disconnected midflight, props off at 60m

[massolit]

First of all I would like to say hello to everybody, I'm new here!

I've had my P3P since May and since then I,ve been flying it quite regularly (about 100 flights so far). Although it is my first drone so I do not consider myself anything more then an intermediate pilot.

My problem is really summed up in the title: Phantom just switched off in the air and fell to the ground like a rock. I got a black screen and a 'disconnected' status. After about two seconds everything started working again, but all I saw in the app was grass. Upside down.
Poor Phantom now has some bruises and I had to have its gimbal straightened. The repairman also checked all the parts to see what might have switched him off and everything seems to be working fine. Official DJI support did not help me at all, none of the drone garages I found in my country could help so you guys are kind of my last hope in solving the mistery.

Some details (Probably most of them are irrelevant):

It never happened before;
After the incident I performed a lot of tests, failsafe always works fine;
If the cable disconnects during flight, Phantom just hovers, it does not fall;
I always perform the compass calibration;
I was flying in a small town, some small mountains around, no radio towers nearby;
My phones wifi was off (I use my smartphone for the app);
Antennas were oriented in a WRONG way (did not know before there should be a 90 degrees angle between them)

Anyone here who had a similar experience?

Also I have one tip for all the pilots - do something to protect your gimbal! I printed some 3d guard and if I have had that during the accident, probably nothing would have happened to it.

Good day to all

 

[hasofy]

Maybe the battery disconnected mid-flight.

 

[massolit]

Well, actually is sounds about right when I think about how it happened. But I have no idea how is possible though, Phantoms battery is connected pretty well.
Thanks hasofy

 

[bobmyers]

First of all I would like to say hello to everybody, I'm new here!

I've had my P3P since May and since then I,ve been flying it quite regularly (about 100 flights so far). Although it is my first drone so I do not consider myself anything more then an intermediate pilot.

My problem is really summed up in the title: Phantom just switched off in the air and fell to the ground like a rock. I got a black screen and a 'disconnected' status. After about two seconds everything started working again, but all I saw in the app was grass. Upside down.
Poor Phantom now has some bruises and I had to have its gimbal straightened. The repairman also checked all the parts to see what might have switched him off and everything seems to be working fine. Official DJI support did not help me at all, none of the drone garages I found in my country could help so you guys are kind of my last hope in solving the mistery.

Some details (Probably most of them are irrelevant):

It never happened before;
After the incident I performed a lot of tests, failsafe always works fine;
If the cable disconnects during flight, Phantom just hovers, it does not fall;
I always perform the compass calibration;
I was flying in a small town, some small mountains around, no radio towers nearby;
My phones wifi was off (I use my smartphone for the app);
Antennas were oriented in a WRONG way (did not know before there should be a 90 degrees angle between them)

Anyone here who had a similar experience?

Also I have one tip for all the pilots - do something to protect your gimbal! I printed some 3d guard and if I have had that during the accident, probably nothing would have happened to it.

Good day to all

There have been reports of critical battery level coming on in the app in mid flight from several in this forum. It also happened to me and I immediately landed. What I found is that it is possible to shove the battery in and it will supposedly lock in place when in actual fact, it did not. If the battery did not lock in place, it will tend to slide back and create a bad connection. In your case, it could have advanced beyond any connection and caused a complete power failure.

What I and other have found is that if there is any space in the gap between the battery and the phantom, it is not lock in placed and the battery may well work it's way out creating a connection problem and potential power failure..

I was quite shocked to see my battery when I landed my Phantom with a 1/16 inch gap which showed that I indeed had not seated the battery all the way in when I put it in even though I was sure I did.

Not saying that was your issue-- but it could have been a cause. Put it one your pre flight check list-- BATTERY SEATED

 

[hasofy]

I was quite shocked to see my battery when I landed my Phantom with a 1/16 inch gap which showed that I indeed had not seated the battery all the way in when I put it in even though I was sure I did

This also happened to me a couple of days ago. I got a battery error mid-flight and could luckily bring the bird back home, before the battery fell out.

 

[massolit]

I checked the log of the unlucky flight and I got nothing like this. I just got disconnected and that's it, no errors. Also, it was 100% charged.
Well, I'm definitely checking my battery now every time before flight, but still I am not sure this was the problem.

 

[Mako79]

Not saying that was your issue-- but it could have been a cause. Put it one your pre flight check list-- BATTERY SEATED

+1
You need to do the battery slap!
Look at 0:14 in the clip below.

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[30secs]

I sometimes try to pull it out to make sure it's locked

 

[admrlkizer]

There have been reports of critical battery level coming on in the app in mid flight from several in this forum. It also happened to me and I immediately landed. What I found is that it is possible to shove the battery in and it will supposedly lock in place when in actual fact, it did not. If the battery did not lock in place, it will tend to slide back and create a bad connection. In your case, it could have advanced beyond any connection and caused a complete power failure.

What I and other have found is that if there is any space in the gap between the battery and the phantom, it is not lock in placed and the battery may well work it's way out creating a connection problem and potential power failure..

I was quite shocked to see my battery when I landed my Phantom with a 1/16 inch gap which showed that I indeed had not seated the battery all the way in when I put it in even though I was sure I did.

Not saying that was your issue-- but it could have been a cause. Put it one your pre flight check list-- BATTERY SEATED

Agreed by pure luck I noticed that my battery was not fully seated before a flight. I could have sworn I heard a satisfying click sound of it locking in when I initially loaded it up. After that I'm personally compelled about these mid flight battery dislodging stories. I've been giving the battery a good pull now prior to each flight......no issues so far.

 

[Fernossi]

Hi, I encountered the same problem today: My dji3-professional also dropped like a stone from 20m. I think it is unrepairable:-( It was my fourth flight that day. The others been okay, except for some warnings of weak transmission, but, still manageable. On my last flight after just one minute (battery at.ca. 70%), the status on the App on my iPad went to "disconnected". So I could not use the iPad anymore, however, since the drone was just ca. 25 meters away and did notably high, I did not push the return home button, but wanted to fly it home manually. I might have pushed the left stick to the ground, but, as I understand, this should not stop the motor in mid-air! I'm just happy no one got hurt. However, before I buy a new one, I must find out, where the problem lies, because this is just too dangerous. Not to imagine the drone would have fallen on someone's head or a driving car...
The flight record shows five! last flights of 0m Distance and 0m altitude with no GPS.
I guess, this is all my last flight. And I remember to had GPS in the green, otherwise I would not dare to fly. Any ideas what went wrong?

 

[FT in Japan]

Agreed by pure luck I noticed that my battery was not fully seated before a flight.

This happened to me just yesterday. I thought it was in, but I noticed just a bit more space than usual and checked- CLICK. Disaster averted. Definitely something I'll have to add to the pre-flight checklist: Ensure battery fully seated!