Dear all,

Today I lost my beloved Sparky in the deep blue water of Lake Garda. OK could be a more worse place than that, but in the end I lost her...
First I thought it was a pilot failure doing a Circle quick shot flying to low, so that the Spark strikes some kind of long antenna on top of a mast. We (a friend of mine was preparing his Mavic Pro to fly together) saw that in the distance two parts were falling down from the sky into the water.

But in the flight log there is nothing (http://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/U4LURYTFQGEJQND6BD2Y/) saying collision, engine failure or similar. So now I think that the battery ejected during the flight.
What do you think?

BR
  Marco

Sorry for the lost drone, I would suggest syncing your flight records via DJI GO 4 app and contact our facility for further investigations as well. Please see the link.

https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav

That is exactly why you should have a spotter.
The observation may shed more light to the situation than the log.
I was first thinking the water screwed with the Visual Positioning System (VPS) and it dove in.
But at almost 30ft, it would have logged the decent no matter how fast.

I can tell you ejecting the battery is getting rare now but not totally gone issue.

Man that sucks lesson learned from some one else

its very difficult to control the number of incidents related to battery ejecting during flight.
The best way is prevention by checking that the lock mechanism is in tact prior to flying !!

Seems like it could be the battery ejecting,, Flight Logs will definitely determine if that is the case!!..

Hi deMarco73,

Had a look at your flight, looks OK with no errors etc.
On the chart you see that VPS height 'bump', flying over that harbour "dam" (what is te right english word?)

If the battery drops out than the flightrecord stops, so guess that is the case. If you hit something than you see blocked motors and high pith and roll angles.

So batt eject yes, but that normally happens in sport mode with high speed variations and drone angles. But you did see 2 pieces falling into lake-garda so 99.9 % you know the cause.

Guess DJI will sort this out for you in a good way.

Cheers
JJB

If it dropped in the marina as shown on the map, the water there shouldn't be too extremely deep. Get yourself fins, mask, snorkel, and wetsuit if the water is cold and do some diving off the end of that dock!

Hi Marco, I agree with JJBspark, 99.9% it is the battery which got accidentally ejected. This happens if you have had a crash and the little hooks which hold the batteries are worn or broken.

Mi dispiace Marco in bocca al lupo per il tuo prossimo Drone (good luck for your next drone)
Btw, they sell a battery holder for the Spark for a few quid on ebay

Sorry to hear this loss....  and it reinforces my desire to avoid water.  I have the battery strap too.  Hope you get some resolve.

Ciao deMarco ! If two parts fell in the Water, its most probably is the Spark Body + Battery. Next time use Battery Retainers.

If you have Video Cache footage you will see a Disconnected Video, resulting in No Power to the Spark, which means the Battery Popped Out and the Spark became a Brick !

Just go near the Marina and if you can swim dive for it, else if you see a diver tell him to get it for you. Then send it to DJI. I would open a Case and tell them what happened !

Dear all,

Thanks for the sympathy and the valued assessments! The cached video also highlights the assumption of ejection. Smooth circle path around the lighthouse with focus to it and suddenly stops. Otherwise there would be some struggling and the dive into the water would be recorded, but nothing.

If you are interested I could share it, but nothing special to see...

I'm already in contact with the support.

Grazie mille
  Marco

deMarco73 Posted at 2018-6-21 11:24
Dear all,

Thanks for the sympathy and the valued assessments! The cached video also highlights the assumption of ejection. Smooth circle path around the lighthouse with focus to it and suddenly stops. Otherwise there would be some struggling and the dive into the water would be recorded, but nothing.

Speriamo bene Marco !

Tanti Saluti Bello !