I have about 100 flights under my belt - I have a ton of hours flying and have made it through all of the lost GPS lock switching to ATTI mode issues from previous software versions without any problems.  But this time was different.  I was out with my family at our place on Lake Michigan, showing off of the Inspire...  it was my 3rd flight, everything went perfectly for the first two - sunny, light breeze, perfect visibility and flew like a champ, just like it always does.  It would stay in place as it always does, and I could land it on the board walk next to me every time...   However, about a minute or two into flying on my last flight, I knew something was going wrong.  The bird started to not respond, wasn't heading where I wanted it two and slowly went out of control into full throttle movements in random directions.

I have read all of the other threads of this happening, with fly-aways, etc. and I never have experienced anything like this.  Everything was done on my checklist, just as it always is, but the Inspire literally went out of control.  After flying for a few minutes, the Inspire was not responding, would not stay in position despite having GPS lock still showing without any warnings.  I was flying along the coast and knew I needed to get it back to me and away from people.  But, every attempt to bring it to me was hard fought with it going full throttle in the opposite direction, spinning, everything.  I became very worried - first that it was going to hit someone or something, then that it was going to be lost in the Lake never to be found.  As soon as I could get it back over land, I was going to cut the motors as it was out of control. However, during one of the last moves it made, it turned and started heading back to me, at top speed hitting 45mph backward without throttle.  It hit a tree near me and came down, luckily not hitting anyone on the beach any structures.

I am sad - I love flying the Inspire, and I know that this was NOT my fault - it was out of control.  I later watched the playback on my ipad watching my input forward with the bird going any which way, mostly full throttle and it was still in GPS mode.  

I will call the hopefully-not-black-hole support line after the holiday to begin my return to have it fixed, but am also uploading my flight because it is very clear that it was wacked out of its mind.

One broken arm - camera stripped off of it, two props broken.  However, the main body was not harmed and it appears that other than the arm and camera, it still works.  I'm not sure if I will trust the motor on the broken arm and hope it will be replaced as well with the crash it took, but I'm sooo glad that it made it back to land and I have it in my possession to have DJI look at the flight record, etc.

Just thought I would share...

I am really sorry to hear that this has yet again happened to someone else. I had a very similar experience. One thing that I am finding interesting is that many of our stories have one detail in common, the third battery. I had two previous flights that went well, but shortly in to my third battery, everything went wrong and there was nothing I could do about it. After reading through many of the other flyaway (whatever you want to call it) situations, it seems that most of us had this happen on our third battery for the day. I have no idea why this would matter, but you rarely hear of this problem on a first, or even second battery. Now I really wonder... I hope you get your situation figured out with DJI. Let us know how it goes and good luck!

I'm not so sure about the third battery issue, but who knows, I can say I never expected it to ever act like it did.  It was quite scary knowing that it wasn't going to come home safely and I didn't want it to hit someone or something.  I wish I could post the flight path with joystick movements showing how crazy it was...  unfortunately I will now miss many shots needed over the next couple months during the repair process...

Same random experience with two Inspires.  The first was sent to DJI CA in mid April.  Took 3 weeks to even acknowledge receipt. Absolutely ridiculous and can't wait to see what they come back with after reviewing the logs. The second Inspire was not damaged and I was able to land it in an open field. I'm now an experienced crash pilot.

Big supporter of DJI, but I will not purchase a third Inspire. They should NOT sell what they can't competently service.

bvh- There are more of us here feeling your pains and woes than you might think.

Very disappointing to hear yet another, heart pounding experience like this play out, over and over. On a positive note. It is good to hear you at least spent some quality time getting to know the unit in it's normal, expected behavioral mode of flight. As well, VERY HAPPY to hear you were indeed calm and smart enough to get the unit away from people and structures prior to a possibly disastrous issue.

As well, the unit I received did much the same as you describe on it's eighth, short test flight. The date of the incident occurred on 2/27/15. Unfortunately, I am sad to report, the unit (after 2 previous attempts to repair at DJI, LA) still sits in its case awaiting a third trip. The only difference is, this time it will not be returning as I find the liabilities, variables and possibilities too great a risk to endanger those around me.

I hope your experience is much better and you find the wind under your props very soon.

Again, commendable job of getting your bird back and keeping everyone else safe.

-S.N.

same thing happend to me, first time it crashed but damage was minimal, second time i was able to figure out a way to land it by making it hover by inputting opposite control, got very luck,
now i'm just scared to fly my brand new 3500 dollar investment..... there are way to many horror stories on here what is going on.....  

