My P3A turned off mid-flight and tanked into a deep canal. Upon review of the flight logs, its apparent that there was either a battery failure and/or a compass failure. Ive provided DJI with all relevant information (proof of purchase, serial numbers, flight log). The conversation history is getting ridiculous, the "technicians" keep asking for the flight logs and ive provided them twice. Im getting frustrated with the poor customer service. The last time I posted here, I got an immediate response, which was fantastic, however, there has still been no real action taken. My request # is 264121

This is my healthydrones report: http://healthydrones.com/main?share=ejMLEx

Bump - TTT

I'm not DJI, but it looks like you lost a prop or hit something (maybe both) causing your aircraft to rotate wildly out of control. Very possible in that area.
You have an issue with your barometer (altitude over 1000ft) unless you were flying that high. If you were flying that high there was definitely a wind issue.


Just my observations.

dak162 Posted at 2016-8-25 15:05
I'm not DJI, but it looks like you lost a prop or hit something (maybe both) causing your aircraft t ...

Thanks for the response.

I was in fact at that altitude. I personally believe it was a battery failure for 2 reasons:

There was a sudden voltage drop on one of the cells just before it took a sharp left
The feed and radio connection immediately dropped at around 600ft.

Had there been a thrown prop or bird strike etc, the feed wouldn't have abruptly stopped, there would still be data.

Smooth title change DJI..

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-25 16:31
I edited your post as it was an incorrect statement based on your situation.
Your case is completed  ...

You must have me confused with someone else. I was never told that anything was analyzed. Ive tried to attach the communication with you all but its stated that there needs to be a moderator approval. This is ridiculous.

Furthermore, I had a tail wind of 10kts that day. I just verified via weather.com

Thomas Smith August 15, 2016 09:28
Good morning!

My name is Thomas Smith and I have been a proud owner of a Phantom 3 Advanced since June 3rd 2016.

The reason that I am contacting you is that my phantom 3 suffered either a battery or compass failure and plummeted into a canal and is none recoverable. Details of events below:

On Saturday, Aug 13th at approximately 8pm, I was flying my P3 around my local town. Everything was rock solid until I hit roughly the 50% battery mark. The quad immediately took a sharp left hand turn (without my input) and began spiraling out of control. In an attempt to recover from the spin, I toggled between att and gps modes to no avail. Suddenly, at around 800ft, I lost all video down link feed and the quad turned fell into a 30ft deep canal. Recovery attempts have been unsuccessful.

Upon review of the flight data, the failure appears to be related to a battery cell voltage drop and/or a compass malfunction. Based on the age of the phantom 3 (just over 3 months old) and the battery usage time (25 charge cycles) I feel that this is a good candidate for a warranty replacement.

Attached are the flight log, serial numbers the purchase receipt.

If you have any questions, feel free to reply to this email or call me directly at 757-759-0008.

Thanks,

-Thomas Smith

Screenshot_20160815-091533.png (200 KB)
Screenshot_20160815-091620.png (3 MB)
2016-08-13_19-34-52_v2.csv (2 MB)
Avatar       
Gretchen August 15, 2016 15:03
Dear,

Thank you for contacting DJI Customer Support, We apologize for the late response due to a large number of emails needed to be answered. Of course, you are one of them.

Can you please send your flight record to able us to check and give you accurate answers?

Best Regards,

Eazer

DJI NA TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Tel Support: +1(818)235 0789 / Mon-Fri 7:00AM-5:00PM(PST)

Online Support: http://www.dji.com/support#after


Best Regards,

Gretchen

DJI NA TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Tel Support: +1(818)235 0789 / Mon-Fri 7:00AM-5:00PM(PST)

Online Support: http://www.dji.com/support#after

Avatar       
Thomas Smith August 15, 2016 15:06
The flight data was attached to the original email as well as the purchase receipt.

2016-08-13_19-34-52_v2.csv (2 MB)
Avatar       
Gretchen August 15, 2016 15:29
Dear Thomas Smith,

Thank you for contacting DJI Customer Support. Please fill-up the form attached below, in order to analyze your complaint.
Thank you for providing that information.



