Phantom 3 malfunction and crash (flight record video)

[snowghost]

I just have to wonder about compass calibrations when I see these telemetry videos. I have a very VERY similar thing happen just the other day. Trying to get more stick-time, I took the copter out to the front yard (I live in a cul-de-sac) as I have before to get a little practice in. I took off, flew 20 minutes and went in to charge the battery. Came out an hour or so later with a freshly charged battery and attempted it again....

...this time, I took off and let it hover at around 3 feet for approx. 30 seconds. During this time it had this sort of "right-slip-twitch" to it. Not a gradual movement to the right, but a twitch! A very quick, almost violent half-second jump to the right, and then re-level. it stopped so at 52 seconds into this flight I gave it about 50% forward stick, still at around 5 feet altitude, for a distance of about 20 feet.

Then as I brought it to a halt, to spin 180 degrees and return back, the Phantom 3 Pro started drifting right and climbing. It climbed from about 4 or 5 feet alt to about 20 feet and drifted right about another 20 feet while I applied more and more left stick to bring it to a halt.

Thank goodness for my previous R/C airplane experience!!

...I was able to stop the right drift with almost full left stick, and I applied down throttle to attempt to bring it closer to me.

I was able to back-up the drone, bring it back down to about 3 feet in altitude, and I centered the sticks.....which to my chagrin made it drift right....right into the neighbor's tree!

Minimal damage ( actually NO damage, just mud and scuffed props)...but it utterly destroyed my confidence, and trust in the copter!!

...so I'm taking this time to order some prop guards, peruse some fly-away videos, and collect other user experiences ( hence, why I'm here - just to rebuild some confidence...

...not confidence in my ability, but confidence in that this thing isn't going to have a mind of it's own!

Did you drop into Atti mode? I would get compass and GPS errors right after lift off from a concrete driveway. Now I only launch off the lawn. And have not had the same error.

But if you had been flying for a while with no errors it had to be something else.

 

[Adam Kontras]

I've had compass errors before, right away, and brought the unit down and took off from a different spot. That's different than what the (now 3) fatal flights are showing. A motor or propeller is going out. I don't believe you can get a spin that crazy from compass and GPS errors. Once the spin starts however, the GPS flickers constantly because it can't keep up with the movement.

 

[skyhighdiver]

That's bad man hope DJ I do something for you.

I found this out first hand when my brand new p3 arrived with broken tablet holder. I contacted dji direct as that is were I got it.
The said contact dji north America so I did sent full conversation, order number and online chat log
got another email asking for proof of purchase. Really really you have my purchase order receipt from dji that is the only proof I have
They send me 2 more asking same question then said, it is forwarded to DjI headquarters . They send me a email saying the item is not available. So Im like well what do I do new unit holder broke , do I send whole thing back? Which will cost me $20.00 shipping So I just got a new metal one on ebay and gave up with DJI .Thank god it wasn't a major part.

 

[Ghetto Bird]

So far Dji customer service is a joke. They say 24/7 tech support for P3 owners and still no response back from DJI. If you look at my video of the flight data you see I was in the air flying for at least 15 minutes. I always do a compass calibration before my first flight and there after since I'm still waiting on my extra battery. This issue is with DJI's firmware, compass, radar positioning esc's, or motors causing this problem. If you look at my video when It show the control sticks, throttle was at 100%, right yaw was at 75%, altitude stick was 100%,and left roll was at about 75% as the drone viciously wobbles towards the ground. This has something to do with the flight controller, the GPS, and radar probably not working together as they should. All of the videos posted of these crashes showed the craft at a hover and all of a sudden goes haywire

 

[Ghetto Bird]

I've contacted Dji live chat and they directed me to the LA office. Do I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to talk to someone to see what steps they'll take. Since I bought directly from them do I have to send it back to China or what.

 

[Adam Kontras]

I've contacted Dji live chat and they directed me to the LA office. Do I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to talk to someone to see what steps they'll take. Since I bought directly from them do I have to send it back to China or what.

I called them directly on the phone (818) 235-0789 (ridiculously long hold time, so be ready) and explained everything. They gave me an RMA # and you have to ship it back at your own expense. You ship it to the LA office.

That's where it stands right now for me...

 

[ianwood]

Let's get the FLY*.DAT files off of these birds. Was anyone recoding video when this happened? It would be really helpful. I've been quietly thinking these might be VRS related but in the third video, it was actually ascending just prior to it spinning out of control. Curious.