Really sorry to hear that. Did you upload the flight logs or send the bird back to support?

I hope with these recent posts of loss of control, DJI will come back to the forum with their finding for us all. Something is really odd, because I've had demonstrate RRH by switching off the transmitter on a number of occasions in the run-up to a flight test, but have never experienced an issue.

same here yesterday. lost signal, lost control no connection at all it fell down in a distance of 1+ kilometer and i found it after 5 hours. one piece with minor damages. i am not sure about the camera and gimbal yet. i will never ever fly with confidence again. i thought it will never happen to me but it did. . . . .

When you review the recording of the flight do the height reading make sense?

So is so scary . . . We need to the voice of DJI to tell us why there are increasing reports of Inspires that are losing control, do these machines have to start killing people before we get answers??   

DJI-Autumn Posted at 2015-5-25 15:51
Really sorry to hear that. Did you upload the flight logs or send the bird back to support?

Autumn,

I am starting to feel concerned about potential uncontrollable flyaways or simply the aircraft having a mind of its own.  This is the second post I have read today, the other in Europe.

We need DJI to seriously up their actions and resolve this before a serious accident occurs.  

As there are now more than two occurrences reported, DJI are on notice, so lets hope there are no serious accidents before an update or new firmware is issued to address these issues.

Can I respectfully ask DJI to release a formal update or comment on any significant, current, known issues that could result in serious accidents.  I ask this as a competent person in order that an informed decision can be made whether there is a real need to ground the aircraft until further update or firmware release.  Obviously this is not good for business, but may be a safer alternative.

In the long term it will be bad for DJI if accidents occur and Civill Aviation Authorities enforce stricter rules and regulations as a consequence of a reportable incident or serious accident.

Thanks all for responding.

I have yet to call DJI, assuming today it is closed for phone support as it is a holiday.  I plan on calling it in tomorrow - however, DJI-Autumn, yes I have synced my flight log as I always do.  I have watched it 20 times, it is quite comical it were a video game, but it is not.  Since it will be clear when you view it that the bird was flying itself, I sure hope DJI covers this.  I love flying this thing - it is so much fun and I have great video and photos from it during every time out - but, this was scary - when it went down it hit 45mph headed straight for us and luckily hit a tree before people or a home.  I see a lot of other similar reports - when it happens you first think to yourself how it must have switched to ATTI mode as it drifts and turns.  But, it only took another minute for me to realize it wasn't going to come down safely this time.,,

I uploaded under my account bvh@fatbulldog.com - please take a look and let me know.

Thank you,
Brian

bvh@fatbulldog. Posted at 2015-5-26 01:52
Thanks all for responding.

I have yet to call DJI, assuming today it is closed for phone support as ...

Hi Brian,

yet another one, sorry for your loss mate.

As previously posted, the only thing I have found that works in recovering the footage is: via:


My story is similar to yours:
http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?m ... 7&fromuid=29949

I am curious to see if your footage shows rapid camera gimbal resetting, I have been told this is symptomatic of accelerometer fault but am investigating further to find some answers.

Whilst I will be test flying my repaired bird today, I am slightly concerned at the increase in similar incidences of uncontrolled erratic behaviour followed by fly away.

YES, user error is a big issue but with more of these scenarios occurring, DJI need to discuss with us what is going wrong. Their standard "send it back for repair and we will get it back to you in 3 months" is NOT GOD ENOUGH.

Please DJI, we need some answers. If there are issues, you need to ground the inspires until the corrections are made. Start supporting the products you have sold instead of focusing on new models for the consumer to beta test for you aka phantom3 aka matrix 100.

Good luck with it all Brian

DJI-Autumn, were you able to view my flight record under my account - my flights are all synced to your end after each flight.  I want to hear that it was looked at and get your opinion.  I'm waiting for DJI to open up today in few hours so that I can begin the process of getting it fixed.  Thank you, Brian

Same thing happened me on Saturday the 23rd

Saturday May 23rd at Big River California.....after 5 or 6 successful flights with no problems Inspire went up about 15 feet then it was totally on its on....I had no control whatsoever..it went out over the river lowered to about 6 inches above river then climbed to about 100 feet and flew into high river bank at approx. 35mph. Battery was located approx. 60 feet from drone and camera located about 20 feet from drone...I DONT HAVE A CLUE....SD card was ejected on crash and cannot be found

welcome to the club, mine happened on May the 5th, after posting a thread of my experience I  saw other people experiencing  the same thing and now I have seen way to many people having the same issue same characteristics of how the drone loses control! I called the next day and they said to sent them the bird. I didn't want to take a chance and I sent it back! have yet to hear from them!!!!! I hope they can explain why all this happened and hopefully they will come up with a solution! this was a few days before the new firmware  update was release. you guys can read my experience and also watch the video of the flight record

http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?m ... 48&page=1#pid120134

video:


http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?m ... 37&page=1#pid125154

