My brother-in-law and I were flying my inspire 1 on the beach (Virginia beach, VA). It was about 11am and the weather was perfect around 70f. I was using the main controller to fly the inspire one and he was using the second controller for the camera operation. We went through two batteries with no issues and landed for the third flight. I did my normal checks after putting my third battery in (check props and prop locks / overall look over) and proceeded to take off. Everything was normal as it was before, got to 70% remaining battery and out of no where without any indication anything was wrong, I noticed the Video feed went black on my iPad, it said no signal, and all the signal bars went away. As soon as that happened I looked up at the inspire and noticed it was on a downward spiral straight down to the ground making very loud propeller noise (like they were ramped up all the way) I was able to see exactly where it crashed which was about 2 ft. into the ocean, as soon as I grabbed it I could tell that the props were broken, the battery was still powered on, and a couple of the lights for the inspire we're still illuminated. I remove the battery and headed straight up to my hotel room and rinsed the inspire one in freshwater. About 30 minutes later the battery started to emit fire out the side where the connections go to the inspire. Since the fire alarms went off the hotel got involved and said they needed to dispose the battery to consider it safe. From this situation the Inspire ,camera / gimbal assembly, TB 48 battery, one set of propellers were damaged/destroyed.

Now I sit back and wait for my unit to get checked, I know its going to be ablut 6 weeks. I would imagine it would not take long to come to the conclusion I was not at fault, right? If they come to that conslusion, I would assume I would recieve another Inspire 1, new TB48, and a set of props?

I will put up the pics I have shortly.

Here is a clip from the footage we were abe to get before it went down.

Here is all I have for pics. you can see the last bit of info the app got was 70% batt @ 226ft, right before it dropped.

How many flights on the props and prop locks?  Did you notice during battery changes if the motors were warm/hotter than normal?  What type of flight envelope (maneuvers) were you in?  Any prior issues with flights at all whatsoever??

Total of about 40/50 flights with these props, locks have been changed out one by one over time, so not sure on usage. They were the normal "warm" feel they always are. what you see in the video is what I was doing, nothing too intense. That's the thing that upsets me, with all the firmware updates, never had a Flying issue of any type. I have ruled out prop / motor fail, because I still would have had video / coms (the second controller lost everything too) It did not loose TX coms, because It then should have went to RTH mode. It just.. bricked.

Has anyone had this happen to them? If so, how did DJI take care of you? Thank you.

DJI-Autumn, is there any way you can help me out? Being this was a malfunction with the unit and not me at fault, is there any way of helping move the along a little faster then 4-6 weeks? You were able to help me out before with the "not going into travel mode" issue, and I greatly appreciate your help.

gybo102 Posted at 2015-5-20 06:37
DJI-Autumn, is there any way you can help me out? Being this was a malfunction with the unit and not ...

I am almost certain that a bird hit you. The propellor broke which is what caused the crash, the only explanation for that would either be a bird or you hit something else with the prop.

gybo102 Posted at 2015-5-20 06:37
DJI-Autumn, is there any way you can help me out? Being this was a malfunction with the unit and not ...

Actually, looking back at your photos, I noticed one prop missing, looks like it flew off which means that prop caused the crash, the force of the impact broke the other propellors.

gybo102 Posted at 2015-5-19 22:49
Here is all I have for pics. you can see the last bit of info the app got was 70% batt @ 226ft, righ ...

Were you using the QR props or the older ones with prop locks?

It sounds like you lost a prop/ motor and the other three ramped up to try and compensate thus the roaring motors and spiraling down. It is crazy that you lost telemetry. It could happen to any one of us. I hope everything works out for you.

mountmotor Posted at 2015-5-20 08:09
I am almost certain that a bird hit you. The propellor broke which is what caused the crash, the o ...

I know I did not hit a bird, and I did not loose a prop. Out of anger I removed the prop and threw it as I was walking back from the ocean. It falling in the water broke the props, it did not land in sand or any other surface. I was using the self tight setup with prop lock, as I feel they are a safer option then QR.

