Phantom 3 severe crash while performing auto take off

[znqfly]

Unfortunately my brand new Phantom 3 advanced had a severe crash on its 3rd flight while performing auto take off.

Video

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What happened

• I was waiting to get the fully green flight status (with GPS signal)
• Once I got that status, I initiated auto take off from the DJI Pilot app
• At first, the Phantom 3 started and gained altitude
• However, then, before even touching any of the controls the Phantom 3 immediately reversed and dropped to the ground with high speed
• It crashed hard and flipped over
• At this point the motors were not running anymore
• I picked up the Phantom 3 and as soon as I turned it around the motors started going full speed like crazy (I'm trying to hold the drone in my hands right now)
• While trying to not get cut by the blades I attempted to turn off the drone at the battery, which didn't work at all.
• I asked a bystander for help to turn off the remote
• After a few seconds the Phantom 3 finally stopped spinning
• I force-ejected the battery

Flight Record

Attached are the flight record files. Interestingly they say a couple of things that just don't make any sense.

• Max altitude: 113 feet (34 meters)
  • The drone was never higher than what auto take off does, which is supposedly 1.2m
• Max speed: 104.85mph
  • There was no horizontal speed at all and also the Phantom 3 doesn't fly that fast
• Max distance: 58 feet (17 meters)
  • The drone was always at the same position (auto take off --> immediate crash), so this doesn't make sense either

Summary

This is clearly a technical issue. From what I've read online it seems some people also have had experiences where the Phantom 3 went crazy after auto take off.

I've contacted DJI Europe for support and will post updates here once I receive them.

 

[ianwood]

Yeah, that is not good. We should have @Tahoe Ed or @blade strike from DJI take a look at this. Hopefully they will sort you out.

 

[SectorLord]

You updated it with the new FW !! VPS got berseck again !!

 

[ScottyT]

A weird one. Yeah you'll need to get DJI to analyse it by the looks.

 

[RedHotPoker]

Hi @znqfly,
Sorry to learn about this disaster that happened to your Phantom.
I can't understand how such a thing could take place, if no stick input was sent. Hopefully the folks at DJI will be able to figure this out and fix you up.
I hate to see things like this happen to our forum brothers or sisters.

Wishing you better days ahead and happier flying. Good luck.

RedHotPoker

 

[znqfly]

You updated it with the new FW !! VPS got berseck again !!

Yes, I just bought it a few days ago and first thing I did was updating it to the latest firmware.

 

[RedHotPoker]

You would be lead to think, some of these Phantom menace have a brain of their own. How they sometimes react so unexpected. It's a shame all who buy one, couldn't experience the awesomeness that many of us continue to really appreciate from these incredible little flying machines.
I know that once this issue is corrected, you will be back up flying and smiling again. Hopefully soon.

RedHotPoker

 

[kdrak]

I have updated my P3 Advanced with the latest firmware 1.2.8 and I do not have any issues.

 

[zincsoldier]

I have the same issue like you when I took off and it suddenly flipped over. That was on my 36 or 38 flight. Contact DJI and explain what happened and provide your flight log and flight data. I am still waiting on DJI to analyse my flight record, log, data - I have sent them everything. If you need more information on how to import flight data from Phantom 3, give me a buzz.

 

[Hono]

I"m sorry to hear about this,I hope DJI slove your problem quickly,I won"t use the auto take off function when I watch your Video ,it"s so terrible

 

[Howberdown3K]

After your firmware upgrade did you calibrate the IMU?
at the flying site did you calibrate the compass?

 

[ImJim]

Always using auto takeoff, no problem at all, until now...

 

[JKDSensei]

Thanks for posting your experience. Sorry for your loss.
Hopefully you will have a quick and happy outcome.

 

[dmcgrew]

This is why I've never let my P3 do anything automatic. Just can't trust it because of things like this.

 

[ImJim]

This is why I've never let my P3 do anything automatic. Just can't trust it because of things like this.

You're a little rude with it bro

 

[BuckRogers]

Your mod value was probably off. It happened to me but I was ready for it. I took it up high, shifted to atti mode and landed. What was your mod value on the compass prior to initiating take off. If you don't know it, then the compass calibration was off...even if it didn't give you an error.

Check mod value on the compass before every flight. 1400-1600. Mine usually sits around 1500

 

[mrburris]

Same thing happened to me.

http://www.phantompilots.com/index.php?threads/Killer-drone!.46501/

 

[BuckRogers]

Same thing happened to me.

http://www.phantompilots.com/index.php?threads/Killer-drone!.46501/

I just read your post. I can't stress this enough. Check MOD value before every flight. Mine did the same as yours. I lifted up under GPS mode and it went backwards. You have to be ready. Did I check mod value? No. After 125 flights, I only calibrated before the day began. I was flying near a huge metal civic center. I caught mine soon enough, shifted to atti mode and was able to recover. It was difficult because it almost hit my truck. Anyway.. the lesson I learned from it was to pop over to the sensitivity screen and make sure my mod value was normal. Haven't had an issue since. You can't control things you can't see, like the rebar or electromagnetic interference. You can't make sure your compass is spot on.

 

[sergekouper]

This is why I've never let my P3 do anything automatic. Just can't trust it because of things like this.

Me neither, No auto take off or auto landing. specially auto landing. Phantom don't know much about guts of wind at ground level.

 

[baazju]

Checking MOD value has been added to my pre-flight checklist, thanks for this tip.