Team,

This is my second accident...my first was my own fault, when I crashed into a tree, because I wasn't paying attention.

This crash was different. I had been flying around the parking lot in a forested area. For the first half hour or so, there was no problem. I had gone up to 300 feet to see over the trees and get my bearing, then flying around 20 feet above the lot, with no issues. My last trip was back up to about 200 feet, when I activated the landing feature. The drone started decending and I disengaged the auto land function at about 70 feet. As the drone was hovering, it suddenly lunged for the treeline. I pulled my hands away from the control sticks, but the drone made a beeline right into the nearest tree(s) and proceeded to destroy itself. When it was finished, it was lodged in the branches about 60 feet off the ground.

I am in the process of finding someone who can get up there and retrieve my drone, but am wondering if I can download the flight log from my controller to determine what might have happened. The parking lot is a ways from town and I wasn't getting any kind of warning messages about signal interference. Also, when I took off, I was getting good GPS signals and when I lost control, it was still 20 or 30 feet away from any treetops. When I play back the log, it shows the drone hovering, then suddenly veering off into the trees, in a straight line, with absolutely no input from the control sticks.

I'll update this post, if and when I'm able to retrieve my drone. In the meantime, any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm not sure I want to spend another couple hundred dollars, for repairs, after only flying for an hour or two, after it was previously repaired.

am wondering if I can download the flight log from my controller to determine what might have happened.
Go to: https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
... where you'll find instructions to upload the data to that site and it will give a report
For help interpreting the data you can post a link for the report here.
Or just post the .txt file.
The parking lot is a ways from town and I wasn't getting any kind of warning messages about signal interference.
Interference will never cause your drone to zoom off uncontrolled.
At worst it would swamp the control signal causing initiation of RTH.

Hello there Radio Randy. I am sorry for the trouble this has caused and thank you for reaching out. Since this unfortunate event happened with your DJI Phantom 4 Advanced. I would recommend you to contact our DJI support team at https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav for further assistance. We have a team that will do there best to help and will give out the best resolution for this issue. DJI will perform a data analysis service for products under warranty to determine the cause of the accident and provide the proper resolution. If it is evaluated as a non-pilot error, the warranty service will be provided. Again I am sorry the trouble and thank you.

Sounds like a yaw error, didnt take off near any objects that could have causes a magnetic interference, did you? car roof perhaps? picnic bench, concrete (rebar) etc..

Bashy Posted at 8-18 22:41
Sounds like a yaw error, didnt take off near any objects that could have causes a magnetic interference, did you? car roof perhaps? picnic bench, concrete (rebar) etc..

It would be a strange yaw error to happen at the end of a flight.
I can think of some other possibilities, but without the data to confirm the cause, there's no point guessing.

Labroides Posted at 8-18 23:17
It would be a strange yaw error to happen at the end of a flight.
I can think of some other possibilities, but without the data to confirm the cause, there's no point guessing.

I did think that too, but i thought perhaps it was because it got closer to the source again,
i was just spit balling i suppose.

am wondering if I can download the flight log from my controller to determine what might have happened.
No rush ... any time in the next week or two if you want help.

Success!!! I was able to hire a climber to retrieve my drone. The damage was minimal and probably won't require repair. Now maybe I can figure out how to download the necessary data.

Labroides Posted at 8-18 16:31
am wondering if I can download the flight log from my controller to determine what might have happened.
Go to: https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
... where you'll find instructions to upload the data to that site and it will give a report

The problem is...when I connect my P4A+ controller to my Win7 laptop, the computer just tells me it can't find any drivers. I never get the "USB connected" message.

Radio Randy Posted at 8-22 08:25
The problem is...when I connect my P4A+ controller to my Win7 laptop, the computer just tells me it can't find any drivers. I never get the "USB connected" message.

The flightlog is recorded on your phone or your tablet which ever you have the Go4 app on whenever  the incident happened and not on the controller. Follow the instructions given earlier to upload your flightlog to  PhantomHelp or post your flightlog here.

