rickysuperdog Posted at 2017-7-20 18:15
Seems some of the recent power off cases were covered by the warranty. But how about the previous cases ? What is the basis of judgement  and  the flight log differences ?

the problem is. spark cheap. so, quality will be cheap too. hummm. very sad. mine fell like a dead body. DJI asking me to send all the logs. from the first day. i think.. i will get replacement in a month time. since my spark fell in a fountain that is so deep and huge... hummmm

fans8e84a610 Posted at 2017-7-21 08:04
Almost the exact same thing happened to me guys. What a horrible day. I was using the controller to fly the spark that came with the fly more combo. I had flown it atleast 10 times.  Some little issues but nothing major. I ordered a third battery. I wS at around 60% battery life about 50-75 feet in the air and it just completely shut off and dropped to the ground. I had no stick input at all when it fell. I was just coming out of tripod mode. It was my first flight with my new third battery I finally got a week after receiving the fly more combo with the spark.  Fully calibrated as well as the imu. Plenty of battery power left in the battery. I'm not new to dji drones. I own several. This is my first gut wrenching crash in 3 years. I sent the battery and the spark back to dji for diagnostics. They are both obviously bad at this point ( spark and battery ) after falling 60 feet in the middle of a wide open terrain. Nothing but trees around. So I'll wait on dji to look at it and send me a new battery and drone."HOPEFULLY"

definitely spark having serious issue. This small elephant is having heart attack always. causing waste time and extra money too. No jokes.. we have to pay for our travel to send the spark and bla bla.. all costing money. so, I hope DJI will take serious before this baby elephant crash some lorry and someone die. humm. never underestimate small baby elelphant. it can create amazing things. ha ha ha

GIdoc Posted at 2017-7-21 20:39
I've read that many people had drone in tripod mode or coming out of it.... maybe that is one of the causes?
What is tripod mode?  I don't get what it's used for.

mine was in normal mode.. my friend too was in normal mode. its not the mode. its the firmware, bugs or some faulty things with spark. shutting off in the mid air is no joke. heart attack !!!! so, DJI should pay more serious attention since.. soon spark will be in millions with small boys and girls playing. can cost huge losses to parents..hummm.. poor spark and poorer parents. hummm

Phuong Do Posted at 2017-7-21 22:41
That could be an issue,I will make my time and try Tripod today.
Tripod mode reduces the speed so that you can get the smooth video when recording

mine n my friend was in normal mode. he he he

rickysuperdog Posted at 2017-7-22 03:04
flight log suddenly stopped at the middle, cannot analysis. Warranty not cover and I have to pay for the repair or claim the refresh care.

of course I don't accept !

there are many spark died on the mid air. so, dont worry. you can fight back. not only you. all the best.

tjalex Posted at 2017-7-31 12:48
the problem is. spark cheap. so, quality will be cheap too. hummm. very sad. mine fell like a dead body. DJI asking me to send all the logs. from the first day. i think.. i will get replacement in a month time. since my spark fell in a fountain that is so deep and huge... hummmm

Are you saying that you did not recover your Spark and that DJI will replace it??

Well, DJI is repairing my Spark, they say that the "Gimbal and Camera Module & IMU Module" is being replaced.  Odd since it complained of no gps signals at all, but maybe the IMU module feeds into the gps module and without one the other is useless.  I just want a working drone.  However, I think I will only use it for some specific photography stuff and not for long distance flights and speed fun.

PaTaRnAk Posted at 2017-7-31 13:17
Are you saying that you did not recover your Spark and that DJI will replace it??

So far all what i read from forums are..DJI definitely will ask for the drones. My Spark fell in a huge fountain and there was no one to help.  it was on Friday evening. then saturday and sunday no cleaners i saw. Monday  nope.. Tuesday i went again.. never give up and saw a guy was cleaning the fountain. I asked his help. He used fishing net to grab the dead spark. Then the shop opened a case . ite been 5 working days. DJI still did not give any confirmation to replace. But only asked for full logs. I will update soon. what happen. But DJI i am sure will ask the drone. so careful when we play on water. he he he

Cretu571 Posted at 2017-7-26 11:04
Update on my Spark status.

My Spark fell from about 60m height about 2 weeks ago on 14th of July, it was a Friday. I've shipped the drone on Monday and it arrived at their center in Germany at the end of last week. I'm from Romania.

