Lost connection, crash, lost drone.

[ElevationOneDrone]

Hello All,

I am not only frustrated, and angry, but also mind boggled.

I bought the P4P a few weeks ago, have flown it several times.

I have have had some intermittent connection issues before, but nothing crazy.

This AM I was flying up near our water tower, clear signal, then bam, no connection.

I was a good 50-75 meters away from the tower.

Last grid coordinate said as well.

I found the battery inside the public works fenced area, its beat up. But I came fond the drone, any where.

I am in the process of getting the flight log, but it seems odd to me that it just cut out and is gone.

I am unsure if refresh will send me a new one. This is my 3rd DJI drone, and I cannot afford to lose this one. I have 2 mavics as well.

Any ideas?

 

[sar104]

Any ideas?

Not without seeing the log.

 

[Fly Dawg]

I am in the process of getting the flight log, but it seems odd to me that it just cut out and is gone.

We will need to see the flight logs to give you an answer. You can upload the log here: Log Viewer
Instructions are on the link. Once you upload the file, place a link back here to that and we can take a look.

NOTE: If this was a mid-air shutdown, the aircraft .dat file will be required for analysis.

 

[sar104]

NOTE: If this was a mid-air shutdown, the aircraft .dat file will be required for analysis.

Right - but first he has to find the aircraft.

 

[2edgesword]

The battery was found separated from the drone. There was an intermediate connection prior to losing the drone. Until more information comes in and with only those two pieces of information a loose battery connection could have been the issue.

 

[Fly Dawg]

I am currently in the airdata app, but cannot seem to find where I get the text information for the flight. I just have a general overview

You can share the airdata link here, but you must ensure that you make the .csv sharable as well. OR you can simply upload your .txt file from your device to the link posted in #3 above.

 

[ElevationOneDrone]

 

[Meta4]

Did that work?

Yes
How high is that water tower?
You lost signal when you flew behind it.
The drone is likely to have attempted to fly through the tower if it was blocking the path home.

 

[Bug Shredder]

If only the battery was found it is likely it was not inserted fully. This could also account for loss of power and consequently the crash. The latching system on the battery to drone is pretty fool proof unless the battery is not fully inserted... Have you considered the drone could be lodged on the water tower somewhere?

 

[Meta4]

I lost signal on the far side. I could see what I was looking at, the back side, then it shut off. I looked all through the fenced in area, in the yards around it, in the abandoned building, on the train tracks, and in the woods.... nothing. Drone is gone.

Tower is 152 ft. It would have slid off most likely if it hit the top of the tower.

Your altitude was pretty close at 164 ft above launch point.
It's not a good idea to fly behind obstacles and if you do, you should set an appropriate RTH height to clear any obstacles on the RTH path.
Those antennas were probably just high enough to catch the drone as it came home.
The battery often dislodges in a collision and it could have bounced and come down separately from the drone ( that might even still be up there.
Here's the aerial view to point to the likely impact point and search area.

ps ... It's also not a good idea to launch with a partially discharged battery.

 

[ElevationOneDrone]

The battery was found just to the right of the water tower in the picture, along the yellow line, just left of those two white dots.

Again, the drone could be up there, its entirely possible, but we would have to have the cell phone antenna people go up there, and I have no idea how to get a hold of them.

 

[ElevationOneDrone]

My RTH altitude is always set at minimum 50 meters. If my home point is recorded at 98 ft in the air (when GPS kicked in), I would be at 240 ft for return home. So, that is why I was curious as to why it would hit the tower. It lost signal, I ran toward the opening where the red dot is, to get the antenna lined up... but it was already down by then. It usually doesn't RTH until its been disconnected for longer than about 15 seconds.

 

[Meta4]

The battery was found just to the right of the water tower in the picture, along the yellow line, just left of those two white dots.

It's done a bit of bouncing to get that far from the tower.

 

[ElevationOneDrone]

It's done a bit of bouncing to get that far from the tower.

Agree... It would make sense if the drone was in fact, on top, and the battery slid out, and down the tower, but again, that thing would have had to hit the antenna on the right side of the tower to dislodge the battery, there's nothing else to hit on the top of the tower, but those antenna

DJI said a "lost drone isn't cause for replacement". Well... that sucks, because I made sure everything was good, it was flying just fine. Ive rarely had any connection issues in the past.

I understand now that the tower has high RF activity, which could have been the cause, but still not sure as to what happened, not far at all from me.

Pretty pissed.... I have 2 Mavics, and the P4P (just bought). I flew the Air around the tower, I didn't see any drone up there.

 

[Meta4]

My RTH altitude is always set at minimum 50 meters. If my home point is recorded at 98 ft in the air (when GPS kicked in), I would be at 240 ft for return home.

Your home point is zero. Your RTH height was set at the default height of 98 feet.
At loss of signal the drone was at 165 ft and it would have come home at that level.
The altitude reading could be +/- a few feet

 

[Meta4]

I made sure everything was good, it was flying just fine. Ive rarely had any connection issues in the past.
I understand now that the tower has high RF activity, which could have been the cause, but still not sure as to what happened, not far at all from me.

You lost signal because you flew to a point where there was a large lump of reinforced concrete and water between the drone and controller.
That is what blocked signal.

 

[PhantomFandom]

Thank you, so, it should have came home at 165 ft? or was it coming back at 98 ft? Either way I filed a refresh claim, but it didn't ask for a "flight log". Wants me to send them a unit... to which, I have none. I guess I could go back out and look again, but I doubt I will find anything..

Since its current altitude was higher than its RTH altitude, it would have returned at its current altitude. However it seems that altitude was still too low to clear the structure.

This does reinforce the need to always plan ahead and set all RTH parameters based on the current environment. In this case the RTH should have been set to at least 60 meters, and probably more to be safe.

 

[ElevationOneDrone]

Since its current altitude was higher than its RTH altitude, it would have returned at its current altitude. However it seems that altitude was still too low to clear the structure.

This does reinforce the need to always plan ahead and set all RTH parameters based on the current environment. In this case the RTH should have been set to at least 60 meters, and probably more to be safe.

The tower is 150 ft.

 

[PhantomFandom]

The tower is 150 ft.

Elevations and altitudes can always be off by several feet. Plus it looks like there are antennas on the tower, which could be even higher. Many people have crashed into objects that "should have been" below the altitude of the drone.

 

[ElevationOneDrone]

Either way... drone is gone. Battery was found. 5 hour search, no drone found. I flew the Mavic Air over top.... no sight of Phantom. Hence why I think the battery fell out and the drone just fell