My Phantom 4 PRO flew away - Please help

[Timinator]

He likely made no stick inputs after he hit the RTH button not realizing it wasn't coming back because of ATTI flight mode.

 

[Fly Dawg]

He likely made no stick inputs after he hit the RTH button not realizing it wasn't coming back because of ATTI flight mode.

I would have 2 things to say to this. First, being that the AC was only 150ft up, basically right above his head. The correct response would have been full throttle down. Pressing the RTH button in ATTI mode has no effect. Also, even if he had full control and the AC was functioning properly, the RTH button would not do anything either, other than land where it is being that the AC was too close to the home point. Your comment is valid, however.

 

[sar104]

Good point. My question is @sar104 is why you do not see this in the .csv from Phantom Pilots? Quite honestly, I didn't see this until I used the offline converter. All of the right stick inputs in the Phantom Pilots conversion are at Zero from start to finish. Is this a sample rate thing in the conversion?

If you look at the timestamps you will find that the PhantomHelp csv misses the first 0.8 s of data, and starts at 0.9 s. In the actual log file the CSC was finished by 0.5 s.

Note that the csv generated by AirData does start at time zero and shows the CSC. Neither version includes even remotely all the data available though, which is why I don't use them.

 

[Fly Dawg]

In the actual log file the CSC was finished by 0.5 s.

That makes much more sense, as to why that wasn't apparent. Is it safe to presume that the TXTlogToCsv tool is what you use, (As do I at times) since it is importable to CSVview?

 

[sar104]

That makes much more sense, as to why that wasn't apparent. Is it safe to presume that the TXTlogToCsv tool is what you use, (As do I at times) since it is importable to CSVview?

Yes - that's what I use. Although I don't generally use CsvView, excellent though it is, simply because I'm more comfortable working in regular data analysis software.

 

[msinger]

If you look at the timestamps you will find that the PhantomHelp csv misses the first 0.8 s of data, and starts at 0.9 s. In the actual log file the CSC was finished by 0.5 s.

I just made a change that will also make the TXTlogToCSV CSV file available (only for flight logs uploaded in the future). Click the "Download Verbose CSV" link to download that CSV file.

 

[sar104]

I just made a change that will also make the TXTlogToCSV CSV file available (only for flight logs uploaded in the future). Click the "Download Verbose CSV" link to download that CSV file.

View attachment 101606

Thanks Mike - an online version of that converter is going to be very useful.

 

[IIIDaemon]

Sorry for the loss, however this is obviously pilot error, due to inexperience flying in ATTI mode. The RTH button has no effect in ATTI mode. You apparently had a compass issue right from the start, and the best case of action would have been to land immediately. That said, this is not something that would be warranty covered, IMHO. I have not looked at the full .csv log, to verify, but I don't think that would be necessary in this case.

.
...hahhahh...
.

 

[Harleydude]

Hello everyone.

I am geologist in Brazil.

Last year I saved a lot of money to be able to buy a Phantom 4 Pro.

I used it a lot in the first half of 2018 on my work. I used it to take aerial photography of mineral areas.

All these areas are located in rural places, with no interferences like power, wifi, etc.
So today i went to take pictures of a granite area in the middle of nothing. At least 5 miles away from the nearest road.

Anyway, it all started good, like it always had. However, suddenly the drone started flying away.
Since it was such a rural place, I could not follow it through the mountains and everything, so I just started trying to make it come back and pressing the "come home" button.

It didnt work. It flew away. I didnt see it again and probably wont see.

Here is the flight log of this last flight: DJI Drone Help

My question with this topic is: Does DJI warranty cover this type of case? I am just desolated.

Log file says it all. IMU error. Compass Error. I suggest not ignoring those warnings in the future, my friend.

 

[Humberto]

]

 

[Humberto]

Hello everyone.


Thanks all for the responses.

As I said in my first post in this thread, it was not my mistake. The drone just showed some weird compass error and flew away.

It seems DJI agreed with me since after reviewing the data, they decided to give me a new one.

If I had listen to some and not opened a case as "it was clearly a pilot's mistake" I would have lost 1500 bucks.

So, the tip of the day is: Do respect the more experienced pilots on the threads, but dont give up on something you know you are not wrong.

