P4P just dropped from 90m - warranty claim?

DPAus · Oct 25, 2017

I was flying today for a real estate shoot when my 2 month old P4P+ just simply dropped out of the sky - 90m height with no trees or reason. I always make sure the props & battery are secure as part of my pre-flight check. I'm a licensed pilot (called RePL here in OZ) so do this religiously.

It's smashed completely. How can I see if there was anything in the logs to show what the reason may have been, and can this be considered a warranty issue?

msinger · Oct 25, 2017

Check out your TXT flight log to see if it explains what happened. You can upload and view it online here. If you'd like other people to review and comment on your flight log, then please post a link back here after you upload it.

If your Phantom still powers on, then you can also retrieve the DAT flight log from the Phantom's internal memory card like this. Use DatCon or CsvView to view the contents of the DAT flight log. If you want to post it here, upload it to Dropbox.com and post the download link here.

tevek · Oct 25, 2017

Well that's gonna hurt on so many levels.
Use this link that @msinger has put together for the gurus to sift through. Paste the link from that log back here:
DJI Flight Log Viewer
Is it possible that you had a bird strike? Hopefully you can get some sort of an explanation before you start dealing with the DJI behemoth.

Dirby · Oct 26, 2017

same thing happened to mine.
went straight up and came straight down.
with msingers help I contacted dji and they puled up the last flight data and replaced it wi
th a refurbished one.
I had to do a firmware update to eliminate a red box that poped up on the screen.
after the update no more red box popup.
call dji and talk to them. ask for von.

fatmaggots · Oct 26, 2017

Just suffered same fate a few days ago. Dropped from 85feet and broke gimbal and landing gears. It’s only 8 weeks old. Does anyone know if this is a warranty claim?

Meta4 · Oct 26, 2017

fatmaggots said:
Just suffered same fate a few days ago. Dropped from 85feet and broke gimbal and landing gears. It’s only 8 weeks old. Does anyone know if this is a warranty claim?

No-one knows what happened to your Phantom unless they can look at the recorded flight data.
To get informed opinions that might help find the cause of your incident or help eliminate some possible factors ...
Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
Come back and post a link to the report it provides

Pharm · Oct 27, 2017

I’m amazed by the number of people who, seemingly at least, don’t really want to know what happened when something goes awry with their Phantom. They’re given clear instructions on how to find out what happened by posting their logs (after they asked us to help), then they disappear. It’s frustrating to me as a bystander because I want to see the logs and know what happened, too. Maybe I’m just too impatient.

fatmaggots · Oct 27, 2017

I’m not sure that’s the situation. I posted that my P4P+ dropped off the sky. Meta4 asked that I post my flight log. I did on 10/25 and no one said anything. I’m not even sure I posted the correct log but no one looked at it. Quite frustrating

tevek · Oct 27, 2017

fatmaggots said:
I’m not sure that’s the situation. I posted that my P4P+ dropped off the sky. Meta4 asked that I post my flight log. I did on 10/25 and no one said anything. I’m not even sure I posted the correct log but no one looked at it. Quite frustrating

I'm guessing we are looking at the same post and I can't see where you have posted your flight log. Maybe try reposting up the link to the flight again?

fatmaggots · Oct 27, 2017

Meta4 said:
No-one knows what happened to your Phantom unless they can look at the recorded flight data.
To get informed opinions that might help find the cause of your incident or help eliminate some possible factors ...
Go to DJI Flight Log Viewer
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
Come back and post a link to the report it provides

Trying to post flight log here. It opens as Satelite map and Csv file but does not show up when I upload and hit “done”. What am I not doing? Thanks for your help

sar104 · Oct 27, 2017

fatmaggots said:
I’m not sure that’s the situation. I posted that my P4P+ dropped off the sky. Meta4 asked that I post my flight log. I did on 10/25 and no one said anything. I’m not even sure I posted the correct log but no one looked at it. Quite frustrating

Do you mean that you simply uploaded it to PhantomHelp? If so then no one here is going to see it if you don't come back and post a link to that log. You didn't do that.

fatmaggots · Oct 27, 2017

sar104 said:
Do you mean that you simply uploaded it to PhantomHelp? If so then no one here is going to see it if you don't come back and post a link to that log. You didn't do that.

