I had my my P2 do this on the one crash I had, 10' high and just flipped over and hit the ground. I later figured out it was my fault for forcing a landing spot shift during a low battery auto decent. But it sounds like you had a full battery.
Phantom 3 Professional sudden flip and crash (FlightRecord vid p.2, LogData .csv p.3)
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Here is the flight record video I was able to record using another phone. You guys might have a better idea on what I was talking about 
Thanks guys !!! The youtube link is here
Thanks guys !!! The youtube link is here
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That was the moment it flipped upside down. I reckon it might be firmware problem too.
Boy, I'm confused.
The max altitude readout looks like it says 2.0meters to me but the video looks more like it's more like 300meters high???
Was the flip altitude at 2 meters or more like several hundred meters?
I will say, from a quick Google of "Phantom flip and crash", this happens a lot.
Could this be a vortex ring situation?
The max altitude readout looks like it says 2.0meters to me but the video looks more like it's more like 300meters high???
Was the flip altitude at 2 meters or more like several hundred meters?
I will say, from a quick Google of "Phantom flip and crash", this happens a lot.
Could this be a vortex ring situation?
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Luckily the flip was around a meter high so that I was able to keep it in one piece. In the past, there was a few cases of Phantom 2 flip as I recall. So I might end up being the first person with a Phantom 3 dreaded flip LOL.
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Ok. I hope you find the cause. This is the reason I opted to hang back with the less expensive, older Phantoms until all this kind of stuff is worked out which I'm sure it will be eventually.
The pros will usually say 95%+ of crashes are user error. I'm waiting on the verdict to come in on that.
The pros will usually say 95%+ of crashes are user error. I'm waiting on the verdict to come in on that.
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To sum it up, I calibrated before flight and did all preflight checks prior to this flight. GPS was plenty at 18 satellites, home-point was properly recorded (heard the voice of the nice lady in the pilot app
), safe to fly status was on, IMU sensors were checked and were normal. I am not sure if I did something wrong until this point but I would not dare to fly again even I cleaned everything properly. Definitely lost my confidence now Zinc,
When you "pushed the sticks forward", did you go full forward or less than full?
Reason I ask is that if you were hovering, you definitely were in or just above the rotor wash and there definitely was a column of downward air underneath. If there was even a very slight wind from behind the craft, it could have positioned the vortice just in the path. If you pushed full forward, could the front props have dipped enough to have entered the vortex just enough to cause a loss of lift in the front and therefore dip the front further into the vortex below it causing the flip?
I'm not trying to deflect from a possible FW issue, just curious as to potential other causes until we find out the actual cause.
I fly real planes and have learned a lot over the years on the dangers of vortices and what they can do, how they develop, linger and dissipate.
I wouldn't totally discount the possibility of that just yet. If absolutely nothing else is ever found, you will need some kind of closure to this mystery to regain your confidence
I think it's natural to blame it on DJI, but until the facts are revealed let's look at all possibilities.
The truth is out there. And quite frankly, I'm as interested to know why this happened as you are.
(So I can prevent it from happening to me!)
When you "pushed the sticks forward", did you go full forward or less than full?
Reason I ask is that if you were hovering, you definitely were in or just above the rotor wash and there definitely was a column of downward air underneath. If there was even a very slight wind from behind the craft, it could have positioned the vortice just in the path. If you pushed full forward, could the front props have dipped enough to have entered the vortex just enough to cause a loss of lift in the front and therefore dip the front further into the vortex below it causing the flip?
I'm not trying to deflect from a possible FW issue, just curious as to potential other causes until we find out the actual cause.
I fly real planes and have learned a lot over the years on the dangers of vortices and what they can do, how they develop, linger and dissipate.
I wouldn't totally discount the possibility of that just yet. If absolutely nothing else is ever found, you will need some kind of closure to this mystery to regain your confidence
I think it's natural to blame it on DJI, but until the facts are revealed let's look at all possibilities.
The truth is out there. And quite frankly, I'm as interested to know why this happened as you are.
(So I can prevent it from happening to me!)
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I might go less than full but I think I pushed the throttle quite a bit at 85% - 90% and that what I have been doing to be honest since flying with my Phantom 2 and other DIY multicopters as well. Honestly, I am also heavy on the throttle but I have never experienced anything like this. As far as I can remember, I also applied heavily ascending as well (85%-90%) as well so it might get me out of VRS maybe??? The aircraft stick controls were in up and out position so maybe it was just enough for me to get out of the VRS or I might still be inZinc,
When you "pushed the sticks forward", did you go full forward or less than full?
Reason I ask is that if you were hovering, you definitely were in or just above the rotor wash and there definitely was a column of downward air underneath. If there was even a very slight wind from behind the craft, it could have positioned the vortice just in the path. If you pushed full forward, could the front props have dipped enough to have entered the vortex just enough to cause a loss of lift in the front and therefore dip the front further into the vortex below it causing the flip?
I'm not trying to deflect from a possible FW issue, just curious as to potential other causes until we find out the actual cause.
I fly real planes and have learned a lot over the years on the dangers of vortices and what they can do, how they develop, linger and dissipate.
I wouldn't totally discount the possibility of that just yet. If absolutely nothing else is ever found, you will need some kind of closure to this mystery to regain your confidence
I think it's natural to blame it on DJI, but until the facts are revealed let's look at all possibilities.
The truth is out there. And quite frankly, I'm as interested to know why this happened as you are.
(So I can prevent it from happening to me!)