Pleomax Posted at 8-23 06:47
The flightlog is recorded on your phone or your tablet which ever you have the Go4 app on whenever  the incident happened and not on the controller. Follow the instructions given earlier to upload your flightlog to  PhantomHelp or post your flightlog here.

He has a + model so wasn't using a phone.

Pleomax Posted at 8-23 06:47
The flightlog is recorded on your phone or your tablet which ever you have the Go4 app on whenever  the incident happened and not on the controller. Follow the instructions given earlier to upload your flightlog to  PhantomHelp or post your flightlog here.

The Phantom 4 Advanced+ has its own built in Android device, there is no separate tablet or phone to download from.

Radio Randy Posted at 8-24 08:42
The Phantom 4 Advanced+ has its own built in Android device, there is no separate tablet or phone to download from.

Did you check this out ?
https://forum.phantomhelp.com/t/ ... o-your-computer/256

If that's not the solution for you, find a computer with a more modern Windows and use that.

Labroides Posted at 8-24 17:05
Did you check this out ?
https://forum.phantomhelp.com/t/how-to-transfer-files-from-p4a-p4p-remote-controller-to-your-computer/256

The problem appears to be that I don't have the proper drivers for my 64 Bit Windows 7 Pro laptop. I have a Windows 10 laptop I could try, but I doubt that is the problem.

If someone could just point me to where I can download the proper drivers, I might make some headway. In the meantime, I'll be out flying my drone, to see if there was any permanent damage done.

Radio Randy Posted at 8-24 22:18
The problem appears to be that I don't have the proper drivers for my 64 Bit Windows 7 Pro laptop. I have a Windows 10 laptop I could try, but I doubt that is the problem.

If someone could just point me to where I can download the proper drivers, I might make some headway. In the meantime, I'll be out flying my drone, to see if there was any permanent damage done.

I don't think you'll need any drivers on a W10 machine.

Labroides Posted at 8-25 04:04
I don't think you'll need any drivers on a W10 machine.

The same thing happens with my Windows 10 laptop. I get no response from my controller when I plug in the USB cable. When I go to Devices, it says the driver is missing or not installed.

Radio Randy Posted at 8-26 15:50
The same thing happens with my Windows 10 laptop. I get no response from my controller when I plug in the USB cable. When I go to Devices, it says the driver is missing or not installed.

Did you follow the directions I pointed to a few posts ago?
I wonder how all the other users manage to get access to their files?
I suspect you are getting distracted by the drivers message and that's not really the problem.

Labroides Posted at 8-26 16:26
Did you follow the directions I pointed to a few posts ago?
I wonder how all the other users manage to get access to their files?
I suspect you are getting distracted by the drivers message and that's not really the problem.

Oops...pilot error.

Seems I was consistently missing Step 2, where you swipe down the screen to get the USB Connect message. I was assuming it would just pop up.

Now that I've copied the flight logs from that fateful day, I'll take another look at all those other helpful instructions I seem to have misunderstood, and see if I can't get a bit further in the process.

Thanks for your patience.

Radio Randy Posted at 8-26 19:55
Oops...pilot error.

Seems I was consistently missing Step 2, where you swipe down the screen to get the USB Connect message. I was assuming it would just pop up.

Okay, so here we are. I still can't figure out how to attach anything, so I'm simply posting the link:

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/VGMTR9UFQRFJQYE6BO3Y

As you can see, near the end of my flight, I initiated the "Auto Landing" function. When the drone began to drift, I switched back to manual control, to bring it back toward me, to land.

At 8m 56s, the drone slowly started moving toward the tree line and at 8m 57.5s, I released the controls, in an effort to get it to stop and hover, but it continued into the trees. The drone even reversed direction, at the last minute, and "backed" itself into the trees.

At this point, I am at a loss as to what caused this incident, and would readily accept any helpful suggestions to prevent it from happening, again.

Radio Randy Posted at 8-29 09:08
Okay, so here we are. I still can't figure out how to attach anything, so I'm simply posting the link:

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/VGMTR9UFQRFJQYE6BO3Y

Your flight data, shows multiple warnings of compass error, yaw error and speed error, starting 25 seconds into the flight.
That's your problem.

