Hi Guys,

I practically had a meltdown yesterday when my DJI Spark decided to fly away for no reason. Having looked online I can see I'm not the only one. I got the same Compass Error: Exit P-GPS Mode and had ATTI pop ups which appears, the same as everyone else whose drone decided to turn rogue and develop AI. Fortunatly (well hopefully), as I've had my drone for no more then 2 months I'm expecting this is covered under DJI's 1 year warranty.

So the reason for my post is basically because despite reading several posts I haven't been able to work out whether anyone else has been able to claim this. I will keep you all updated on this. I cannot see any reason as to why DJI would not honour this. So far i've uploaded flight logs, sent them POP and uploaded the cached video of my panicking voice watching my Spark fly away. The drone had been flown that morning with no problems, firmware was up to date, home location had been saved, drone had been calibrated so literally there is nothing I did wrong. I'd barely even flown it far away - 64m High and 30m distance.

My case no: CAS-1036610-B9M0Y2
Footage of fly away:

If anyone else has claimed this back on warranty be great to hear about it for peace of mind

cheers

can you upload your flight log to phantom help it might give you a better understanding of what went wrong. Im not really sure what you calibrated or why you calibrated, would also be interested to know where you launched from to see if you may have picked up any geomagnetic interference. you should also have been able to control your spark in anti mode although it may have been difficult.

Oooomg, this is really frustrating... so many flyaway issues popping up, I also lived this situation last Saturday, but fortunately I was no more than 12m heigh and was able to save my drone crashing it to a wall near my house.

No big damage, only one lamp cover (I found it later) and one cracked propeller (already replaced with spare i've received), the worst part is that, after 3 weeks using and loving this little toy, I completely lost the confidence on putting this thing on the sky again.

I'm not sure if I can live with the stressful feeling of losing it eveytime I fly. I'm really considering to sell this drone...

PS: I cannot edit my incomplete post above, please adm remove them for me.

PS1: how can I create a new thread to add my case and start the discussion over my problem too. It seems that I'm not allowed to do this. Thanks.

Good luck man!

Certainly upsetting.

Jeeeeezzzz....I certainly don`t like to read about these things now that i bought a SPARK, i´m still waiting for it to arrive...but this issue makes me feel uncomfortable with my decision...i don´t want to be the next one to post a threat like this...So is this really a big problem with the SPARK!?
I wish you good luck my friend!!

Might be a lot of magnetic interferences of the houses below

Could attract quite a lot of interest I think. Must be nearly a full house!

Hi, I certainly feel sorry for your loss of the spark, but: why are you folks keep using cables (as one can clearly see in the beginning of the video) to connect the Go App/Smartdevice with the RC when DJI has repeatedly said that it does not support this mode. I for myself can see that DJI will refuse to claim any responsibility for the

Hi, I certainly feel sorry for that loss but why do you keep on using a cable to connect your Smartdevice with the RC, when DJI repeatedly has stated that it does not support

seems alot of these fly-away's happen in more built-up areas - interference etc (I know not all - but likely most)

seems you fly at the same environment as i do at the current moment. ill be following this thread.

There are so many fly away report , every time i read this I'm afraid to fly my drone   , sorry for your lost .

FahedC Posted at 2017-9-25 10:24
There are so many fly away report , every time i read this I'm afraid to fly my drone   , sorry for your lost .

Flyaways are very few and far between, most of these so called flyaways can be explained, and most of the time they have nothing to do with malfunction of the aircraft.

I am sorry for your loss. From what I can tell the urban environment you where flying in isn't very suitable as there are a lot of interferences that can cause your bird to get a compass error and or enter atti mode.
Did you try to use the find my drone feature with in the app?
You won't be able to get anything from customer support if you don't have a body.
Also please upload the flight logs so we can have a closer look at what happened here.

Please stop to talk about these magnetic interferences, otg cables etc .. The Spark have a problem with the compass, hardware problem? software problem? I do not know but the problem is not the "famous magnetic interference"..

Pirikitto Posted at 2017-9-25 10:39
Please stop to talk about these magnetic interferences, otg cables etc .. The Spark have a problem with the compass, hardware problem? software problem? I do not know but the problem is not the "famous magnetic interference"..

It's funny how some lucky guys, who probably have never faced this issue till now, keep blaming the user and some facts that probably doesn't cause the issue at all.

As you said, this machine has clearly a problem that has to be fixed!