Final update on my spark.  My Spark fell from about 60m height about on 14th of July. I've received the confirmation that it will be repaired under guaranty las week on the 26 th of July.

Today, my Spark arrived. It seems to be working properly, they also included a spare set of props, the original ones were destroyed on impact.

The SD card which was fried on impact was not replaced (it only costs about 15 euros, so no biggie)

Long story short, the process was ok. The reason of the crash isn't stated anywhere, I just hope it was a singular glitch. I'm not going to fly it over water or any surface where I might loose it, ever. I don't trust my spark.
Time will tell.

It is really something that it is always pilot error and never DJI's error and thanks for your support we will give you 30% off

after 35 flights, and nearly 20,000ft, mine fell from the sky. it was at around 65 ft on a clear nice day under 80f, and it was hovering, lost power and plummeted to the earth. it's in the forest near my house and haven't been able to locate it yet.

no warning, nothing. it just fell straight out of the sky. i hope i can find whats left of it.

I just had the very same thing happen as what OP reported. I'm attaching the very last frame of my flight logs. This was moments after ActiveTrack lost its subject, with 90% battery. During the fall, it did power back on and attempt to recover. I was able to locate the aircraft because it was still powered on and had GPS signal. It fell feet from the pond I was flying over!

Video: youtu.be/F_FT2v1dw-A

As someone who regularly flies over water, this is very scary.

I just had the very same thing happen as what OP reported. I'm attaching the very last frame of my flight logs. This was moments after ActiveTrack lost its subject, with 90% battery. During the fall, it did power back on and attempt to recover. I was able to locate the aircraft because it was still powered on and had GPS signal. It fell feet from the pond I was flying over!

Video: youtu.be/F_FT2v1dw-A

As someone who regularly flies over water, this is very scary.

Now it happened to me too. Bought the Spark 2 days ago. After flying about the 5th batterie the spark was hovering in 6ft when it suddenly turned off and hiz the ground. After 2-3 seconds the spark turned automaticly on. Brought the drone back to dji store... when they dont find the issues and i only get a new drone i will never fly it again.

By the way, this is with the latest firmware as of the date of this post, and using the RC.

After reading through the thread in more detail, I find it strange that mine seems to have attempted to recover, and remained powered on after crashing. I still had a video feed. Perhaps I was a bit luckier due to the height of my flight? I have no way to prove this but my Spark definitely SEEMS to have powered the motors back up during the fall. Or maybe, by pure luck, it fell in just such a way that it kind of did a self-leveling "auto-rotation" as the wind pushed up through the props.

I was able to do a quick 30 second test flight right after the crash - IIRC without having to power it back on.

As far as batteries, I have 3: two that came in a fly more package, and a 3rd that came in the regular package when I bought my 2nd Spark (I broke my first one.)

A common theme seems to be that people were doing tripod/ActiveTrack/hovering flights. I'm wondering if it's a temperature thing?

I am attempting to do some tests in hot conditions using ActiveTrack with all batteries. The Spark seems a bit jerky now.

mmatos Posted at 2017-8-2 11:26
By the way, this is with the latest firmware as of the date of this post, and using the RC.

After reading through the thread in more detail, I find it strange that mine seems to have attempted to recover, and remained powered on after crashing. I still had a video feed. Perhaps I was a bit luckier due to the height of my flight? I have no way to prove this but my Spark definitely SEEMS to have powered the motors back up during the fall. Or maybe, by pure luck, it fell in just such a way that it kind of did a self-leveling "auto-rotation" as the wind pushed up through the props.

I've wondered too if heat has something to do with some of the issues.  I was flying at a lake recently, when the temperatures were high (still within spec range, but definitely on the high side).  During flight I lost RC and video contact.  Fortunately it was still very close, and connection was restored after a minute.  I immediately started flying back to me, when it lost all connection again.  It restored again, and I was able to land safely.

I didn't complain to DJI about it, I assumed that since I was flying at the top end of the temp range, that the radio in the drone stopped operating intermittently.

fanscff2db8c Posted at 2017-8-2 11:20
Now it happened to me too. Bought the Spark 2 days ago. After flying about the 5th batterie the spark was hovering in 6ft when it suddenly turned off and hiz the ground. After 2-3 seconds the spark turned automaticly on. Brought the drone back to dji store... when they dont find the issues and i only get a new drone i will never fly it again.

forgot to mention that this happend today also with the newest firmware

fanscff2db8c Posted at 2017-8-2 11:50
forgot to mention that this happend today also with the newest firmware

And the new firmware refreshed with your "possibly faulty" battery?

