and which company has been doing this longer, developed more products, puts more into engineering, R&D, etc, DJI came out as a no brainer. I'm excited to see more competition. It's good for everyone in the hobby, as a consumer. But I'm not really interested in someone's Gen 1 product while they work out bugs at my expense. There is a certain element of risk with this hobby, that I am coming to terms with when you put one of these 400' in the sky. No guarantees, but the P3 seemed to be the safest bet. It is still early in the P3 lifecycle, but I just mean that DJI right now is the more mature company in the drone space. They really do need to tighten up their customer service though - especially with GoPro getting in this market - but thats another topic. Best of luck in whatever you decide!
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The Active Braking System of the P3 makes it very important that you tighten down props more so than any other previous phantom, despite the fact that they are threaded in a counter rotational manner. With that, it's pretty disappointing that DJI decided to switch over to plastic threaded props over aluminum. Questionable decision form DJI
Not at all questionable! Its impossible to get everyone to apply the required torque every time to keep the props in place in an aluminum hub. But with NYLON it is far less an issue. If the threads are bottomed out its likely not going to fall off.
That is true I would guess maybe the flyer held the 2 joy sticks inward @ 7 and 4 o'clock,and u would have too hold for 2 plus seconds.Who knows really feel bad for owner
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Could you have possibly flown near power lines? If your UAV /controller transmission path gets interrupted by the encircling magnetic field, it's like shutting down your controller, mid-flight.
I didn't read everything, but from quick glancing, its obvious that you had a prop fly off. Getting anyone to accept financial responsibility for that is slim to none.
I'm not understanding your holding off a purchase based on this case, or really much of any case. This was 100% user error. How can DJI be expected to, or blamed for not, taking a loss for a users mistake? That doesn't make DJI a good company! It makes them destined to fail!! This was a simple, honest, user mistake! It happens to a lot of people! We don't fault Chevrolet for a car being side--swiped when it pulls out in front of traffic! Why would we expect DJI to do differently? Mistakes happen! Sometimes we take it in the shorts for them. Pick up the pieces and move on. Sometimes literally!
I'm not understanding your holding off a purchase based on this case, or really much of any case. This was 100% user error. How can DJI be expected to, or blamed for not, taking a loss for a users mistake? That doesn't make DJI a good company! It makes them destined to fail!! This was a simple, honest, user mistake! It happens to a lot of people! We don't fault Chevrolet for a car being side--swiped when it pulls out in front of traffic! Why would we expect DJI to do differently? Mistakes happen! Sometimes we take it in the shorts for them. Pick up the pieces and move on. Sometimes literally!
There was nothing user error about this. But, like you said, you didn't read the post.
What was the cause of the prop falling off, sustaining no damage, and being found on the neighbors roof?
I'm no DJI engineer, but I do know those props were on good and snug. The consensus was a rare ESC or motor failure that spun the prop off.
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