Hello fellow Pilots!  Yes it finally happened.  I completely lost my P3P today.  I was conducting a pre-flight to set my Altitude  before doing some mapping using DD on a Contour Coal Stip Mining job in Kentucky.  I’m not sure if I completely lost transmission, or hit a Bird, or Motor failure.  Can’t find the Copter to retrieve the SD Card.  Doesn’t really matter at this point.  I got approximately 55 hours out of her anyway.  Any comments, words of wisdom, encouragement, anything positive to hear from you guys will be greatly appreciated.
Needless to say I’m sick! Oh and does anyone know where I could possibly buy just the P3P? I’ve checked EBay, Amazon, they are still pretty expensive.
I may upgrade later when I can save the Money?  TIA

Tim

Hi, sad day, you could upload the  flight log so we can take a look and perhaps shed some light on what happened? follow the instructions in the link....

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

You might consider a tracker for your next one.

Sorry for your loss.

Good luck

Hi, good day TCDrone. On behalf of DJI I extend my sincere apologies for the issues that you have experienced. However, we can only process warranty service if the unit will fall within the warranty period. Once you are out of the warranty period, we can no longer provide warranty or data analysis. We hope you understand and again we are sorry for the inconvenience caused. In addition, The only available Phantom 3 Pro on our store website are refurbished units. You may check it at the link below. Thank you for continued support.

https://store.dji.com/pages/refurbished?from=store-pc-nav

Thanks for reaching out to me.  After reviewing my flight Data I used the coordinates where it went down.  Low and behold there it was within just a few feet from the Lat and Long I had.
Very impressed how accurate the Data was!   The Copter had one cracked arm and camera gimbal was broke.  That’s all the visual damage I can see.
Gonna send it off to get diagnosed and a quote on the repair cost.   DJI you have amazed me once again.  
Thank you for your support!

TCDrone

Thanks for sharing the good the bad and the ugly.
Please post the flight LOG so we too, can see what exactly went down? Hehe, yeah
At least you found her, and even though damaged, can be fixed-up and fly another day.

Be more careful in the future. ;-)

RedHotPoker

Thanks RedHotPoker!  I’ll do my best to post the flight log ASAP.  Hey it’s gonna happen man.  I’ve got about 55 hours on her with no issues till that day.
And yes I will be more careful next time.  I always seem to learn something every few flights with several near misses.  You cannot be too careful when flying.
I did learn from this crash!  Well bought lesson too!  I did learn LINE OF SIGHT IS CRITICAL for the safety of your Bird!  
Thanks again man!

PS    I was conducting a preflight check on my altitude prior to doing some mapping with Drone Deploy.  These Appalachian Mountains here in Ky, Tn, are pretty tricky sometimes.

Man, you had to mention them large hills? Grin
Now my train of thought is shot. Gone.
Ok, never mind, anyways, Mountain regions are my very favourite geography.
My family comes from Canmore Alberta, just about 10 miles from Banff Alberta. Probably heard of that, from the awesome winter Olympics and other activities.

Yes, VLOS is rather important, for us to follow our aircraft. & turn her around for a safe return trip.
That’s why I love having the bright, blinking Lume Cubes attached to my Phantom 3 Pro’. Best Sight.


I know you will fly with more safety in mind, after all is said and done. I’m sure you were doing that already, but stuff happens.

Thanks for having such a positive and genuine friendly demeanour and attitude about all of this.
As frustrating as it all can be, you held your cool, and remained polite... kudos. I appreciate you.


RedHotPoker

I appreciate You too my friend! I have been using a White Strobe I got from Carolina Dronz.  Day time visibility is about 1000 feet.
How are the Lume Cubes and where did you purchase them?

Thanks man!

TCDrone Posted at 5-7 14:33
Thanks for reaching out to me.  After reviewing my flight Data I used the coordinates where it went down.  Low and behold there it was within just a few feet from the Lat and Long I had.
Very impressed how accurate the Data was!   The Copter had one cracked arm and camera gimbal was broke.  That’s all the visual damage I can see.
Gonna send it off to get diagnosed and a quote on the repair cost.   DJI you have amazed me once again.  

Glad you found her even if a little broken.

I too, am impressed with your demeanor. Most people come to the forum to gripe at DJI for issues, assuming it is their fault because the pilot/poster is incapable of making a mistake. Gripe gripe gripe! This was indeed a refreshing original post. I liked my P3P so much, I bought a backup. Both still flying fine. The app and the firmware are 3-4 years old, but I don't need the new functionality.... and THEY WORK!
Sorry for the crash, and hope you get up and running quickly. I love flying in the mountains too. Heck, I like just BEING in the mountains. It's going to be getting to 110 degrees here in AZ soon.

Barney

Thanks Barney!  Yeah I hope it can be repaired too.  I’m kinda in a dilemma though.  Depending on the cost I don’t know for sure if I want to find another P3P or go ahead and upgrade to the Mavic 2 Pro.  
Sure like that HASSELBLAD Camera!  Your thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated! And you too RedHotPoker!!! Thanks again!

TCDrone (aka Tim)

Thought I would give everyone an update on my situation.  Ok, sent the Drone to Carolina Drones and they sent it to DJI in Texas.  After diagnosed it was discovered an engine went out which caused the crash.
I was relieved that it was not something stupid I had done.  Anyway they estimated the cost which wasn’t bad but, DJI wound up sending me a newly refurbished P3P.  So I’m up and flying and mapping again.
Props to DJI again.  Best Drone Company ever my opinion.  Thanks to everyone’s help again.  Can’t say enough about the great people on this Forum!
TCDrone

Engine went out?  That might be the first time I've heard of such a thing.  

A new refurbished P3P?  Great deal!  

Awesome!  Glad your back to flying and mapping.

TCDrone Posted at 5-15 14:23
I appreciate You too my friend! I have been using a White Strobe I got from Carolina Dronz.  Day time visibility is about 1000 feet.
How are the Lume Cubes and where did you purchase them?

Eh, better late than never.

You never clicked reply, so I had no heads up, of your questions.

Lume Cubes are super bright, especially when clicked to the tenth power. Easily seen from a couple of kilometres away, yeah, easily.

I bought mine from Lume Cube directly. Best Buy carry them now...


RedHotPoker

Sorry 2 hear of your loss Tim. I'm still grieving the loss of a Yuneec Typhoon H+ that went down in water so indeed I realize the pain your feeling. God Bless