Devastated, flight number 124, Phantom 3 at the bottom of the ocean

[Trackman1]

I'm no expert but reading these forums, especiall recently about battery issues/voltages etc - here is my 2cents

Take off battery shows 97% - after 31secs of flight the voltages read:
3.637v 3.66v 3.638v 3.561v

1 cell shows quite a bit of deviation after 31secs - I'm thinking it's a battery/ voltages issue (ie taking off on a battery that isn't fully charged)

The above voltages look way off after 31secs of flight from a '97%' charged battery - (edit to add) I'm usually nearly landed when those voltages show & the battery is showing anything between 20 - 35% depending if I've been hard on the sticks

Was this battery lying around for a few days/ week prior to use? When I charge a battery fully it only reads 98% in the app - unless I turn the battery on & then connect to the charger - then it goes to 100% (this is important imo)

Were you flying agressively at all? Also some strong gusts & you got some scary compass readings (last second of flight) which could indicate a bird strike - Just trying to hopefully find you some answers


Sorry for your loss

I am no battery expert either. But one thing I have learned is when a battery is rated at a certain voltage. Say 15.2 volts. That is when it is discharged. Empty.
Same with car battery at 12 volts. That is empty. Batteries must have higher voltage than rated or they are discharged.

A 15.2v battery with 4 cells should have at fully discharge state. 15.2 / 4 = 3.8v per cell. This battery were below that.
These battery's should be more like 4.3 volts / cell at full charge.

The fpv may still work as it may require less voltage than the motors. I don't understand why you did not have a low battery warning.

Very sorry to hear of this happening to you. Hopefully we all learn something from your experience.

 

[alokbhargava]

Sorry to hear about this unfortunate event for you. You are an experienced pilot and I'm sure you must have taken all precautions before taking off.

It's unfortunate that you didn't get any warning before it went down. I will say you were not at fault at all. System has to warn a pilot if there is something wrong detected. This is an advanced tech product.

Wish DJI fully supports loyal customer like you.

 

[ELCHEAPO]

Why was it switching between gps & atti mode at 7 min mark ?

It was tumbling about whilst falling, all within

I am no battery expert either. But one thing I have learned is when a battery is rated at a certain voltage. Say 15.2 volts. That is when it is discharged. Empty.
Same with car battery at 12 volts. That is empty. Batteries must have higher voltage than rated or they are discharged.

A 15.2v battery with 4 cells should have at fully discharge state. 15.2 / 4 = 3.8v per cell. This battery were below that.
These battery's should be more like 4.3 volts / cell at full charge.

The fpv may still work as it may require less voltage than the motors. I don't understand why you did not have a low battery warning.

Very sorry to hear of this happening to you. Hopefully we all learn something from your experience.

At 100% charge they are ^^^^^^

 

[jingthing]

I am, ore should I say was, the proud owner of a Phantom 3 Advanced. I began flying Phantoms in 2012 , started with the number one and worked my way up to number three. And what a machine that is. The technology took a big leap the last few years.

Last week I went for a flight. I did not fly for a week because of the weather here in Holland. But it cleared so I went out for a fly. I have four batterys and I had already used three so I was into my last flight for the day. Prior to the flights I had updated my firmware to the latest version v1.6.0040. Calibrated the MUI and compass after updating. I always fly with the original DJI app (2.4.3) and I take good care of my airplaine. Check the Phantom and her props between flights, never take off with a battery lower than 100 procent and change the props if nessesary. As far as I now, I really did nothing wrong.

So I took of and everything looked fine, no strange warnings. No buildings, no interference. But suddenly after 7 minuts and 6 seconds the airplane went bizarre and crashed. Black screen, pushed the RTH but I already new, I lost my phantom. Unbelieve, angry all kind of different emotions I went threw. And now I am sad. Very sad. I now it can happen, always be prepared loosing your Phantom, but so fast after I bought it. I cant send it back to DJI because its on the "bottom" of the sea. This part of the waddensea fells dry with low tide but its like quicksand, I really tried but its to dangerous.

I hope DJI is gone help me, its fuc.. up to go home with only your RC.

Here is the flight:

Dropbox - 2015_12_29_12_23_52.mp4

And here is:

HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

Sorry for your loss, going home with only the RC must really suck,

One thing for sure, it was not a tree or a mountain in the way, i never seen any there.

 

[Daninho]

Looks like a prop flying off to me or motor failure, i dont think it has to to with the battery. Doesnt matter if the battery was 98% or 100%.

 

[Trackman1]

One possibility I see (I am still waiting for my P3P delivery) but thru the reading I have done on firmware updates. Is that
the battery firmware also requires updating to each battery you own. The OP states he updated firmware prior to flight.
Could it be possible that he missed one battery? Or maybe do one twice and think all were done?
Is it possible to take off with the drone firmware not matching the battery firmware?