I have gone over this in my head many times... IF I lost a prop, or a motor or whatever in the air, why would I all of a sudden loose video feed (with disconnected displayed at the top), flight mode was gone, batt displayed N/A and ALL other forms of com signals? (GPS, TX/RX, HD) It was like I opened the app and did not even have it connected to the controller. I should have had everything up still even if it lost a motor or a prop or anything. even if the camera was to be knocked off (which it was not) should have had all my other info. This was not just me loosing a prop/ motor/ getting hit by a bird. that does not make any sense.
And like I mentioned before, the other ipad/ controller setup did the same exact thing, so it was not just my eyes that seen it all happen.

Gatorone30 Posted at 2015-5-20 08:24
It sounds like you lost a prop/ motor and the other three ramped up to try and compensate thus the r ...

As mentioned above, im 100% sure it was not a prop/ motor related issue. thank you, I hope this can get resolved as well.

gybo102 Posted at 2015-5-20 11:24
As mentioned above, im 100% sure it was not a prop/ motor related issue. thank you, I hope this ca ...

What was your battery level? Did you replay the flight in the app? That should tell you what happened...

I'll keep in touch with L.A team regarding her status. Sorry for the accident.
Did they receive it now?

mountmotor Posted at 2015-5-20 12:53
What was your battery level? Did you replay the flight in the app? That should tell you what happe ...

Yes, if you look at the pic I put up, It shows my batt at 70% when it stopped logging data (dropped from the sky). I have watched it many times. you can also see my stick position, i had fwd throttle at 69% as well. so I did not shut the props off or anything like that. was a very calm flight. easy subtle movements. was going 20 mph at the time as well. Again, nothing was out of the norm.
I will try to get a video up of the flight. wont be till later... unless... I might be able to get it off my phone. Either way, ill post it when I can. It does show me what happened..at 5:45min of flight... at 226.3 ft alt it stopped logging, that's when it dropped.

DJI-Autumn Posted at 2015-5-20 16:10
I'll keep in touch with L.A team regarding her status. Sorry for the accident.
Did they receive it n ...

Thank you, I would greatly appreciate that, unfortunately they have not received it. I can let you know when they do, ill just post it here I guess? Being that if tell in the ocean and im sure its corroding some on the way there... will they still be able to get the flight log off of it? If not, I can e-mail what I have on my ipad/ iphone.

gybo102 Posted at 2015-5-20 11:24
As mentioned above, im 100% sure it was not a prop/ motor related issue. thank you, I hope this ca ...

I too, had Bird 1 fall from the sky into the river, never to be seen again.  I was flying with a TB48 and my screen bent blank and the Bird 1 went down.  Waiting for DJI now.??

averbouwens Posted at 2015-5-20 22:06
I too, had Bird 1 fall from the sky into the river, never to be seen again.  I was flying with a T ...

how long ago was that? please keep us updated on what happens. sorry for your loss as well.

Why do you suppose the battery exploded? Did it do that during flight? or after splash down? seems to me that may be the smoking gun.

Dangair Posted at 2015-5-22 06:34
Why do you suppose the battery exploded? Did it do that during flight? or after splash down? seems t ...

It emitted fire 30 min after I got everything back into my hotel room. I Know it happened because it got wet. So im not saying the battery was the cause of the I1 going down, its the fact the battery got wet that it caught on fire.

Ok just wanted to dismiss that as a possible reason for the crash. Carry on then

Very nice footage, good work with the camera RC!

dronegeezer Posted at 2015-5-24 20:32
Very nice footage, good work with the camera RC!

Thank you, we appriciate it.

gybo102 Posted at 2015-5-20 00:18
Has anyone had this happen to them? If so, how did DJI take care of you? Thank you.

Hi Gybo,

I too have experienced that sinking feeling of watching the bird quickly disappear.

