Did my phantom truly survive it's first crash?

Dillon Freilinger · Oct 5, 2015

My drone crashed, landing on concrete from about 10 feet up. It landed and one of the white rubber tubes holding the camera gimble came halfway off and I put it back in fine (only 2 of the 4 have the plastic bracket inside the rubber tube correct?). The props didn't break but I put news one on anyways. After a calibration it seemed to be working fine, I'm still nervous I may be missing something that needs to be inspected. I understand the drone was never meant to crash but is it common to survive a small crash like this? What things should I be paying extra attention to now that it has taken a tumble?

RiskFactor · Oct 5, 2015

Even relatively low altitude crashes can result in separation of the gimbal from the quadcopter, which is when the fun starts. On another hand, other folks have crashed from higher up (like myself) and suffered light, repairable damage. Seems to be a crapshoot. 10 feet onto concrete...sounds like you dodged a bullet.

Also sounds like you came somewhat close to gimbal separation, but your drop pins held (the two plastic rods inside the rubber vibration dampeners). I would inspect all your dampeners (white rubber cushions) closely for tears...they can be damaged easily, and if one or more have failed, the camera will have issues with vibration, tilted horizon, etc.

What exactly did it land on...the landing gear? One of the arms? A little more info on impact points might help others to chime in with things to look for.