Phantom 4 tramsmitter loses connection can not find drone now

[Dramface460]

I can't believe I lost my drone today. I was flying about 1200 feet away and 158 feet in the air. I could see the lights. I received a lost connection aircraft message then the whole app went gray( same when the transmitter is turned off and not connected to the aircraft). This wasn't a big deal for me because this has happened before so I figured I would press the return home button and it will fly back. It has always returned home. I then pressed the home button since I could not see out of the camera. I then lost sight of the aircraft. It never picked up the signal to the drone. I drove around and tried connecting the transmitter to the drone by turning it off and on but nothing. I have a recorded flight log and went to the last known location( by this time its 730pm and its dark) sucks because I have no idea why it wouldn't return home. I don't even have it now so I have no idea what kind of damage has been done.

I've been waiting to speak with someone from DJI but been on hold for 45 minutes. Not sure what they will do for me. I doubt they will give me a completely free P4 ((

what should I do?

Josh

 

[FlyerFocus]

Go back and hunt during the daytime.

 

[F3honda4me]

can you upload the txt file from the flight here and provide the link?

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/upload/

 

[Travels with Yoly]

I'm not an expert by any means. I flew a P3 for a year before just recently getting a P4. As I understand it, if the connection to the RC is lost, it automatically goes into RTH mode. If it had done that and you pushed the RTH button, that may have cancelled the return ? I'm not sure but I do know that you can cancel a RTH after it's been initiated. Hopefully someone with more knowledge than me can add something. Sorry for your loss.

I crashed my P3 into the top of a 120 foot tall tree (flying at 160 feet). I thought it was stuck at the top somewhere as I couldn't see it anywhere looking for it on the ground. A couple days later I finally was able to play the flight back from the trip logs and could discern the point of impact and then saw the altimeter rapidly fall from 160 feet to 40 feet. I figured out that the tree was on a hill that was 40 feet above my home point (actual cause of the crash). I was able to pin point the location (relatively) and climbed through the woods and found it on the ground. Two days later I went back and found the camera and gimbal close by.

 

[Dramface460]

I uploaded the log and here is the link Phantom Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com

 

[Dramface460]

wow Yoly, that is amazing you were able to find your P3 again, unfortunately the gimball came apart. Yea when the app went from disconnect it was supposed to initiate the RTH feature right away but it did not. Then the app went from the red screen that says aircraft disconnected to a gray screen that says disconnect. its the same screen you'll get when the transmitter and aircraft are both turned off. thats a bad sign. So then all I could do is initiate RTH myself. After not hearing it fly back that's when I decided to turn off the controller and restart it, hoping it would connect with the P4 again. really sucks because I have no idea where it will be.

 

[msinger]

It looks like you probably crashed into these trees:

 

[Dramface460]

Hey thanks for the picture of the last location. I was flying at 178 feet which is 75 feet above the tallest trees in my neighborhood. Once the app shut down I did try to fly it back the direction I was already flying back home to so I don't know if it would pick up a new home point. I did turn off the transmitter and tried to sync it up with the aircraft again bc this has happened before and it was in my back yard when it did. Once the app shut down it started to descend. So That time I quickly turned off the transmitter and was able to synchronize it with the aircraft. However tonight when it lost signal it gave no indication the RTH was initiated like it's does before so many times. Makes no sense.

Hoping DJI can assist in locating it or replacing it since it's obvious it's a software issue

 

[msinger]

Hey thanks for the picture of the last location. I was flying at 178 feet

Your Phantom was flying at 158 feet when the downlink disconnected. At that time, it was descending at about 13 feet per second. The log does not show when the remote controller disconnected, so it's quite possible that it continued to descend at that rate for a few more seconds. That along with the error in the current altitude estimation would have put your Phantom near the tops of those trees. Take a look in that area and I think you'll find it there.

tonight when it lost signal it gave no indication the RTH was initiated like it's does before so many times

It was most likely in the trees by then. Otherwise, it would have ascended to the RTH altitude and returned home.

Hoping DJI can assist in locating it or replacing it since it's obvious it's a software issue

This looks like a case of pilot error to me.

 

[Dramface460]

I was descending in a controlled descent and that's correct, I was flying at 158 feet when it disconnectedwhich is 50 feet or more taller than the tallest trees here. So when it disconnected at 158 feet then it should of stopped and hovered then climbed to 70 meters for RTH. That's what RTH does. The app totally disconnected too. The RTH mafunctioned bc it never flew back home. Yea it could of kept descending and landed into a tree top but then again it should not have done that.

