So i received my Phantom 3 Standard in the mail on Monday. I've had a chance to fly it five or six times so far with no problems. Drone has flown steady, maintained altitude and position. The drone has not crashed or had so much as a bump into anything. Yesterday Evening I took my drone up to take a few pictures, wish I had been doing video now. About 2 minutes into the flight P3S started spinning uncontrollably and crashed to the ground before I had time to react at all. The drone was 134 ft in the air at the time and was over an empty street so there was nothing in the air for it to hit and thankfully it only hit ground when it came down.
Two of the props were snapped, one intact, and I still cannot find the third which seems to have snapped off and gone flying on impact. Gimbal and camera tore off completely. Body is scratched and banged up. Suprisingly the landing gear is still intact. I checked the flight log on the app with the map image and I had 9-10 GPS satelites the entire flight. The drone stayed in P- GPS mode the entire time as well and the battery never dropped below 92%. The only error message I can see is a compass error when the drone has already been spinning for a second and is plummeting towards the ground. The drone's compass was calibrated in my yard away from any metal and my last flight went off without a hitch.

So in less than a week my brand new PS3 is unusable. I plan to contact DJI support on Monday as this was definitely not a pilot error but I wanted to post here while I wait. I had planned to take the drone out to the country this weekend to fly over some fields but that plan is bust now. I have not been flying drones for very long and this has kind of ruined my drone experience.



In the picture I have paused the drone at the point where it started spinning.

I should probably add that I did a preflight check indoors before taking off. I started the phantom without props to make sure the motors spun and sounded the same. Then I turned the P3S off and attached all props, tightening each one.

Really sorry to hear about your crash, we'll help you analyze the flight records and data to figure out why it acted like that, please do not worry about it.
Please sync your flight records through DJI GO APP firstly, then send an e-mail to support.us@dji.com with your APP account which should be an e-mail address and the specific date and time when it happened.
Then please export flight data as instruction below and send it as attachment:
1.Connect your drone to your PC with the USB cable through the Micro USB Port under the Phantom Label in the front.
2.Turn on both your drone and controller, connect your phone to your controller and open DJI pilot
3.This option is under MODE_MC Settings_Advanced Settings_Enter flight data mode. 4.Select that DAT files with the correct date on your PC and send them to us

DJI Natalia Posted at 2016-12-10 22:48
Really sorry to hear about your crash, we'll help you analyze the flight records and data to figure out why it acted like that, please do not worry about it.
Please sync your flight records through DJI GO APP firstly, then send an e-mail to  with your APP account which should be an e-mail address and the specific date and time when it happened.
Then please export flight data as instruction below and send it as attachment:

I've had trouble exporting the flight data from my D3S. I turn everything on and through the app set it to flight data mode. The app tells me that the drone is now in flight data mode but my PC doesn't show it as a drive. Under devices it shows up as USB Serial Device (COM3) but I am unable to access anything. I have synced my app's flight records and sent the email through the app.
Thank you for taking the time to help me.

fans9deacf63 Posted at 2016-12-11 12:11
I've had trouble exporting the flight data from my D3S. I turn everything on and through the app set it to flight data mode. The app tells me that the drone is now in flight data mode but my PC doesn't show it as a drive. Under devices it shows up as USB Serial Device (COM3) but I am unable to access anything. I have synced my app's flight records and sent the email through the app.
Thank you for taking the time to help me.

Here is the link for your reference, please double check the connection and try again: https://support.dronesmadeeasy.com/hc/en-us/articles/206171443

DJI Natalia Posted at 2016-12-11 01:32
Here is the link for your reference, please double check the connection and try again: https://support.dronesmadeeasy.com/hc/en-us/articles/206171443

Those are the instructions I followed. I think the app is having trouble communicating with the drone so it isn't really going into flight data mode when I use the app to tell it to.

Kentech5 Posted at 2016-12-11 14:34
Those are the instructions I followed. I think the app is having trouble communicating with the drone so it isn't really going into flight data mode when I use the app to tell it to.

For this case, please send it in to our service center.
Please send an e-mail with the subject "Forum Support" to support@dji.com and include the following information, we'll create a case for you:
SN:
Brief Description of your Issue:
Country:
Full Name:
Email Address:
Phone Number:
Shipping Address:
Zip Code:
Link to your case on Forum:

DJI Natalia Posted at 2016-12-11 21:21
For this case, please send it in to our service center.
Please send an e-mail with the subject "Forum Support" to  and include the following information, we'll create a case for you:
SN:

I have sent the email as requested.

Thank you for your help.

Kentech5 Posted at 2016-12-12 13:22
I have sent the email as requested.

Thank you for your help.

No problem, Kentech5, we'll send you an e-mail with the information after creating a case.

I have the shipping label. Do I ship everything or just the broken parts?

Kentech5 Posted at 2016-12-14 04:52
I have the shipping label. Do I ship everything or just the broken parts?

You can just send in the aircraft with the broken parts, no need the remote controller.
Besides, if the battery was serious damaged when aircraft crashed, to ensure safety, please do not send it in.

Packed up the drone and dropped it off at UPS today. Just sent the aircraft, broken gimbal, and broken propellers. The battery is fine but I did not send it.

Kentech5 Posted at 2016-12-15 06:08
Packed up the drone and dropped it off at UPS today. Just sent the aircraft, broken gimbal, and broken propellers. The battery is fine but I did not send it.

OK, we will help you handle the case when it's delivered. Please let us know for any further problems.

Just an update:

According to UPS tracking the drone was delivered Tuesday,  12/20/2016 at 2:19 P.M. So now I wait to find out more information. I'll keep this thread updated as I go through the process.

Case number is 361620.

Kentech5 Posted at 2016-12-21 16:22
Case number is 361620.

Great news! DJI is repairing my drone under warranty. I am curious what caused the crash still.

Kentech5 Posted at 2016-12-22 22:39
Great news! DJI is repairing my drone under warranty. I am curious what caused the crash still.

Good to hear that they are taking care of it

Phantom is on its way back to me which is awesome! Is there any way to find out what the diagnostics said caused the crash?

Mine did same thing like a

It would be awesome if we could know what caused the failure. It scares me when something like that happens and that is why I am always following the safety recommendations, if you haven't crashed yet you should always fly thinking it could happen anytime.

Maurice Marques Posted at 2016-12-29 06:19
It would be awesome if we could know what caused the failure. It scares me when something like that happens and that is why I am always following the safety recommendations, if you haven't crashed yet you should always fly thinking it could happen anytime.

Yeah, I'm hoping on of the DJI folks can shine some light on things.