Hate to say it but I had the same problem this past Saturday and it is the second time it's happened to me. All pre flight checks completed, lifted her up to about 10 feet like  I always do I'll do a quick check to see how it's reacting in the environment and all of a sudden it started drifting and turning into a "death spin". I had zero control of it. The first time It headed to a large amount of tall trees. I pushed up as fast as I could and it reacted to the up direction but was still uncontrollable and spinning I almost cleared the trees but it ended up hitting the very top of one (40 ft). The battery went flying out and the inspire got stuck in the tree. Retrieved it and the battery. Minor damage and wire connecting from body to camera damaged.

Ordered a new wire, started flying again then this past Saturday (23-05-2015) same thing happened except this time it was heading for a 20 storey building. Not just any building, the Department of Canadian National Defence building (no it's not an iglu and no our defence weapons aren't hockey sticks eh). Anyway I was able to regain control about 2 ft before I hit the building (the video is scary). So all this to say WTF is going on DJI!! It sucks to have pilot insecurities, especially when you've invested so much money into a product.

bvh@fatbulldog. Posted at 2015-5-26 19:02
DJI-Autumn, were you able to view my flight record under my account - my flights are all synced to y ...

Yes I can. And here is another question, Brain. How did you power on the aircraft? Place it on a flat surface?

DJI-Autumn Posted at 2015-5-27 16:23
Yes I can. And here is another question, Brain. How did you power on the aircraft? Place it on a f ...

DJI-Autumn.

After I recovered what I could, I took the pieces back inside - the craft was off after the crash, but the battery was still in the craft, though without the camera that was stripped off and not found.  I placed it on a flat wood floor and propped the broken arm with my hand, then powered it on and then cycled the landing gear switch up and down until the craft went into travel position.    The broken antenna arm was leaking oil, possibly from the ruined motor - though it turned like normal, I sure hope this motor is replaced as it took the main impact from inspection.

Please let me know if you need any other information - I made it through the phone wait with DJI tech support and the craft and controller are now being shipped back today.  I sure hope that you can review the flight to see my input with seemingly random movements of the craft.

Thank you again for looking into this.
Brian

Why do they keep coming out with updates? Something seems weird and people have spent nearly $4,000 for this.

These need to be pulled.

To be honest, other than my last flight where I was clearly not in control on it, I have had a great time with my Inspire - never really had any issues other than the switching to ATTI now and then.  This was scary and I hope they find the problem.  I'm already missing her - I would still buy one again today... am I sick in the head?

On 26/5/2015, I calibrated my inspire 1 than made sure there was a GPS single and flew it with the first battery without any problems. Changed the battery and flew again for couple of minutes and landed it without any issues. I always place the inspire in front of me facing ahead as instructed by DJI. As soon as I took off the inspire went full speed backward as it was charging on me, I ducked so it missed me by an inch. I directed it up to avoid trees and others obstacle, the inspire had a mind of its own. It started flying away and making crazy turns, I tried to control but I had a little response. I used the RTH but no response also. I was flying it in a valley, it kept on going until it reached the other side of the valley and crashed. I had to drive more than 10 km around the valley to reach to it. I found it crashed, the battery was out and broken, the camera and gimbal broken and found 10 m away, the carbon arms and props broken. I am devastated, I have invested a lot in my inspire, I have a second remote and 3 extra batteries. I use it for my work as Aerial photographer. I have a lot of bookings ahead, this week I lost 2 events shooting. All I can say thanks God the inspire didn’t lose control when I had an event shooting with a lot of people. This could have been a disaster. Please help me understand what happen and what to do so DJI can remburse me.

Hey guys.  Check this out.   http://forum.dji.com/thread-16100-1-1.html   This will answer a lot of your questions.

Michael Starley Posted at 2015-5-28 19:56
Hey guys.  Check this out.   http://forum.dji.com/thread-16100-1-1.html   This will answer a lot of  ...

Hello everyone,

I had a similar experience but it happened as i was desending on a critical low battery. I activated RTH but it didn't look right. Had to start fighting the bird to stay on course. I wound up in a tree.