Best Regards,

Eazer

DJI NA TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Tel Support: +1(818)235 0789 / Mon-Fri 7:00AM-5:00PM(PST)

Online Support: http://www.dji.com/support#after






Best Regards,

Gretchen

DJI NA TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Tel Support: +1(818)235 0789 / Mon-Fri 7:00AM-5:00PM(PST)

Online Support: http://www.dji.com/support#after

customer usage questionnaire v1.2.pdf (50 KB)
Sync Flight Records.pdf (600 KB)
Avatar       
Thomas Smith August 15, 2016 15:56
Attached is the filled out form.

img-815155154-0001.pdf (90 KB)
Avatar       
Gretchen August 15, 2016 17:02
Dear Thomas Smith,

Thank you for contacting DJI Support. Thank you for providing that information we will now forward this to the corresponding department. Thank you so much for understanding and patience in this matter.


Best Regards,

Gretchen

DJI NA TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Tel Support: +1(818)235 0789 / Mon-Fri 7:00AM-5:00PM(PST)

Online Support: http://www.dji.com/support#after

Avatar       
Thomas Smith August 16, 2016 13:30
Why is the status of this claim listed as "solved"

Avatar       
Thomas Smith August 16, 2016 13:30
Why is the status of this claim listed as "solved"

Avatar       
Thomas Smith August 17, 2016 07:54
?

Avatar       
Marc F August 18, 2016 16:51
Dear Thomas,
We will review your flight records and reply back if we need any additional information. Thank you for your continued patience.

Best,

Avatar       
Thomas Smith Monday at 14:22
Thanks. How long does the review process usually take?

Avatar       
Una.Song Tuesday at 02:20
Dear Thomas，

Thanks for your waiting.

But we check the account thspoq@gmail.com and there is no record there.

Please help confirm the account is correct and the records are uploaded successfully.

If you fail to sync your flight records to the cloud, please send us the flight records text files in your mobile device as the steps in the attached file.

Thanks.
Best Regards,

Una

DJI NA TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Tel Support: +1(818)235 0789 / Mon-Fri 7:00AM-5:00PM(PST)

Online Support: http://www.dji.com/support#after

Thomas Smith Tuesday at 06:47
The file is attached, it is the .csv file

Avatar       
Thomas Smith Yesterday at 08:01
Any updates?

Avatar       
Marc F Today at 14:13
Dear Thomas Smith,
Thank you for your continued patience, we are reviewing your Phantom 3 Advanced case, and will reply back shortly.

Best Regards,

At 1000 ft, you encountered weather phenomena that the aircraft is not designed for. Also, in Poquoson VA, you are in the middle of a high air traffic area and flying that high is incredibly irresponsible. Considering the altitude, headwind and length of travel, I imagine your battery exhausted itself and the aircraft crashed.

For the future, please keep in mind the rules the FAA set forth (400ft or less), especially in an area that has not only commercial aircraft, but also military operations. (Norfolk Naval Air Station, Oceana Naval Air Station, Langley Air Force Base)

Explain to me how the case was closed Aug 11th when my incident happened Aug 13th? I understand if theres a mix up but please work with me here guys.

thspoq@gmail.co Posted at 2016-8-25 16:40
You must have me confused with someone else. I was never told that anything was analyzed. Ive trie ...

Weather.com provides wind speed at the location on the ground, not at an altitude of 1000ft.

Regardless of the altitude, the phantom feel out of the ski with 50% battery

thspoq@gmail.co Posted at 2016-8-26 04:52
Explain to me how the case was closed Aug 11th when my incident happened Aug 13th? I understand if t ...

My apologies, I looked at a different ticket.
I see the back and forth conversation.
You supplied a CSV file from Healthydrones and DJI does not not evaluate 3rd party data.
You were using the DJI GO app correct? I do not see any synced flight records.
If you were not using the GO app and another 3rd party app then DJI cannot analyze the flight data.
If you were using the GO app then please sync your flight records and I will have the flight analyzed ASAP.

I was utilizing the Litchi application

Regardless of which app was utilized, that data can be evaluated.

thspoq@gmail.co Posted at 2016-8-26 05:37
Regardless of which app was utilized, that data can be evaluated.

It's still under review and I should have an answer for you in the morning.

Fantastic, thank you sir!

thspoq@gmail.co Posted at 2016-8-26 05:51
Fantastic, thank you sir!

No problem, if I know by this evening I will let you know.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-25 17:54
No problem, if I know by this evening I will let you know.

Ken, please tell me this isnt true

Una.Song (DJI)
Aug 26, 14:28 HKT

Dear Thomas,

Thanks for your information and patience.

Becuase the CVS file you offered,that means you were using the third-party app for the flight.
In that case,we can not do any analysis because there is no record gernerated.

