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Unexplained Phantom 4 falls out of the sky. (photos of drone inside)
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6924 59 2016-5-15
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hitmarkerogytlo

United States
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Last night I was flying in my local city getting some night shots. At the end of my flight I was desending down and the drone loses control, spiraling down to it's crash. I had total lose of control and couldn't get it to flip back over. I wasn't using any fancy features, just simply flying. I've had this drone for a month and 4 days so you can imagine my frustration. Lost control at 140ft so yes the drone is broken. I KNOW at least 2, hell maybe all 4 motors are effected. The gimbal isn't sitting correctly, probably also broken along with the shell being dmaged. The battery is also badly scratched and probably has internal damage as it came out upon crash landing. I've sent in a support ticket to get it looked at for repair. I assume their closed on the weekends so I should hear a response Monday hopefully. I've bought some P4 accessories that will be here this Friday and I've got a lot of money invested into the bird so hopefully the cost is covered or inexpensive.
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2016-5-15
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FatedFilmsNC
Second Officer

United States
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Sorry to hear that hitmarkerogytlo. That sounds like a very strange situation. Is there anyway you can get the flight log off of your device and upload it to www.healthydrones.com so we can try and see what went wrong? All DJI is going to tell you is to send in your device, not what went wrong with it. We on this forum can try to diagnosis what happened if you upload to Healthy Drones or to www.PhantomHelp.com/LogViewer/Upload and post the link in this thread.
2016-5-15
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ZFarmer

United States
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https://healthydrones.com/main?f ... 6ed&page_id=GENERAL
Assuming I did this right, here. I have no clue how to read it, maybe someone can shed some light.BTW, this is still OP. Just changed my username.
On the warning: GIMBAL ROLL REACHED END POINT is when the drone was spiraling out of control.
2016-5-15
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WetDog
lvl.3
Flight distance : 1131886 ft
United States
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You either lost a motor or a prop.  The compass and gimbal errors occur after the 'incident' and are a result of the P3 trying to correct for the resultant motion.  Unfortunately, HealthyDrones doesn't give you enough information.  You can upload to a couple of other, more detailed data analysis sites like Phantomhelp.com:

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

Or you can let DJI decide if it's a warranty issue.  As noted, they won't tell you exactly what happened.

And, FWIW a couple of issues to add insult to injury:

- Don't fly over roads.
- Don't fly over roads.
- Don't crash on a road.
- Don't fly above 400 feet
- Flying at night has a number of issues.  Although lots of people do it, it isn't recommended.  Especially when you crash in the middle of the street.

Had you intersected a police helicopter or other aircraft, had it dropped onto a car or person you would likely get a heavy book across your head.
2016-5-15
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ZFarmer

United States
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WetDog Posted at 2016-5-15 12:46
You either lost a motor or a prop.  The compass and gimbal errors occur after the 'incident' and are ...

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/2UIUYNQGX5CKXDA7I2ZZ/
Here's that.
And yes I see the wrong doings, if it makes it any slight better I took it out during a dead part of the night. I also had just recently up-ed the height due to a certain shot, but I watch for overhead flyers such as planes or helis even when I'm way under 400ft.  Although being new to this, I do take precautions.
Once again, I know my wrong doings in the sense of safety, I'm here to find out what may have been the issue with the drone. As you can see I went up for my pictures, quickly turned and snapped each of them and was on my way back down. As said it was a dead part of the night and no one walks the sidewalk of these streets. Literally the only other people out were at the sonic across the street under a pavilion. Although this incident does question the safety features of this drone for me. I don't see how it's remotely possible for me to lose a motor or prop.
2016-5-15
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TK-421
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2016-5-15
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ZFarmer

United States
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TK-421 Posted at 2016-5-15 13:13
There were also a couple major battery cell deviations in there, but it looks like they happened aft ...

