Welcome I never thought I'd be that guy.  Have about 50 flights under my belt.  I wasn't in sport mode and was using remote.  I was at my mother's home in the country and flew close within line of sight and then went to around 350 feet straight up.  Still line of site.  Took a 360 video rotating to see the countryside.  While just hovering without any warning or indication anything was acting goofy it took off toward the forest to my left.  It was high enough it wouldn't have hit a tree.  It quickly went out of sight, powered off, and crashed into the forest.  I could hear it so it wasn't too far away.  Unfortunately for me it was a dense forest with thick shrubs.  I searched in a straight line where it could have been but it was too thick and difficult to see anything.  Any other direction would have been fine.  I cut the heck out of my legs and had to give up after an hour.  So what next?  I see that there are people here to help.  Is this official support that will help me throught the process of getting this resolved or should I call?  I do not have DJI Care.  I didn't do anything wrong.  Sounds like DJICare should be mandatory.  I'll update this thread to let other know how the process with DJI goes.  I think I download the correct files from my phone but who knows.  
Here is a link to the dropbox folder:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0ox15 ... izGekRcdIqwJpa?dl=0

The logs you put on your dropbox are probably useful for someone smarter than myself (such as DJI & others).  For normal people like me, it will be easier for us to have a look at your logs if you upload your Flight Log from your phone/tablet to the following site.  It also has directions if you need them.

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

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b85s51 ... crdownload.txt?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/fwrxix ... 8-07-35%5D.csv?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/f3up60 ... 8-07-35%5D.kml?dl=0

These are the .txt, .kml, .csv

I bought this in early June so I have no illusions of DJI doing anything.  So frustrating.  Basically these things are ticking time bombs.  Good luck everyone.  Would love to get some input on what could have gone wrong.  The log just stops.   

By the way, what mobile device were you using?

Using Iphone 7.  Bluetooth was off.

Where you using OTG cable or wifi for your connection?

Sorry for your loss, I would recommend you contact the DJI Support first, then provide them with the flight record files, they'll start a case and submit a data analysis for you. http://www.dji.com/support

Using wifi. No otg.

Went thru this a month ago, lost the spark after three dozens troublefree flights...went thru the "send us the logs, we ll analyze"  bs and got a $149.70 coupon. There wasn't a single error in the log until the drone disconnected and disappeared. Basically dji said the log ended with no error so we dont know what happened... well, the fact that the log abruptly ended means something happened but not for dji

I fell for the scam and ordered a new one which is supposed to arrive tomorrow. Looking at your incident and others, it seems the miracle mandatory firmware fix hasnt fixed anything and sparks are still disappearing at the same rate

At least gopro  was responsible enough to recall the karma which looks like it will be my next purchase after this new spark fails. Cant be worst that the spark after all.

The first thing I've done is to get a tracking device that I can stick to the Spark. The tracking device even came before the Spark, I saw too many videos and reports about losing the drone. Must be really PITA, I hope you'll find it man.

PascalG Posted at 2017-9-19 07:05
Went thru this a month ago, lost the spark after three dozens troublefree flights...went thru the "send us the logs, we ll analyze"  bs and got a $149.70 coupon. There wasn't a single error in the log until the drone disconnected and disappeared. Basically dji said the log ended with no error so we dont know what happened... well, the fact that the log abruptly ended means something happened but not for dji

I fell for the scam and ordered a new one which is supposed to arrive tomorrow. Looking at your incident and others, it seems the miracle mandatory firmware fix hasnt fixed anything and sparks are still disappearing at the same rate

Give your new spark a chance.  I'm sure it will provide you with a positive experience as many of us have.

Let us know how you make out ...

PascalG Posted at 2017-9-19 07:05
Went thru this a month ago, lost the spark after three dozens troublefree flights...went thru the "send us the logs, we ll analyze"  bs and got a $149.70 coupon. There wasn't a single error in the log until the drone disconnected and disappeared. Basically dji said the log ended with no error so we dont know what happened... well, the fact that the log abruptly ended means something happened but not for dji

I fell for the scam and ordered a new one which is supposed to arrive tomorrow. Looking at your incident and others, it seems the miracle mandatory firmware fix hasnt fixed anything and sparks are still disappearing at the same rate

Sorry for this, hope you can get the new Spark back to fly soon.

