Please do not dismiss the "Strong wireless interference" warning on your P4 Pro. I updated the firmware yesterday, and performed my pre-flight check. All was in order. I received the "Strong wireless interference" message shortly after I took off, then proceeded to check that the controls were responding properly, and continued to shoot a video of a house. I flew at this location before with no issue so I felt all was fine. I was wrong. This location is under a canopy of trees and next to a moderately busy 2 lane road with many residences nearby (about 1/2 acre lots).  I was flying no higher than 30 feet above the ground and was standing only 50 feet away. The controls started to behave erratically - either no response, or opposite response to the control input. Then it started to take on a mind of its own and became uncontrollable, flying on its own without input from the controller. I was very concerned about a runaway drone with traffic and residences nearby. After about 2 minutes of trying to control it, I gave up. I felt it was dangerous to continue. When the drone was in a safe spot, I cut the power in flight, resulting in a drop from about 15 feet to a hard surface. The drone received significant damage.

  

  

A couple expensive lessons learned:

• Do not ignore the "Strong Wireless Interference" warning. I thought it was crying wolf (again), but this time it was a real problem.
• I acted a bit in haste as I was worried about a runaway drone in a populated area with heavy road traffic just 100 feet away. Next time I will pause to better evaluate the situation before taking the drastic measure of cutting power in flight.
• I will try to position myself to catch the drone after cutting power in flight to minimize damage.
• Next time I will abort the flight at first sign of an issue (like a warning message), reset, recalibrate, perform another pre-flight check, etc... That 10 minutes is better than the weeks and money I'll be out now.
• I was afraid to activate RTH. Even though my return to home point was clear of trees above, I was not comfortable to have the drone to raise to the 30 meters RTH height and risk it flying away uncontrollably over traffic or homes. I prefered to keep it at it's then lower altitude of 15 to 30 feet and risk it flying into trees. I don't know if that was the correct decision.
  

  

  

My instinct was to risk the drone before risking it causing a car accident or damaging someone else personal property. That I do not regret. I am insured for liability, but not for the drone itself, so I am looking at an expensive repair.

  

  

Please fly carefully and have your emergency checklist ready. And have a plan in place in the event of uncontrolled flight and runaway situations.

  

  

Sad operator,

  

  

Jim

  

  

Wow I know it's a sad day for you. Honestly when I fly my P4P I and sometimes get that pop up warning sign, I've been skeptical but told by mods/some members not to worry so I stopped freaking out about it. It's popped up a few times since then even after updates, luckily haven't had any issues with remote behaving erratically. Took it out for a test flight yesterday and all okay.


IMHO, I probably would've hit that RTH....think worth a try.  

Upload your flight records to Phantom help and post the results here, some of the more experienced pilots might be able to suggest what caused the problem.

http://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/upload/

Sorry for your loss

Cut the power in flight?  You mean you CSC'd it?  

...

After looking at the video, I think I compounded the problem in two different ways. First, I had POI active and I paused it, but may not have cancelled as I went to reposition. Second, As I was trying to land, with an   unresponsive controller, the landing spot was within 5 feet of a fence and a car, which means the collision avoidance system kicked in a kept the craft from descending any further. I think I overreacted. User error! Ugh! The constant Strong Wireless Interference message didn't help. Lesson learned.

cassadyjim Posted at 2017-12-21 11:08
After looking at the video, I think I compounded the problem in two different ways. First, I had POI active and I paused it, but may not have cancelled as I went to reposition. Second, As I was trying to land, with an   unresponsive controller, the landing spot was within 5 feet of a fence and a car, which means the collision avoidance system kicked in a kept the craft from descending any further. I think I overreacted. User error! Ugh! The constant Strong Wireless Interference message didn't help. Lesson learned.

Good analysis and always good thing to walk away with learned lesson.  

Expensive panic attack!

Mark The Droner Posted at 2017-12-21 11:01
Cut the power in flight?  You mean you CSC'd it?  

...

No, you can literally cut power in flight using the emergency shutdown procedure.  Left stick full down and right and hitting the RTH button simultaneously will result in immediate shutdown.  
It is designed as a last ditch action to avoid injury or damage to property.
See top of page 60 P4P manual v1.4

Okay.  I think I remember reading in a post about this.  But isn't it the same as a CSC?  

Mark The Droner Posted at 2017-12-21 18:11
Okay.  I think I remember reading in a post about this.  But isn't it the same as a CSC?

The method Genghis9 describes is the correct method for powering down the motors in flight for the P4 series. When the P4 was first introduced it adopted the same method used for the P3 series, which was a Combined Stick Command (C.S.C. Both sticks down towards centre, or down and out to side)). As the firmware for the P4 developed and the P4 Advanced and P4 Pro appeared, this 'C.S.C' command was replaced on the P4 series with the left stick down/right & RTH button. The act of shutting down the motors in flight is still commonly referred to as a CSC, although not strictly correct for the P4 series.

Mine will get that error message numerous times during a flight but typically I just need to readjust where the remote is pointing.  If anything, the video signal is lost, but I've never had erratic controls or misinterpreted commands.

Thanks for the info!  

Mark The Droner Posted at 2017-12-21 18:11
Okay.  I think I remember reading in a post about this.  But isn't it the same as a CSC?