Mm not very, I had my eyes on it the whole time. Night was clear so I had full visual on it. Not only that but my girlfriend also was watching. I always have her with me on flights and if I'm watching my screen she's usually my eyes for the drone. Like I said everything was smooth sailing and it just lost control while descending. I don't even think I was coming down at full speed. I'm wondering if the battery warranted issues after it smacked the ground. As said it fell out of the drone upon impact. If anyone is interested I could take some pictures of the damage.
2016-5-15
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Aardvark
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Out of curiosity were all the props still attached albeit broken after it crashed, that would answer the lost prop' question ? It might well have been an ESC (Electronic Speed Controller) failure, that would be up to the DJI people to decide, if so then it would be repaired under warranty I would think.
2016-5-15
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ZFarmer

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Aardvark Posted at 2016-5-15 13:34
Out of curiosity were all the props still attached albeit broken after it crashed, that would answer ...

Well two props are missing from the bird. Now did it happen during flight or impact is unknown. Another is broken in half. Only one left still fully intact. I'll upload photos of the drone. It also might be worth mentioning one of my motors is seized up.EDIT: Photos have been uploaded for further diagnostics, aka cringing.
2016-5-15
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mjanzou
lvl.4
Flight distance : 14820 ft
United States
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If a motor/esc failed, you should be under warranty, I would send it in to dji.....
2016-5-15
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davidson_g
Captain
Flight distance : 263465 ft
United Kingdom
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I noticed that in IMG-0860 there's nothing of the screws left in the motor screwholes for the prop mount. Did you take the screws out? If not, it would almost suggest that the screws vibrated out of the prop mount and thus threw the prop...

If the screws had sheared as a result of the crash, I'd have expected to see parts of them still in the motor holes or the motor threads badly damaged of they had been stripped out.
Another thing catches my eye in that image and that is the abrasion marks where the spring pressure plate sits on the motor. They look like they would have taken time to mark the motor that way and if the screws were slackening in flight (or over multiple flights) the plate could have marked the motor as it rattled slack.
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ZFarmer

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davidson_g Posted at 2016-5-15 14:05
I noticed that in IMG-0860 there's nothing of the screws left in the motor screwholes for the prop m ...

No I hasn't been touched other than to take these pictures. If any other pictures you'd like I can take them.Here's a more indepth look at that prop.
IMG_0875-min.JPG
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davidson_g
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ZFarmer Posted at 2016-5-15 20:08
No I hasn't been touched other than to take these pictures. If any other pictures you'd like I can ...

If it were in front of me, I'd be inclined to swap a plastic motor mount with screws onto the motor that is missing one, purely to see if it's possible to tighten the screws correctly. If they did tighten up without stripping ect, I'd be strongly suspicious that the originals came out in the last flight.

I don't know if threadlock compound is used thread during manufacture to keep the screws secure but perhaps they weren't tightened to the correct torque or the compound was absent.

Maybe someone else will back up my suspicions - the motor threads don't look like victims of the screws being torn out during impact but it's hard to be 100% sure from the picture.

Did you ever feel that one of the props seemes ot have a little more play than the rest when being fitted?


[Edit]
Now that you have added better pics, I can see traces of blue threadlock on one of the holes and to my eye, the threads don't look badly damaged at all - not the sort of damage a screw being torn from the motor during impact would cause. I suspect the screws somehow came out in flight.

Will be interesting to see what others think now that I've drawn attention to it.
2016-5-15
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ZFarmer

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davidson_g Posted at 2016-5-15 14:19
If it were in front of me, I'd be inclined to swap a plastic motor mount with screws onto the motor ...

All props seem to be fine. Although I've questioned the integrity of the design before. If the props are the case at hand I don't want to touch any of the others for tampering issues.BUT I'll say I wouldn't be surpised if something was missing as I've read A LOT of P4 buyers have had things missing on their birds. Anything from gimbal lock position spots on the legs, to the labeling stickers on the arms and camera/gimbal.
2016-5-15
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davidson_g
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ZFarmer Posted at 2016-5-15 20:26
All props seem to be fine. Although I've questioned the integrity of the design before. If the pro ...

Quite right - given that a warranty is involved. Does one of the props still have the mount embedded in it with all the screws still present? If so, do the threads look okay on those screws?

