I have been emailing back and forth with DJI over this.

The flight in question happened like so:

  

I was simply testing propeller guards and having a short flight to see everything was working as it should, on my new spark in a completely open field / safe environment.

At no point did I fly the spark further than 10 meters from myself, and never over a height of 4 meters, as it was just a quick test flight in close proximity to myself.

I didn’t fly the spark at any speed at all (perhaps 1.5 m a second at max)

Simply buzzing around safely in front of me.

For some reason it could not locate GPS in this area, which is very odd.

at 31 seconds (out of 51 seconds recorded data) the drone reverted to ATTI mode.

As per the user manuals instructions I began to ‘safely land the drone’

At around 51 seconds the drone began to skit out and begin its descent into madness.

  

  

Here your flight data suggests it crashed in front of me at a very slow speed at 51 seconds – If this was the case I would be fixing the drone’s minimal damage.

The unresponsive drone then flew away into the distance.

I have never been so shocked in my life.

It is not my fault that your data analysis did not record the fly away.

  

  

I go round and round with DJI, you suggest it was improper flight environment, I still don’t see how this is the case, as you can see I began to safely land the drone in front of me in ATTI mode.

I have been very persistent over this case, because as I watched my unresponsive drone fly away into the distance, I thought to myself ‘this is not my fault’.

  

  

  

The SPARK is not meant to fly at low altitude as it is prone to interference. On outdoors, GPS signals in theory should be present at 3 mtr or 4mtr height but in reality you must fly the drone at minimum 10 to 15 meter height for a better GPS  lock .

If you are interested in community feedback to see if there is anything we can help with in the logs, I would suggest trying to upload your log file from your phone/tablet to the following site, then paste the URL here.

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

You could also do a screen capture video of the flight record playback screen from DJI Go 4, upload to YouTube and post here.

Both of these things would allow the community here to see if there is anything we could help you with.

I can ASSURE you, you will get NO help from DJI Support.   Guarantee it.

Sorry for your lost. If you want to locate the problem, please contact our support and start a case: http://www.dji.com/support I would recommend you provide them flight records, thanks for your support.

Yes I have been emailing back and forth with support. They take well over two working days to reply, and when they do, they ignore any questions or points I raise.

I will upload flight records as soon as I can, in the meantime here are some DJI flight analysis jpgs, and my own account of what actually happened (hopefully uploaded with this post).

As you can see, I am literally hovering around in front of myself.  This should have been a simple test flight, not watching my drone fly away into the distance.  THe final gear controls is the start of the unresponsive period when I try to bring the fly away back to myself.

NerdyGuy Posted at 2018-5-3 17:51
I can ASSURE you, you will get NO help from DJI Support.   Guarantee it.

I've been assisted quite helpfully both times I've reached out to DJI support.

KlooGee Posted at 2018-5-3 18:54
I've been assisted quite helpfully both times I've reached out to DJI support.

Support was helpful enough, however their English is not great which makes me worry that they do not read my questions, points or case adequately

S.J Posted at 2018-5-3 17:07
The SPARK is not meant to fly at low altitude as it is prone to interference. On outdoors, GPS signals in theory should be present at 3 mtr or 4mtr height but in reality you must fly the drone at minimum 10 to 15 meter height for a better GPS  lock .

Yes I assumed GPS would kick in, hence why I hovered carefully in front of myself, when it didn't and reverted to ATTI mode I began to 'safely land the drone' and this is when the disputed 'incidents' happened.

KlooGee Posted at 2018-5-3 18:54
I've been assisted quite helpfully both times I've reached out to DJI support.

They helped him by telling him what happened based on the black box data.  He just didn't like the assist.  Hard to refute the back box data.  Not sure about a scenario where the drone would be in ATTI, quit following the controller as it was about to land, and then gain altitude and fly away.  Easy to see how a scenario would have it "drift and crashed with obstacles made it flipping over."

For the fly away scenario, at some point the pilot would have to quit operating the sticks if the downward sensors (fog, dust?) cause it to fly up, then fly off.

In ATTI mode it won't try for RTH so it will just hover there with some drift.  If it disconnected from the controller and started doing its own thing, it would start landing right there.

Gunship9 Posted at 2018-5-3 19:20
They helped him by telling him what happened based on the black box data.  He just didn't like the assist.  Hard to refute the back box data.  Not sure about a scenario where the drone would be in ATTI, quit following the controller as it was about to land, and then gain altitude and fly away.  Easy to see how a scenario would have it "drift and crashed with obstacles made it flipping over."

For the fly away scenario, at some point the pilot would have to quit operating the sticks if the downward sensors (fog, dust?) cause it to fly up, then fly off.