 

[msinger]

I was descending in a controlled descent

You were descending at 37 MPH in sport mode with the throttle in the full down position and the elevator in the full up position. That essentially means you were flying directly to the ground as quickly as possible.

I was flying at 158 feet when it disconnected which is 50 feet or more taller than the tallest trees here

That's where your Phantom was located when it last sent data back to your remote controller. That doesn't necessarily mean you lost control at that point though. It's not uncommon for the remote controller to still be connected when the downlink is lost. If that happened, your Phantom would have continued to fly directly toward the ground. At 158 feet in the air, it wouldn't have taken long to hit those trees.

when it disconnected at 158 feet then it should of stopped and hovered then climbed to 70 meters for RTH. That's what RTH does.

When the remote controller disconnected, your Phantom would have coasted before coming to a complete stop. At that point, I agree that RTH would have initiated and your Phantom would have ascended. That did not happen though. For that reason, I'm assuming you crashed it into the trees in the circled location above.

Another possibility is that you set the "Remote Controller Signal Lost" setting to "Landing" or "Hover". If you did that, then your Phantom auto landed in that area somewhere.

 

[F3honda4me]

Also remember altitude is relative to the home point. So if those trees are on elevated ground you are a lot lower than you think.

 

[msinger]

Also remember altitude is relative to the home point. So if those trees are on elevated ground you are a lot lower than you think.

Per Google Earth, the take off point and suspected crash location are at about the same level.

 

[Travels with Yoly]

Also remember altitude is relative to the home point. So if those trees are on elevated ground you are a lot lower than you think.

I learned this lesson the hard way

 

[normr]

Dramface460, listen to msinger, he's the drone recovery authority , he's helped a number of people find their lost drones from researching their logs and pinpointing their locations.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

 

[Darren Roach]

Hope you find it ok

 

[Dramface460]

Hey everyone!

First I have to say thanks Msinger for the picture of where my drone was. I went out the next day and found it. It was in pretty bad shape. I sent out my drone to DJI on the 13th and today January 27th DJI emailed me an invoice for repairs from my crash onJanuary 11th. DJI is going to repair everything for free. I have attached the invoice and pictures of my crash.

To dispell anyone thinking this was pilot error look at the flight picture below with the red dot. The red dot is well in front of the last GPS recording where my drone disconnected. I was flying 158 feet. Tallest tree is 95 feet in my neighborhood. The ground is actually lower where it crashed at than where I was flying with the transmitter. It did not hit a tree when I was flying. It did hit a tree but after it disconnected and never initiated RTH. I'm happy that DJI saw this was an issue with a failed RTH. Only issue I have now is how do I know this won't happen again? I mean yea they are repairing the RTH but will it really be fixed. I see others having issues with RTH on their P4 too. Maybe a firmware will fix this issue.

 

[F3honda4me]

I would not worry about it. Your case is the exception not the rule. Most of these stories are pilot error. In your case DJI obviously found a hardware failure of some kind that caused your issue. There is no problem with RTH and DJI will fix whatever was wrong with yours.

Hey everyone!

First I have to say thanks Msinger for the picture of where my drone was. I went out the next day and found it. It was in pretty bad shape. I sent out my drone to DJI on the 13th and today January 27th DJI emailed me an invoice for repairs from my crash onJanuary 11th. DJI is going to repair everything for free. I have attached the invoice and pictures of my crash.

To dispell anyone thinking this was pilot error look at the flight picture below with the red dot. The red dot is well in front of the last GPS recording where my drone disconnected. I was flying 158 feet. Tallest tree is 95 feet in my neighborhood. The ground is actually lower where it crashed at than where I was flying with the transmitter. It did not hit a tree when I was flying. It did hit a tree but after it disconnected and never initiated RTH. I'm happy that DJI saw this was an issue with a failed RTH. Only issue I have now is how do I know this won't happen again? I mean yea they are repairing the RTH but will it really be fixed. I see others having issues with RTH on their P4 too. Maybe a firmware will fix this issue.

 

[Dramface460]

yes I'm glad they were able to determine that. However, I just hope they test the RTH and the drone out itself several times before returning. I havent heard of anyone having issues with it being returned after a repair and having issues still so that's good.,

 

[Dramface460]

Im surprised the camera isnt being replaced or even one part on it because from the impact of the crash it caused my filter lens to pop off. thats a pretty high impact. how could the camera not be damaged lol.

and looking at the invoice what does the 3 in 1 board for? looks like it may be the main component for the p4? Does that have to do with the RTH feature?