Phantom 3 malfunction and crash (flight record video)

[cqr35]

Overlaying stick movements...."On ios its a little tx icon on the playback screen"

Is there a way to overlay stick movements on Android?

Also, where do I find the data files?

 

[Serpent]

You should really read up on aerodynamics after that kind of commnet.. Vortex ring is real and you should never drop straight down into your dirty prop wash for extended periods of time.

If this was the case why would they set controlled descent speeds (2m/s on the P2 and 3m/s on the P3). And if this was the case why would the RTH feature move the drone to exactly above the home point and then descend at these controlled descent speeds (until close with the ground)?

 

[Adam Kontras]

If this was the case why would they set controlled descent speeds (2m/s on the P2 and 3m/s on the P3). And if this was the case why would the RTH feature move the drone to exactly above the home point and then descend at these controlled descent speeds (until close with the ground)?

Exactly.

 

[Shatty]

People are funny trying to say that he hit a light pole a few pages into the post. There are no light poles 90 feet high. And the motors werent that hot because he was at 85% battery remaining. Bird was in the air for 3-5 minutes. And saying that he shouldnt move the controls 90-100% is pure bs. Stop with the excuses and understand the guy lost his bird because of a malfunction. Not his fault. You guys speculate on what could have caused this and trying to point it at him. And if DJI is reading this, you're just giving them ideas and reasons they could tell this guy why his bird crashed. Everyone is an expert. I dont know if they fixed the issue that was causing the p2 v+ v3 to crash in the p3, but that could be an issue. ESC failure, wires melted, motor failed. Whatever.

 

[Turbazz]

That's bad man hope DJ I do something for you! Have you heard anything from them... In my opinion it looks like a motor or ESC failure. I would test each motor. I mean they make thousands of units,for one to turn out bad it's not strange.

However if they do test it. And find out it's neither they could claim that the props were not on tight.

 

[Foosy]

The GPS was fine UNTIL the spin started. Watch closely, that's when it starts switching back and forth. It was also rocking so violently I'm amazed any GPS could connect with it...

Looking at the jello footage from right before while it's hovering is really telling. I think something with the quad was getting progressively worse. You shouldn't have jello at a hover.

The losing of GPS is consistent with the normal P3 behavior.
I have noticed that if I lift the quad after it obtains GPS signal, just my walking with it causes it to switch into P-OPTI. If I remember correctly, the P2V+ maintained GPS signal while walking the unit.

I think that the P3 has some mechanism to switch out of GPS mode when it is going through some non-flight-standard turbulence. I am not sure if this is a good or bad idea, but the losing GPS was definitely NOT the cause, rather the result of the quad going through some bad motions.

 

[Adam Kontras]

That's bad man hope DJ I do something for you! Have you heard anything from them... In my opinion it looks like a motor or ESC failure. I would test each motor. I mean they make thousands of units,for one to turn out bad it's not strange.

However if they do test it. And find out it's neither they could claim that the props were not on tight.

The props are still on! One even broke in half and stayed on! Can't imagine they would have a leg to stand on there...

The president of Advexure wrote me a long perosnal email on Sunday and was extremely kind. He talked me through the steps with DJI and asked me to CC him on everything. My only concern now is shipping the unit back with no proof of what's on the internal card. I wish I could have a copy so if they make something up I at least have what they're looking at. It seems crazy for me to hand over all of that data without backing it up.

 

[StevenQX]

The losing of GPS is consistent with the normal P3 behavior.
I have noticed that if I lift the quad after it obtains GPS signal, just my walking with it causes it to switch into P-OPTI. If I remember correctly, the P2V+ maintained GPS signal while walking the unit.

I think that the P3 has some mechanism to switch out of GPS mode when it is going through some non-flight-standard turbulence. I am not sure if this is a good or bad idea, but the losing GPS was definitely NOT the cause, rather the result of the quad going through some bad motions.

You don't remember well, also p2v+ v3 has this behaviour but is normal because the gps unit is on the top where you grab it and cover it with your hand.

 

[Jeff48920]

From 100 to 400 feet, on every flight I've ever done, I've used 100% up and down for video purposes. Once you get closer to the ground, you need to be aware of the wind it creates, etc. - but where on earth are you guys hearing that you can't move the sticks up or down at 100%? The quad is already "gimped" to do that movement at a slow rate of speed... this is an extremely stable quad literally designed to make these movements.

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Other than the opening statue of liberty shot, every single shot in this real required a 100% stick movement one way, while panning the camera at a slower rate in the opposite direction. This isn't user-error, it's how you use a quad to shoot video.

This is a great video. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Jeff48920]

Alright, here's an example of the jello I was dealing with on the last flight...

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I think this actually proves something was off before it went out of control. I was never getting this type of jello while hovering, it was only during complex movements...

...then it was during ANY movement...

...and as you can see the day it crashed? I was getting jello while HOVERING. That's got to be a sign that one of those motors was malfunctioning and getting worse. Which also means that others that are dealing with this imbalance issue that causes jello? They need to get that worked out before putting it back in the air.

That is really interesting. I had a similar Jello effect on my P2V+. I also had medium to severe Yaw drift. I static tested the motors and found that motor 4 (Right rear) was spinning at almost 1000 RPM slower than the rest. The bird is back with DJI for warranty work. I will be adding tach tests to all my birds regular maintenance schedules.

 

[Woods]

Ok.. This would not be motor or esc failure, quads instantly flip.

I would not try to pull the internal logs. I wouldn't touch a thing. Get it into DJI so they can diagnose what happened.

