My Phantom 4 fell out of the sky above Skogafoss Waterfall in Iceland

WHY would anyone update their DJI GO stuff anyway, with all the negative posts about it? Try Litchi and ditch DJI GO and never look back.
Jim
WA5TEF

That's what I did one week ago. Dji Go was getting stupid and I bought Litchi. Day and night, full mission planning and much more. I now feel safe and really enjoy the learning curve. Go Litchi, don't hesitate.
 
Normally I would say that this was caused by the mist getting into the battery and shorting it out , however you look like you were pretty high up when that started to fall, was there a point where the Drone was getting wet from the mist , is that possible as that would explain the battery shorting out. ?
We did a lot of work with the Phantom 4 in the Rain and that battery is first to go out as it collects water on the top of the battery and slides to the back of it shorting it out instantly.

Phantomrain.org
Coal
second.gif
 
Have not updated mine in 4 months.no height or distance restrictions,and nags me constantly to update. Not sure I agree with that comment.Anyone else confirm that?
Same here haven’t done the most recent update and I get the limited distance warning but it has no affect on my distance or height.
 
did you guys notice the drone is upside down as it falls ?

Im dealing with a similar issue, may be tied to a faulty battery, but its hard to tell. Maybe the battery caused a reset in this case as well.
 
No limits on my flights. For us older users, if you never update it, how would it be updated to know to tell you to update or face the height and distance restrictions (unless you got a P4 now and you have to install that newer update)

Man, that sucks, but i hope at least you get some fame on a top drone crash video or something thatll help out your channel at least.
 
Yes we made the switch back also to the no limits on height and flights, who thought going so far back would be a great thing. Its nice flying with confidence again and watching the drone fly straight again is a added plus to the new freedom felt but never used. .
 
I had a similar incident, after examining my data DJI gracefully replaced everything that fell out the sky free of charge.

I have updated my drone on every prompt except for the zone restriction update which still prompts every time I boot up my remote.

I think we all understand drones come with crash risk, but then again so do cars. Sorry about your drone fella and good luck submitting your data.

S

I lost my Phantom 4 Pro Obsidian off the coast of Southern California a few months ago when it dropped out of the sky for no apparent reason and I’m having trouble retrieving the flight info from my DJI CrystalSky monitor which is Android based. I wish someone could walk me through the process. Glad you were able to get a replacement from DJI!
 
Last edited:
I have the gl300e controller as well

Go to your flight logs
Press sync logs button

Then log into your iOS device and you may have to sync again.

Your logs should now show up on your other devices like iPhone etc.

I downloaded my flights from iTunes afterwards.

Alternatively you should be able to install es explorer onto the controller and export the files through the controller.

The sync method mentioned above is a way for me to keep logs updated across my iPad gl300e and iPhone.

Check this link for more specific details, other users are also suggesting what i mentioned above to sync to cloud database.
How do you get the log files out of the P4P+ controller? [SOLVED]
 
Last edited:
I had a similar incident, after examining my data DJI gracefully replaced everything that fell out the sky free of charge.

I have updated my drone on every prompt except for the zone restriction update which still prompts every time I boot up my remote.

I think we all understand drones come with crash risk, but then again so do cars. Sorry about your drone fella and good luck submitting your data.

S

I have pasted DJI’s response to my request below. I’d just like to know what factors prompted you to be awarded a new drone and I was only offered a 30% coupon. Would love to see the response of the DJI rep who handled your case.
The letter reads...

Thanks for getting back to us.

Data analysis should be based on case by case, different customers have different flight environment and different pilot habit, so the data analysis result and resolution will also be different. For your case, the record ended at T=05:19 and there was no more related data, about the performance of the aircraft before the record ended, you could also review that on your DJI GO 4 APP.

Based on the current flight data, neither pilot's fault nor the product's fault could be found before the record ended. In other word, there was no pilot's error found, but that did not mean the aircraft was malfunctioned. The conclusion should be based on the evidence. As such, the data analysis showed inconclusive and we offered you 30% off discount. We understand you may feel disappointment about the 30% off discount, but that was offered by obeying our policy while we could not override it.

We are sorry for the inconvenience caused and we truly understand your feelings. But the resolution should obey the policy. If we could help get higher discount, there is no reason why we do not do that for you from the beginning.

Please email me if you want the coupon code ready, for example: “I accept the offer”.

Thank you so much for your support. Have a nice day.


Best Regards,

Lydia
DJI Tech Support
DJI - The Future Of Possible
 
We had two drones that took off on there own after going into Atti mode , we got a 100% coupon for both drones, The biggest advantage we had was that we were using a Pro Plus Controller and the actual flight of the drone was recorded on that unit and the flight log report showed several YAW errors. The entire process consisted of about 30 emails , with each email back and fourth to DJI taking about a day as they requested more information from us. In are case it was most likely the update that was causing the problem as we still fly the exact same path over the lake without any issues now. Those flight logs that DJI use show every movement of the stick that you make, , they can see panic, they can see if your trying to control the drone in Atti mode, They also can see the errors that appeared on the controller at the time of the crash or fly away in are case.

From what I gather , there was not a specific error that showed up on the data report so they had no ground to support a full replacement, but at the same time they found no panic, or fault with your pilot skills.
We have found from are experience , that updates are the major cause of all fly aways and so we now check with suspended flights for each update, however we are now using a much oder update that for us gave us the most amount of security and benefits , no matter how old.

For a suspended flight we simply fly in the same spot low to the ground for as long as the drone will fly , in this case over the river, and watch how it responds to hovering over the water..
Its a lot of work , doing the testing but that is the best way to check location and update and often test every new location we fly ... paying careful attention to the error messages and the drone.