Yes. Just uploaded to phantomhelp.com. I am not sure how to copy the link because I don’t see one. When I tap done it goes back to this site. Can you point me in right approach please.
Is this it below?

fatmaggots · Oct 27, 2017

fatmaggots said:
Yes. Just uploaded to phantomhelp.com. I am not sure how to pony the link because I don’t see one. When I tap done it goes back to this site. Can you point me in right approach please

fatmaggots · Oct 27, 2017

DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

sar104 · Oct 27, 2017

fatmaggots said:
DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

That's a strange one. Nothing amiss in the log until 145.3 seconds, at which point it starts to tumble, rolling right and pitching forwards. No power issues visible at this time. But 0.5 seconds later the log stops for no apparent reason.

I'm afraid I'd need to see the DAT file to draw any conclusions at all other than that I see no evidence of any pilot error in the txt log.

How to retrieve a V3 .DAT File

Meta4 · Oct 28, 2017

fatmaggots said:
DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

As SAR says, there's nothing in the flight log to show whay it fell.
You can see that it started to tumble at 2:25.3 with no indications of a problem before that.
The flight log is good for eliminating all the usual suspects end pilot error and suggests that it is a good case to pass on to DJI for a warranty claim.
Start by uploading the flight record (click the cloud icon on the flight record page in the app.
Then go to their online help to start a chat and get things moving.

JetLife · Oct 28, 2017

Great! My $1500 P4P (Replacement) is going to just drop from the sky someday for no reason. My "new" bird is 2 months old. I guess its due for a gravity check soon... disheartening.

Meta4 · Oct 28, 2017

JetLife said:
Great! My $1500 P4P (Replacement) is going to just drop from the sky someday for no reason. My "new" bird is 2 months old. I guess its due for a gravity check soon... disheartening.

Why would you think that? Most Phantoms never fall-from-the-sky.

Infidel0007 · Oct 28, 2017

DPAus said:
I was flying today for a real estate shoot when my 2 month old P4P+ just simply dropped out of the sky - 90m height with no trees or reason. I always make sure the props & battery are secure as part of my pre-flight check. I'm a licensed pilot (called RePL here in OZ) so do this religiously.

It's smashed completely. How can I see if there was anything in the logs to show what the reason may have been, and can this be considered a warranty issue?

View attachment 89924

Man....i see this all the time. So common ...yet preventable...the silent killer....

DPAus said:
I was flying today for a real estate shoot when my 2 month old P4P+ just simply dropped out of the sky - 90m height with no trees or reason. I always make sure the props & battery are secure as part of my pre-flight check. I'm a licensed pilot (called RePL here in OZ) so do this religiously.

It's smashed completely. How can I see if there was anything in the logs to show what the reason may have been, and can this be considered a warranty issue?

View attachment 89924

our commrades who pirate under 3rd Group VIGILANTES Lost 3 aircraft a week....and after eliminateing the known

obvious.. This was finaly solved. And forced to change a few minor issues.. Self inflicted EMP exposure was the culprit.

Conor8236 · Oct 28, 2017

DPAus said:
I was flying today for a real estate shoot when my 2 month old P4P+ just simply dropped out of the sky - 90m height with no trees or reason. I always make sure the props & battery are secure as part of my pre-flight check. I'm a licensed pilot (called RePL here in OZ) so do this religiously.

It's smashed completely. How can I see if there was anything in the logs to show what the reason may have been, and can this be considered a warranty issue?

View attachment 89924

Has happened to me twice over the past year. Both times the warranty covered it. First time I had a warning for “missing prop or motor idle”, the drone inverted and went straight down. The second time it just fell out of the sky without and warning. Sent it back and first time they sent a refurbished. Second time they fixed and sent back.