In addition to Aardvark's comments, there is some debate that using CSC for shutdown results in a slight delay versus using the emergency shutdown results in a quicker cutoff.  However, I have tested both on the ground and while there is a slight difference (CSC being slower) you wont want to live on that difference.  Yet others have argued that the difference becomes far more noticeable when in flight, but I'm not willing test that one.

cassadyjim
First sorry for your bad luck, live and learn is all you can do when something like that happens.  Not much use in crying over spilt milk.
Next, it is good you learned something from this, although expensive in doing so, it is important and useful for you to come share it here with us so we might learn too.  For that I thank you!
Personally, I'm not sure what you could have done different assuming you couldn't land it to start with.  I do agree, you should have ended the flight as soon as you noted something going wrong, that would have been the best course of action.  Also, while I don't have any experience with POI, it sounds to me like the system may have went in to some kind of conflict possibly between the sensors and flight controller programing, maybe.
It would be helpful if you uploaded the flight data and vid like Aardvark suggested.  We could learn more and thus be even better forewarned for next time.

I think you should still upload your flight record to PhantomHelp and have a look to see if there were other error messages. I have had dozens of flights with a multitude of Strong Wireless Interference messages but have never felt that the Phantom was out of control or affected in any way.

Jim, I'm sorry to read your post. The message "Strong Wireless Interference" probably pops up if you fly in a populated area. It might be better if switching to 5.8 GHz. As for the damaged drone, please kindly send it in for repair: https://www.dji.com/support

Jenee 2 Posted at 2017-12-21 23:01
I think you should still upload your flight record to PhantomHelp and have a look to see if there were other error messages. I have had dozens of flights with a multitude of Strong Wireless Interference messages but have never felt that the Phantom was out of control or affected in any way.

Agree, me neither. No such uncontrollable issues.

Genghis9 Posted at 2017-12-21 17:27
No, you can literally cut power in flight using the emergency shutdown procedure.  Left stick full down and right and hitting the RTH button simultaneously will result in immediate shutdown.  
It is designed as a last ditch action to avoid injury or damage to property.
See top of page 60 P4P manual v1.4

Thanks for the reminder. I'd read this before on the manual but totally forgot. Good refresher course.

Aardvark Posted at 2017-12-21 18:37
The method Genghis9 describes is the correct method for powering down the motors in flight for the P4 series. When the P4 was first introduced it adopted the same method used for the P3 series, which was a Combined Stick Command (C.S.C. Both sticks down towards centre, or down and out to side)). As the firmware for the P4 developed and the P4 Advanced and P4 Pro appeared, this 'C.S.C' command was replaced on the P4 series with the left stick down/right & RTH button. The act of shutting down the motors in flight is still commonly referred to as a CSC, although not strictly correct for the P4 series.

That's correct and the procedure that I performed. Wish I didn't in hind sight. But it is a good precedure to keep in mind for true emergencies.

DJI Susan Posted at 2017-12-22 00:52
Jim, I'm sorry to read your post. The message "Strong Wireless Interference" probably pops up if you fly in a populated area. It might be better if switching to 5.8 GHz. As for the damaged drone, please kindly send it in for repair: https://www.dji.com/support

Thanks, DJI Susan. I registered a case with support - although I never received the email with the shipping label. I emailed support and hope to get the label emailed to me soon. Can't wait to get it flying again.

That's bad news, was you 5.8 ghz  or 2.4, it's funny how phantom' 4 pro, get this message all the time, but my mavic i don't seem to get it flying in the same area

cassadyjim Posted at 2017-12-22 10:48
Thanks, DJI Susan. I registered a case with support - although I never received the email with the shipping label. I emailed support and hope to get the label emailed to me soon. Can't wait to get it flying again.

Could you tell us your case number? I'll check the exact status and help you.

post crash, perhaps there was a cell tower close by, many cell towers now look like tress or above ground water towers? I always pre-flight the area Iam going to fly my drone inn.

Sorry to hear  bad news

Just a quick thank you to all the helpful folks here on the forum. And especially to DJI for repairing my P4P at a great price. I received it back repaired and in perfect working order and am back flying again. Great service and great community.

cassadyjim Posted at 2018-2-1 19:42
Just a quick thank you to all the helpful folks here on the forum. And especially to DJI for repairing my P4P at a great price. I received it back repaired and in perfect working order and am back flying again. Great service and great community.

Glad to hear that you are back in action again...  This 'Strong Interference' is curious... I wonder if there is and relationship with the perceived 'reduced signal strength of the Wi-Fi post as discussed on this forum, after the recent (Xmas) firmware upgrade??

cassadyjim Posted at 2018-2-1 19:42
Just a quick thank you to all the helpful folks here on the forum. And especially to DJI for repairing my P4P at a great price. I received it back repaired and in perfect working order and am back flying again. Great service and great community.

This is awesome. All the hate DJI gets here, it makes me happy to see someone happy with their customer service. Very glad to hear you’re back in business. Most of all, respect for the way you reacted cutting power to the motors when you sensed danger. I wish there were more uas pilots like you.

Jeff

Jim Sorry to hear about the Quad, in my preflight check in urban areas when I receive this message I switch to the 5.8G Hz frequency and recheck to make sure there is no interference. I have operated out to 1400 Ft around cel towers and other structures with out problem, in urban areas I only use the 2.4G Hz  if I do not receive any warning. Use the 5.8G about 95% plus.