Phantom 3 fell from the sky today (lost power?)

jwegener · Nov 9, 2015

Well, it finally happened to me. Audree, my beloved P3 fell from the sky mid flight over the catskills with no warning. I was able to hike down the mountainside and retrieve the (intact) body of the drone, but camera/gimbal is snapped off and gone and the battery is cracked (and had separated from the drone when i found it)

Luckily it didn't fall onto anyone/anything -- and 20 ppl got to witness as it took an epic fall onto a mountainside, smash onto a tree and then the mountainside below -- hopefully not a sight people will see many times again.

I'm really curious to figure out what happened. The video footage and flight logs just stop suddenly at exactly the moment it lost power and fell.

Final flight logs: HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

and logs from 2 min earlier in that same flight (until my iPhone didn't seem to work and drone was reporting "lost signal") HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

Anyone have any ideas what happened? Would appreciate any ideas. Gonna contact DJI support and see what happens.

One thing maybe worth noting is in the last few months i've randomly been seeing "Overcurrent During Discharge" pop up. But it's never seemed to be a problem. Not sure what overcurrent would even mean...it's delivering TOO much energy?

Volantis · Nov 9, 2015

Without further evidence, I would not discount the possibility that someone blasted it with an anti-drone, beamed radio burst.

It would be helpful for DJI to add a signal meter to the display so we can tell when someone is targeting our drone.

lotusteve · Nov 9, 2015

You took off with 55% battery, wonder if that had something to do with the crash.

III% Streve · Nov 9, 2015

lotusteve said:
You took off with 55% battery, wonder if that had something to do with the crash.

Obviously not unless he flew it till it reported a forced landing. Which isnt what happened.

III% Streve · Nov 9, 2015

Volantis said:
Without further evidence, I would not discount the possibility that someone blasted it with an anti-drone, beamed radio burst.

It would be helpful for DJI to add a signal meter to the display so we can tell when someone is targeting our drone.

There is no possible way to "shoot down" a phantom with any kind of radio interference. We are all smart enough to know that it returns to home on loss of signal.

III% Streve · Nov 9, 2015

Healthydrones really tells nothing crazy useful in any flight. The actual flight long is where the real meat is. And only if you can decipher it.

Rocket_Aus · Nov 9, 2015

So many pilots have had this happen by not taking off with a fully charged battery.
Instruction manual does say never to take off without fully charging the batts.
That said sorry for you loss m8

lotusteve · Nov 9, 2015

Rocket_Aus said:
So many pilots have had this happen by not taking off with a fully charged battery.
Instruction manual does say never to take off without fully charging the batts.
That said sorry for you loss m8

thats why i put.......You took off with 55% battery, wonder if that had something to do with the crash.
but streve said it had nothing to do with the crash.. i was only trying to be helpfull...

RoyVa · Nov 9, 2015

If you lost video at the same time she dropped you lost full power, meaning you lost the battery power. The battery may have come loose and dislodged causing a full loss of power or it did not lock when you pushed it in. Either way you could check the log file and I think you will see a total loss of power.
The over current issue is a indicator the quad was trying to draw more power than the battery could provide. The battery may have shut off on over current protection. I would be suspect of that particular battery. Do you get the same error with a different battery? If it did shut off on over current that would explain the loss of video too.

Wacker2611 · Nov 9, 2015

Well, I'm a bit naughty, and often get a couple of flights in on the same battery, which admittedly I could live to regret. What I definitely wouldn't do though is fly on a 50% battery that's been left around for a few days. I only do it on flights made on the same day - not had a problem yet, I just keep an eye on each cell's voltage as that's the key to getting your machine back in one piece.

Volantis · Nov 9, 2015

III% Streve said:
There is no possible way to "shoot down" a phantom with any kind of radio interference. We are all smart enough to know that it returns to home on loss of signal.

Some people are not as smart as they think they are:

Battelle’s DroneDefender anti-drone beam gun grounds UAVs

rmfa · Nov 9, 2015

Rocket_Aus said:
So many pilots have had this happen by not taking off with a fully charged battery.
Instruction manual does say never to take off without fully charging the batts.
That said sorry for you loss m8

I just had this happen too. I will never do this again. 100% only for me! I started with a 44% battery but only wanted to take it up and right back, less than 1 minute. Oh well, live and learn! I had 209 successful flights before that too.

III% Streve · Nov 9, 2015

Volantis said:
Some people are not as smart as they think they are:

Battelle’s DroneDefender anti-drone beam gun grounds UAVs

You can post all the links you want. That doesnt make a person smart. It makes them full of half truths and BS that the internet is full of. That "story" has no bearing on Phantoms or Inspires.

dropabomb · Nov 9, 2015

Sorry for your loss. Wonder what the girl is passing the guy in the background?

flyNfrank · Nov 9, 2015

III% Streve said:
Healthydrones really tells nothing crazy useful in any flight. The actual flight long is where the real meat is. And only if you can decipher it.

Do you think they should add "For Entertainment Purposes Only" somewhere on healthydrones?

Volantis · Nov 9, 2015

III% Streve said:
You can post all the links you want. That doesnt make a person smart. It makes them full of half truths and BS that the internet is full of. That "story" has no bearing on Phantoms or Inspires.

Apparently, you did not read the article. It was tested specifically on a DJI Phantom drone. Congratulations on being correct. Posting a link didn't help make you any smarter.

We need to follow up on these unexplained occurrences of drones suddenly flying off, falling out of the sky, and otherwise behaving strangely.

I have flown several flights with partially charged batteries just to drain them down further before recharging them. I have not ever had any of the problems reported by so many others on this forum.

III% Streve · Nov 9, 2015

Volantis said:
Apparently, you did not read the article. It was tested specifically on a DJI Phantom drone. Congratulations on being correct. Posting a link didn't help make you any smarter.

We need to follow up on these unexplained occurrences of drones suddenly flying off, falling out of the sky, and otherwise behaving strangely.

I have flown several flights with partially charged batteries just to drain them down further before recharging them. I have not ever had any of the problems reported by so many others on this forum.

You do realize that just because something is on the internet, that doesn't make it true... Right? And Just because someone says DJI Phantom, doesn't mean they are talking about a Phantom 3... Right? And the associated video was VERY quickly made private, because it actually didn't do anything good for the product. And DIDN'T show a P3(any model) being "shot down"

Good effort though. Might want to try a bit harder next time.

phantomlova · Nov 9, 2015

@dropabomb right??! i can smell it from here

dropabomb · Nov 9, 2015

My thought too. Looks like a fun group!

lawman0210 · Nov 9, 2015

I would say that is unit is or will be illegal as it is transmitting. FCC violations ie Look at A CB 4 watts on the transmit side.

The battery went from nearly full charge to dead. Today I went to charge it and the battery seemed to top off in just minutes if it even charged at all. I put it back in and it shows flight time of 16 mins. After 2 minutes battery was critical low and I got the critcal error again. I landed reset and put another battery in and worked fine. I waited 30 mins and battery worked from that point (maybe 60%) down to 20% as normal and was about 10 mins flight

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