Your perception that you will get a replacement once DJI prove it was not your fault is common sense. DJI informed me that my fly away was due to hardware faults and once receiving this I was very happy. This is when the pain began.

I was told it is DJI policy not to replace inspires but they will be repaired. I made it clear that there was nothing to repair but they would do nothing but re-iterate their repair only policy! They also said that it needed to be inspected for any other faults.

This has been going on since MARCH 11th!! It has finally arrived in Oz and I will be picking it up today. Yet another hurdle to jump with them now - they do not want to replace the destroyed battery because I did not send it back to them even though they said not to due to the casing being cracked and that it was swelled up. Just cannot win here.

I have still had no indication of what faults they found and what exactly they replaced on a machine that was totally destroyed. Countless requests for this just produces a ticket number followed by a "what do you think of our crappy service" questionnaire! They also tried to belt me with an invoice prior to shipping it back.

Gybo, I hope you don't have to go through the same lengthy crap that I have had to endure but I would not hold my breath mate.

Gybo, forgot to add in my previous post is that dundees link to recovering footage that did not close properly works well, the only one that I have used that does the trick. Hope it helps

It is very odd that the video stopped recording right before the crash...

mountmotor Posted at 2015-5-25 14:44
It is very odd that the video stopped recording right before the crash...

The video I posted is not of the inspire before it went down.... I was not recording at the time. if I was, im sure the file would not be readable. That was just all the footage I got that morning.

Wolfman Posted at 2015-5-25 07:15
Hi Gybo,

I too have experienced that sinking feeling of watching the bird quickly disappear.

I would assume they would replace it due to falling in salt water, it was already rusting by the time I got it boxed up. Also sure it would cost more to replace every piece of metal / electronics.  I will be really upset if they do not replace the battery. The battery had to be disposed of, and like you said.. they will not take it damaged. So.... all I want is to be take care of... nothing more. If it takes 6 weeks, ok.

Unit was checked in, the wait gets a little shorter.

gybo102 Posted at 2015-5-25 20:31
I would assume they would replace it due to falling in salt water, it was already rusting by the t ...

Hey gybo, I had a battery incident similar to Wolfman. My Inspire crashed into pieces and the battery was ejected and dented. DJI wouldn't allow me to send it back to them in that state and wouldn't send me a new one without having the damaged battery in their possession, despite the entire repair being under warranty, it was a nonsensical circle of reasoning. I don't mean to disappoint you, I just want you to be prepared in case you get a similar response. My repair was with the DJI LA facility.

Once I have had a flyaway caused by directional antenna that was about 500 meters from the quadrocopter. I was flying with Phantom 2 and the video stopped just before the quadrocopter hit to the ground from about 8 meters. Happily the unit survived the accident. I have video of that flyaway and data from FLYTREX Core 2. I was wondering why the video stopped. My theory is that strong innterferrence caused by directional antennas can in some way interrupt the recording. I am sure that on some roofs of the sorrounding buildings You can find such antennas.

WTF? I cant reply to my thread?

odd..

So, some good news, and bad news.. mostly good. They are sending me a new Inspire 1 and camera/ gimbal. The bad news.. no battery replacement.

The conversation has it all..
seems like the manager is making things up to not have to cover the battery. please let me know what you think. If I am in the wrong, please let me know as well.




J. S. June 02, 2015 17:50
Dear Andre P,
We have checked your unit into Zendesk, our customer support database.
Congratulations! This is the first step in the repair process once we received your product. Next, your unit will be documented in our Repair Software, which the repair technicians use to track their work. Once that process is done, your product will be placed in line with other repairs, and continually move up until a repair technician services it at a work bench.
We appreciate your patience and thank you for your support of the DJI Product Line.