The flight logs should help reveal if the motor suddenly found itself without a prop.
2016-5-15
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ZFarmer

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davidson_g Posted at 2016-5-15 14:31
Quite right - given that a warranty is involved. Does one of the props still have the mount embedd ...

I've put two logs up in this thread somewhere. One error did come up about a missing prop/motor.

Here's pictures of the other 2 props. The 4th one looks completly fine with the full prop intact (somehow) haha.
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2016-5-15
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davidson_g
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ZFarmer Posted at 2016-5-15 20:40
I've put two logs up in this thread somewhere. One error did come up about a missing prop/motor.

H ...

Ahh yes, I see the entry - it shows a prop came off during flight. If DJI confirms it's the same motor without screws, I'd hope that they would agree it's a warranty issue.

4m 26.5s        P-GPS        16satellites        148.0ft        7.2mph        112.5ft        84%        15.94V        3.988V        3.987V        3.992V        3.973V        0.019V        Motor Idling (Propeller Loose or Missing)
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ZFarmer

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davidson_g Posted at 2016-5-15 14:44
Ahh yes, I see the entry - it shows a prop came off during flight. If DJI confirms it's the same m ...

I'm hoping so, I've been having so much fun with this ting and have bought some extra things to go with it that come in later this week. Not looking to drop another $500 or something over this. Would like someone from DJI to reply here, I assume their all gone until Monday. Also thank you for your input, I've been fairly irate since last night and waking up this morning it was the first thing on my mind.
2016-5-15
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davidson_g
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ZFarmer Posted at 2016-5-15 20:48
I'm hoping so, I've been having so much fun with this ting and have bought some extra things to go  ...


You're very welcome - I can appreciate how sickening it is for this kind of thing to happen and how it can completely take over one's thoughts for a while. Here's hoping it all comes good.

I can tell you I've already checked the screws on my P4 just in case and will keep an eye on them.
2016-5-15
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ZFarmer

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davidson_g Posted at 2016-5-15 15:01
You're very welcome - I can appreciate how sickening it is for this kind of thing to happen and ho ...

I'll update this thread once I hear back from their email. Still very unsure how the repair/send in process goes.
2016-5-15
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gibsonguitars18

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I had a prop spin off on my p3 once that's why I got the p4. They charged me around 300 bucks to fix mine saying that I didn't tighten them when I had 3 people watch me tighten them. Now I snug a little more when I fly my p3. Hopefully since the p4 has prop locks they'll be more inclined to be on your side. You can't put a prop on wrong with the p4 and even if you could it would have came off wayyy befofe hand if you were even to take off. Makes me worry about the locking hardware on my p4!  
2016-5-15
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gibsonguitars18

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Also it will be about a week before it gets checked in, then about 2-4 days to get to the repair status evaluated and quoted and if you have to pay it will stop there for about 2 days but if they warranty it usually they will do it all in one day and ship it that day as well
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ZFarmer

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gibsonguitars18 Posted at 2016-5-15 16:34
Also it will be about a week before it gets checked in, then about 2-4 days to get to the repair sta ...

Okay thanks, do you know the whole process? A form for me to fill out, address ect?Also for $300, what all was replaced on yours?
2016-5-15
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ISA AYDIN
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I will not read the whole  posts here,  maybe somebody already memtioned. But it is obvious that it is vortex effect. You were descending too fast and "spiral" which is also called "falling from stairs" effect happened. Vortex is also happening with normal size helicopters. Read about it. It is just physics.
2016-5-15
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ISA AYDIN
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Thats why it is explained. Nothing unusual.
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ZFarmer

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ISA AYDIN Posted at 2016-5-15 18:38
I will not read the whole  posts here,  maybe somebody already memtioned. But it is obvious that it  ...

Nope, no one mentioned that. If you would have read through, you would of seen that a prop came loose. Which I also got a warning for it. On top of that, I wasn't descending at full speed which I have seen others do with zero issues.
2016-5-15
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Geebax
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Australia
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ISA AYDIN Posted at 2016-5-16 09:38
I will not read the whole  posts here,  maybe somebody already memtioned. But it is obvious that it  ...

