Crash- Phantom 4 flyaway changing to "follow me" mode.

[Drone Master]

Thanks guys. Here's the revised photo without my FAA registration. At least everyone knows I'm a responsible pilot!

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That's good. Like Meta4 said above, I may not be able to knock on your door, but at least someone else cannot use your reg number to cause you pain should they use it for bad intent.
That really was the point. Hope you get your bird back soon.

 

[PhanFran]

Responsible pilot, yes, although, in my case i started fiddling with the intelligent fly modes only after several weeks, even months, of flying the 'normal' way and getting experienced with this very nice but also very complex flying machine.


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[GunnyPapa]

One thing I wanted to mention, Clearly your FAA reg is visible. Now I know where you live.
Might be a good idea to blur the reg in the photos.

Paranoia Will Destroy Ya.

 

[GunnyPapa]

On a serious side, after watching vid, your subject walked away, he was the POI......

 

[AndersGB]

Hi Rob,

Sorry for your crash.

Your incident seems very similar to my crash when I tested Follow Me mode, you can read about it in this long thread Testing Follow me-mode, fly away and crash - happy ending! . After several weeks of mailing back and forth with DJI they finally accepted it as a warranty issue.

You have another thread about similar fly aways when testing Follow Me mode here Follow Me mode fly-aways

I really hope you get it repaired under warranty.

Anders

 

[madmanbean]

I did look closely at the logs and whilst there is a good outcome I did not that the battery use was only on it's second charge which implies that you were indeed still very much in learning mode and I wonder if there as a panic reaction that caused you to select atti mode in error?

 

[Meta4]

I wonder if there as a panic reaction that caused you to select atti mode in error?

The flight data shows that the Phantom was in Follow-Me mode, not atti

 

[RGB_lights]

I am indeed a new pilot. Stated at the start of the thread this was an early "learn to use it" flight and I was being cautious testing each feature. As stated, I was definitely In P mode as madmanbean stated and the logs showed.


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[RGB_lights]

Anders - my crash does sound like yours. Were you recording video? I'm convinced the CPU on the Phantom glitched. Look at the video and notice the corrupt video right at the Follow me mode flyaway. I've tried to queue this video clip right before the event. See the double image?

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My drone is still in transit on the way to DJI for inspection and repair. Won't even arrive until the 1st :-(

Hopefully I get the same support you did!

 

[Phantomix]

any updates?

 

[RGB_lights]

My drone is in UPS shipping channels and won't be at DJI until the 1st. Don't know how long it will take for them to process it after it arrives. I'll definitely post when I hear anything.

 

[Meta4]

As stated, I was definitely In P mode as madmanbean stated and the logs showed.

This is what the flight record shows:

At 7:38 Follow-me Mode (Other 25) was enabled
The Phantom stayed in Follow-me Mode up to the last flight record at 7:57
At no point in the flight was the Phantom in atti mode.

 

[peterepeat69]

Yep another one bites the dust, I never use follow me on phantom 3, I almost 100% know it will fail. Why risk it?


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[AndersGB]

Anders - my crash does sound like yours. Were you recording video? I'm convinced the CPU on the Phantom glitched. Look at the video and notice the corrupt video right at the Follow me mode flyaway. I've tried to queue this video clip right before the event. See the double image?

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My drone is still in transit on the way to DJI for inspection and repair. Won't even arrive until the 1st :-(

Hopefully I get the same support you did!

No, I wasn't recording video, I had planned to take some photos.

I also believe there is a quality problem with the Follow Me function, I won't use it anymore. DJI should be aware of the problem by now, hopefully then will handle it as a warranty issue. If not, don't give up, give them all the facts you have about the incident, and tell them to carefully study the Flight Log at the exact moment when you activate Follow Me. I had a long mail conversation with them before they finally changed their mind.

 

[Stealthmatt]

Thanks guys. Here's the revised photo without my FAA registration. At least everyone knows I'm a responsible pilot!

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Found your problem, you left the little sticker on the top of the DJI logo. When you leave this sticker on the DJI gods can't reach your drone properly because it causes interference with the "holy" connection. Like GPS, you need to maintain a strong holy connection so that the gods look favorably upon your drone to ensure safe flight

but seriously, sad to see your drone like this. I hope DJI come to the table and do the right thing.

 

[RGB_lights]

DJI has received my drone. They sent me a link for "repair progress inquiry" When I pull it up, it shows:

"Received 2016/6/2 14:51:58"
"Repair cost assessed and quoted 2016/6/3 12:37:17"
"Payment Status Waiting Payment"

I've not received any invoice, see no links to find out what they assessed as cost, whether they are covering under warranty (sure doesn't look like they are offering a warranty repair). Anyone been through this process? How will they let me know the details?
Thanks.

 

[varangian]

In my case i was sent an itemized statement within 24 hours of them receiving it. As soon as I agreed to the repair, they had it finished and shipped by the end of the next day.


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[RGB_lights]

Heard from DJI and they are asking for more than $200 for the repair. No acknowledgement of the flyaway in that quote. I've asked for it to be put into the dispute process. Round one DJI? Disappointed.


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[RSV_Ecosse]

Hi,

Any more updates on this? I'm a new P3S owner and I believe exactly the same thing has happened to me. Unfortunately, it was during my first proper flight and I panicked and the end result was a crashed P3S. Broke a prop and caused superficial damage but she still flies ok, thankfully. I had been flying for a bit and then changed to 'Follow Me' mode. The P3S then pitched suddenly and flew off at high speed over a canal and into trees on the other side of the canal. Luckily, it landed on the bank and not in the water!

Unfortunately I wasn't videoing at the time as the SD card was full. It gave me quite a fright and as a beginner I didn't really know what to do (I didn't expect the thing to head off at a serious rate of knots in the opposite direction to be honest!!).

Here is a snap of my flight data from the incident. I'm now Googling 'Mode 25' and 'Follow Me flyaway' for more info.

 

[JWarren]

I wonder if anything could have been done to prevent it/get control back.