Crashed my Phantom 3 in Nepal mountains flying at altitudes up to 4000m, video

[stani123]

I guess I took it to it limits..

Quality not so great as I never recovered the drone, Nepalise army got to it first and confiscated it, I also got in a lot of trouble.
It look like it was a serious compass error, not like the ones i experienced before..

 

[rdharma101]

Oh my god, the view is breath taking. I know you must be devastated to lose your drone. I know how that feel. So you think the high attitude caused the error for the compass? Can you fly in Atti mode to get it back? What kind of trouble they gave you? I want to know more.

Robert


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[dogerki]

Why did the confiscated it? Sorry to hear about that, but I'm pretty sure either way the drone would have been dead.

 

[Meta4]

So you think the high attitude caused the error for the compass? Can you fly in Atti mode to get it back? What kind of trouble they gave you? I want to know more.

High altitude is unrelated to compass issues and the P3 specs say the Phantom will fly up to 6000 metres so 3500 should not be a problem.

The OP said he's had other compass errors and I suspect this may be a clue.
When/where was the compass calibrated might shed some light on what the cause was.

 

[stani123]

I think being surrounded by 7-8 thousand meters mountains might had something to do with it.
They accused me of flying close to the army barracks and also with out the permit (apparently anyone needs to have one to fly in Nepal)
For two days I was bounced between army, police and national park authorities before they let me go.

 

[stani123]

I tried atti mode to no avail it as totally unresponsive

 

[yawnalot29]

Wow.......

 

[RoyVa]

How did you get the sd card if they got the quad?

 

[stani123]

I didnt, they would not even give that back to me, the footage is from app cache, hence the lower quality

 

[Ti22]

The “Grassy Knoller” in me kinda suspects a military weapon or jammer of some type? But you said you had the compass error before? In the same area? EDIT - "sorry misunderstood, you mention it was "unlike" any compass error you'd experienced before."

btw, I did not like your OP because you lost your bird but because I “liked” and appreciated the post and video.

Sorry you lost your Phantom and got the run around by military goons!

 

[fender37]

sad loss sorry to hear your ordeal ... I have an fc 40 flown once from almost as new on my fist outing it just took off and flew away
landed on the grass the decided to fly upwards again then hit the grass again and stopped. I have no faith in these phantom quads

 

[stani123]

yeah I got another one now and every time I fly I get very anxious, dont know if I am having fun anymore..
Pretty expensive hobby it can be, already had close call with my new one, lost signal and later realized through video that it almost hit the roof of 6 story house, even though I was flying way above it before signal was lost.
My question, say your return altitude is set 60m, and when you lost signal you were 90m, how will the drone fly back? at 90m or go down to 60m?

 

[Meta4]

My question, say your return altitude is set 60m, and when you lost signal you were 90m, how will the drone fly back? at 90m or go down to 60m?

In RTH your Phantom will not descend until it gets to above homepoint.
If below 60m it would ascend to 60m and fly home.
If at 60m or more, it would fly home and then descend

 

[fender37]

why did his last one not do that ?? don't give uses much confidence in the dji stuff
I watched a video with dji present people were asking questions about the problems they were having with their quads and there were 2 guys and a woman from DJI the woman gave the attitude of I don't give a F**K we have your money. take a look it's on you tube

 

[Meta4]

why did his last one not do that ?? don't give uses much confidence in the dji stuff

Using the P3 and seeing how it does what it's supposed to gives you a lot of confidence.
You'd need to know a lot more to know the cause of his problem and he's not giving much information.
A small number of crashes are mechanical/electrical failure but the majority turn out to be user error.

 

[stani123]

i am not sure, but on the video it literally just flew centimeters over the building when it was in RTH mode
whats the link to that video?

 

[stani123]

The crash in Nepal one was definitely not user error, DJI has analyzed the the flight log and confirmed it
I dont think Phantom 3 is designed to fly in the mountains, not to mentioned Nepalese ones, I actually had another compass error just yesterday flying near headland hill on the beach not higher maybe 150m height but long in lengths, it didnt last long though and went back to GPS mode in few seconds
over all I am pretty happy with Phantom 3, do push it to the limit thought, it will the a matter of time before I will crash another one

 

[Meta4]

I actually had another compass error just yesterday flying near headland hill on the beach not higher maybe 150m height but long in lengths, it didn't last long though and went back to GPS mode in few seconds

You're getting a lot of compass errors.
What can you tell us about your compass calibration?

 

[TerenceM]

Horrible feeling losing you Phantom. Yesterday my P3S took off in a ravine and the plan was to go up vertically, rotate, take some shots and then straight down. Nothing fancy. Unfortunately, at about 80 meters altitude, my planned shooting height, I rotated the phantom and in the process lost my orientation and accidentally flew it into the cliff. It bounced off, and I thought/hoped I could regain control, but no. It spiraled down part of the cliff.
And I thought that was it, one month old drone lost. I searched but nada. Came back to the site about an hour later with my son and we both climbed the cliff and found the P3S. My son did. To my great relief no damage whatsoever, it landed in s bush that helped cushion the fall. Was I a happy camper. Note to self - no flying in ravines, ever.
I attach a shot of the cliff in question, drone was halfway up it.

 

[QaaUz]

Strange - after you lost control, the bird didn't appear to be out of control. Whatever controlled it was unable to do so effectively. Embedded software compensating RC failure, or outside influence. RC failure should initiate RTH.

Scenery is very pleasing to the eye though winds, turbulence, soggy mists, no sunlight and so on, make it less pleasant than the scenery implies.

A rotten experience you've been through. I've never flown near towns, people or military zones or air trafic areas. For those who need, there will seemingly alwzys be someone who has a rule set - it can help to view ahead in order to embody the substance of suchlike from the fundements.
Still rotten to lose such the bird since its price puts it out of reach of many, and many certainly can't use their funds to replace.
It might have been a useful tool in your environment.
Thankyou for showing us your surroundings -
With love