Goodbye Phantom Pro

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The day started off nicely. Got some good footage of a dam in SoCal. Brought the Phantom Back checked the battery. Did another flight around the boat launch brought it back for a battery swap. Took it up again and quick loop around the boat launch again and off to track a fishing boat. BAM Aircraft disconnects and drops like a pelican into the water. Gone including all of the footage because I shot the early footage on Litchi. Was flying DJI Go when the Phantom became a pelican. Is there any recourse? I don't think so because I did not have refresh.
Any thoughts, condolences, donations can be forwarded to me.
This forum has been great and informative.
 
The day started off nicely....
Sorry for your loss. Sounds like the battery hadn't been clicked in top and bottom causing it to suddenly disconnect power. That's a pretty easy thing to overlook, and it has been a mistake made by many.
 
Man, I feel for you. I am so sorry........
 
Crazy thing is just yesterday I picked up a Phantom 4 Advanced after telling my Wife I needed a spare. So all is not lost..... well my very first drone is lost and the footage, and the Micro SD and a battery.....
 
Yup, happened to me, though I always snap the battery in fully. I didn't bother to tell anyone about it because it would make no difference.
 
Sorry about your loss! When you have figured it all out, please share with us any lessons you may have learned from this unfortunate episode. Just by reading the responses thus far, I have learned two unrelated things.
1. Check your battery clip every time to ensure it is secure
2. Don’t underestimate the value of Litchi as an aid to us less experienced pilots. Have a great and blessed new year.
 
Yup, happened to me, though I always snap the battery in fully. I didn't bother to tell anyone about it because it would make no difference.
Was it in a city or a more remote location? I was just wondering if there there was any correlation from posible rf or jamming. Many are positive the battery was seated properly. There are hackers of all kind. There is a reason it dropped. Were the contacts burning off? I think the FAA needs to investigate this as they do for plane crashes. Losing control is considered a felony. The blame of the operator or the manufacturer? Is this serious or not? Many see these crafts just toys. The FAA sees it differently. The FAA takes the responsibility of the operator very seriously. What signal is the FAA giving us by turning their heads to a continuous problem of these aircrafts dropping from the sky? Even cars are investigate when serious repetitious events happen. The manufacturer is held responsible and there are recalls. Why should the operator be expected to except the loss? I guess there are double standards? We lose.
 
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Very remote location over a national forest in Colorado. I'm pretty sure I was high enough, but I might have touched a tree top. Just a guess, as I have no other truth. Of course, when I got home and was able to see the flight path on the controller map screen, and I now know generally where it is. I was 900 miles from the flight zone by then. It is now under some snow, and I don't know if I'll ever be in that area again. Already replaced it.
 
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Very remote location over a national forest in Colorado. I'm pretty sure I was high enough, but I might have touched a tree top. Just a guess, as I have no other truth. Of course, when I got home and was able to see the flight path on the controller map screen, and I now know generally where it is. I was 900 miles from the flight zone by then. It is now under some snow, and I don't know if I'll ever be in that area again. Already replaced it.
I'm glad you have the resources. You can focus more on your photography. My wife would be on my case till I retrieved it. Lol
 
Agree with battery disconnect. Hope you find it if ever back there. Hope you marked it, it will be found. All your equipment works with the advanced incl remote. ? good luck.
 
The day started off nicely. Got some good footage of a dam in SoCal. Brought the Phantom Back checked the battery. Did another flight around the boat launch brought it back for a battery swap. Took it up again and quick loop around the boat launch again and off to track a fishing boat. BAM Aircraft disconnects and drops like a pelican into the water. Gone including all of the footage because I shot the early footage on Litchi. Was flying DJI Go when the Phantom became a pelican. Is there any recourse? I don't think so because I did not have refresh.
Any thoughts, condolences, donations can be forwarded to me.
This forum has been great and informative.
Sorry for the mishap and the loss of a good quad. I came very, very close to the same experience. I had only had my P4PV2 for about 2 months and really, had only flown it 3 to 4 times. (Been fly Mavics for the past 4 years). I was on a DroneDeploy Mapping job for dronebase and I could not figure out why my drone would not connect in dronedeploy. After several attempts to take off, then restart everything and try and connect again, it failed. Even though drone started up, props and gimbal initialized, it would not connect. I picked up drone and noticed a gap between battery and the hull. Pushed hard and it clicked in place. It immediately connect in Dronedeploy...whew.

I was not used to having to push so hard to seat a battery.
 
Was it in a city or a more remote location? I was just wondering if there there was any correlation from posible rf or jamming. Many are positive the battery was seated properly. There are hackers of all kind. There is a reason it dropped. Were the contacts burning off? I think the FAA needs to investigate this as they do for plane crashes. Losing control is considered a felony. The blame of the operator or the manufacturer? Is this serious or not? Many see these crafts just toys. The FAA sees it differently. The FAA takes the responsibility of the operator very seriously. What signal is the FAA giving us by turning their heads to a continuous problem of these aircrafts dropping from the sky? Even cars are investigate when serious repetitious events happen. The manufacturer is held responsible and there are recalls. Why should the operator be expected to except the loss? I guess there are double standards? We lose.
That's a good idea. Maybe we should be reporting it as a crash to the FAA so they would investigate.
 
The day started off nicely. Got some good footage of a dam in SoCal. Brought the Phantom Back checked the battery. Did another flight around the boat launch brought it back for a battery swap. Took it up again and quick loop around the boat launch again and off to track a fishing boat. BAM Aircraft disconnects and drops like a pelican into the water. Gone including all of the footage because I shot the early footage on Litchi. Was flying DJI Go when the Phantom became a pelican. Is there any recourse? I don't think so because I did not have refresh.
Any thoughts, condolences, donations can be forwarded to me.
This forum has been great and informative.
That's one sad story. Sorry for your loss but thanks for sharing as hopefully your experience will prevent others from committing the same mistake.
 
After the many, many reports of battery release I decided that I would follow a simple set of instructions that we use in automotive assembly as it relates to the wire harness connections made on and around the engine. Push, Click, Tug. I always depress the locks on the battery when I insert it, then release the locks and try to pull it out. So far, "knock on wood", I have not had any battery release issues.
 
Seeing all the mysterious Phantom falls from the sky, I've started adding duct tape, pulled tight under tension to secure the P4 battery after making sure it's clicked securely in place. Pre-stretching the tape ensures the battery is held very securely in its slot. No problems so far...
 
Seeing all the mysterious Phantom falls from the sky, I've started adding duct tape, pulled tight under tension to secure the P4 battery after making sure it's clicked securely in place. Pre-stretching the tape ensures the battery is held very securely in its slot. No problems so far...
 
Sorry buddy... I really think that doing Push, Click, Tug, like Phantom_Crasher said, is quite a good tactic, and have started doing it myself every time I go to fly.

Happy Flying!
 
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I agree with the Push, Click, Tug method and has become final step before starting the drone. I am also considering a "Borat-style" Battery holder..... Hope ya'll smiled at that one.
 
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