Andre Penso June 02, 2015 21:33
I included 4 images. One is the last of the flight that my iPad saved before it "bricked" in the air and fell into the ocean. The other images were of the battery, One before it fought on fire, and then the other 2 were after it caught on fire.
FullSizeRender_1.jpg (80 KB)
FullSizeRender.jpg (300 KB)
IMG_6427.JPG (100 KB)
96512474-9D81-4EA5-B091-CB7A1D07BBFF.PNG (500 KB)


J.G. Monday at 19:00
Hi Andre,
Your Inspire One is entering the repair department and you will get further notification through this ticket when your unit has been repaired.



Andre Penso Monday at 20:29
Hello and thank you for the update. just curious, does this mean my unit is getting repaired? because it fell into the salt water and im wondering how that would work out? I figured the unit would be replaced, not repaired. Am I wrong to assume that? thank you in advance.


D.K. Tuesday at 11:57
Dear Andre,
Thank you for your patience! Yes, your unit was swapped out for a replacement, so you will be receiving a new Inspire 1.
Your unit has been shipped via: FedEx. Your tracking number is as follows: 638860881893. Please allow 24 to 48 business hours for the tracking number to appear on Fedex.com.
The address your unit is being shipped to is listed below:
xxxx
Thank you for choosing DJI, and enjoy your flying!


Andre Penso Tuesday at 12:21
Hello and thank you for the response / good news. Am I correct to assume the package will include Inspire 1 with camera/ gimbal, set of props and a TB48 battery? since these were all destroyed as a result of the unit failing, I would imagine they are to be replaced as well? the battery was new at about 5 -10 charge cycles and would be upsetting if I had to eat $200 on that. thank you in advance.


D.K. Tuesday at 12:24
Dear Andre Penso,
Your Inspire has been inspected by the repair department. As a one time courtesy to expedite the repair process your craft has been replaced with a new unit. Any miscellaneous items like extra batteries, straps, SD cards or other personal items will be returned to you along with the new craft.
If you sent the unit without a transmitter please refer to pages 24-33 of the user manual for instructions on rebinding. Please update the firmware of the craft prior to flight. Any questions follow the link to the user manual.
http://download.dji-innovations. ... _Manual_v1.2_en.pdf
Your unit has been shipped via: FedEx. Your tracking number is as follows:638860881893
The address your unit is being shipped to is listed below:
xxxx
Please allow 24 to 48 business hours for the tracking number to appear on Fedex.com.
Thank you for supporting DJI products. If you have any other questions, please contact our support center at 818-235-0789 M-F 9AM-5PM Pacific Time. Thank you and have a nice day!



Andre Penso Tuesday at 12:48
So does that mean I got a replacement TB48 for the one that exploded due to getting wet? I sent the broken prop pieces I could find as well. Basically I just want to know what is being replaced, I understand you said the craft has been replaced with a new one, but what about the battery and camera / gimbal as well? thank you.


R. G. Wednesday at 19:14
Dear Andre,
Your craft had crash evidence. The unit crashed into something and then the battery ejected from the craft. So we decided as a once time courtesy to replace your craft. The battery on the other hand cannot be replaced. You must purchase one through DJI online to replace your battery.
Thank you for supporting DJI products. If you have any other questions, please contact our support center at 818-235-0789 M-F 9AM-5PM Pacific Time. Thank you and have a nice day!


Andre Penso Yesterday at 14:10
Hello,
There was no crash, it was flying over the beach and then fell from the sky into the water. there was nothing to crash into 2 feet toward the water 226ft high. (please look at the pictures) The battery did not eject either because it was still powered on in the water. I removed the battery myself. the battery was powered up and the landing gear lights were illuminated. and to prove it was still on when I pulled it from the water, the landing gear lights were not the right pattern. the front lights were red and green if I remember correctly. The battery fail (explosion) was a result of the Inspire failing, So I feel it would be right for the battery to be replaced as well. With the cost of the battery, It is not right for me to have to replace a $200 item that was damaged and made unusable do to the fail of the unit. I still have not been told what the cause of the fail was yet either. It would be nice to know.
Also, just to verify, was the camera / gimbal replaced as well? all the messages to me say the craft is replaced, but no mention of the camera/ gimbal.
Thank you in advance.


