DISABLE "Smart go home."

[Sandra Miller Films]

I use my P3P for our wedding videography business. Last week we were getting some aerial shots at a quazi forested area for a engagement shoot. I was getting close to battery low so I flew the drone home my self and was about 2 feet off the ground and about 10 feet in front of me going to land.

Well the RTH kicked in suddenly as the battery got low and it began to ascent to its pre determined height to fly home. Well unfortunately I was under a tree. I tried valiantly to stop this from happening but it all happened so fast. My P3P hit a branch and came down from about 50 feet free fall. SLAM! Broke the gimbal arm, and some other things. Drone was a complete loss.

All because of this option. I never thought of this happening but it did and as a business owner with clients who are expect drone footage this was pretty upsetting since I am a good pilot and very safe and cautious. Fortunately we have Amazon Prime and I ordered a new one via my phone about 5 minutes after the crash. I also have insurance on my equipment so I have been reimbursed.

DONT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU! Disable that

 

[DeeX]

I use my P3P for our wedding videography business. Last week we were getting some aerial shots at a quazi forested area for a engagement shoot. I was getting close to battery low so I flew the drone home my self and was about 2 feet off the ground and about 10 feet in front of me going to land.

Well the RTH kicked in suddenly as the battery got low and it began to ascent to its pre determined height to fly home. Well unfortunately I was under a tree. I tried valiantly to stop this from happening but it all happened so fast. My P3P hit a branch and came down from about 50 feet free fall. SLAM! Broke the gimbal arm, and some other things. Drone was a complete loss.

All because of this option. I never thought of this happening but it did and as a business owner with clients who are expect drone footage this was pretty upsetting since I am a good pilot and very safe and cautious. Fortunately we have Amazon Prime and I ordered a new one via my phone about 5 minutes after the crash. I also have insurance on my equipment so I have been reimbursed.

DONT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU! Disable that

Where can one get their Phantom 3 insured?

 

[Sandra Miller Films]

Mine is covered on my business insurance with State Farm. I dont know if they just do the drone but I have a policy for all my camera equipment, audio equipment as well as liability type stuff.

 

[GadgetGuy]

I use my P3P for our wedding videography business. Last week we were getting some aerial shots at a quazi forested area for a engagement shoot. I was getting close to battery low so I flew the drone home my self and was about 2 feet off the ground and about 10 feet in front of me going to land.

Well the RTH kicked in suddenly as the battery got low and it began to ascent to its pre determined height to fly home. Well unfortunately I was under a tree. I tried valiantly to stop this from happening but it all happened so fast. My P3P hit a branch and came down from about 50 feet free fall. SLAM! Broke the gimbal arm, and some other things. Drone was a complete loss.

All because of this option. I never thought of this happening but it did and as a business owner with clients who are expect drone footage this was pretty upsetting since I am a good pilot and very safe and cautious. Fortunately we have Amazon Prime and I ordered a new one via my phone about 5 minutes after the crash. I also have insurance on my equipment so I have been reimbursed.

DONT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU! Disable that

Two problems with your description, which point to some form of pilot error.
1. Smart Go Home simply activates RTH automatically and should perform an AutoLand in place, when within 65 feet of the Home Point, with no change in altitude, except for descent.
2. RTH and Smart Go Home can both be cancelled at any time by simply pressing the RTH button on the transmitter.

I don't like the Smart Go Home either, and have it turned off in the app, because it is way too conservative, but your crash sure sounds like it was due to some form of pilot error, even if only inexperience, and not the Smart Go Home feature, which is cancelled immediately by just pressing the RTH button on the RC. Glad you have insurance!

 

[With The Birds]

I would rather leave the RTH failsafe on and not fly under tree branches.

 

[AirSpace2016]

Does it not give you pre warning in the app and give you 10 seconds to cancel? Curious question does it also do the same in Litchi - allow the user to cancel through the app?

 

[msinger]

Sandra Miller Films, did you move away from the home point after taking off? If you were within 20m of the home point, your Phantom should have landed at its current location instead of ascending to go home. Assuming you moved away, you can prevent this from happening again by resetting the home point when you move away from it.

 

[movius]

Probably a dumb question but isn't one option for RTH to hover at a preset height rather than land? Just trying to think of another reason as to why the bird should go up into the branches without stick input.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[msinger]

isn't one option for RTH to hover at a preset height rather than land?