 

[PhantomWetSuits]

]View attachment 102285

The so called experts on this forum are very quick to Blame the Pilots for error when the data goes against you.

The data is quick to show exactly what happened , but not as to the WHY SOMETIMES ?

so congrats for following thru on DJI and the advice I gave you to open a case: .
This is big win Humberto. :}

As we stated this happened to us Twice , and both times we got a brand new replacement.
Now its time to get a Phantom Rain Wet Suit , to protect the drone :}

 

[sar104]

]View attachment 102285

Good outcome. That's very nice of them, especially since the cause of the incident was clearly the inability to pilot it in ATTI mode. Also unusual for them to provide a free replacement without the original returned to them. 30% discount generally seems to be the best they offer in those situations. No explanation of what they think happened, unfortunately.

 

[sar104]

The so called experts on this forum are very quick to Blame the Pilots for error so congrats for following thru on DJI and the advice I gave you to open a case: .
This is big win Humberto. :}

As we stated this happened to us Twice , and both times we got a brand new replacement.
Now its time to get a Phantom Rain Wet Suit , to protect the drone :}

It's certainly a win for the OP, but you are completely clueless, as usual.

 

[Humberto]

Good outcome. That's very nice of them, especially since the cause of the incident was clearly the inability to pilot it in ATTI mode. Also unusual for them to provide a free replacement without the original returned to them. 30% discount generally seems to be the best they offer in those situations. No explanation of what they think happened, unfortunately.

That is just ridiculous.

Of course the incident wasnt the pilot's fault. If that was the case, DJI would clearly not replace it as it will.

I have no idea why you insist on the theory it was the pilot's inability to fly ATTI mode even after I (the pilot) have stated that the right stick was not responding to my commands after the drone turned to ATTI.

Believe me, DJI is as far from a charitable institution as it gets. THEY WOULD NEVER REPLACE MY DRONE IF THEY WERE NOT SURE IT WAS NOT the PILOT'S MISTAKE.

 

[sar104]

That is just ridiculous.

Of course the incident wasnt the pilot's fault. If that was the case, DJI would clearly not replace it as it will.

I have no idea why you insist on the theory it was the pilot's inability to fly ATTI mode even after I (the pilot) have stated that the right stick was not responding to my commands after the drone turned to ATTI.

Believe me, DJI is as far from a charitable institution as it gets. THEY WOULD NEVER REPLACE MY DRONE IF THEY WERE NOT SURE IT WAS NOT the PILOT'S MISTAKE.

There were no right stick inputs recorded. I've combed through more than enough logs in these kind of events to have discovered that they end up almost universally correct. Yes - it's possible that this was a failure mode that hasn't been posted here before, but I doubt that. And that is the data that DJI will have looked at too.

There have been a number of occasional cases reported where DJI apparently randomly replaces aircraft when normally they would not - just like there have been numerous cases where they have initially refused when clearly they should have replaced, until the pilot pursued them to look closer at the data. They are not perfectly consistent at all. But I guess it's kind of inevitable that DJI suddenly rise to the level of infallibility when it agrees with your position, while they are regularly lambasted as incompetent and unfair when they take the opposite position.

 

[Humberto]

There were right inputs. They just werent responsive and did not get recorded.

 

[sar104]

There were right inputs. They just werent responsive and did not get recorded.

And there's the problem in a nutshell. You came to the forum looking for help interpreting the logs from this event, and several experienced members willingly donated their time to analyzing those logs. The logs are not ambiguous - everyone came to the same conclusion. Your response (not too uncommon, unfortunately) is simply to assert that the logs are wrong, and criticize us for pointing out what the logs show. Then you come back and gloat because DJI, for some unstated reason, decided to replace your aircraft. It doesn't change what the logs show and it doesn't change the conclusions. So next time do your own analysis.

 

[Maddy]

Why didn't they also replace the RC when the right stick wasn't responsive? I wouldn't go out and fly with the old remote... Glad you're getting a new bird.

 

[Humberto]

Why didn't they also replace the RC when the right stick wasn't responsive? I wouldn't go out and fly with the old remote... Glad you're getting a new bird.

Thanks Maddy!

Wow, I didn't think of that. I will be contacting them to ask them to replace the controller too.

Thanks!