Yes they were helpful with analyzing the data provided etc. And I understand that they run with what they get from the flight log, as will all of the helpful people on this forum.

If the drone had crashed with obstacles as said (at such a slow speed), I would be over the moon, and simply get the drone fixed. I don't have the drone to fix as it unresponsively flew off.

I am not an expert about drones, but I know that a simple, close, slow flight ended with me being left droneless.

I read the manual, and always flew with extreme caution as I was still learning. I also don't see how I broke the rules or did something wrong, they blame the crash on 'improper flight environment', but I tried to land safely in ATTI mode, and can't see where it strictly outlines not flying at all without GPS (which there should be in the flat, open space I was flying)  .

Hodgy_spark Posted at 2018-5-3 19:45
Yes they were helpful with analyzing the data provided etc. And I understand that they run with what they get from the flight log, as will all of the helpful people on this forum.

If the drone had crashed with obstacles as said (at such a slow speed), I would be over the moon, and simply get the drone fixed. I don't have the drone to fix as it unresponsively flew off.

Dusty landing area making the downward sensors misread the ground?  At some point it rolled over according to the data.  Wrong flight data for this flight?  Or data from later in the flight after you lost it?

Did you have a good gps before you took off?

Gunship9 Posted at 2018-5-3 21:38
Dusty landing area making the downward sensors misread the ground?  At some point it rolled over according to the data.  Wrong flight data for this flight?  Or data from later in the flight after you lost it?

It wasn't dusty (unlike the image which looks like a dusty area), but I guess of course dust could affect it.

I'm pretty sure that was the flight data of the flight in question, but I was relatively new to DJI so not monitoring and checking all the flight logs closely, it was only until after the incident that I learned more extensively about flight data analysis etc. and was upset that nothing matched with my account...

I assume that when it supposedly rolled over is when it started to 'malfunction' and took off but the data obviously does not indicate this...

tomkrist Posted at 2018-5-3 22:26
Did you have a good gps before you took off?

No apparently not. I expected it to kick in straight away (as with previous flights), as it was a normal area which should have GPS, 4G etc.

So I kept the drone meters from myself. The GPS then did not locate, and it reverted to ATTI mode so I carefully began to land the drone as suggested (all this whilst barely moving at all, directly in front of myself). It should have all been very straight forward.

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-5-3 18:30
Sorry for your lost. If you want to locate the problem, please contact our support and start a case: http://www.dji.com/support I would recommend you provide them flight records, thanks for your support.

Hello, Yes I have done all of that already and did not sufficiently help

Gunship9 Posted at 2018-5-3 21:38
Dusty landing area making the downward sensors misread the ground?  At some point it rolled over according to the data.  Wrong flight data for this flight?  Or data from later in the flight after you lost it?

Dust can be ruled out as I have all my SPARK flights take off and land in heavy dusty ground . The SPARK is very robust in dust environment

sorry to hear this :/

qenddrimgashi Posted at 2018-5-4 07:31
sorry to hear this :/

Thanks        

S.J Posted at 2018-5-4 07:21
Dust can be ruled out as I have all my SPARK flights take off and land in heavy dusty ground . The SPARK is very robust in dust environment

Yes it wasn't particularly dusty too.

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-5-3 18:30
Sorry for your lost. If you want to locate the problem, please contact our support and start a case: http://www.dji.com/support I would recommend you provide them flight records, thanks for your support.

Do you have any suggestions over my case?

I watched my unresponsive spark flyaway, so I have continued to contact DJI over this, as I am not at fault.

My rights as a consumer have been hugely ignored

thank you

I had something similar happen to me today. Posted it here - https://forum.dji.com/thread-147080-1-1.html

Hodgy_spark Posted at 2018-5-5 17:56
Do you have any suggestions over my case?

I watched my unresponsive spark flyaway, so I have continued to contact DJI over this, as I am not at fault.

Hodgy,
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, if you would like some assistance from the community here to help understand what may have happened, I would recommend you upload your logs to the PhantomHelp website and paste the resulting URL here.

I hope you are able to get a good resolution and are back up and flying again soon.

KlooGee Posted at 2018-5-5 19:32
Hodgy,
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, if you would like some assistance from the community here to help understand what may have happened, I would recommend you upload your logs to the PhantomHelp website and paste the resulting URL here.

Hello KlooGee,

Yes I will upload as soon as I can, the phone I used for flying is in the Spark box away from me  (i'll get it asap).

I fear the data will pretty much only display what I outlined above, as it supposedly ends with the drone "flipping and crashing with obstacles" at an incredibly slow speed right in front of me, that is the last saved flight log anyway. Hence why I am going round in circles with this case...