These are only my opinions, please feel free to comment on ! Yesterday I was hanging out at the beach and planned to do some footage. The location was around 100 km from my place. So, got down to the beach, turned on Tx, then the bird, then calibrated successfully, started the motors manually and took off. I let it hover for around a minute or so, everything was fine, light winds (5-6km/h), 19 satellites at the present. I hit forward like I normally would to fly it straight forward altogether with ascending as well then suddenly it flipped and crashed upside down to the sand
Picture of the flight record for now, that was me trying to execute CSC when it flipped. I would try to pull the flight log later.
This exact thing happened to me today. Brand new P3P, only 4 flights (all ok until now). Only thing changed was DJI Pilot app which I upgraded to 1.2.0 before this flight. I selected auto take-off and immediately after take-off, it plunged down to gravel, flipped upside down and ran motors until I did CSC. I tested the gimbal and motors after cleaning it up and it seems to be ok. Lost the pros though. Now it's grounded until I can see some app/firmware updates that are most certainly working together.
How can I get my flight log out to send it to DJI?
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FOR .DAT FILE
Okay so now you need to connect the Phantom to Tx first, then go to settings, look for 'enter flight mode' in advanced settings as far as I can remember. Remember to plug the Phantom to PC on the USB port first (underneath P3 name plate) and turn it on. When you enter flight mode the gimbal will go limb and make a beep sound during the process. Then go to your computer and look for the P3. There are a bunch of files so just look for correct file with correct name and copy it to your PC
FOR .TXT FILE
This is way easier then getting .dat file out. Connect your iPad to PC and open up iTunes, look for DJI Pilot app from iTunes and open files in that app, then you are able to locate all .txt files from flight record and convert it to .csv to view on Excel. For Android, I think it would be pretty much straight forward. Plug the Android device into PC, look for DJi Pilot app folder and locate all log files there.
I hope you are able to solve your problem as well. Mine is just sitting there until the new firmware comes out or until I receive email from DJI tech support. I was on live support with them for 1.5 hours and they blame it on me trying to land it too fast with full throttle down after viewing my logs, I went more serious and they said they will let technical support aware of my case and email me later
First time DJI support's user, well aware of their 'reputation' now! Trust me, it is scary !Luckily, I never experienced a flight disaster due to vortice turbulance either...but it certainly does happen.
One of my flight instructors was on final approach in his Citabria one day and the plane did a 360 roll about 150 ft from the ground due to the vortice turbulance from a heavy jet that landed just before him.
Until it happens, it's just an imaginary threat.
We'll have to wait and see what DJI and your logs say and I'm not at all certain this has anything at all to do with your situation. But I don't think many drone pilots are really aware of vortice turbulance and there are many Phantom videos out there that show the nasty results of messing with them.
I do know that a Phantom can plunge to the ground if caught in it's own vortices.
A column of light smoke under the Phantom during takeoff could help reveal how developed the vortices can get and whether or not some of these mishaps could be related to vortices.
If you stand directly beneath your phantom while it's hovering just overhead, you'll get an idea of how strong that downward column of air is. Many large airports have windshear/downdraft detectors at the ends of the runways to detect powerful downdrafts that have caused airline crashes.
I also know that DJI has a lot of work to do in ironing out bugs. This could be one. I'll be watching very closely as eventually I hope to purchase a 3 or 4.
Please keep us posted as you get more info.
One of my flight instructors was on final approach in his Citabria one day and the plane did a 360 roll about 150 ft from the ground due to the vortice turbulance from a heavy jet that landed just before him.
Until it happens, it's just an imaginary threat.
We'll have to wait and see what DJI and your logs say and I'm not at all certain this has anything at all to do with your situation. But I don't think many drone pilots are really aware of vortice turbulance and there are many Phantom videos out there that show the nasty results of messing with them.
I do know that a Phantom can plunge to the ground if caught in it's own vortices.
A column of light smoke under the Phantom during takeoff could help reveal how developed the vortices can get and whether or not some of these mishaps could be related to vortices.
If you stand directly beneath your phantom while it's hovering just overhead, you'll get an idea of how strong that downward column of air is. Many large airports have windshear/downdraft detectors at the ends of the runways to detect powerful downdrafts that have caused airline crashes.
I also know that DJI has a lot of work to do in ironing out bugs. This could be one. I'll be watching very closely as eventually I hope to purchase a 3 or 4.
Please keep us posted as you get more info.
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What looks really odd to me is that you hovered for about a minute but the length of flight was only 6 seconds according to both the still shot and video of the Flight Record.
On my iPad, the recording and flight time start the instant I start the motors. If I let it idle on the ground for 30 seconds and then shut down, the flight record shows flight time of 30 secs. It even shows the CSC I did to start the motors.
Could be a firmware or Pilot app issue with yours.
On my iPad, the recording and flight time start the instant I start the motors. If I let it idle on the ground for 30 seconds and then shut down, the flight record shows flight time of 30 secs. It even shows the CSC I did to start the motors.
Could be a firmware or Pilot app issue with yours.
My First Manual land was the CSC way! Flipped it now I only use the single stick shut down. The CSC is open to too many problems if the sticks are a bit off on the CSC maneuver. You may have not done this but just in case.
now I only use the single stick shut down. The CSC is open to too many problems if the sticks are a bit off on the CSC maneuver. You may have not done this but just in case.I played the csv in Dashware and slowed it down. Video of it below.
It appears you first brought throttle full down and then the flip occurred.
It appears you first brought throttle full down and then the flip occurred.
