2 Flights Shy of 100 and I lose my Phantom....

[robb01]

Lost my Phantom 3 today. Have no clue if it's firmware related or not. I upgraded to the newest firmware last night just to be totally updated for a job I had today.

Locked GPS and took off, flew out to 5k feet towards a bridge, then flew back, got to 2k feet away and dropped signal. Waited and walked around a few minutes to try and get signal and nothing. Initiated return to home in the app and it failed. Hit the rth button on the controller and waited 10 mins, at this time the battery should have been dead. Finally turned off the remote and waited..and waited, bird is now gone

The altitude when it lost signal was just over 520 feet.

I have 2 theories...It appears that it lost signal or went down possibly over an underwater transmission line, as there is a clearing in the trees at exactly the location it went missing, and if you look across the gravel road, there is what appears to be an electrical junction box.

Either that or a bird strike, as I saw several eagles in the area.

Any other thoughts?

 

[robb01]

Video of the flight in question.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[PilotHarry]

Did you go to the last point it recalled and search? Sorry bud, that sucks. Odd that it would just go down 2000 away; it was probably either a catastrophic battery failure or some external thing acting on it, like a bird. I don't think the transmission lines would effect its RTH (GPS) capability

 

[robb01]

Did you go to the last point it recalled and search? Sorry bud, that sucks. Odd that it would just go down 2000 away; it was probably either a catastrophic battery failure or some external thing acting on it, like a bird. I don't think the transmission lines would effect its RTH (GPS) capability

Yes, i searched the riverbank on foot. Also found a very nice gentleman who took me out on his fishing boat to look for it right where it went down, nothing.

 

[robb01]

Did you go to the last point it recalled and search? Sorry bud, that sucks. Odd that it would just go down 2000 away; it was probably either a catastrophic battery failure or some external thing acting on it, like a bird. I don't think the transmission lines would effect its RTH (GPS) capability

Funny you say that, my only theories are the transmission lines or a bird strike, although it was quite high (500 ft) for eagles, but I did see a few flying in the area

 

[fhagan02]

Man. My heart goes out to you.

Toward the end of the flight path video from the app.... at the kink in the path. Whatever happened, appears to have happened there. There the video seems to "skip" ahead. Vertical speed jumps from .7mph to 37mph. It went down.... real fast. Could be a number of things. Bird strike.... definitely could have happened. Transmission lines....No IMHO.
No way to know for sure I guess. Doesn't matter though as you still wind up back here with a missing Phantom that fell out of the sky. I'd go back out tomorrow. At least try again to find it. It appears to have went down close to the bank. May be in a tree there, on the bank or shallow water? You're gonna have to call DJI and without a bird to send back I'm not sure what you or they will do.

Regardless....If all presented here is the honest truth.... raise hell. Not to be a jerk but it's gonna take some chest pounding and persistence without a wrecked bird to send back. I'm adamant because these quads do just fall from the sky. Not because I've read this in forums. Mine did. Perfect bird with 207 perfect flights. Just fell out of the sky at an altitude of 400 feet flying in a straight line. Let me clarify by saying I'm not a noob. So ALL things were done by the book and then some. The only difference in my event and yours is I had the busted bird to send back.

They fixed mine... after two back to back RMA's...and 5 weeks later...free of charge. Never told me why it fell though. I'm just waiting for the next fall as there was zero warning that my P3 had any issue(s)...until of course it hit the ground at 43mph.

Best of luck to you. Keep us updated.

 

[Chris Vedeler]

That totally sucks! I would say with 99% certainty it wasn't the underwater power line. I have flown over high voltage power lines as far as 5km distance many times without a single problem.

You were flying backwards. Perhaps you ran into something? Another aircraft? 500 feet is high, but hawks and eagles routinely fly that high around here. Another theory that came to my mind was perhaps it was shot out of the sky by a hunter? But at 500 feet they would barely be able to see it. Pretty unlikely there.

Best theory is a bird strike I think. They have come very close to hitting my P3 in flight many times, and those are just the ones I have seen FPV.

Look again. If it crashed in the water you will probably never see it again or know what really happened. Without a crashed bird I doubt DJI would do much for you.

 

[HD pilot]

Sorry to hear this. I would invest in a GPS tracking device if you buy another or find your bird. I never leave home without it, ever. Hope you find it, fingers crossed

 

[quasimodo]

Really sad to hear the craft just fall without a clue. And some just blame to other creatures that might be the cause our craft crashed just to us feel better..as many that i have read crashes are from the pilots most of them...but many also crashed suddenly...this kind of unkown thing happened to crafts that have many perfect flights...is it the destiny to all phantoms? To die suddenly?this really a mystery.

 

[Frans Nobel]

Video of the flight in question.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Did you look the cache video on your tablet?

 

[Wibble]

Electromagnetic effect drops off massively over distance. Look up the inverse square law. Like with a magnetic Almost no attraction until you get very close.
I think a birdstrike is the most likely option.
So sorry for you it is something I always dread.

 

[JKDSensei]

Either that or a bird strike, as I saw several eagles in the area.
Any other thoughts?

My money would be on that.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[robb01]

Did you look the cache video on your tablet?

I wasn't recording at that time, the only cached video is from approaching the bridge, everything appears fine. No birds in the video either

 

[Wibble]

You should ALWAYS keep recording during a flight.
Thinking about it if it had been a bird strike you should still have had video feed until it hit the ground!

 

[Frans Nobel]

You should ALWAYS keep recording during a flight.
Thinking about it if it had been a bird strike you should still have had video feed until it hit the ground!

thats my idea also...

 

[Wibble]

My money would be on that.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

As you can see full video feed until the very end. I think it is looking more likely some sort of major failure with the P3 - maybe total power loss or something?