'But it is obvious that it is vortex effect.'

It may be obvious to you, but Phantoms have not been suffering from vortex affect for ages.
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ZFarmer

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Geebax Posted at 2016-5-15 18:45
'But it is obvious that it is vortex effect.'

It may be obvious to you, but Phantoms have not bee ...

Yeah that a very broad statement coming from someone who wasn't there. What evidence is he going off of? If he didn't read through the post then he's using his best sense and assumption. I've never heard of this happening. Also not only was I NOT descending at full speed, I've seen others who HAVE descended at full speed with ZERO issues. Guess they have just been getting lucky every time right? If you're not going to read through the whole post along with the TWO flight logs please don't give your guesstimated opinion.
2016-5-15
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gibsonguitars18

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You need to call and get an RMA. Might be faster to go through the chat. Attached to the rma are directions telling you everything you need to know about packing and what to do they should also send a prepaid shipping label. They replaced the whole gimbal assembly as well as the top shell. They did a great job fixing mine it looked brand new. However alot of people have had different experiences. I sent mine to the California repair center. It's easy to do it just really sucks waiting lol
2016-5-15
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gibsonguitars18

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I think it's still possible that the newer phantoms are susceptible to vortex ring state however I don't feel that to be the case here. With my p4 and p3 if I descend quick enough it starts to get shakey which is the earliest signs of vrs.
2016-5-15
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Geebax
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Australia
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ZFarmer Posted at 2016-5-16 09:51
Yeah that a very broad statement coming from someone who wasn't there. What evidence is he going of ...

Yes, by his own admission he did not read the posts. On the other hand I did, and I noted you were not descending, and you appeared to indicate the aircraft tumbled. An aircraft in a vortex state does not tumble, and if it did, it would exist the vortex state.
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gibsonguitars18

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Here are the things they will email you. Disregard my name and rma but you can still follow those directions and fill out the customer info sheet. It will save you some time
Screenshot_20160515-202511.jpg
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gibsonguitars18

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Wow that didn't work at all I'm sorry
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ZFarmer

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gibsonguitars18 Posted at 2016-5-15 19:30
Wow that didn't work at all I'm sorry

It's fine, I submitted a ticket so I assume I will hear from them when they get in the office. The waiting will suck but as long as everything is done right and fixed correctly I'll be fine with it.
2016-5-15
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gibsonguitars18

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My suggestion is to chat if you can. If not chat first thing tomorrow. You will be waiting 2-3 days on a ticket response. It takes ages. You can close the ticket yourself if need be
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ZFarmer

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gibsonguitars18 Posted at 2016-5-15 19:51
My suggestion is to chat if you can. If not chat first thing tomorrow. You will be waiting 2-3 days  ...

I'll give it a shot, quickest would be the best.Says offline, probably won't be in until tomorrow morning.
2016-5-15
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ISA AYDIN
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I said I didnt read all of the posts, but read a post where you wrote that you were descending. Also, if the prop was loose it would probably shoot out during take off. No vortex effect for ages??? Whats your experience in flying? Give me another p4 and especially p3 and I will show you what is vortex in 5 mins.))) vortex was there is there and will be there, it is physics. Read about it first!
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ISA AYDIN
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You said your GF was watching it, why didn't she  see that prop shot out. You didnt mention it in your first post. Falling like spiral is a vortex thing, and there are some ways of escaping it if you have enough altitude.  Anyway whatever I say you dont want to hear that. All you want  to hear is that you are super professional and this is drones defect. )
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ISA AYDIN
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I see that you switched to Atti mode, which is also doubling the risk of vortex. As all programs are switched of in that mode.
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SimplePanda
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ISA AYDIN Posted at 2016-5-16 09:19
You said your GF was watching it, why didn't she  see that prop shot out. You didnt mention it in yo ...

Spotter probably wouldn't have seen any prop issues as he says he was flying at night...
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