Wow.  My next post will be the result of DJI's investigation.  The Spark flew away, powered off, and crashed  and this is their response.  I quit.  I'm  selling my  remote, battery, and case.  This is a slap in the face.  The Spark should NEVER be sold without DJI Care.
The flight record was interrupted yet

1.   APP Account: cvansice@gmail.com Date and time of the incident:17/09/2017 20:07:35(UTC+8)  

2.The aircraft was working in GPS mode, and responded to the RC command well.
3.T=01:58, H=106m, D=14.3m, the flight record interrupted.
4.The pilot was pushing 100% throttle stick up before interruption.
The home point: 44.9374006 -85.2717128
The last point: 44.9373214 -85.2715682
With the record ended without any sign of abnormality, we could not verify what happened afterwards. Sorry for the inconvenience.

We truly appreciate your support for DJI, and especially applied for a 30% off coupon for Spark (Alpine white)aircraft without remote.
If you would like to accept the offer, please reply to my email for example “I accept the offer”. And when you place the order online, would you like it ship to the US?

The flight record was interrupted but in the same sentence they say there is no sign of abnormality?

tuumi Posted at 2017-9-27 02:15
Wow.  My next post will be the result of DJI's investigation.  The Spark flew away, powered off, and crashed  and this is their response.  I quit.  I'm  selling my  remote, battery, and case.  This is a slap in the face.  The Spark should NEVER be sold without DJI Care.
The flight record was interrupted yet

Even if you had dji Care refresh they would not have covered you because you must return your spark and as you lost it, it would not have made any difference.

Sorry for your loss.

That's makes me feel better that I didn't lose even more money buying DJI Care.  The Spark is a ticking time bomb.  Buyer beware.

El Diablo Posted at 2017-9-27 06:26
That’s one hell of a point that keeps repeating in these threads... the logs show that the flight records are interrupted without any obvious reason and DJI has all the power to deny you a repair or replacement under warranty. Perhaps DJI hasn’t understood yet the legal frame in many countries... unfortunately we as customers cannot disagree with Dji’s technical diagnosis or logs interpretations for what clearly is a faulty drone, I would say quite unfair and unprofessional.

So DJI moderators, please explain to all members what an abrupt interruption of a flight log means except a sudden loss of power. Even if the drone crashes from pilot error, there’s no way that the log stops recording anything mid-air... I would like to have an official statement: is my drone safe to fly or if it decides to shut down itself at 100m high and kills someone on the way down DJI will claim that the logs were interrupted suddenly so it is pilot error? I believe you issued the mandatory fw update because you knew that the drone has issues (and clearly those issues persist) but instead of recalling the drone you offer a 30% discount and a “sorry for your loss”...

I wish I had the Spark to take to someone but it's gone.  I might search to see if there is a class action lawsuit somewhere.  If not it'd be a good one for someone to take up. I really don't want to go that route but this is so egregious.  I'm really hoping a mod replies here.  I'm going to screenshot this just in case the thread gets deleted.   

Also, I responded to the technical support email hoping I get get a better explanation and/or resolution.  

Tuumi, was there anything you can add about your flight experience?  Usually the logs offer some signs about what happened (rc disconnect, compass issues, gps loss, etc).  Your logs are very clean (other than the abrupt end).

What did you experience from the perspective of your iPhone?  Did you get a loss of signal error?  Aircraft disconnect?

Everything was fine.  I mean I was watching the Spark so I really  see what happened at the exact moment connection was lost.  

