P4P+ automatically shuts off while flying

Joined
Oct 28, 2020
Messages
11
Reaction score
1
Age
39
Hi Everyone,

I'm trying to get some input on what could have possibly happened with my P4P+. I've owned and flown multiple DJI products (everything from the Mavic, Mavic PP, Mavic 2, and now P4P+). I've never had any issues in relation to what I experienced with my P4P+. I've done my research on the forums and seen very similar posts as to what happened with my P4P+. I bought this P4P+ from a local private seller. Unfortunately, the drone was out of warranty and it did not have an active DJI Care Refresh at the time of purchase. I typically use my P4P+ to shoot real estate and also weddings. On November 3rd, I was shooting a wedding at a nearby golf course. Prior to the first flight, I put in a fully charged DJI P4P+ battery and launched the drone for an aerial shot of the bride and groom's first look. While flying I experienced extremely bad glitching (2-3 second delay) on the P4P+ screen only when the record was active. This made things extremely hard to focus on the shot. I only had the drone up in the air for about 10 minutes while capturing that shot. I then landed it and moved about 300 feet from the first location to the ceremony and then installed another fully charged battery (fully secured into the drone *click*, double-checked to make sure the battery was fully seated into the P4P) to cover an aerial shot of the wedding. I took the drone out behind the ceremony and launched it. I increased the altitude on the drone (approximately 40 feet) and then out of nowhere the drone shut off completely causing it to fall out of the sky and hit the green. This caused a good amount of damage to the body, propellers, and gimbal. I've NEVER experienced anything like that before while flying any of the DJI drones.

When I got home, I started a repair claim and uploaded all the flight data to DJI's cloud. I boxed up the P4P+ and sent it to their location in Cerritos, California. They did the "free damage assessment" and gave me a quote. I can tell the quote was inaccurate because I know the gimbal had a overload warning on the controller immediately after the crash. The damage report did not show anything about replacing gimbal components which I'm almost positive there was. There was also nothing mentioned regarding the extremely bad screen glitching while recording. I called in to DJI today and talked to a representative wanting to know exactly what caused the failure in flight. His response was, "I'm not exactly sure but your drone is out of warranty." He told me that only the "damage assessment" was free but a "data analysis" to diagnose the reason for the crash was an additional $65.

Prior to sending in the drone, I spoke with multiple DJI chat representatives (I believe one guy's name was Chris) and they reassured me when I sent the drone in they would conduct the tests to figure out why this happened with the drone. Now, I'm getting a completely new story from DJI with this representative I spoke with on the phone - Sad! I really just want to know why this happened without having to pay this $65 "data analysis." I truly feel this was a DJI manufacturer defect as to why the drone crashed. I can't have a fairly high-end consumer/professional drone just fall out of the sky like it did whether it is being used for weddings or real estate.

I really would love to get some feedback from any DJI representatives on here. I hate having to write up these kind of posts. I would love an answer as to why this P4P+ just shut off immediately and fell out of the sky. I would love to know why the screen glitches while recording. I would love to have an accurate damage assessment done and if this crash was a result of a manufacturer defect - I'd love to have the drone replaced free without any further issues. I know these other DJI consumers just like me spend thousands of dollars on these products but with this type of customer service and response - I'm honestly very dissatisfied.

*Note* The P4P+ did not have any prior crashes or errors shown prior to this crash. All the batteries used were DJI brand for the P4P+.
 
Sorry for your loss. There are many on here that can help you with knowing what happened. You may want to go ahead and upload your flight log and provide the link for them to analyze.
 
You bought an out of warranty P4P+ and want DJI to cover your crash? I'm pretty sure that ain't gonna happen. It's like you buy a used car with an "as-is" disclaimer, have a engine blow and want the seller to replace your engine. That ain't gonna happen either
 
  • Like
Reactions: umanbean
Status update:

I'm currently in correspondence with a Manager from the DJI Technical Support Team. I've synced flight records from the incident and they are conducting a data analysis on the P4P+. I will update the status as things develop.
 
Hi Everyone,

I'm trying to get some input on what could have possibly happened with my P4P+. I've owned and flown multiple DJI products (everything from the Mavic, Mavic PP, Mavic 2, and now P4P+). I've never had any issues in relation to what I experienced with my P4P+. I've done my research on the forums and seen very similar posts as to what happened with my P4P+. I bought this P4P+ from a local private seller. Unfortunately, the drone was out of warranty and it did not have an active DJI Care Refresh at the time of purchase. I typically use my P4P+ to shoot real estate and also weddings. On November 3rd, I was shooting a wedding at a nearby golf course. Prior to the first flight, I put in a fully charged DJI P4P+ battery and launched the drone for an aerial shot of the bride and groom's first look. While flying I experienced extremely bad glitching (2-3 second delay) on the P4P+ screen only when the record was active. This made things extremely hard to focus on the shot. I only had the drone up in the air for about 10 minutes while capturing that shot. I then landed it and moved about 300 feet from the first location to the ceremony and then installed another fully charged battery (fully secured into the drone *click*, double-checked to make sure the battery was fully seated into the P4P) to cover an aerial shot of the wedding. I took the drone out behind the ceremony and launched it. I increased the altitude on the drone (approximately 40 feet) and then out of nowhere the drone shut off completely causing it to fall out of the sky and hit the green. This caused a good amount of damage to the body, propellers, and gimbal. I've NEVER experienced anything like that before while flying any of the DJI drones.

