Phantom 4 Advanced dropped from the sky

ckf

Joined
Jan 12, 2016
Messages
85
Reaction score
58
Location
Vermont
I was flying earlier today and my P4A+ dropped out of the sky. I'm 99.9% sure that I was high enough to avoid hitting a tree. How do I get the flight data .txt file from the P4A+ with built in screen so I can upload it?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Oliver Collin
How do I get the flight data .txt file from the P4A+ with built in screen so I can upload it?
Follow the instructions here.
 
Can anyone tell what happened from the log?
Your TXT flight log doesn't show anything out of the ordinary.

Does your Phantom still power on? If so, upload your DAT flight log to dropbox.com and post a link back here. It'll contain additional details that'll explain what happened. If needed, you can find instructions for retrieving the DAT file here.

A friend pointed out that at 1min 12 sec the VPS altitude goes to zero.
That happens when the Phantom is too high for the downward sensors detect the ground.
 
Your TXT flight log doesn't show anything out of the ordinary.

Does your Phantom still power on? If so, upload your DAT flight log to dropbox.com and post a link back here. It'll contain additional details that'll explain what happened. If needed, you can find instructions for retrieving the DAT file here.


That happens when the Phantom is too high for the downward sensors detect the ground.
Sorry for the delay. Here is the file. Dropbox - DJI_ASSISTANT_EXPORT_FILE_2017-12-01_10-43-16.DAT
 
This appears to be an abrupt-power-loss incident. At the very end of the .DAT recording the motorVolts dropped from around 14 volts to around 7 volts. The .DAT can't distinguish the cause of the abrupt power loss; i.e. was it a battery failure, battery coming loose, or something else.
upload_2017-12-1_8-15-51.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: sar104
This appears to be an abrupt-power-loss incident. At the very end of the .DAT recording the motorVolts dropped from around 14 volts to around 7 volts. The .DAT can't distinguish the cause of the abrupt power loss; i.e. was it a battery failure, battery coming loose, or something else.
View attachment 91593
Thanks. The battery was still in it and the camera still working after it fell from the sky. The camera view is what helped up find it.
 
Thanks. The battery was still in it and the camera still working after it fell from the sky. The camera view is what helped up find it.
Is there a flight immediately after this one?
 
Is there a flight immediately after this one?

You beat me to it. Interesting that the camera was working after the logging had shut down on that flight. The only explanation I can think of is that power came back and it rebooted, which should have generated a new DAT file.
 
You beat me to it. Interesting that the camera was working after the logging had shut down on that flight. The only explanation I can think of is that power came back and it rebooted, which should have generated a new DAT file.
No fight after that one as it was damaged. There aren't any fight logs after that either. I was able to adjust the exposure on the camera to see that it was near a birch tree. When I turn it on now the gimbal goes crazy and it just shows a black screen with no image.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Photographicsteve
No fight after that one as it was damaged. There aren't any fight logs after that either. I was able to adjust the exposure on the camera to see that it was near a birch tree. When I turn it on now the gimbal goes crazy and it just shows a black screen with no image.

That can't really be correct. The aircraft creates a DAT file every time it powers up, and so at a minimum there has to be one for the occasion that you powered it up later to extract the DAT file for the flight in question. Additionally, since the camera was streaming data after the crash that implies that the FC was alive and well, and should have been logging at that time. Since it was not part of the previous flight log it must be in a different log.
 
That can't really be correct. The aircraft creates a DAT file every time it powers up, and so at a minimum there has to be one for the occasion that you powered it up later to extract the DAT file for the flight in question. Additionally, since the camera was streaming data after the crash that implies that the FC was alive and well, and should have been logging at that time. Since it was not part of the previous flight log it must be in a different log.
I'll plug it back in and check.
 
There are other flights shown, but they were listed before the final flight. The one circled in red is where I rebooted it before my flight because I couldn't get a GPS lock.
1.jpg
 
There are other flights shown, but they were listed before the final flight. The one circled in red is where I rebooted it before my flight because I couldn't get a GPS lock.
View attachment 91595

OK - that's weird. It looks like it is no longer generating DAT files. I'll have to think about that. @BudWalker ?
 
OK - that's weird. It looks like it is no longer generating DAT files. I'll have to think about that. @BudWalker ?
I didn't do that many flights that day. Just the one highlighted and the one that I circled. The other ones listed must be from when I fired it up after the crash.
 
I was flying earlier today and my P4A+ dropped out of the sky. I'm 99.9% sure that I was high enough to avoid hitting a tree. How do I get the flight data .txt file from the P4A+ with built in screen so I can upload it?
Wow!
Any warning signs?
Is your drone totally destroyed or is there a chance of a repair?
 
I didn't do that many flights that day. Just the one highlighted and the one that I circled. The other ones listed must be from when I fired it up after the crash.
Something is odd about the time of your flight. The GPS data says the flight took place at 2017-11-28 17:12:21 GMT. That's 2017-11-28 13:12:21 your time?
But, other parts of the .DAT say the flight was at 2017-11-29 06-33-28 This matches what the Assistant is showing. Which one was it?

I believe the 2017-11-29 06-33-28 time comes from the tablet which wouldn't have been available for the flight we're looking for. Could you check the flights to see if there was one at 2017-11-28 17:12:21, or there abouts.
 
Something is odd about the time of your flight. The GPS data says the flight took place at 2017-11-28 17:12:21 GMT. That's 2017-11-28 13:12:21 your time?
But, other parts of the .DAT say the flight was at 2017-11-29 06-33-28 This matches what the Assistant is showing. Which one was it?

I believe the 2017-11-29 06-33-28 time comes from the tablet which wouldn't have been available for the flight we're looking for. Could you check the flights to see if there was one at 2017-11-28 17:12:21, or there abouts.
I've always had trouble with the time since getting the P4A+. There may be a way to set the time in the built in tablet, but I never found it in the settings. The time of the flight was what was shown in the GPS data, 13:21 on 11/28/17
 

Recent Posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,094
Messages
1,467,599
Members
104,980
Latest member
ozmtl