El Diablo Posted at 2017-9-27 06:26
That’s one hell of a point that keeps repeating in these threads... the logs show that the flight records are interrupted without any obvious reason and DJI has all the power to deny you a repair or replacement under warranty. Perhaps DJI hasn’t understood yet the legal frame in many countries... unfortunately we as customers cannot disagree with Dji’s technical diagnosis or logs interpretations for what clearly is a faulty drone, I would say quite unfair and unprofessional.

So DJI moderators, please explain to all members what an abrupt interruption of a flight log means except a sudden loss of power. Even if the drone crashes from pilot error, there’s no way that the log stops recording anything mid-air... I would like to have an official statement: is my drone safe to fly or if it decides to shut down itself at 100m high and kills someone on the way down DJI will claim that the logs were interrupted suddenly so it is pilot error? I believe you issued the mandatory fw update because you knew that the drone has issues (and clearly those issues persist) but instead of recalling the drone you offer a 30% discount and a “sorry for your loss”...

Actually I can explain it for you and It's actually really easy to understand and an extremely common cause of a drone crashing.  

It hit something.

No need to thank me!  I've got years of experience and I'm just happy to share my expertise.  

method007 Posted at 2017-9-27 10:01
Actually I can explain it for you and It's actually really easy to understand and an extremely common cause of a drone crashing.  

It hit something.

Nope.  That at least would make me feel better.  The satellite map overlay of the log shows  it blacks out in the area without trees.

tuumi Posted at 2017-9-27 10:07
Nope.  That at least would make me feel better.  The satellite map overlay of the log shows  it blacks out in the area without trees.

I was replying to El Diablo saying "what clearly is a faulty drone" - without anything to actually back that up, as if there are no dangers to drones in the air.


There are other things that exist besides tree's.

Antenna's.  Drones.  Birds.  Balloons.  Radio Antennas.  Weather stations.  Radio broadcast repeaters.  Netting.  Electrical lines.  

It could also be shot down.

There are many reasons why a drone would fall out of the sky that are completely unrelated to it malfunctioning.   

My first thought is that power was cut, like has happened to many Sparks before it.

Koppo Posted at 2017-9-19 07:16
The first thing I've done is to get a tracking device that I can stick to the Spark. The tracking device even came before the Spark, I saw too many videos and reports about losing the drone. Must be really PITA, I hope you'll find it man.

Which tracking device are you using?

Here is a link to the video I took just before it took off.   

I saw a couple of small birds taking runs at Spark like they do when an American Bald Eagle flies by.  They may have thought I was a predator, I'm not sure if spark would survive a bird strike, it it came from behind I wouldn't have captured on the video.  But your video and increasing altitude seem to preclude anything hitting it.    You said you had your eyes on it at the time?  If so did it actually just fly away or drop?

JCStorbeck Posted at 2017-9-27 13:37
I saw a couple of small birds taking runs at Spark like they do when an American Bald Eagle flies by.  They may have thought I was a predator, I'm not sure if spark would survive a bird strike, it it came from behind I wouldn't have captured on the video.  But your video and increasing altitude seem to preclude anything hitting it.    You said you had your eyes on it at the time?  If so did it actually just fly away or drop?

It flew away for a few moments  and went out of sight behind a tree but I did hear the motors stop shortly after and heard the noise of it crashing as it fell.

Any chance going back and finding the body?  No Spark Left Behind!!

tuumi Posted at 2017-9-27 13:46
It flew away for a few moments  and went out of sight behind a tree but I did hear the motors stop shortly after and heard the noise of it crashing as it fell.

Tuumi, did you get responses from support? If not, please provide me the case number so that I can help you follow it.

DJI Elektra Posted at 2017-9-27 23:59
Tuumi, did you get responses from support? If not, please provide me the case number so that I can help you follow it.

He did, but a completely unsatisfactory one.
see above.

quoting:

14#
1.   APP Account: cvansice@gmail.com Date and time of the incident:17/09/2017 20:07:35(UTC+8)  

2.The aircraft was working in GPS mode, and responded to the RC command well.
3.T=01:58, H=106m, D=14.3m, the flight record interrupted.
4.The pilot was pushing 100% throttle stick up before interruption.
The home point: 44.9374006 -85.2717128
The last point: 44.9373214 -85.2715682
With the record ended without any sign of abnormality, we could not verify what happened afterwards. Sorry for the inconvenience.

