P4P Random Crash Assistance

[tymac94]

Hello! I just got finished recovering my crashed Phantom 4 Pro and downloading all the flight logs, and also just set up a repair and data analysis request from DJI.

I had bought my phantom New since April of 2017 and haven't never had any problems with stability or even had a crash. I usually keep the dji software on my ipad up to date along with firmware on the drone up to date.

This afternoon I was cruising around and all of a sudden my drone went into a spin and crashed into a ditch luckily. Drone was upside down with the camera and gimbel ripped off and a broken propeller upside down when I found it, the drone was still turned on and still transmitting its location to the dji app and controller, that's how I was able to locate it.

Here is the CORRECTED .DAT files STRAIGHT FROM THE AC(not sure which one is the correct one): DAT FILES

Here is the flight log: Flight Log

I hope DJI covers these repairs.

I am going to send it off within the next day or two, but was hoping someone could analyze the flight data in the meantime and help me figure out what caused this malfunction and the probability of DJI covering the repair/replacement.

Thank you!

EDIT** HERE IS THE .DAT FILES STRAIGHT FROM THE AC
Dropbox - DAT FILES.rar

 

[Fly Dawg]

Over 600 ft in altitude and at max speed? Really? I would not pursue this one at all...Unless this the wrong log.

 

[tymac94]

Over 600 ft in altitude and at max speed? Really? I would not pursue this one at all...Unless this the wrong log.

Yeah I know, I was being dumb and stupid and this is going to be a hard lesson for me. How much do you think DJI will charge to repair it?

 

[Fly Dawg]

I haven't done a detailed look as of yet. Will have to look at this farther......Cant say on cost. Since it may be Pilot Error.......

 

[tymac94]

The drone will still power up and aquire GPS signal and controller connection and motors still idle up, the arm is bent slightly and anleg is snapped, landed in a small tiny water stream upside down still turned on and running when I found it just missing a camera and Gimbel and had 1 broken propeller and a slight bend in a arm

 

[Fly Dawg]

1 broken propeller and a slight bend in a arm

Was the prop hub still on the motor?

 

[Meta4]

Yeah I know, I was being dumb and stupid and this is going to be a hard lesson for me. How much do you think DJI will charge to repair it?

I can't see anything in your log that indicates the incident was caused by anything you did.
That it was 600 ft up is irrelevant to the incident and you were not doing anything unusual.
The speed was not excessive and again, this did not contribute to the outcome.
The Phantom was in stable flight but at about 4:41.9 things come unstuck and the aircraft begins to spin to the right and then roll and tumble.
That's not normal.
It looks like a good case for DJI to investigate.

 

[tymac94]

Was the prop hub still on the motor?

Yeah see here for a pic right after the crash with all 4 prop hubs still attached.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MH7634tVytCtBV8j8

 

[tymac94]

I can't see anything in your log that indicates the incident was caused by anything you did.
That it was 600 ft up is irrelevant to the incident and you were not doing anything unusual.
The speed was not excessive and again, this did not contribute to the outcome.
The Phantom was in stable flight but at about 4:41.9 things come unstuck and the aircraft begins to spin to the right and then roll and tumble.
That's not normal.
It looks like a good case for DJI to investigate.

Thanks for taking a look and replying! I'm staying hopeful, I checked the weather before I took off and winds were 3-4mph sun shining 85 degrees out, lovely weather.

I normally am very aware and check everything before taking off, hope DJI sees it was a malfunction and fix it.

 

[Fly Dawg]

I normally am very aware and check everything before taking off, hope DJI sees it was a malfunction and fix it.

They might, but your link for the aircraft .dat file is not downloadable to review without registering for the share site. You need to use a different location.

 

[tymac94]

Corrected the original link to my dropbox.

Dropbox - 2018-05-31_18-31-58_FLY240.DAT

 

[Timothyfranks]

The reason why your drone went into a spin and crash was from two reason. One,the motor failed ,two the the propeller broke in flight. If you retrieved they p4p with the one of propeller broke off.i would say thats was your problem. I know from experience. My phantom 3 had a bat fly into it,did the same thing.

 

[BudWalker]

The reason why your drone went into a spin and crash was from two reason. One,the motor failed ,two the the propeller broke in flight. If you retrieved they p4p with the one of propeller broke off.i would say thats was your problem. I know from experience. My phantom 3 had a bat fly into it,did the same thing.

And it was probably the rightBack prop? At time 281 secs the AC pitched up, rolled right and started a CW rotation. All consistent with rightBack propulsion issue.

 

[Timothyfranks]

And it was probably the rightBack prop? At time 281 secs the AC pitched up, rolled right and started a CW rotation. All consistent with rightBack propulsion issue.
View attachment 99511

 

[tymac94]

The reason why your drone went into a spin and crash was from two reason. One,the motor failed ,two the the propeller broke in flight. If you retrieved they p4p with the one of propeller broke off.i would say thats was your problem. I know from experience. My phantom 3 had a bat fly into it,did the same thing.

That is just the problem, there were big tall pine trees and other smaller trees around where I found my drone, not sure if the drone hit a tree and branches causing the prop to break, wish I was recording video during the crash. I looked really hard around nearby for any pieces of the gimbel, camera or prop and couldn't find it.

 

[tymac94]

And it was probably the rightBack prop? At time 281 secs the AC pitched up, rolled right and started a CW rotation. All consistent with rightBack propulsion issue.
View attachment 99511

It was actually the front right prop that was broke when I found the drone.

 

[sar104]

That's very interesting - it didn't tumble, it came down in a flat(ish) CW spin:

That's not the expected result with a full motor failure, which suggests that all motors were producing some lift. I'd need to see the DAT file to confirm exactly what happened, and FLY240 is not the correct file - it is not a flight - just a 900 second power up.

 

[Timothyfranks]

I would say the propeller was already broke . that's the thing to caused the drone to spin like that

 

[tymac94]

That's very interesting - it didn't tumble, it came down in a flat(ish) CW spin:

View attachment 99510

That's not the expected result with a full motor failure, which suggests that all motors were producing some lift. I'd need to see the DAT file to confirm exactly what happened, and FLY240 is not the correct file - it is not a flight - just a 900 second power up.

Here are all my .DAT files from today, not sure which one is the correct one.

Dropbox - MCDatFlightRecords.rar

 

[Timothyfranks]

Sorry bud there nothing more sicking then to see you drone in pieces from crash been there. Good luck on dji ive learn to do the repair myself...