Hodgy_spark Posted at 2018-5-5 17:56
Do you have any suggestions over my case?

I watched my unresponsive spark flyaway, so I have continued to contact DJI over this, as I am not at fault.

Or you can provide us your case number for further assistance. Thanks for your support.

I did the usual pre flight checks compass imu. I sent the spark up as i have done many times, RTH point recorded and it went to about 40 feet. Almost immediately the aircraft drifted about and then it disconnected. It then flew away and i have not seen it since. This was the only time i had a problem with the drone and am now absolutely gutted due to mlove of the sprot and the price of the drone. Is there any way that Dji would send another spark or do i simply have to swallow the bitterest pill? The thought of someone finding my drone is eating me alive. Please help.   Bill

Sparksareus Posted at 2018-5-7 10:20
I did the usual pre flight checks compass imu. I sent the spark up as i have done many times, RTH point recorded and it went to about 40 feet. Almost immediately the aircraft drifted about and then it disconnected. It then flew away and i have not seen it since. This was the only time i had a problem with the drone and am now absolutely gutted due to mlove of the sprot and the price of the drone. Is there any way that Dji would send another spark or do i simply have to swallow the bitterest pill? The thought of someone finding my drone is eating me alive. Please help.   Bill

Sparksareus, I would recommend you start your own thread to discuss your specific situation.  If you would like community assistance in checking out your logs and giving feedback, then I would suggest uploading the FlightRecord log from your phone/tablet to the following site and then posting the URL in the new thread you create with as many details about what happened as you can.

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

I would also suggest that you open a ticket with DJI support (http://dji.com/support) to have them analyze your data and determine if it may be covered under their warranty program.

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-5-7 03:32
Or you can provide us your case number for further assistance. Thanks for your support.

Thank you, my request number is #1103898 - I hope that is sufficient.

I would like the points I made reviewed too, not just the flight data available to you, as I feel the flight data does not represent what happened during the fly away at all. Hence why I no longer have the drone as I watched it fly away, and did not crash in front of me at a speed of 1 meter per second (I would be fixing it with then)

Kind regards

hodgyspark

Hodgy_spark Posted at 2018-5-8 05:40
Thank you, my request number is #1103898 - I hope that is sufficient.

I would like the points I made reviewed too, not just the flight data available to you, as I feel the flight data does not represent what happened during the fly away at all. Hence why I no longer have the drone as I watched it fly away, and did not crash in front of me at a speed of 1 meter per second (I would be fixing it with then)

Sorry to tell you that our support had double check flight records and confirmed that it was pilot's error. No product malfunction was found in this case. Thanks for your support.

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-5-8 22:51
Sorry to tell you that our support had double check flight records and confirmed that it was pilot's error. No product malfunction was found in this case. Thanks for your support.

Why do I not have a drone to fix as I should if your data was correct - it flew away?

Why has the flight data not recorded the fly away, plus more information, like showing a map of the large, flat, safe to fly area I was flying in?

Why has the drone not located GPS in an area that should be rich in GPS?

Why does the flight data say I went to -3.1 meters in a completely flat area?

How has a standard, very slow flight that was directly in front of me (not high or far) left me droneless?

I am not in control of the flight recording that is down to you, but I can see that it has little resemblance to the flight in question, and has many questionable factors that make it unreliable and a malfunction your end, not mine.

If a drone malfunctions, or completely disconnects, how is the black box going to record this malfunction?

I understand you go with what you have, but in this case you don’t have much, except a clearly very slow, safe flight, meters from the pilot, who has followed all the rules, immediately beginning to land safely when reverting to ATTI mode.

again, I did not flip and crash with obstacles, just like I did not go to -3.1 meters. I would have my drone to fix if this was the case.

I have been very persistent as I watched my  drone unresponsively fly into the distance. This should not happen, especially with such an expensive piece of equipment, and is a fault your end.

Hodgy_spark Posted at 2018-5-8 23:20
Why do I not have a drone to fix as I should if your data was correct - it flew away?

Why has the flight data not recorded the fly away, plus more information, like showing a map of the large, flat, safe to fly area I was flying in?

So that's it?

20% is not a good enough solution

Your twitter team has agreed "The drone may fly away,"

This is ridiculous. How can hovering about 2 meters from myself become an unresponsive fly away?

Hodgy_spark Posted at 2018-5-15 06:17
So that's it?

20% is not a good enough solution

It is hard to have sympathy for you as you have still not uploaded your flight data to where we can see it as suggested in post #3.