Sad to say I lost my spark back on July 4 due to power cut off never recovered it. I contacted good ol DJI and open a case... sent proof of purchase and flight log everything they required me to send...haven't heard nothing from them as of yet so I'm guessing my case is still under review...lol

I got my Spark over the past weekend, and on the 2nd flight, it was about 100 feet up, the camera feed on my iPad went blank, I heard the drone go quiet, and then 2 seconds later heard the crash.  It was in pieces as it hit the street, and the drone was very hot.  I contacted DJI, and basically had to purchase DJI Refresh, then pay $49 for the Spark to be replaced.  I have sent in my Spark and waiting to see how long this takes.  I bought it from Amazon, so as soon as I receive the replacement, it is going back to Amazon.  Very unhappy with the lack of response from DJI on this issue.  It has happened to hundreds of users, and I don't think it is pilot error.  This whole ordeal is souring me on ever purchasing another DJI drone.

tjalex Posted at 2017-7-31 12:50
definitely spark having serious issue. This small elephant is having heart attack always. causing waste time and extra money too. No jokes.. we have to pay for our travel to send the spark and bla bla.. all costing money. so, I hope DJI will take serious before this baby elephant crash some lorry and someone die. humm. never underestimate small baby elelphant. it can create amazing things. ha ha ha

I loved this post.  Seriously.

fans72e8b49d Posted at 2017-8-2 13:22
Sad to say I lost my spark back on July 4 due to power cut off never recovered it. I contacted good ol DJI and open a case... sent proof of purchase and flight log everything they required me to send...haven't heard nothing from them as of yet so I'm guessing my case is still under review...lol

Sad for you. i too same case.. it fell into a fountain. after 3 days i managed to get it back. sent to dji the phone log..then they asked me more full log. then later today they asked me drone data. fortunately i got the drone. the shop sent all again.  another fortunate news the spark did worked again just for the data collection. it beed 10 days and still dji delaying. BAD DJI.

fansc51fc523 Posted at 2017-8-2 17:31
I got my Spark over the past weekend, and on the 2nd flight, it was about 100 feet up, the camera feed on my iPad went blank, I heard the drone go quiet, and then 2 seconds later heard the crash.  It was in pieces as it hit the street, and the drone was very hot.  I contacted DJI, and basically had to purchase DJI Refresh, then pay $49 for the Spark to be replaced.  I have sent in my Spark and waiting to see how long this takes.  I bought it from Amazon, so as soon as I receive the replacement, it is going back to Amazon.  Very unhappy with the lack of response from DJI on this issue.  It has happened to hundreds of users, and I don't think it is pilot error.  This whole ordeal is souring me on ever purchasing another DJI drone.

Sad for you. i too same case.. it fell into a fountain. after 3 days i managed to get it back. sent to dji the phone log..then they asked me more full log. then later today they asked me drone data. fortunately i got the drone. the shop sent all again.  another fortunate news the spark did worked again just for the data collection. it beed 10 days and still dji delaying. BAD DJI.

Tyger Posted at 2017-7-13 05:36
I had been flying my drone for 2 days after receiving it with gesture control, phone and RC. On the second day, I was using Palm Control and it simply went dead and dropped to the ground. Fortunately it was only about 6 feet off the ground, so it only had a few scuffs. Just as many above, when I powered it back on, it still had plenty of battery. It seemed to be ok after that, but I have filed a case and I'm exchanging it. I just wanted to chime in that this same issue happened to me also.

Sad for you. i too same case.. it fell into a fountain. after 3 days i managed to get it back. sent to dji the phone log..then they asked me more full log. then later today they asked me drone data. fortunately i got the drone. the shop sent all again.  another fortunate news the spark did worked again just for the data collection. it beed 10 days and still dji delaying. BAD DJI.

BriRi Posted at 2017-7-13 09:03
Same thing happened to me and DJI will not warranty it.

Flying in GPS mode, actually just hovering, at 220ft away and about 15ft above a lake. Using RC and iPhone 6 with Go4 app. Took off at 100% battery. At 76% battery it shut off and dropped into the lake. I was watching it and I was stunned to say the least. I'm an experienced drone pilot with hundreds of flights with DJI AC and Go app. I've never had this happen before.