Bluedot 3 Posted at 2017-9-25 10:00
Hi, I certainly feel sorry for your loss of the spark, but: why are you folks keep using cables (as one can clearly see in the beginning of the video) to connect the Go App/Smartdevice with the RC when DJI has repeatedly said that it does not support this mode. I for myself can see that DJI will refuse to claim any responsibility for the

that wasn't connected to my drone - i was just using it to charge the iPad

Bluedot 3 Posted at 2017-9-25 10:02
Hi, I certainly feel sorry for that loss but why do you keep on using a cable to connect your Smartdevice with the RC, when DJI repeatedly has stated that it does not support

no it wasn't i was just using it to charge the ipad

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-9-25 10:30
Flyaways are very few and far between, most of these so called flyaways can be explained, and most of the time they have nothing to do with malfunction of the aircraft.

That is true , but why is it that every time i go in the forum to see if there any updates or to see a cool photo from someone , i always have to see a new thread  about some one loosing their Spark. Im a beginner  drone users and seeing this threads scares me that a 800 euros camera flies away from you .

Pirikitto Posted at 2017-9-25 10:39
Please stop to talk about these magnetic interferences, otg cables etc .. The Spark have a problem with the compass, hardware problem? software problem? I do not know but the problem is not the "famous magnetic interference"..

Because thats what comes up on the screen before you loose control of the device. Feel free to offer a more technical solution as to why my spark literally flew away but I've no idea

fans61699a75 Posted at 2017-9-25 09:42
Might be a lot of magnetic interferences of the houses below

I've flown it loads of times in areas really similar and never had an issue so i cant see why this area would be any different. Likewise the drone wasn't directly over the houses but the gardens. I make sure that it stay within sight when flying it near houses

FahedC Posted at 2017-9-25 10:55
That is true , but why is it that every time i go in the forum to see if there any updates or to see a cool photo from someone , i always have to see a new thread  about some one loosing their Spark. Im a beginner  drone users and seeing this threads scares me that a 800 euros camera flies away from you  .

There are various different reasons, just because you read a header flyaway doesn’t necessarily mean it was a malfunction of the aircraft in most cases it’s a malfunction of the pilot or environment aircraft has been flown in,
And you must remember this is a forum where plenty will come at first to blame dji for malfunction and it usually ends up with owners being at fault.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-9-25 09:10
can you upload your flight log to phantom help it might give you a better understanding of what went wrong. Im not really sure what you calibrated or why you calibrated, would also be interested to know where you launched from to see if you may have picked up any geomagnetic interference. you should also have been able to control your spark in anti mode although it may have been difficult.

Hi there - sure how do I share a flight log upload with the users on here? I've synced this for DJI but i've no idea how to access it outside of the actual app on my iPad

What can make inteference on Spark at 60 meter above some small houses? If it have detected interference at startup ok, but get compass error when it is at 60 meters os small house...??? why compass error makes the drone drift in the wind and not make it just rotating in it self? Is the same hardware? Dji?

From what I saw in the video, the pilot had control, yawing etc.....  it appeared that the wind was taking the craft backwards away from the pilot, so I expect a push forward with the right stick may have brought the drone back towards the pilot, but until we see the actual flight logs then that is just me guessing from a video.

jrg1989 Posted at 2017-9-25 11:15
Hi there - sure how do I share a flight log upload with the users on here? I've synced this for DJI but i've no idea how to access it outside of the actual app on my iPad

Ok if you go to link below just click on link and follow instructions, come back here and post link.


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

FahedC Posted at 2017-9-25 10:55
That is true , but why is it that every time i go in the forum to see if there any updates or to see a cool photo from someone , i always have to see a new thread  about some one loosing their Spark. Im a beginner  drone users and seeing this threads scares me that a 800 euros camera flies away from you  .

Because forums are for people having problems.  It makes sense you would read about problems on a forum.  People rarely post that they are just checking in and everything is fine.

Hecate Posted at 2017-9-25 11:23
Spark + RC is not a beginners drone in my opinion. In this case the spark is drifting with the wind and was controllable (still rotating at and of the video). Correct action would have been, do not panic, gain altitude in order not to loose signal with all the houses around and pull the stick in the right direction so the spark comes back to you. I know you got to be fast.... The last time I had the compass error 350 meters from me at 80 meters high with a wind speed of 23 kmh, I was getting ground speeds of 76 kmh when pushing the stick fully, how is a beginner going to bring the spark back?????
Its time that DJI creates an ATTI mode selectable for the Fn button and puts safety instructions in the manual "LEARN HOW TO FLY ATTI IN A WIDE OPEN FIELD" this would have saved many sparks, i feel sorry for all the people that lost their spark who had no experience flying in ATTI. Every experienced drone user will tell you that if a drone behaves incorrect, switches to ATTI saves the day.

You are correct, ATTI mode should be switchable.  On that same note - I feel DJI purposely left it out for security.  I have a feeling this may be how things are done on future drones as well..