Here is a link to the screen record of my flight record. Things to note....
- I was not 'flying' just hovering directly in front of myself in a flat, open area.
- When no GPS located (which it should have done), I began to 'safely land'
- At which point the drone went crazy, completely disconnected and flew away
- Twitter support have agreed "the drone may fly away", and if completely disconnect/ went crazy then it would only record to a certain point, which again is a ridiculous malfunction on DJI's end.
- I don't know why it thinks it is going meters below ground level (-3m etc.) as it was a flat, open area.

how can a simple hovering, lead to me being left droneless, you can see from my stick movements, I was not 'flying' around.... If I had crashed with obstacles, I would just pick the drone up as it would be right in front of me, however it flew away with speed.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see if anyone has any interesting perspectives...
Thank you.

I feel for you my friend, I really do and for what it is worth I believe your story.
You are showing an incredible amount of persistence in trying to get a drone back so just a suggestion that maybe you should do the same in trying to find your missing drone. It might hold the key in getting a replacement or at the very least a free repair job.
Have you tried offering a reward in the area where it was lost?

Good luck in getting a new drone my friend but tbh I just don't see DJI doing so.

DevilDogRick Posted at 2018-5-24 19:53
I feel for you my friend, I really do and for what it is worth I believe your story.
You are showing an incredible amount of persistence in trying to get a drone back so just a suggestion that maybe you should do the same in trying to find your missing drone. It might hold the key in getting a replacement or at the very least a free repair job.
Have you tried offering a reward in the area where it was lost?

>> Anyway, it will be interesting to see if anyone has any interesting perspectives...
Thank you.

Sometimes I am persistent to a fault. What you posted will not result in any useful perspectives. Complying with post #3 might. Why do you refuse to do this?

marlowe Posted at 2018-5-24 20:31
>> Anyway, it will be interesting to see if anyone has any interesting perspectives...
Thank you.

Better late than never,  Please let me know if I still need to upload something different...

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/LVM5KE79U0C75AUN2439/

(I understand no GPS located, and this is not advised, but as you can hopefully see, I was hovering a meter away, waiting for GPS to kick in, when it evidently didn't, I began to land the drone safely, when it disconnected and flew away - not crash and flip with obstacles? )

It would be mainly helpful to show that I was simply hovering in front of myself, not flying around, and that resulted in a fly away - which evidently didn't record...

Anyway it would be great to hear from the community on this flight.

Please refer to my previous comments on my and DJI version of events

Hodgy_spark Posted at 2018-6-17 02:39
Better late than never,  Please let me know if I still need to upload something different...

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/LVM5KE79U0C75AUN2439/

If anyone one could run through what the different columns etc. (e.g.VPS altitude)  mean (as I am unsure myself) I would be very grateful.  Or just outline the flight on a whole.

Three months on and I'm still confused and upset how this occurred on such a slow and standard hovering...

Thank you...

KlooGee Posted at 2018-5-5 19:32
Hodgy,
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, if you would like some assistance from the community here to help understand what may have happened, I would recommend you upload your logs to the PhantomHelp website and paste the resulting URL here.

Hey,

Better late than never.

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/LVM5KE79U0C75AUN2439/

It would be great for any insight, or ideally anything indicating something not right haha.

Thank you very much

marlowe Posted at 2018-5-15 19:22
It is hard to have sympathy for you as you have still not uploaded your flight data to where we can see it as suggested in post #3.

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/LVM5KE79U0C75AUN2439/

Sorry about the delay of the log viewer, any point of views, comments etc. are very much welcome,

Thank you.

Hodgy, I'm sorry that you have lost your Spark in an unfortunate event.  Unfortunately, there isn't a lot to go on in your log.  I feel for you that you lost your aircraft, but I'm going to be honest with you here.

The main technology that DJI drones rely upon for safe navigation is GPS.  When you choose take off with no GPS locked in at all, then you exponentially increase the risk of crashing or losing your aircraft.  I know you were only hovering in front of you, but without its main navigation system being operational, if everything else doesn't go 100% correct, then you will be in a very bad situation.  

In regards to the fact that GPS never locked in within the first 50 seconds, this is very normal.  GPS acquisition time is a function of time and distance.  The longer it as been or the farther away you are from the last time that a good GPS signal was locked in, the longer it will take to acquire it.  This is called "time to first fix".  You can read a brief summary about it here:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_to_first_fix

I personally suggest to never even attempt to take off at all (even just for a quick hover) until a solid GPS signal is acquired.

Unfortunately, there just isn't much else in the logs to go off of to provide any more detail.  Based on past history, I'm not surprised at DJI's decision not to cover it based on warranty.  I'm sure you are an upstanding person, but you've got to look at it from all sides, not just your side.  If you were running a company, what would you do in this instance?

I wish you the best of luck moving forward!