 

[Ghetto Bird]

No video because I was just doing a little cruise around da block but wish I had been recording. I really don't think I should have to pay for shipping since they're partnered with fedex, I should be able to print off a return label at their cost which I'm going to push for. I haven't had the drone two weeks, still waiting on my extra battery after waiting a month just to get it. Now I have to ship it back to them just as I'm getting the extra battery. UNREAL. ITS ONE THING TO HAVE A GREAT PRODUCT BUT IF YOU DONT HAVE AFTER SALES SERVICE, parts, or customer service your failing as a business. If you just worried about being the industry leader in technology and how fast you can bring a product to market, you going to lose sight of the true goal of a company, COSTOMER RETENTION

 

[leekiya]

yea i was thinking about a video, someone must have a recording of one of the crashes. Every single flight while fimling is put straight onto a ipad from flight with no downloading needed so even if the camera and memory card broke when it crashed, the video will still be there stored on the ipad to view. I have thought this about a few crashes now.

 

[Motorotor]

Did you drop into Atti mode? I would get compass and GPS errors right after lift off from a concrete driveway. Now I only launch off the lawn. And have not had the same error.

But if you had been flying for a while with no errors it had to be something else.

Hi snowghost,

I remember "B*tching Betty" yelling at me about ATTI mode after the crash into the low slung branches of the neighbor's tree, but I'm pretty sure she was quiet during the rest of the flight.

Furthermore, reviewing the flight logs, I can clearly see the app's loss of GPS message, again, as I hit the tree, but not before. Again, making me suspect some sort of "out of range" compass numbers...

...the bizarre part, as you noted, I just few the same thing about an hour previously. Did my compass dance and everything....

I'm thankful there was little to no damage, and I'm certainly not trying to point any fingers. I simply want to figure out exactly what went wrong so I can avoid it in the future is all.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[StevenQX]

3 identical crash are worrisome but noone was recording?

 

[Adam Kontras]

3 identical crash are worrisome but noone was recording?

I'm not sure what you all think would be seen from a video of a quad suddenly spinning in mid-air. The flight log and the text I uploaded show a TON more information. It just starts spinning. You wouldn't be able to see anything. Now if someone was actually taping the quad in the sky from the ground it would be helpful... but video from the drone will show absolutely nothing...

 

[Motorotor]

I wasn't, sorry. Was just practicing and so saw no need to record my neighbors in 4k.

 

[Ghetto Bird]

If I recall dji had just released the V3.0 in late 2014 with the new esc's and motors. I thought that would have been the most current model. Than in Early 2015 the come out with the P3. They have integrated all of the selling features of their elite Imspire into the P3. Hence the indoor radar positioning, controller, and the light bridge in the same P2 platform, and you're still able to sell it for $1000. Not long after they released the P3's they had to do a firmware update to what we now have 1.1.9. Which it states that you must update to that version or you won't be able to get further updates. I think this might be a rush to market and stay ahead of the game. I think they're using the consumer to their live beta test for them. I think they are becoming aware that there are problems and wouldn't be surprised if their was another firmware update here in the near future

 

[Ghetto Bird]

And to the comments on the recording. I was flying in my own neighborhood which I have plenty of videos of from my vision and plus. Therefore I was not recording. I'm going to record another video and try and get a cleaner image of the backyard I was over with NO TREES AND WHERE IT LANDED WITH NO TREES

 

[Adam Kontras]

The good thing about the .txt file is that you can actually see the flight path in 3D space. Clearly showing there's no trees or anything to hit. These spins are starting at 90+ feet in the air... but again, this thread is so long, we already got through all this stuff in the first 5 pages. It's a lot to go back and read...

 

[leekiya]

Sadly i fear that by the time any of you 3 guys get a report back from DJI if they are going to replace your craft or not, this post will be long gone down the forum. Please update it with any news you get from DJI so we all know. I do get the feeling tho we wont ever learn why any of them came down, just like we have never learned anything from any other crash. Hope you all get things sorted.

 

[Adam Kontras]

Sadly i fear that by the time any of you 3 guys get a report back from DJI if they are going to replace your craft or not, this post will be long gone down the forum. Please update it with any news you get from DJI so we all know. I do get the feeling tho we wont ever learn why any of them came down, just like we have never learned anything from any other crash. Hope you all get things sorted.

Why would they take down this post? Especially if there's a positive resolution!??!

 

[leekiya]

Why would they take down this post? Especially if there's a positive resolution!??!

not saying they will take this post down. Im saying by the time any of you guys hear anything this post will be long gone so please keep us informed.

 

[Adam Kontras]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh not me. I'm fully vested in documenting every second of this and shedding light on the exemplary customer service of Advexure throughout this process. Don't worry, you will know the outcome.