It must have been a small yaw error for you to have been able to fly for so long.
Yaw errors are usually caused at power up, when the drone's compass is deflected by magnetic interference.
The gyro sensors take their initial values from the compass, but they are incorrect.
When the drone gets away from whatever affected the compass at powerup, your gyro sensors and compass have conflicting data and you end up with the drone doing what you described.

Labroides Posted at 8-29 16:41
Your flight data, shows multiple warnings of compass error, yaw error and speed error, starting 25 seconds into the flight.
That's your problem.

Solutions, suggestions...

Perhaps I needed to do sensor recalibration(s), after receiving the drone back from the factory?

I had noticed that I was getting more warnings than usual, even when flying around my house, though I ignored the 2.4 GHz interference alerts, since I knew I was in a heavily RF saturated area and took precautions. I was concerned, however, about the drone switching from GPS to ATTI mode, intermittently, even though the drone was in clear airspace.

Radio Randy Posted at 8-30 09:44
Solutions, suggestions...

Perhaps I needed to do sensor recalibration(s), after receiving the drone back from the factory?

Perhaps I needed to do sensor recalibration(s), after receiving the drone back from the factory?
No.
A yaw error is usually caused at power up.
When you power up, the gyro sensors has no directional reference and gets that from the compass.
But if the compass  is deflected by nearby steel objects, it gives the gyro sensor incorrect values.
To explain what happens after that is a bit complicated.
I had noticed that I was getting more warnings than usual, even when flying around my house, though I ignored the 2.4 GHz interference alerts, since I knew I was in a heavily RF saturated area and took precautions.
A little RF interference is common and never hurt anyone.

I was concerned, however, about the drone switching from GPS to ATTI mode, intermittently, even though the drone was in clear airspace.
That was part of the yaw error situation and is a result of the conflicting data the flight controller gets from the gyro and compass sensors after the compass is away from the magnetic interference that caused the issue.

Can you describe where you powered up the drone?
What steel might have been close?

Labroides Posted at 8-30 10:23
Perhaps I needed to do sensor recalibration(s), after receiving the drone back from the factory?
No.
A yaw error is usually caused at power up.

The nearest steel would be my pickup, about 6 feet away, in the parking lot. There is no lighting in the lot, so lamp posts aren't an issue. Also, there were maybe 6 cars in the entire lot, the day of my flight.

Radio Randy Posted at 8-30 10:33
The nearest steel would be my pickup, about 6 feet away, in the parking lot. There is no lighting in the lot, so lamp posts aren't an issue. Also, there were maybe 6 cars in the entire lot, the day of my flight.

Did you power up on asphalt or concrete?

Labroides Posted at 8-30 11:36
Did you power up on asphalt or concrete?

The parking lot was asphalt, and there is no water or electric on site, so underground piping is unlikely.

Radio Randy Posted at 8-30 11:40
The parking lot was asphalt, and there is no water or electric on site, so underground piping is unlikely.

So the easy. obvious sources are eliminated.

The way to avoid a yaw error is to check the drone icon on the map display before launching.
If the icon is facing the same compass direction as the real drone is, things are good.
If there's a noticeable difference eg icon points east while drone faces south ... switch off, mowe to a different spot and start again.

Labroides Posted at 8-30 13:51
So the easy. obvious sources are eliminated.

The way to avoid a yaw error is to check the drone icon on the map display before launching.

Thank you. I'll take your suggestions into account, next time I lift off.

Hopefully, I can avoid hundreds of dollars of hardware running off, in the near future.

Radio Randy Posted at 8-30 14:45
Thank you. I'll take your suggestions into account, next time I lift off.

Hopefully, I can avoid hundreds of dollars of hardware running off, in the near future.

Looking at your flight data, the drone icon is pointing towards South for the first 20 sec, and then snaps to face West without any corresponding joystick input.
I suspect that the drone didn't really snap around 90 degrees clockwise, but the compass did as it got away from whatever was affecting it at startup.