My question is, what do i need to do to get a broken camera, broken left rear leg and busted battery replaced? Who should i send the bird to just to get an estimate to get this thing fixed?

Should i just get a new bird and camera?

I can sympathize.  The same thing happened to me.  Mine is currently at the DJI service center.  Still no word on whether they will consider this under warranty.  If they say no, I will fight it.  But, I think I won't have any problems.  

arq.kamal@gmail Posted at 2015-5-25 13:14
same thing happend to me, first time it crashed but damage was minimal, second time i was able to fi ...

same exact thing happend to me... wtf DJI???

Same case with me. Everything was ok before the flight. After the drone was in the air, I didn´t had the control over it. It was moving in each direction by its own.

I got the drone in the air over a bridge in a city. It was my luck it crashed at a street light and fall on the street, not into the river.

I had luck because just one propeller was broken.

take a look at this http://forum.dji.com/thread-23697-1-1.html

I am also the victim of an out of control Inspire 1. It is being repaired right now. Are these crashes happening while using both batteries or are they mostly with the TB48? Also, is the Inspire 1 the only DJI drone with this problem or have you heard of others as well?

mtnmaddman Posted at 2015-7-12 05:14
take a look at this http://forum.dji.com/thread-23697-1-1.html

I am looking into this for you.

DJI, where in the hell are you helping these people out?  I have 5 gigs coming up and now I don't know if I should be grounding the craft or not.  I could just imagine what my insurance company would say if there was an incident " you knew there was an issue with the craft and you still choose to fly?"

In your position I would fly with the legs down with large polystyrene balls on each foot and pan the drone, if need be, and not the camera.

smcbrearty@roge Posted at 2015-7-14 11:42
DJI, where in the hell are you helping these people out?  I have 5 gigs coming up and now I don't kn ...

We are working on it. We are always working on inproving our products. Please keep in mind that the number of people having trouble is many times less than people not having trouble with the Inspire1.
  To add some perspective keep in mind that nothing is full-proof or infallible.

Your insurance companies know this very well.
The choice to fly will always be your choice. Nothing in this world is without risk!

DJI-Dave Posted at 2015-7-15 06:15
We are working on it. We are always working on inproving our products. Please keep in mind that the ...

DJI-Dave, firstly, thank you for taking the time to read and respond to the forum and this post.

Please be reminded that this is not a personal attack on you, but the process of trying to get answers out of a company that we have (well I have, should not speak for others) placed a great deal of confidence and money into.  I have been using RC heli’s for some time now to get my aerial images and when the phantom came out I was amazed that how easy it was control and operate, a huge step forward for an all in one setup.  There were limitations but DJI was on the right track.

When the Inspire 1 was announced and launched, I thought FINALLY, someone has listened to all of our ideas and we are going to get the out of the box solution for aerial video and photography.  No more FPV systems that required soldering to the mother board or extra cables and batteries to a transmitter or camera.  I can have the Inspire 1 up and filming in a few minutes as compared to my s900 with GH4 which takes a good 10-15 minutes to get setup with all pre-flight checks.  I KNOW THAT THE inspire does not replace the s900, but what does allow me to do is travel with the I1 with me at all times and get rush jobs and last minutes shoots in that I could not get with the s900.

As so many have said and been saying, there are a lot of things that the inspire can do and does extremely well, but on the other hand there are too many things that are missing that were PROMISSED in the sales pitch. We should not be WAITING for way point and the other features, they should have been available out of the box.

I have been one of the lucky people that has only had minor issues that were addressed and fixed with the updates, but to say to me “to add some perspective keep in mind that nothing is full-proof or infallible” would be like saying you could get hit by a bus and die tomorrow.

Auto manufactures have recalls on their cars all the time, the insurance companies take this into consideration when creating their policies.  The UAV / Drone industry is in it’s infancy and I would like to think that a company like DJI would like to stay out well ahead of the curve when it comes to being PRO ACTIVE and help it’s customers not only by providing a superior product, but support and GIVE us information instead of being silent when issues like in this post are a HUGE concern.  I read in this one post alone 6 different people with pretty well the same issue with NO HELP from DJI, only from other members of the forum.

“The choice to fly will always be your choice. Nothing in this world is without risk!” So is everything in life and that is why have insurance.  First and foremost my main concern is with everyone’s general safety involved with and in the area that I am working in.  If I hear of or read that the braking system in my car is suspect and that there are a large number of other people having the same issue, I think I would be an idiot to not ask questions and not use the vehicle until the issue have been addressed.