In this case we hovered above the water for 26 minutes , checking for errors and or erratic flying caused by the water ,and or sensors and wind. Every update has a different response to such a flight, find a good one and stick with it.





.
 
I had a similar incident, after examining my data DJI gracefully replaced everything that fell out the sky free of charge.

I have updated my drone on every prompt except for the zone restriction update which still prompts every time I boot up my remote.

I think we all understand drones come with crash risk, but then again so do cars. Sorry about your drone fella and good luck submitting your data.

S
For those of you in this forum: The battery disconnecting is a BIG ISSUE with P4P's in general as over 50 people on this forum alone have reported it. Glad to see there may be a product with a dual purpose that prevents it. We will purchase one and test. Right now we have a lawsuit against DJI as this is a KNOWN ID'd defect in design.They are NOT covering it even if you are 1 day outr of warranty and will not even look at the data if you send it to them. This is arrogance rather than supporting their customer base who put them on the map, DJI refused to repair this defect in design even though the product we had was less than 2 weeks out of the 12 mo. warranty period. V2 of the P4P has a NEW BATTERY SENSOR that will warn and prevent the Phantoms from falling out of the sky scenarios which clearly means they recognize the problem but again are not supporting us. Remember the GoPro drone had the same issue and all were recalled and refunds issued. If you want to join the long list of those who have had this problem send your eMail/contact info to me at [email protected]. Attached is a picture of the new Battery sensor on the P4P V2's.

Please do not respond to criticize here, I am an FAA IFR rated Fixed wing Pilot and Part 333 /107 drone pilot. I have been flying DJI products for over 7 years with over 3500 flights. Their blatant refusal to acknowledge and WARN all of us regarding this issue is not the way to treat their loyal customer base and is very dis-heartening for me to have to take legal action against them.
p4p-battery-sensor-1-jpg.100655
 
The new mechanism doesn’t hold in the battery it’s only a pressure sensor the you push in when the battery is fully installed.

Nothing is holding the Vr2 battery in any stronger or tighter. It’s still only held in by the top and bottom latches like before.

I agree the design could be improved and I use gaffers tape to add some added security with mine.

I believe some of these drops may be from the drone body getting hot in the summer and giving a bit which allows the battery to slip.

Paul C
 
My how times have changed! Sixteen months ago when my Phantom also mysteriously fell out of the sky, all the comments I got were negative and seemingly pro DJI! Now that many more are reporting it more interest seems to be building. Yet I still am unable to learn why and even if it is possible for a Phantom to suddenly invert and dive into the ground. If you doubt it try to make yours do it! It can’t be done unless some DJI thing happens otherwise called hardware or software failure! I kept trying to find anyone-ANYONE, who could explain how that happened and I had no one with a constructive comment! However I was threatened with banishment from the forum by a “moderator” who even insulted my home state if I didn’t shut up!

So, ever few months I get a chance to again ask if anyone knows how a Phantom can be forced to flip and power dive into the ground??? DJI knows but to them it still remains “Pilot Error”!

Any ideas are always appreciated and if I disappear you’ll know I got banned!

Thanks
Jim
WA5TEF
 
My how times have changed! Sixteen months ago when my Phantom also mysteriously fell out of the sky, all the comments I got were negative and seemingly pro DJI! Now that many more are reporting it more interest seems to be building. Yet I still am unable to learn why and even if it is possible for a Phantom to suddenly invert and dive into the ground. If you doubt it try to make yours do it! It can’t be done unless some DJI thing happens otherwise called hardware or software failure! I kept trying to find anyone-ANYONE, who could explain how that happened and I had no one with a constructive comment! However I was threatened with banishment from the forum by a “moderator” who even insulted my home state if I didn’t shut up!

So, ever few months I get a chance to again ask if anyone knows how a Phantom can be forced to flip and power dive into the ground??? DJI knows but to them it still remains “Pilot Error”!

Any ideas are always appreciated and if I disappear you’ll know I got banned!

Thanks
Jim
WA5TEF

You declined to post any of the flight logs, so your question could not be answered.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LarBear360

Same for Phantom 4 Pro , Mavic Pro, Phantom 4, DJI hasn’t limited my flight range speed in anyway, I do update my main Mavic Pro my second still has what it arrived with and still runs perfectly fine! I’m not saying the claims aren’t true and really do not want to debate this, I’ve had some unexplained experiences with a few of my drones that don’t show up on my flight log but!!![emoji6]. I’d recorded my screen of my IPad mini with my GoPro camera and presto changOH!! There’s my proof! I like to number 1 have evidence, proof! No second hand knowledge/hearsay of any sort, and 2. Have my ducks in a row! I certainly wouldn’t advertise my intentions beforehand! No disrespect because I am interested in what you say your doing.
 
Since reading all the posts about this issue I have applying a few pieces of painters tape to the top and bottom of the battery before flying to insure it stays put. Low tech but it should help. Better safe than sorry.
 
You declined to post any of the flight logs, so your question could not be answered.
Not true! There were no flight logs anywhere, as I stated several times! Even DJI “said” they could not locate any on the Phantom. I figured that would be DJI’s reply but one would think others have had the same issue.
Jim
WA5TEF.
 
Not true! There were no flight logs anywhere, as I stated several times! Even DJI “said” they could not locate any on the Phantom. I figured that would be DJI’s reply but one would think others have had the same issue.
Jim
WA5TEF.

Your assertion that there was no mobile device txt file, no mobile device DAT file, and no aircraft DAT file is simply not credible. I have not seen a single other case reported here where even one of those was missing, let alone all three.
 

Recent Posts

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
143,086
Messages
1,467,528
Members
104,965
Latest member
Fimaj