Yes, but that's only for cases where the remote controller signal is lost.

 

[Sandra Miller Films]

I have no idea why it did what it did. It just took off upwards the instant the battery went low. The more I think about it it did it REALLY FAST. I was about 20 feet from my original take off point so listening to what some of you have said it should land immediately. It did not. My hands were off sticks and it just accelerated upwards into a tree. I tried to push the stop on the remote but by the time i realized what what was happening, touched the stop it was too late. This was certainly not pilot error. I must fly under trees and some tight spaces at times because I am a wedding videographer and we get all kinds of neat shots with the drone. I have read of this happening before to people in different chats.

From now on I am just not going to let it get anywhere near low batt. At 20% im flying home and landing. We have 5 batteries so battery power is not an issue. I are filming a wedding in Europe in May and a wedding in Bora Bora in November so this incident has made me weary and I have bought all the extra parts to fix my crashed one so now I have 2. I will be bringing 2 on my destination weddings as I dont want to miss that footage!

 

[msinger]

Sandra Miller Films, can you post the TXT flight log so we can help you explain what happened? You can find instructions on obtaining that TXT file here.

 

[PEEFA]

I would of thought you would of had two drones in case of failure in your line of work.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[TnHwyman]

I use my P3P for our wedding videography business. Last week we were getting some aerial shots at a quazi forested area for a engagement shoot. I was getting close to battery low so I flew the drone home my self and was about 2 feet off the ground and about 10 feet in front of me going to land.

Well the RTH kicked in suddenly as the battery got low and it began to ascent to its pre determined height to fly home. Well unfortunately I was under a tree. I tried valiantly to stop this from happening but it all happened so fast. My P3P hit a branch and came down from about 50 feet free fall. SLAM! Broke the gimbal arm, and some other things. Drone was a complete loss.

All because of this option. I never thought of this happening but it did and as a business owner with clients who are expect drone footage this was pretty upsetting since I am a good pilot and very safe and cautious. Fortunately we have Amazon Prime and I ordered a new one via my phone about 5 minutes after the crash. I also have insurance on my equipment so I have been reimbursed.

DONT LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU! Disable that

So Very True. I experienced this issue myself. 1 broke prop guard, 2 broke props, and a screwed up shell clip.

 

[flyNfrank]

For whatever the reason.....I'd have to guess that this video shoot was at a new location and when the aircraft powered up it did not record the new home point. So when the RTH began it's process it was actually on it's way to the last known home point, but the tree stopped it from continuing on. This is just another reason why I calibrate the compass as it helps to get everything acclimated.

Btw, the OP made it sound as though this was not at home, and also made no mention of calibrating the compass since being at a different location.

 

[shorttimer]

I agree, it would be interesting to see the flight log. She states she was only 20' from the home point and if that is the case it makes absolutely no sense. She describes the low battery so it does sound like RTH. The only thing I can think of is she was actually more than 20' away from the Home point. But there is a big difference in 20' and 65'. Still inclined to think she was more than 65' away from home point when it initiated the RTH. But then again it is possible some other malfunction.

 

[msinger]

She states she was only 20' from the home point and if that is the case it makes absolutely no sense.

Agreed. Something does not add up here.

 

[Oso]

I also agree you guys. With total respect to the OP, I'd be shocked if this one didn't turn out to be another example of pilot error. Most likely due to having moved far from the originally set home point. How many times have we heard people say adamantly that it wasn't their fault and then as soon as we see the flight data we see it was indeed pilot error.

I hope we get to see the flight info so that everyone can learn from this unfortunate incident. If it was pilot error we will be reminded of what not to do. A good refresher. If it wasn't, the community will learn something new to help going forward.

 

[shorttimer]

These are extremely sophisticated gadgets. Yes, technology isn't perfect and does fail. But usually it isn't the cause though it can be. So unless proven otherwise I would think the OP was over 65' from home point when the low battery RTH triggered. If say that was the case, being over 65' away from Home point, then all the pieces fit together (no pun intended) and it behaved as it should.

 

[Steve vaughan]

If ya having problems in f mode switch to gps mode it will stop an hover

 

[ferraript]

I don't like the Smart Go Home either, and have it turned off in the app

I don't know if I'm blind, but I can't see this option in Settings. Or is it available only in iOS verion of DJI GO?