Sad for you. i too same case.. it fell into a fountain. after 3 days i managed to get it back. sent to dji the phone log..then they asked me more full log. then later today they asked me drone data. fortunately i got the drone. the shop sent all again.  another fortunate news the spark did worked again just for the data collection. it beed 10 days and still dji delaying. BAD DJI.

I don't think I'll EVER buy from DJI again. Dealing with them is just so frustrating and they don't seem to care about the client at all. Hurts to see a company you really enjoyed being so clearly unfair to you and other people that had their drones just fall from the sky for no reason,  many of which broke or fell in water.

After lots of discussing, and begging, and emails with logs, picture and clear explanations of what happened, I finally got an email saying that my Spark would be fixed by the warranty. However, they took so long that I'm now leaving the US and won't be able to get it back so I asked for a refund. They said that a refund would have to go through an approval process and when I asked how long it'd take I got a  "I'm afraid there is no timeframe for approval. I'm sorry".

Basicaly, when dealing with DJI anything you can do is pray and hope somebody listens to you. No, that is not the type of company I'm gonna be making business with. DJI was my drone hero, and it hurts to see heroes go. If they would just give my money back I'd be willing to forget it all, but even for that they are making it hell.

I really don't wanna loose 750 dollars on something that worked for less then 30 minutes out of the box.

fansda110482 Posted at 2017-7-14 01:42
My Spark also fell from the sky yesterday (

I was using the RC and an OnePlus3 Android phone.  I was flying in GPS mode at 226Ft altitude just above me at the edge of a large park with just a few buildings situated at around 90 ft from me

Sad for you. i too same case.. it fell into a fountain. after 3 days i managed to get it back. sent to dji the phone log..then they asked me more full log. then later today they asked me drone data. fortunately i got the drone. the shop sent all again.  another fortunate news the spark did worked again just for the data collection. it beed 10 days and still dji delaying. BAD DJI.

BriRi Posted at 2017-7-14 10:28
Good luck. They are refusing to warranty mine also. Since I was unable to retrieve the drone I can't even use Refresh that I purchased.

Total rip off. These incidents do occur and they try and pretend that they aren't liable. But they are.

Sad for you. i too same case.. it fell into a fountain. after 3 days i managed to get it back. sent to dji the phone log..then they asked me more full log. then later today they asked me drone data. fortunately i got the drone. the shop sent all again.  another fortunate news the spark did worked again just for the data collection. it beed 10 days and still dji delaying. BAD DJI.

Lucas775 Posted at 2017-7-15 18:44
seems like all the fails are happening flying without the RC is this the case?

mine happen with rc.. its the cheap spark with cheap technology they installed.  

Cretu571 Posted at 2017-7-14 04:39
You are quite right, I've rushed things, won't happen again! During the flight I've noticed my error of not having any GPS and returned the drone to a lower altitude. In my second elevation of the drone, when I've had 17 or 19 satellites that's when my spark fell.

There are many spark out there falling like a dead baby elephant. Spark surely has a issue. i lost mine too. it fell. power off. So, the best is.. do not always trust a machine.  even i heard Mavic pro did fell. Aspire too. So, since spark is very cheap. the technology installed will be bad too. that sound logic and that is why almost 18 cases more i read so far. all are dead spark from mid air.

Patrick C Posted at 2017-7-15 19:24
I was flying with RC

me too. its not phone or rc but the cheap technology the installed since spark is cheap..

Patrick C Posted at 2017-7-14 07:36
Update: My spark is at the repair center and has been given a quote, however DJI seems to expect me to use my DJI care refresh. It appears no one has looked into my case to determine the actual cause of the accident, because if it was, the cost should be covered under warranty. If any admin could help me communicate this I would be grateful. I don't think anyone has investigated my case, but instead only looked at repair.

Sad for you. i too same case.. it fell into a fountain. after 3 days i managed to get it back. sent to dji the phone log..then they asked me more full log. then later today they asked me drone data. fortunately i got the drone. the shop sent all again.  another fortunate news the spark did worked again just for the data collection. it beed 10 days and still dji delaying. BAD DJI.

Lucas775 Posted at 2017-7-15 19:26
How many of the Users are flying with out RC?

many n still the same issue.

BriRi Posted at 2017-7-14 10:28
Good luck. They are refusing to warranty mine also. Since I was unable to retrieve the drone I can't even use Refresh that I purchased.

Total rip off. These incidents do occur and they try and pretend that they aren't liable. But they are.

