Lost my 6-year old P3S today; flight record attached; input welcome

Joined
Feb 2, 2016
Messages
23
Reaction score
8
Age
46
Six years of flying my P3S and this was the first time I was not able to retrieve it. I was flying it to photograph a home when I briefly lost the video signal for a time and then it disconnected entirely. I've downloaded the flight record and a link is below.

I'm not super well-versed, but it appears to me as though it went down in the pond behind the house. The big question for me is why: I have no idea why it went down. If anyone has any insight to offer from the flight record, I'd welcome the education.

Thank you.

 
  • Like
Reactions: 54_96
Here's the actual .txt file if anyone has any ability to provide deeper analysis than I have found through airdata.com, I'd really welcome the input.

My main question is what made this thing land (apparently in the pond), as I feel confident it was not pilot error, though I have no way to confirm as much and would love to learn what happened.

And here's the phantomhelp viewer. It appears it went into Auto Landing mode and then slowly decended into the pond . . . any idea how/why that auto landing mode was triggered?


Thank you all.
 

Attachments

  • DJIFlightRecord_2022-05-14_[17-10-38].txt
    1.3 MB · Views: 142
Last edited:
Here's the actual .txt file if anyone has any ability to provide deeper analysis than I have found through airdata.com, I'd really welcome the input.

My main question is what made this thing land (apparently in the pond), as I feel confident it was not pilot error, though I have no way to confirm as much and would love to learn what happened.

And here's the phantomhelp viewer. It appears it went into Auto Landing mode and then slowly decended into the pond . . . any idea how/why that auto landing mode was triggered?
The drone was returning home from 5:30.1, when it was 330 feet from the homepoint.
At 5:49.2 there is a message to say that signal was lost and RTH re-initiated.
As the drone was only 8 ft from the home point (but 98 ft high), it commenced autolanding.
While it was autolanding, you used the right joystick to fly the drone 300 feet away from the homepoint and as you did not cancel the autolanding, the drone continued to descend until it splashed down.
 
Ugh - you're breaking my heart! I didn't realize a RTH would convert into an autolanding (descent) that would continue even if I steered the drone laterally.

Any idea why, when I pushed the left stick up from about 6:45 to 6:55, it didn't gain any altitude?

Thank you for the education.
 
Last edited:
Sorry for your loss. This forum is a teaching tool and your loss may be helpful to others. Thanks for posting.

I love my Phantoms even after getting Mavics. P3 models have come way down in price so you should be flying again soon. Or if you can, upgrade to one of the much better drones available now. Best of luck to you.
 
So sorry to hear of your loss. I've been there recently and it is horrible but I replaced mine ASAP and now I am back flying. I put my mishap down to experience and feel I'm a better pilot now. Best of luck bud.
 
Yip ugly read and probably in back of all pilots worst fear,,,hope you can get another, best wishes
 
Thank you all for your responses and feedback - I genuinely appreciate it.

I posted this thinking that at least a portion of the responses would probably be people just interested in skewering me, but it was a refreshing surprise to have kind and respectful responses follow.

Thank you.
 
Ugh - you're breaking my heart! I didn't realize a RTH would convert into an autolanding (descent) that would continue even if I steered the drone laterally.

Any idea why, when I pushed the left stick up from about 6:45 to 6:55, it didn't gain any altitude?

Thank you for the education.
When you pushed the left stick up it stops / slows down the landing, it does not lift the aircraft
 
Here's the actual .txt file if anyone has any ability to provide deeper analysis than I have found through airdata.com, I'd really welcome the input.

My main question is what made this thing land (apparently in the pond), as I feel confident it was not pilot error, though I have no way to confirm as much and would love to learn what happened.

And here's the phantomhelp viewer. It appears it went into Auto Landing mode and then slowly decended into the pond . . . any idea how/why that auto landing mode was triggered?


Thank you all.
Mammatus,
I have a P3S with two controllers and case. No batteries since I use them for my P3A. It is in very nice condition and everything works. If you are interested let me know. I'm certain we can work something out if you are in the USA
 

Recent Posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,357
Members
104,935
Latest member
Pauos31