Hi, this user seam to have gotten a replacement see 39# https://forum.dji.com/thread-106999-1-1.html

Hecate Posted at 2017-9-25 11:23
Spark + RC is not a beginners drone in my opinion. In this case the spark is drifting with the wind and was controllable (still rotating at and of the video). Correct action would have been, do not panic, gain altitude in order not to loose signal with all the houses around and pull the stick in the right direction so the spark comes back to you. I know you got to be fast.... The last time I had the compass error 350 meters from me at 80 meters high with a wind speed of 23 kmh, I was getting ground speeds of 76 kmh when pushing the stick fully, how is a beginner going to bring the spark back?????
Its time that DJI creates an ATTI mode selectable for the Fn button and puts safety instructions in the manual "LEARN HOW TO FLY ATTI IN A WIDE OPEN FIELD" this would have saved many sparks, i feel sorry for all the people that lost their spark who had no experience flying in ATTI. Every experienced drone user will tell you that if a drone behaves incorrect, switches to ATTI saves the day.

I agree with this. I had once "compass error" and AC switched to ATTI. It's quite controllable to fly back if you can recognize drone orientation. What is interesting I had mag interference on the ground from kind of power transformers nearby. I know that because spark prompt me to do compass calibration (like never b4) before take up what I did. Everything was  all right, flied around 150 m till I changed fly direction , I got compass error, drone was bit out of control for a moment then switched to  ATTI. To train how to fly in att you dont need your spark. Do it with cheep budget drone for couple euros, any loss will be not painful.

Hecate Posted at 2017-9-25 11:52
Hi, this user seam to have gotten a replacement see 39# https://forum.dji.com/thread-106999-1-1.html

oh great thanks

Hecate Posted at 2017-9-25 11:23
Spark + RC is not a beginners drone in my opinion. In this case the spark is drifting with the wind and was controllable (still rotating at and of the video). Correct action would have been, do not panic, gain altitude in order not to loose signal with all the houses around and pull the stick in the right direction so the spark comes back to you. I know you got to be fast.... The last time I had the compass error 350 meters from me at 80 meters high with a wind speed of 23 kmh, I was getting ground speeds of 76 kmh when pushing the stick fully, how is a beginner going to bring the spark back?????
Its time that DJI creates an ATTI mode selectable for the Fn button and puts safety instructions in the manual "LEARN HOW TO FLY ATTI IN A WIDE OPEN FIELD" this would have saved many sparks, i feel sorry for all the people that lost their spark who had no experience flying in ATTI. Every experienced drone user will tell you that if a drone behaves incorrect, switches to ATTI saves the day.

I think first people should be aware of what can cause aircraft to go into Atti mode, and most of this is covered in your manual something that is continually been asked of new pilots and pilots of new craft to read and watch tutorials, most of these problems can be averted if the proper procedures and the proper environment are adhered to.
An Atti button won’t help with any of this , if you choose to be 350 metres away at 80 metres altitude in 25kph wind and you are a beginner this might be a mistake.
Also as ardeno said get a cheap quad and go practice that, because if you lose control of your spark in an open field at 70kph you won’t be in the open field for long.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-9-25 12:11
I think first people should be aware of what can cause aircraft to go into Atti mode, and most of this is covered in your manual something that is continually been asked of new pilots and pilots of new craft to read and watch tutorials, most of these problems can be averted if the proper procedures and the proper environment are adhered to.
An Atti button won’t help with any of this , if you choose to be 350 metres away at 80 metres altitude in 25kph wind and you are a beginner this might be a mistake.
Also as ardeno said get a cheap quad and go practice that, because if you lose control of your spark in an open field at 70kph you won’t be in the open field for long.

Hi, some beginners do not research what all can and might happen when flying a drone especially when buying their first beginners drone so they do not know and therefore purchasing a $50 drone for practicing will not occur to them. The environment i was flying in with 25kph wind definitely not recommended for beginners, they will lose their spark. As for the proper environment and procedures I followed them all, pre-flight check, radio frequency analysed for interference with the RF explorer multi band scanner, magnetic field strength with the Teslameter app, compass in green, and still had the compass failing on me where i have been flying with the spark and the P4 on numerous occasions. Spark been fine for the last 120 flights.
But then maybe my spark could be the exception.

I'm hard pressed to think of a violation of drone law in the UK your flight did not violate.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-9-25 12:11
I think first people should be aware of what can cause aircraft to go into Atti mode, and most of this is covered in your manual something that is continually been asked of new pilots and pilots of new craft to read and watch tutorials, most of these problems can be averted if the proper procedures and the proper environment are adhered to.
An Atti button won’t help with any of this , if you choose to be 350 metres away at 80 metres altitude in 25kph wind and you are a beginner this might be a mistake.
Also as ardeno said get a cheap quad and go practice that, because if you lose control of your spark in an open field at 70kph you won’t be in the open field for long.