Sad for you. i too same case.. it fell into a fountain. after 3 days i managed to get it back. sent to dji the phone log..then they asked me more full log. then later today they asked me drone data. fortunately i got the drone. the shop sent all again.  another fortunate news the spark did worked again just for the data collection. it beed 10 days and still dji delaying. BAD DJI.

YouTube has a video today of a mavic rescuing a spark from a water tower.  The video starts out showing the spark just drop.  Since the mavic's recording is a bit distant, I can't really tell what's happening with the spark, but it is evident that it just goes down.

They probably should not have been flying over a water tower.  I have flown only where I can physically and legally go myself (so if my drone drops I'll have a much easier time recovering it, unless in deep water).  But this recording is pretty compelling.  The day appears perfectly clear, there isn't any fog, there are no winds.  If this were related to someone exhausting the battery and ignoring warnings, I would have expected the spark to make an effort to RTH.  This spark (in this video) is just flying stationary, and it just drops.

I was waiting to "see" it happen.  This video is pretty clear.

Charles Adams Posted at 2017-8-3 11:47
YouTube has a video today of a mavic rescuing a spark from a water tower.  The video starts out showing the spark just drop.  Since the mavic's recording is a bit distant, I can't really tell what's happening with the spark, but it is evident that it just goes down.

They probably should not have been flying over a water tower.  I have flown only where I can physically and legally go myself (so if my drone drops I'll have a much easier time recovering it, unless in deep water).  But this recording is pretty compelling.  The day appears perfectly clear, there isn't any fog, there are no winds.  If this were related to someone exhausting the battery and ignoring warnings, I would have expected the spark to make an effort to RTH.  This spark (in this video) is just flying stationary, and it just drops.

At 26sec

After I got my result back from DJI Support, below is what they said:

For your claimed case CAS-796810-V3K3D2, we have already finished the analysis, and the result is as follows:

1. The aircraft worked in GPS mode, and responded to RC command actively;
2. At t=00:57, h=53 meters, d=33.6 meters, the aircraft flew forward after the pilot pushed pitch stick forward, then flight record ended;
3. Disconnected point: 13.6869478 100.5109749.

With the record ended without any sign of abnormality, we could not verify what happened afterwards.

I try to explain to them that the flight record end because my Spark just out of power at 87% and fell down into the river.
Below is what they reply without any care about their product error.

Thanks for getting back to us.

We are terribly sorry for your loss, and we also want to figure out that reason of the incident, and what happened afterwards. However as the record ended, the cause is inconclusive from the existing flight record. It is not that the engineers are incapable or we are unwilling to, however the flight file from the dji go app didn't record it.

And for your case, there was no product malfunction found before the record was cut off. You claim that the aircraft suddenly power off by itself, is also couldn't verified from the record. Piyavut, we do understand that it’s difficult to accept the result. However according to our warranty policy, we do could not get a replacement for you based on the analysis result.

Thanks for your understanding. Have a nice day.


Best Regards,

Evelyn
DJI Tech Support
http://www.dji.com/


This is how DJI taking care of their customer and handle their bad product.

DoraeMonZ Posted at 2017-8-3 20:13
After I got my result back from DJI Support, below is what they said:

For your claimed case CAS-796810-V3K3D2, we have already finished the analysis, and the result is as follows:

That is the anwer i expect <to get after mine took a dive in the ocean and could NOT recover it!!! Of course they cant se on the record That the power cut off since there is no power to record... they write to you that "you claim it powered off by itself....... what else should have happened? I don't have a jet pack to fly up and disconnect the battery and I dont Think many People does....

DK Sparky Posted at 2017-8-4 01:13
That is the anwer i expect

At least i am lucky that it is not falling on someone heads!!!!

I bought my Spark two weeks ago in a retail shop for electronics here in switzerland. After three flights, on the fourth so about after 6 Minutes hovering at the height of 5 meters it just dropped dead and broke on the hard cement floor. The power was off and by reviewing the video , the picture just froze at the moment of the loss of power (or what ever) .. I brought the device to the repair center of the retail shop and the me that they will forward it to the DJI service center. I already ordered on the internet the remote control which arrived by nwo and is still in the package untouched. I wanted to take the Spark with me to holiday by ned of August but I lost all hope that I will ever hear soon something either by DJI or the retail shop. Sad when comparing to the Apple Care plus service which when once my apple watch broke just sent me in two days a replacement and took the broken one by courier.