And we do not offer the warranty for the third -party app flight.

Hope you can understand.
Based on the incident you experienced and short purchase time, we want to provide further assistance.
We would like to offer you 10% off a new purchase of a Phantom 3 Advanced Aircraft (Excludes Remote Controller and Battery Charger)

Regardless of the application utilized, you are still able to review the flight logs. The failure is clearly related to a battery failure and or compass failure (neither of which have anything to do with fly litchi).

I need help from a dji REP THAT WILL ACTUALLY HELP ME. 10 DAYS NOW WITH CORRUPT FLIGHT RECORD AND A FLY AWAY

oh.midrone2 Posted at 2016-8-28 01:44
I need help from a dji REP THAT WILL ACTUALLY HELP ME. 10 DAYS NOW WITH CORRUPT FLIGHT RECORD AND A  ...

To clarify, do you have a ticket number with DJI? Were you using any 3rd party apps with the DJI Go app?

I having similar issues with customer service. Various responses from various techs.  Here is my issue-
While flying phantom 3 pro at 200' for approximately 6 minutes smoke was observed trailing drone. Attempted to land on residential street as smoke increased. At 83' drone quit and dropped from the air trailing smoke. DJI states no errors noted, must have over heated in hot weather. I sent flight log, photo and weather report. Another tech responded that i must have got water on battery. Clear, dry and temp in 70's. I have photos of burned battery and drone. Battery still smoking when pic was taken. DJI stating battery and damage not under warranty. I see that others have experienced similar issues with battery smoking and catching fire.  

My damaged drone was returned yesterday, still damaged. All my parts sent to DJI were not returned.  

Please review ticket # 312420 and 312354      

greene.thomas-s Posted at 2016-8-31 20:38
I having similar issues with customer service. Various responses from various techs.  Here is my iss ...

I'm reading through the various tickets and they are saying that there is no crash in the flight logs.
What was the crash date and flight time?
Also, what parts were not returned?
I am sorry that it was deemed non warranty.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-31 22:15
I'm reading through the various tickets and they are saying that there is no crash in the flight l ...

Flight was June 23, 2016 at 18:53 hrs.   Approximate 6 minute flight.  Photo taken showing clear weather.  While flying drone over my home and neighborhood in visual view I was showing a police officer the controls when he asked why my drone was trailing smoke in flight.  I began descent in attempt to land in street.  80' in air engine quit and crashed into lawn.  Pictures taken as smoke started to clear.  Smoke and fire was fierce.  Pictures taken, printed and mailed with damaged drone to DJI. Photos emailed to DJI.  Drone, camera , rear plastic hatch, battery cover, gimbal and battery remnant (ash & carbon) mailed as requested. Only drone and camera returned to me yesterday from DJI.   I believe charred battery remnant was kept so that I am not able to pursue further examination.  DJI immediately contacted,  Damaged drone sent immediately.  A repair bill was sent.  This battery should have not burnt up and damaged drone and should be covered by DJI. If you review all tickets and phone calls in regards to this you will see the various reasons/excuses offered by DJI.

Tom Greene Posted at 2016-9-1 08:38
Flight was June 23, 2016 at 18:53 hrs.   Approximate 6 minute flight.  Photo taken showing clear w ...

Ok, I'm looking at the flight and from what it looks like to me is you hit something at 82ft. I don't know what the terrain is there as I have not google mapped the exact coordinates but you were 82ft up from your home point altitude and you were 460ft away from your home point. So if the terrain at that point was 82ft higher then where you took off from then you hit the ground. If the terrain where the crash happened was the same altitude at your home point then you hit something or something hit you.
If you look just a few seconds before the flight (play it back in your flight records and you can see the same as I do but I just have more data) you can see that you were facing forward ad you did a full left bank, then a full right bank, then the aircraft spun 360 to the right extremely fast without and right yaw input. You can see that too by tapping the RC icon and it will overlay your stick movements. Then you went full throttle up for a few seconds.
Again, you were at 88ft and then 2 seconds later you hit the ground after a violent 360 to the right  and I see GPS lost and motor obstruction then nothing.
And during time after the aircraft hit something I see each individual battery cell and they are normal.
Cell1 3830mAh, cell2 3852mAh, cell3 3857mAh, and cell4 3851mAh. So the battery looks like it was perfectly fine while the aircraft was in the air even after the aircraft struck something.

If you play back the flight and keep pausing then playing, you can see exactly that it happened this way.