"Motor Obstructed" error before a 300+ fall over water. 100% loss.

[OSUllivanStudios]

I was capturing a regatta the other day when I saw a "Motor Obstructed" warning pop up. In that same instant, my Phantom 3 started falling to the water below. I can't imagine hitting anything at that height other than a bird. However, does anyone know if a prop flying off would generate that error? Maybe something else? BTW.. one of the props in the video wasn't stained with the blood of a decapitated bird, it's just stained with mud from a bad landing.

Here are the last moments that the ipad captured.

The Flight Record was uploaded to Heatly Drones.
Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones

 

[Cellblock776]

Even if you know where it is, don't try to retrieve it. That will not end well.

 

[Timinator]

Seized motor?

 

[BigAl07]

Nice ending to the "event" LOL! Well played.

 

[OSUllivanStudios]

Even if you know where it is, don't try to retrieve it. That will not end well.

Your 100% right; never try to take anything back from Jason!

 

[OSUllivanStudios]

Seized motor?

That's one thought. I am just wondering, wouldn't a seized motor generate more than one error? DJI hasn't responded.

 

[sar104]

A lost prop won't generate that error. Something else happened here.

 

[Neon Euc]

You mentioned about a hard landing previously... Was that recent and did it land upside down ? Sorry about the loss by the way, not a good thing at all.

 

[RaeThrills]

You can see that there were birds around your drone. Seagulls will attract drones if they feel it's a threat. It looks like a bird strike to me.

 

[RaeThrills]

Unless those sound effects were yours. They were spot on. Seagulls talking and then boom a collision sound then you drones tumbles. Seems like a bird hit your drone.

 

[N017RW]

How was the sound recorded (during flight)?

 

[RaeThrills]

Older phantom model

 

[N017RW]

Older phantom model

Yes, but...It's posted in the P3 forum.

No Phantom has ever recorded sound except for a GoPro equipped P2 which this may very well be.

 

[BigAl07]

Unless those sound effects were yours. They were spot on. Seagulls talking and then boom a collision sound then you drones tumbles. Seems like a bird hit your drone.

LOL I didn't have my speakers on so I had no idea there WAS sound!!

Those ssounds seem very accurate and would indicate a high probability of a Bird Strike. @OSUllivanStudios did you have eyes on the aircraft at the time of this incident? Birds close to it?

 

[loonie01]

Helluva ending to the video. [emoji16]. Yup sounds like bird strike.

 

[sar104]

Yes, but...It's posted in the P3 forum.

No Phantom has ever recorded sound except for a GoPro equipped P2 which this may very well be.

This looks like a candidate for a bird strike, especially because of the sound track, but that's a bit suspect since this was a P3P. I would have to guess it's an artistic addition. Looking at the telemetry, this looks like prop loss:

This is characteristic of one lost prop, and even though with a bird strike I would have expected a significant yaw response as the first sign of trouble, the motor obstructed message at 980 s is suggestive that an impact may have been the cause. Here we see the usual pitch and roll with an initial yaw CW as a CCW motor spins up and then transition to a CCW rotation due to the unbalanced torque from the 2 CW props. Looks like rear left lift was lost.

Unwrapping the Euler angles reveals the subsequent motion:

The aircraft rolls left through 2.5 rotations and then stabilizes approximately inverted, while rotating CCW at approximately 3 rotations/second.

 

[N017RW]

This looks like a candidate for a bird strike, especially because of the sound track, but that's a bit suspect since this was a P3P. I would have to guess it's an artistic addition. Looking at the telemetry, this looks like prop loss:

View attachment 96867

This is characteristic of one lost prop, and even though with a bird strike I would have expected a significant yaw response as the first sign of trouble, the motor obstructed message at 980 s is suggestive that an impact may have been the cause. Here we see the usual pitch and roll with an initial yaw CW as a CCW motor spins up and then transition to a CCW rotation due to the unbalanced torque from the 2 CW props. Looks like rear left lift was lost.

Unwrapping the Euler angles reveals the subsequent motion:

View attachment 96868

The aircraft rolls left through 2.5 rotations and then stabilizes approximately inverted, while rotating CCW at approximately 3 rotations/second.

Ok, nice job. So you confirm the model type so it has to be dubbed such as equipped with some other device on-board or just ‘foley-ed’???

 

[sar104]

Ok, nice job. So you confirm the model type so it has to be dubbed unless equipped with some other device on-board???

The log indicates that it is a P3P, so no audio channel in the downlink. The event occurred at an altitude of 340 ft and a lateral distance of 850 ft from the home point, so a recording at the controller position, which appears to have been on a boat, seems unlikely to have heard that, especially in the 20 mph wind that was blowing at the time.

 

[N017RW]

Yea. I’ve done audio recording from a P2 NV equipped with a ‘lipstick’ style camera w/sound and can say ambient sounds are barely audible above the rotors let alone wind.

 

[OSUllivanStudios]

This looks like a candidate for a bird strike, especially because of the sound track, but that's a bit suspect since this was a P3P. I would have to guess it's an artistic addition. Looking at the telemetry, this looks like prop loss:

View attachment 96867

This is characteristic of one lost prop, and even though with a bird strike I would have expected a significant yaw response as the first sign of trouble, the motor obstructed message at 980 s is suggestive that an impact may have been the cause. Here we see the usual pitch and roll with an initial yaw CW as a CCW motor spins up and then transition to a CCW rotation due to the unbalanced torque from the 2 CW props. Looks like rear left lift was lost.

Unwrapping the Euler angles reveals the subsequent motion:

View attachment 96868

The aircraft rolls left through 2.5 rotations and then stabilizes approximately inverted, while rotating CCW at approximately 3 rotations/second.

OMG wow.. thanks for taking a look at that. Most people know that the phantom 3 doesn't record audio so I figured people would get the joke. Not only did I add the drone noise but I added the seagull and of course the ending. I plan to dive for the drone this summer. I suspect that it will be missing a prop. I saw birds in the area but I have never seen a bird follow a drone up that high before. Did you run the data though excel?