This becomes very common incident. After my drone fly away I am not getting it into the air before a solution comes out.

smcbrearty@roge Posted at 2015-7-18 00:15
DJI-Dave, firstly, thank you for taking the time to read and respond to the forum and this post.

...

Hi smcbreaty,

I read your first post and saw that you were not sure if you should fly or not because of the problems you see others having on the internet.

I can tell from reading your post that you are a smart and reasonable guy. So maybe most of my advice to you was really nothing more than stating the obvious. Like where I said: “nothing is foolproof or infallible.The choice to fly will always be your choice. Nothing in this world is without risk.”

It is just that I am seeing several post from different users that they are not sure if they should fly. One guy last night said he had a P3 and a I1 and he has not even taken the I1 out of the box.

Also from reading this post I see we have similar backgrounds. I have been flying RC for over 20 years and I was doing aerial photography long before DJI ever came around. I too was impressed when the Phantom came out (it made my job easier) and I was much more impressed when the Inspire came out. (it made my job much easier)

The other thing I was trying to say in my post to you and others reading…

Is to please keep this stuff in perspective.

Sometimes it seems like when a couple of people report a problem everyone jumps in and acts like the world is coming to an end.
I wish DJI would provide me with the total number of units sold (Phantoms & Inspires). I think it would help my discussion here. I do know the number is extremely high. DJI is a 10 Billion dollar company.  I think DJI sells thousands of these things world wide every day. I do remember hearing that B&H Photo at one point last year was selling 200 Phantoms a day. That is just one store. Think about that.

So we are all shaped by our perceptions. Here is my perception, and my personal opinion:

There is an extremely large number of Phantoms and Inspires flying everyday. And they are being flown by a wide variety of people with a wide variety of skill and experience. Some guys with zero experience and some like me with 20 years and some with much more than that.

You asked if you should ground your craft or not. I would say you should fly, but the choice is yours,there is always some small risk in eveything. I think the number of guys having trouble is so extremely small compared to the guys that are not. I fly in a very urban environment where everyone knows a lawyer. I also am on the internet everyday in this forum and several others. I read all the horror stories. If anyone should be nervous to fly it should be me. Now, if all of a sudden we had the internet totally flooded on every forum with “flyaways” you bet I would stop flying also. But I am not nervous to fly and I am not going to stop flying because I keep it in perspective!  Because I see all the good stories also. Like guys with 300+ flights on their Inspire with no problems.
Also because of my personal good experiences. I have about 200 flights on mine.
I have 3 good friends that all bought Inspires because of my personal recommendation. All 3 fly all the time and have never had a problem other than 1 of them was having some video drop out. They are not nervous about flying because they are never on the internet.  I also belong to a flying club where 4 other guys that I know, but are not close friends, fly Inspires. They all know I work for DJI and I would be the first call they make if they had a problem, and so far no calls. I own a total of 11 DJI multirotors and I have been flying DJI for about 3 years with no trouble. So that is what is shaping my perception and my opinion.

That and this...
(More stating the obvious so please do not take offense)
Do not believe everything you read on the internet. We have a lot of competitors that love to lie on the internet to make us look bad. We also have a lot of DJI haters, for various reasons, that also love to lie on the internet. They see a thread like this or any other negative thread and love to pour fuel on the fire. So of all the bad stories we read. A big portion are lies or user error, most ((user error)) from what I have read and researched. (But not ALL I know that.) And there is a huge number of people flying with zero trouble compared to the number of guys with trouble, that I know for sure!
Think about it. If you go buy a new car and drive it down the road, if it works you just drive it down the road. You don't get on the internet and tell everybody, “Hey guys, my car drives." No, you just drive it and enjoy it. However if your new breaks down, then you bet, the first thing you do is get on the internet and tell everyone.
So I personally keep this in mind also. The internet can skew your perception in a unrealistic and negative way. Most of the guys flying the Inspire are too busy working to be telling everyone how great the Inspire is.

So any way…
after all that… When I see someone afraid to fly (be it Inspire or Phantom) I truly feel bad for them. I think they are missing out. I love my Inspire and love flying it.
In the 20 years I have been flying the Inspire is the best thing I have ever flown!

I know DJI has troubles and problems. I will never be able to defend DJI from everything that is going on.  In fact I sympathize with all the customers that have trouble. Very much so!  I have been a DJI customer a lot longer than I have been a DJI employee.  

Dave

DJI-Dave Posted at 2015-7-18 09:18
Hi smcbreaty,

I read your first post and saw that you were not sure if you should fly or not becau ...

Thank you once again for taking the time to read and post in this forum Dave.