I completely agree with you, but one area where I think an ATTI switch would help would be for those who have enough confidence to practice an ATTI mode flight, so that when an unexpected switch occurs they have some experience upon which to draw.  A $50 drone can help too (I've a bunch of those), but I think my most beneficial "practice" has come from flying my P3S in atti mode.

I think that many new flyers don't "know" or don't "get" how different (challenging) piloting in ATTI mode can be.  These drones give one a false sense of skill (I was guilty of this), and when the "GPS" wheels come off, it's an eye opener.

There are many ways a user can handle this.  First course of action is to prepare properly (Hallmark007 has a post on checklists somewhere in this forum).  Properly preparing the craft and evaluating the environment can go a long way to avoiding unexpected gps loss.  This is probably the most important defense.  Next is keeping the craft in line of site (in atti mode your eyes are the positioning system, and if you don't have eyes on the craft the flight is probably going to end poorly).  And of some importance would be practicing flying without GPS, which in this case requires another drone.  Finally, have a mental plan of how you intend to address gps-loss, should it occur.  This plan could be environment specific, so a "one size fits all" plan may not be suitable.

Hecate Posted at 2017-9-25 12:44
Hi, some beginners do not research what all can and might happen when flying a drone especially when buying their first beginners drone so they do not know and therefore purchasing a $50 drone for practicing will not occur to them. The environment i was flying in with 25kph wind definitely not recommended for beginners, they will lose their spark. As for the proper environment and procedures I followed them all, pre-flight check, radio frequency analysed for interference with the RF explorer multi band scanner, magnetic field strength with the Teslameter app, compass in green, and still had the compass failing on me where i have been flying with the spark and the P4 on numerous occasions. Spark been fine for the last 120 flights.
But then maybe my spark could be the exception.

My point was not about you but rather about beginners and everything is there and available to beginners when buying a spark you are advised to read the manual and watch the tutorials before you fly, if someone who is new to drones and is prepared to spend a hefty few quid on one, and then neglect the advice then they can’t go blaming dji for what spark is supposed to be that was my point.

Charles Adams Posted at 2017-9-25 13:02
I completely agree with you, but one area where I think an ATTI switch would help would be for those who have enough confidence to practice an ATTI mode flight, so that when an unexpected switch occurs they have some experience upon which to draw.  A $50 drone can help too (I've a bunch of those), but I think my most beneficial "practice" has come from flying my P3S in atti mode.

I think that many new flyers don't "know" or don't "get" how different (challenging) piloting in ATTI mode can be.  These drones give one a false sense of skill (I was guilty of this), and when the "GPS" wheels come off, it's an eye opener.

I don’t have any problem with a switch it maybe dji have decided that if they had one for new users it might initially cause more problems because a novice just might want to try it before he’s out of beginner mode.
Maybe put it in the simulator.

Piri - magnetic interference to a compass is not a mystery, or some sort of design error.
It is quiet easy to throw sparkies  compass off - ever put another camera or any other metal object to directly on the drone and watched the compass go bananas?
What do you think a house, a power line and such will do?
First of all you shouldn't be flying over areas with lots of buildings and people anyways at it is easy for the craft to go in to atti mode. Even as an experienced pilot it can be challenging to maneuver the bird.
I am not denying that there is an issue when you fly in a remote area and you get these errors but that's not the case here - OP flew his craft in an unsuitable environment and failed to control the drone in atti which resulted in a loss.

And so the regulations are tightened because of this behaviour.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-9-25 13:34
My point was not about you but rather about beginners and everything is there and available to beginners when buying a spark you are advised to read the manual and watch the tutorials before you fly, if someone who is new to drones and is prepared to spend a hefty few quid on one, and then neglect the advice then they can’t go blaming dji for what spark is supposed to be that was my point.

Point taken but it comes down to a tit for tat discussion. Spark is being marketed as a beginners drone but add an RC to it and the problems start, i know of one so called fly away as a selfie drone due to RTH but the user was moving location that will be solved by a dynamic home point, there does not seam to be much of an issue when using spark as a selfie drone. I own a bunch of cheap drones but only the X8UW from syma is comparable to the spark at $240 ($240 is still a lot of money for some people) cheaper ones are too slow to practice as the spark is very fast on ATTI. So let me flip the coin, DJI does not allow users to practice in ATTI  using an RC therefor when an ATTI fly away occurs who is responsible?