Phantom 3 hit by kite, totally destroyed

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If you'd been manually flying it (and actually knew how to do so) you could have avoided the accident: "after a stupid kite flew into my home lock path"

Live and learn. But hope you do actually learn how to fly a quadcopter rather than depending on buttons to do the flying for you ...
I do know how to fly it manually, I was in home lock mode where you pull back on the right stick to bring it back. I didn't see the kite until it was too late. When you panic, you forget to do stuff, like put it back in P-GPS OR ATTI. And I thought I was out of the strings way.

Sent from my SM-G900P using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
I don't think I'd have been flying directly over the crowded beach. Perhaps 100ft off shore you would have avoid people and kites. Sure sorry about the loss of your craft though, that's a bad one.
I was thinking the same thing. The short beach, the people, and the road right there. I tend to think flying over the water would have been safer since the wind was probably blowing into shore and the kite would not have been able to head out there. Love my cornfields, country lanes, wildlife and non concrete flight areas.
 
I'm sorry for your loss but let's be clear... _you_ wreaked the Phantom, not anyone else. If you are going to fly around other people then you need to make sure you are clear at all times. This can be the price any of us pay when we fly.

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Ditto, what you said.
 
I'd say YOU'RE very lucky no one was hurt. Certainly would not have been the fault of the kite.
I have seen posts before where pilots get accolades for flying over people. At parades, biking events and such and it may not happen every time, but it only takes once to have a regretful moment.
 
We should make a checklist to do for phantom in case of an emergency. Like on real planes. This could bring many more phantoms in emergencies home again.

Sent from my SM-G900P using PhantomPilots mobile app
It would be great, but how many people have actually read the manual? It is easier for many to just watch the YouTube or Vimeo videos and ignore the printed guidance and techniques. Great idea, not many would implement it I believe.
 
I hear there's a similar discussion going on over on the kite forum. ;)

In the photo, you can see the spare battery on the right, and then the crushed top (and just the top) of another battery next to the gimbal.

"Hit by kite" is a bit of a stretch. The drone hit the line and dragged the kite into itself. That's like saying the Titanic was hit by an iceberg.

As folks are saying, this could have turned out much worse, and I hope it's taken as a learning experience for safer flying.
Looks to me like hitting the kite line was bad luck, but flying over people and roads is courting disaster (for others more than for the drone).
 
I just came back from the beach, after a stupid kite flew into my home lock path and wrecked my copter. I even tried to dodge it, seeing it racing towards me. I then watched helplessly as the kite and drone fell to the earth in a tangled mess and got hit by a SEMI TRUCK. The drone is unrecognizable but the camera and memory card somehow survived. I don't know what to do now, do I call DJI? Do I return it back to best buy since I just bought it a week ago?! What should I do please help!!!
view

Buy a new drone. Maybe you have insurance? This certainly isn't the fault of the seller or DJI. The guy with the kite probably is on a kit forum complaining about a stupid drone that flew into his kite.
 
I hear there's a similar discussion going on over on the kite forum. ;)

In the photo, you can see the spare battery on the right, and then the crushed top (and just the top) of another battery next to the gimbal.

"Hit by kite" is a bit of a stretch. The drone hit the line and dragged the kite into itself. That's like saying the Titanic was hit by an iceberg.

As folks are saying, this could have turned out much worse, and I hope it's taken as a learning experience for safer flying.
Looks to me like hitting the kite line was bad luck, but flying over people and roads is courting disaster (for others more than for the drone).
I agree and it is only a matter of time before another kite or "upgrade failure" (as people like to call it) reoccurs and someone is injured. I understand airspace is everyone's air, but common sense is the best defense in a lot of cases. It doesn't matter if you fly at 100 feet or 150 feet. Fly above the kites, because once it hits a prop, that new lawn ornament is at the mercy of gravity and we all know that gravity is a "beach."
 
First rule of thumb. Check your flight path. The error here sorry to say was your fault. With that it's also a real pain but it's your loss to. No different than driving your car into a tree or garage. It's up to the driver/pilot to be sure it is safe and clear where he flies. Chalk it up to a costly learning experience and move forward. Sorry friend but this ones on you. Learn from this a move a head.
 
At that time, I was not looking at the screen. I was watching the drone fly back to me, I didn't even realize that the drone pulled the kite towards itself, I saw the kite descend, they almost touched mid air, and I thought the drone would go under the kite. But I didn't realize I severed the line, and what luck? The kite falls on top of the copter? And once it hits the road, it gets ran over by a semi truck? I have bad luck with all of these things. My first parrot bebop, wifi disconnected and almost flew through a window. Second bebop, lost wifi and flew into power pole. 3rd bebop, lost wifi and flew into a distant mountain. 1st phantom, 300ft video feed. Second phantom, got entangled in a kite and fell to the ground then got hit by a truck. Should I just not buy them until I talk to the thing that gave me 0 luck?
I fear it has not so much to do with bad luck, much more with irresponsible flying habits.
 
I'm going to weigh in here as both a Phantom owner and a kite flyer (I have over a dozen quad line stunt kites). Twice now I have seen accidents involving drones and kites, though fortunately no trucks were involved in either incident. At a kite festival I was at last year a young man with a drone flew under a formation of kites and brought down 3 or 4 of them and crashed his drone. He said he never even thought about them having lines to get tangled in. Well duh! The second time, a guy flew his drone into a friend's kite and his prop blades cut the fabric to pieces. He was trying to take pictures and got too close. Each of these kites cost $400 or more, and while they are highly maneuverable and can do some amazing things, they are not as quick as a drone. Now if I see a drone flaying anywhere nearby, I keep my kite on the ground,
Kite lines 3.jpg
Kite lines 3.jpg
 
I really feel for you, I'd be sulking too, but you were playing with your drone and someone was playing with their kite, unfortunately they got tangled, but in the great scheme of things it pales, get another drone!
 
It's a standard. Flew it 1km away, no mods. Still could go farther. There was a fairly decent wind up there, so I headed back. I used home lock, but I might have been able to save it if I hadn't. I tried to dodge it, but I couldn't because it was in home lock. Lesson is: 1. Don't fly it near roads or kites. 2. Don't use home lock unless absolutely necessary. That was all that remained. The rest was literally 200 bits of plastic floating into the air... It was atomized.
Rules are not to fly near roads anyway. Its just bad luck. All we can do is obey the rules and avoid problems that can happen.
 
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