R. G. Today at 13:03
Dear Andre,
Your flight data was closely examined. We cannot power on your unit due to water damage. We replaced the unit and camera/gimbal as a courtesy and replaced anything that shipped with your unit. A photo was taken when the unit arrived on site and was shipped out exactly with the same type of equipment. I do apologize but according to your letter the unit still had power when you pulled it from the water and you said that you washed the unit in fresh water then 30 min later the fire started. Also, units do not "brick" in mid air. A bricked device won't power on and function normally and you could not fly your unit at all. You can purchase a battery through DJI online if you would like.
Thank you for supporting DJI products. If you have any other questions, please contact our support center at 818-235-0789 M-F 9AM-5PM Pacific Time. Thank you and have a nice day!



Andre Penso Today at 14:05
This is getting a little silly, what you are saying is making no sense at all.
-"Your flight data was closely examined" - What was the verdict?

-"We cannot power on your unit due to water damage" - understood, it dropped into the ocean... so.. you said "Your flight data was closely examined" so.. which Is it? Are you able to power it on or not?

-"A photo was taken when the unit arrived on site and was shipped out exactly with the same type of equipment" - So was I supposed to send the battery in as well? (Do not ship swollen/punctured/visibly damaged batteries. If you do ship batteries in this condition, we are required to recycle them and cannot ship them back to you.)

-"units do not "brick" in mid air" - Can you please explain what happened then?

-"A bricked device won't power on and function normally and you could not fly your unit at all" - Im not sure why you are saying this... I never said it was flying again. maybe the reason they could not get anything out of it was from it being "bricked" vs water damage. I said it was lit up after pulling it from the ocean, not flying.

Yes I washed the craft, camera/ gimbal after it fell into the salt water. I figured if there was any chance of things being functional that would be the way to go about it. I wanted to remove the salt water from the parts. If I did not wash it off, probably would have been worse off by the time it arrived at your location. I removed the battery first before washing off the inspire and camera. The battery was not shipped because it exploded as you can see in the pictures, and according to the info you have on the site, DJI will not accept the damaged battery, so I cant send it, would be dangerous.
You say units don't "brick" in the air, but I still have no answer as to what happened? you can even see what the app received, I was flying it at 226ft then it just shut off in the air, so I would like to know what happened to the unit. you can see it did not "crash into anything" I was keeping LOS and there was NOTHING in the air at that altitude, and over the ocean.
Bottom line, I am appreciative of the unit being replaced, it is the right thing to do for this situation ( please do not say it was done as a courtesy, what is the other alternative? replace every part that has metal so there is no corrosion?) but the other issue is the battery fire / explosion is an effect from the inspire falling from the sky and falling in the ocean. the right thing to do is take care of the customer so he is not out of a product that was still under warranty. issues like this is what keeps people from staying with a company because they do not 100% back their product/ support the customer when their product is at fault.
you may say, its only $200 compared to the cost of the Inspire 1, BUT, to me, its taking care of the customer.
After I sent my inspire to your location, I ordered a NEW unit from amazon and another batty to keep the business going, If I was to have any idea this was going to be the outcome I may have went another direction.
I called tech support about this situation, and I was told that a manager (you) was the last person to respond on this, and for that reason his hands were tied. So, is this it? Am I to take this as DJI does not support their products 100%? If there is a way out of something, take it? If so please Let me know, but if that is the case, I will no longer be a customer of DJI.
Thank you.

gybo102 Posted at 2015-6-27 02:18
The conversation has it all..
seems like the manager is making things up to not have to cover the ba ...

- DJI doesn't need to power the I1 to get the flight logs so there is no contradiction between "we can't power it on due to water damage" and "your flight data was closely examined".