When I got home, I started a repair claim and uploaded all the flight data to DJI's cloud. I boxed up the P4P+ and sent it to their location in Cerritos, California. They did the "free damage assessment" and gave me a quote. I can tell the quote was inaccurate because I know the gimbal had a overload warning on the controller immediately after the crash. The damage report did not show anything about replacing gimbal components which I'm almost positive there was. There was also nothing mentioned regarding the extremely bad screen glitching while recording. I called in to DJI today and talked to a representative wanting to know exactly what caused the failure in flight. His response was, "I'm not exactly sure but your drone is out of warranty." He told me that only the "damage assessment" was free but a "data analysis" to diagnose the reason for the crash was an additional $65.

Prior to sending in the drone, I spoke with multiple DJI chat representatives (I believe one guy's name was Chris) and they reassured me when I sent the drone in they would conduct the tests to figure out why this happened with the drone. Now, I'm getting a completely new story from DJI with this representative I spoke with on the phone - Sad! I really just want to know why this happened without having to pay this $65 "data analysis." I truly feel this was a DJI manufacturer defect as to why the drone crashed. I can't have a fairly high-end consumer/professional drone just fall out of the sky like it did whether it is being used for weddings or real estate.

I really would love to get some feedback from any DJI representatives on here. I hate having to write up these kind of posts. I would love an answer as to why this P4P+ just shut off immediately and fell out of the sky. I would love to know why the screen glitches while recording. I would love to have an accurate damage assessment done and if this crash was a result of a manufacturer defect - I'd love to have the drone replaced free without any further issues. I know these other DJI consumers just like me spend thousands of dollars on these products but with this type of customer service and response - I'm honestly very dissatisfied.

*Note* The P4P+ did not have any prior crashes or errors shown prior to this crash. All the batteries used were DJI brand for the P4P+.
Here is my *opinion* based upon my own experience. I *believe* that DJI doesn’t want to be bothered fixing the drone. They just want to send you a new one which they want to charge you about $380 for. So they come up with some random list of broken things that can add up to what they want to get from you.

Hey, I can’t say this happens to everyone in every case. But I have strong reasons to believe this happened to me.
 
"data analysis" to diagnose the reason for the crash was an additional $65
Sorry, I couldn't make myself read your entire post. But... if you want a free comprehensive data analysis that's much better than anything you'll get from DJI, take the advice you've already been given and post your flight logs here.
 
save $65 and put the flight logs on here. There is always someone on here who can read them and tell you their opinion.
 
  • Like
Reactions: umanbean
A P4 dropping out of the sky is more common than people realise according to my drone repair man.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Droneted
I read in your original post "click" but did not see "double click." The P4P suffers from a battery anomaly that requires the user to make sure it clicks at both the top AND the bottom of the battery. If you did not double-click the battery, it was not secure.

D
 
I read in your original post "click" but did not see "double click." The P4P suffers from a battery anomaly that requires the user to make sure it clicks at both the top AND the bottom of the battery. If you did not double-click the battery, it was not secure.

D
Yes, the *click* was a double click. The battery was fully secure in the drone before flight. Thank you for the clarification.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Harleydude
save $65 and put the flight logs on here. There is always someone on here who can read them and tell you their opinion.
I uploaded the flight records to DJI. How can I upload them here if my drone is currently at DJI? Is there a way to extract them and add them to this thread?
 
Here is my *opinion* based upon my own experience. I *believe* that DJI doesn’t want to be bothered fixing the drone. They just want to send you a new one which they want to charge you about $380 for. So they come up with some random list of broken things that can add up to what they want to get from you.

Hey, I can’t say this happens to everyone in every case. But I have strong reasons to believe this happened to me.
I appreciate the response and *opinion.* I honestly believe you when it comes to taking the time to diagnose and fix the drone based on it's "error." It's sad to see when the consumer spends thousands of dollars on DJI products and accessories. I'm going to do everything I can to get this figured out and have an a solution to this issue. Thanks again for your reply.
 
How can I upload them here if my drone is currently at DJI? Is there a way to extract them and add them to this thread?
Just follow the link in post #2!

Jeez...

You could've had a free, expert, comprehensive analysis by the weekend had you done that Thursday when @gfieldsr posted it... more detailed than I can even comprehend sometimes!
 
1605303686086.png

1605303772613.png

1605303820751.png

1605303870626.png

1605303914570.png

1605303960869.png

1605304028373.png

1605304072291.png

1605304112790.png

1605304157829.png
 
1605304226411.png

1605304263202.png


That is the last record I have at 0m 8.8 seconds before the P4P+ hit the ground. If anyone on here can take a look at the records and let me know if there is anything out of the ordinary that would be greatly appreciated. DJI is conducting a data analysis as well. Thank you!

I've included the link as well to this particular flight log when the crash occurred:

 
Last edited:

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
143,055
Messages
1,467,298
Members
104,920
Latest member
stovebayen