We truly appreciate your support for DJI, and especially applied for a 30% off coupon for Spark (Alpine white)aircraft without remote.
If you would like to accept the offer, please reply to my email for example “I accept the offer”. And when you place the order online, would you like it ship to the US?

djiuser_Kf4iPA3 Posted at 2017-9-28 00:17
He did, but a completely unsatisfactory one.
see above.

Since the flight record was interrupted, we can not locate the problem. 30% off coupon is the solution in that case. Thanks for understanding.

El Diablo Posted at 2017-9-27 12:26
Excuse me but there was an issue recently with Sparks falling like bricks from the sky suddenly due to power loss... I believe that fact alone is enough to “actually back that up”... our friend here seems like a serious person, I believe he would have noticed in his camera any obstacle beside trees as you’ve mentioned. Also, I’ve seen many crashes and the drone films that also.

The Spark has issues, too many in my opinion and I sincerely believe that the drone was not ready for retailing. DJI is not very good at communicating or recalling its products. When was the last DJI recall you can remember? Like it or not, Chinese manufacturers are still far away from EU/USA... especially on the customer service area, there’s much to be desired.

You would be incorrect.  Anecdotal evidence, especially in such small numbers, definitely does not back up any of your generalized statements.  
You literally have nothing to back up any statement you have made.  You have no idea how many sparks have been sold vs how many have problems.  It's completely normal for a product to have a percentage of failures.

Everything you said is based solely off your observations over the internet.  That's not evidence.  

That being said, I agree that the log abruptly ending could be caused by sudden power loss.

Why no keyboards involved? you can hit each other with keyboards.
It may bring on some cool sights, like the scene in which James McAvoy hits Chris Pratt with a keyboard in "Wanted".

DJI Elektra Posted at 2017-9-28 00:27
Since the flight record was interrupted, we can not locate the problem. 30% off coupon is the solution in that case. Thanks for understanding.

What is supposed to happen after the connection is lost?  It's supposed to lower elevation (it was above me at 350ft) until a connection is regained.  That was the problem.  It didn't do that.  Why is that so hard to understand?

There was nothing in the way.  You can see on the map it was right above me in an area with no trees.  You can see the satellite view.  Please don't say "Thanks for understanding"  when it doesn't make sense and no one understands.

The best post ever !

Seriously,

DJI have to do an investigation in such abnormal behavior and begin to filter all the data: where the spark was bought, when, serial number, batch.

El Diablo Posted at 2017-9-28 05:58
Do you? Do you know how many Sparks are affected worldwide? And from those affected how many are members of this forum? How many cases we will never hear of? I don’t read too many posts here from happy people you know... what I can say for sure is that I am fed up with pilots from countries outside EU telling us to stop complaining. IF I WAS IN THE STATES I WOULD PROBABLY NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT ANYTHING! Why don’t you come visit me, we will go fly our drones over the lakes and then we talk yes...?

You get 2Km range, WiFi works at 2.4ghz... you have no f**k clue how stressful it is to fly your drone fearing to loose it because of inexplicable behavior. You haven’t experienced a loss of GPS or WiFi disconnecting mid flight, I have so please go play the DJI fanboy somewhere else.

I'm in no way saying you don't have legit issues.  What I'm saying is you can not come to a conclusion that OP's problem is clearly a defect based on the evidence provided.  That's all I'm saying.  I totally believe that you are having real issues and other people are having real issues.  All that being true - it still doesn't add up to a blanket statement regarding all Spark's.  

It's really unfair for you to say I'm a fanboy.  I feel like being level headed and requiring evidence is what all humans should do.  Requiring evidence and proof shouldn't only be required by "fanboys" - right?

Also I'd love to come to Germany and fly with you.  It's a really long flight for me though