- The problem is you're using the term "bricked" incorrectly, which specifically and always means "does not function and cannot be made to do so". This means a device has unrecoverable damage to a key system that prevents any and all operation and this situation cannot be corrected without component level compare of the electronics themselves (ie you need to physically remove chips from a PCB vs you just need to solder on a new ESC).
A unit that turns on and then fails isn't "bricked". It's semantics and  I know that YOU know what you mean, but to most people in I.T. and engineering "bricked" has a very specific meaning and doesn't cover what happen to your device. This is probably why DJI is confused / compatitive about that point.

- I'm confused... if you heard prop revving as it crashed the unit didn't "shut off" in midair. The signal loss is unusual and interesting but, honestly, doesn't explain the high prop rev sound you say you heard when it failed. Also doesn't explain the spiralling descent, which would only happen if the flight controller was active and attempting to make the aircraft stable. The ONLY thing that explains what you say you heard was the failure of a prop, motor, or ESC. The aircraft lacked sufficient thrust to stay aloft and stable and crashed. The problem is the signal drop, which makes the entire thing a little mysterious.

Sorry for your loss but honestly there is a lot about your account that is confusing and while I don't think you're intentionally attempting to be deceitful in any way if I'm responsible for assessing the situation at DJI I'm asking a lot of questions. Since you know this wasn't your fault it's obviously frustrating but from DJI's prespective I'm guessing that 99% of the "it was the devices fault" failures they encounter are actually user error so I can totally understand why they're being a little difficult with you.

I think probably, the prop fractured and caused your descent.    Not saying it hit anything but the description of the noise makes me think so.   The battery came into contact with ocean water and it got on the inside of the board.    It wasn't smoking to begin with and your readings right before it plummeted, indicated charge.  I also didn't see where you had a battery error at the time.   A battery error is what took out my inspire 3 days after I got it.   So.  When you got it back to the hotel,  The water on the inside caused a short circuit and fried it.  I think the battery issue was as a result of the ocean water.     

Should you get a new battery?  Probably so.    It's good PR and customer service to throw one in.    Companies that do this convert their customers to clients and get return orders.     They loose people by skimping like this.  Do you deserve one?  Probably not.   I think it was an after the fall thing.    DJI is going to look at this as bottom line and parts and costs and what they loose in profit.   What they don't consider is what one little things can do to cause a customer to purchase more stuff.    It's what distinguishes a great company from a mediocre one.  And right now, their customer service is sh**.

gybo102 Posted at 2015-6-27 02:18
The conversation has it all..
seems like the manager is making things up to not have to cover the ba ...

Why can't you just say thanks and let it be?  

gybo102 Posted at 2015-6-27 02:18
The conversation has it all..
seems like the manager is making things up to not have to cover the ba ...

Keep fighting my friend! Hopefully you will get the attention of someone sharp at DJI who can view the circumstances of the incident and know that they will need to make an exception to their policy and provide a replacement battery.
Btw, i see that we are practically neighbors, I'm in Centreville. Don't you hate that it's on the truck but you can't have it until Monday? You're not gonna believe this but when mine was repaired (second time for same issue), they shipped it out on a Monday with fedex ground shipping and it delivered that Wednesday! Btw, I'm also heading out to VA beach in couple weeks and looking forward to flying it there but noticed most areas are NFZs, with too many airports in the area. How did you find safe places to fly? Any places you'd recommend?

Honestly?  Be greatfull.  I had a tire on a rc car come apart and it went out into oncoming traffic and got creamed by a truck.  Do yo uhh think Traxxas replaced my car?  No.  And it was brand new
. So I'd let the battery issue go.  After all flying over salt water is just about the easiest way to guarantee a complete loss upon a failure of a prop or motor.  Living in Hawaii almost all of my hundreds of flights have been over the ocean.  I triple check everything and replace props if they've come into any contact with anything.  You watch.  DJI will make a warranty clause about flying over water one of these days.  Luckily you had your unlucky day in now and not later.