If you could edit the title that would be great? This by no means was a fly away..

To the OP ; I hope all works out in determining what went wrong.
In the mean time, I second the request to change the subject line to exclude "Phantom 3 Fly Away"
This definitely is not a fly away. From all the fly always I've heard and read about, this isn't how they react.
In the interest of not fueling all the lovely DJI haters lurking as a full time job, is it possible to change the subject of this thread. ?
It's your thread, do as you want bud, just a request.

 

[Shane]

If someone can explain what the hell just happened, I'd be awfully appreciative.

Trying to troubleshoot the "jello" issue, I had my P3P in the air floating around 90 feet while changing settings. I go to bring it a little closer and it goes absolutely crazy. With nothing around it, it spins, rocks from side to side and as you can see from the video below, crashes. It's completely totaled (gimbal broken, shell busted, ripped apart). Thankfully no one was hurt! My neighbors were scared, but really just felt bad for me. They saw it just go crazy.

Thankfully there's flight records so I can prove it went completely crazy with ZERO input from me... however does that matter? Is this considered user error? I'm just out?

Stunned.

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I noticed it went from P-GPS to ATTI as it went haywire. Are you sure you didn't accidentally flip the switch over? I know I've done that before! If not, probably a compass error. This is my 3rd phantom. My other 2 went down into the water the same way yours did, but it was my fault ultimately after I figured things out.

 

[StevenQX]

I noticed it went from P-GPS to ATTI as it went haywire. Are you sure you didn't accidentally flip the switch over? I know I've done that before! If not, probably a compass error. This is my 3rd phantom. My other 2 went down into the water the same way yours did, but it was my fault ultimately after I figured things out.

Even in atti a phantom don't loose height, don't fall down. It move with wind but that behaviour cannot be atti mode only.

 

[Shane]

Even in atti a phantom don't loose height, don't fall down. It move with wind but that behaviour cannot be atti mode only.

You may be right, but I've seen pilots panic when the TX switched to ATTI unknowingly and they over correct causing the bird to drop like a rock. Either way, just wanted to point out that it switches to ATTI in the video for whatever reason.

 

[blade strike]

If this was the case why would they set controlled descent speeds (2m/s on the P2 and 3m/s on the P3). And if this was the case why would the RTH feature move the drone to exactly above the home point and then descend at these controlled descent speeds (until close with the ground)?

The reduced speeds help but in a calm environment it can still happen. Its just flight principles

 

[Aramis]

You may be right, but I've seen pilots panic when the TX switched to ATTI unknowingly and they over correct causing the bird to drop like a rock. Either way, just wanted to point out that it switches to ATTI in the video for whatever reason.

Did you see any stick input during the fall of death ? Not me.
And even if the pilot did flip the switch, this doesn't explain the speed of yaw and descent which are impossible to reach with the sticks.

 

[blade strike]

The props are still on! One even broke in half and stayed on! Can't imagine they would have a leg to stand on there...

The president of Advexure wrote me a long perosnal email on Sunday and was extremely kind. He talked me through the steps with DJI and asked me to CC him on everything. My only concern now is shipping the unit back with no proof of what's on the internal card. I wish I could have a copy so if they make something up I at least have what they're looking at. It seems crazy for me to hand over all of that data without backing it up.

That kind of reply is kind of heart breaking. If the flight logs show it was a malfunctions dji will take care of it just like the inspires they have already replaced. The p3 is pocket change compared to manufacturing cist of an inspire.

Data dont lie and they will be able to know what happened.

 

[Adam Kontras]

To the OP ; I hope all works out in determining what went wrong.
In the mean time, I second the request to change the subject line to exclude "Phantom 3 Fly Away"
This definitely is not a fly away. From all the fly always I've heard and read about, this isn't how they react.
In the interest of not fueling all the lovely DJI haters lurking as a full time job, is it possible to change the subject of this thread. ?
It's your thread, do as you want bud, just a request.

Yes sir! Meant to do it earlier and couldn't immediately figure out how and then got distracted.

Initially it honestly felt like someone had gained control of it and was doing some crazy things with it. It was so absolutely random and I wasn't touching the sticks. I was in utter shock when I wrote that title and first post, but yes, it certainly wasn't a "Fly-away" in the sense of the issues with the P2.

Also, I need to reiterate to those wondering if I accidentally switched it out of GPS myself - if I remember correctly... you can't. I remember trying to do that one time and it told me I had to stop the motors to switch the mode. Also, even if I had somehow, the unit wasn't simply spinning. It was SHAKING. A violent rocking motion AS it was spinning and coming down. There was absolutely a malfunction...

 

[Adam Kontras]

That kind of reply is kind of heart breaking. If the flight logs show it was a malfunctions dji will take care of it just like the inspires they have already replaced. The p3 is pocket change compared to manufacturing cist of an inspire.

Data dont lie and they will be able to know what happened.

Brother, I know data doesn't lie but I'm not so convinced corporations don't. Especially if it means admitting there's a bigger issue than my $1250.

 

[leekiya]

That kind of reply is kind of heart breaking. If the flight logs show it was a malfunctions dji will take care of it just like the inspires they have already replaced. The p3 is pocket change compared to manufacturing cist of an inspire.

Data dont lie and they will be able to know what happened.

I agree, DJI sorted out the inspire problems very fast, and now with 3DR breathing down there neck with there guarantee on the solo, i don't think for one minute dji would try and back out of any problem that was a malfunction of the craft. competition is to close now.
This is my hope anyway, not heard of any P3 being replaced yet but time will tell.