 

[alokbhargava]

One possibility I see (I am still waiting for my P3P delivery) but thru the reading I have done on firmware updates. Is that
the battery firmware also requires updating to each battery you own. The OP states he updated firmware prior to flight.
Could it be possible that he missed one battery? Or maybe do one twice and think all were done?
Is it possible to take off with the drone firmware not matching the battery firmware?

No alarms and no battery switched off case so it's not Battery FW issue.

 

[Zaini]

Hi Fly'g Dutchman
While doing the cornering, you might have started CSC , which means shutting down the engine on air while flying.

 

[0DRK3RT]

Question: Is the data that healthy drones provide accurate? Do firmware updates to the P3 and Battery impact it's ability to decrypted the info uploaded to the website?

Just curious after watching this video which shows Healthy drones information from his flight that he says didn't happen, Specifically loss of signal for 12 seconds. Seems fishy IMO...

Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Hypersport1]

Hi Flying Dutchman. I feel for your loss. Nothing worse then watching your screen go black and knowing it's death. I watched your video. The way it looks like it was flying fine then just started to twirl looks too be one of couple things. A motor malfunction that just gave out or maybe prop came off or a seabird attacking it. I would prob rule on the motor malfunctioning due to the sudden twirl. Just my opinion I am gonna look at the data next but either way you can see that it is a not your fault. I would send dji the video and hope for the best. Good luck

 

[jasonb777]

Sorry for your loss man. I know how it feels, I lost my P2V+ to the drink last year; it's a baaad feeling. It just really irks me that the battery has a firmware that will shut off the whole bird if there is a battery issue I know I' beating a dead horse but come on... Whats the next firmware going to be? If you go over 400ft the battery will cut off? Just seems like we didn't have this issue to worry about until they designed this new battery firmware....

 

[oakmeadows]

[emoji106]


I agree regarding topping up the batteries on the day of flight

 

[snowghost]

That is what mine did as well, then crash.
My log:
HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

Wow. My original battery from May 2015 threw bad deviations from cell #1, two flights in a row for most of the flights. HealthyDrones shows battery life at 100%.

Opened a ticket with DJI over the weekend.

 

[fvader]

Looks like a prop flying off to me or motor failure, i dont think it has to to with the battery. Doesnt matter if the battery was 98% or 100%.

i also think prop loss is the reason for this crash.
the spinning out of control is what caused the compass readings and battery death would probably have cut off video before it tanked. so seems not as likely to me. didn't appear to be struck either. prop loss seems more likely than motor death. so prop loss it is!

 

[Othan1]

DUDE! This sounds exactly like my flight the other day and you have a ton of compass errors in the last few seconds of flight. Exactly the same situation here. Even your video looks the same as mine and I did not get hit by a bird. I have seen a bird strike in a hover and you typically see their wing or feathers as a result.

Here is my thread on my particular crash...I did not recover the P3P either.

Strange Crash: P3P Lost, Compass Went Haywire | DJI Phantom Forum
HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

I am contacting DJI today.

Same here: Second Phantom 3 Pro Down... | DJI Phantom Forum

They fixed it and returned but they never did tell me what happened or what they did to fix it.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

I'm not an expert by any means, and I don't even own a P3, but here is what I see FWIW. It appears you have a relatively new battery that's been through 16 cycles, right? At the 31 second mark, you've got nearly 100 mv difference between the highest and lowest cell. That seems like a lot. At the 55 second mark, the cells are apart by 100 mv.

None of my four 3S batteries are that far apart at any time. So maybe that is what caused your battery to shut down.

We can see the temp climbs pretty rapidly to almost 100 degrees F. My batteries typically drop in temp during flight when I'm flying in cool weather. They start at 60 F and go down to the 50s and even the 40s.

Finally - the initial capacity shows only 4438 mAh. That seems low, doesn't it?

You say you didn't fly for a week. Let me ask you this - and this is important: When was the last time you charged that battery? What day did you last charge it - exactly?

Looks like a battery problem. But it certainly appears the fault lies more on the battery than on you.

Thanks for posting. Sorry for your loss.

@Marknmd Thank you for looking into my flight. I charged the battery three days before the flight.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

@Keith Lampman I wish I had one, lol

 

[Flying Dutchman]

I feel for your lost, every time I take off I get butterflies on my stomach, thinking that something mat happen, so far so good but you never know
Did you get a chace to switch to ATTI when you noticed that there was a problem ???

@AIRNUTS thx , but no it went so fast before I new she was gone..

 

[Flying Dutchman]

That was sad, but we have to accept a chance of some sudden failure every time we fly.
Considering the location I wonder if a sea bird hit it?
Maybe a motor failed. It looked as though power stayed on as it fell so I guess battery was not implicated.

@4wd I think the same. I think its a motor ore prop failure. And your right everytime you fly there is a small change for sudden failure, but thank god its small. The Phantom is a very trustworthy machine.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

I don't think a battery could cause the Phantom to fall like that. It most likely struck a bird, a motor died, or a prop flew off.

@msinger I think so too, I think my motor died, did you have a change too look into the flightlog you requested?