This has been an extremely bad week for us and DJI... first we got our "repaired" OSMO back only for it to still not work right, then today our Inpsire 1 with the X5 crashed from 40 ft up.
I turned it on, it said "home has been updated", I took it straight up, and the rotors stopped and it fell... practically exploding. Nothing is useful on it. We are in East Texas shooting a national TV commercial. We have multiple witnesses. This is ridicules! We love DJI, over the years we have been pleased, but this is getting tiresome. Even the response time when submitting emails is so slow.

Oh no!!!!   I feel for you, must have been heartbreaking to see it stop in mid air and crash to the ground.

Keep us updated what DJI say about the cause and hopefully they will have you in the air again very soon.

The X5 makes it that much more distressing since there is so much more at stake.

oh, i'm so sorry for your crash,  please call us +1 (818) 235 0789
Support.us@dji.com        Mon-Fri 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (PST)
and get your RMA! Repair cost will be covered if it's machine failure but not a pilot error.

Sorry to hear this unblind.
Must have been a sickening experience. Worst still while you are on a commercial job.
Hopefully they get you up and running ASAP.

I feel horrible for you. I hope DJI takes a hard look at this incident and if it's the inspire 1's fault to take great care of you. What a bummer!

DJI-Tim Posted at 2015-12-1 21:31
oh, i'm so sorry for your crash,  please call us +1 (818) 235 0789
        Mon-Fri 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (PST) ...

Thanks Tim for the quick response.  I will call tomorrow for sure. This was disappointing, but we are grateful for your commitment to excellence.

SO Sorry for your loss and I hope that DJI comes through for you guys.


Was the battery fully charged just before your flight? How long did your flight last (minutes) until this happened?

Rich

Yeah I feel for you and wouldn't want to be in your place.
I hope all goes well getting your X5 back in the air.
The bummer on many of this reports is the lack of facts for (all of) us to try and dig into the occurrence and figure out what happened.
It's extremely important that we all learn from each others achievements, mistakes and accidents.

for now...good luck there

jimhare Posted at 2015-12-2 03:16
Oh no!!!!   I feel for you, must have been heartbreaking to see it stop in mid air and crash to the  ...

When it happend is nightmare. My advice. Install Parashute on ur Inspire. I save my Ispire 2 times because of error like you had.  You will have 1,2 minute less flight time but it is worth it.

I had a similar incident with my I1 except mine kamakazi'd itself at full power right into the ground. DJI replaced it, but it took a lil while. Hope DJI takes care of you.

I had the same thing happen a while back. Its not fun. DJI took care of me, But it was about 6 weeks before I got a new one back. And that was with the X3, I could not imagine the X5 falling to the ground. My heart sank as I watched it fall into the ocean (2-3 ft in) I feel your pain. Good luck. they will take care of you.

PaulKerry Posted at 2015-12-2 09:11
Did you ever find out what caused that?

An Inspire at full power simply isn't going to drop like a ...

I never got an answer from DJI as to what had happened. I would have loved to have known what had caused it to do what it did and I'm sure a lot of others here would have loved to have known as well. There is a thread on the incident here on the forum. As of now and probably for ever, it will remain a mystery that only DJI knows the answer to.

PaulKerry Posted at 2015-12-2 13:47
Yep. I remember you reporting it at the time. Gut wrenching !!!

If I were in your position, I wou ...

The Inspire was replaced. And yes I was quite nervous taking the new bird up for it's first flight and I still get nervous for every flight it takes now.

great post.  I've never seen a post on this subject, but the psychological impressions the vests give make sense.   My experience of doing aerial stills is I don't often get bothered.  I always tried to keep a low profile and lookers were rare, just the way I liked it.  Also, I think the novelty of RC drones, hell's etc., is wearing off fast...no big deal for many as many that see me flying simply carry on with their dog walks, and other wanderings.   That said, I'm definitely taking your advice to pick one up.

PaulKerry Posted at 2015-12-1 22:45
I don't know if this is going through your mind or not, Rich but, I've been wondering if this (and  ...

Yes, many things were going through my mind and sure feel bad for him. Sounds like DJI will take care of the damage. Sure wish Tim or Dave or Ed would respond to our battery questions (if they can). I know they are working on a new firmware update and it should be coming out soon. I hope they share what the firmware is fixing and adding this time. Maybe they will respond to your request to remove the auto discharge feature until the problem can be sorted out.

I asked Unbind for the battery information and state of charge, but received no answer so far.  This information would certainly be helpful to everyone following the battery thread....

Rich J

RichJ53 Posted at 2015-12-2 20:22
Yes, many things were going through my mind and sure feel bad for him. Sounds like DJI will take c ...

Hey Rich, we are still out on location. For now the I1 is packed up, so I'll be able to look that info up over the weekend. I do think it had over half left. Nothing on the controller gave us an indications that the battery was failing or low.

For now, I am just too busy. In the meantime, we got a 3DR Solo from Bestbuy and have been getting great shots.... happy client. The 3DR still does not hold the wind and maneuver like the I1.

Best of luck to you unblind. Sadly it will take time but I am pretty confident they will take care of it for you.

And I also went to bestbuy for black friday and really liked the 3DR and its price lol.

But nothing looks as good as an Inspire 1 imho.

unblind Posted at 2015-12-2 20:59
Hey Rich, we are still out on location. For now the I1 is packed up, so I'll be able to look that  ...

U
okay understood....  The sad fact we are discovering you can't rely on a partially used battery because the App does not seem to give us reliable information on the battery condition.

  I wonder if DJI is reading the fact you purchased the 3DR to finish your job? From what I have read and seen the 3DR still is not in the dame league as the T1... It only supports the GoPro cameras at this point (a step down in my opinion)

FYI::: I just picked up the Phantom 3 Pro on black Friday for a back up to my T1

Rich

PaulKerry Posted at 2015-12-3 03:08
Ahhhh.... But does it fall out of the sky like the I1 ??

Sad to admit this is a really big problem and I hope something is said soon. I agree if DJI can give us the choice to turn off the discharge feature and only use it if we want it..... would be nice.

Rich

I was flying my Inspire 1 Pro today when the warning message that the battery was down to 20 percent appeared. I therefore began to bring the inspire back to land. At aprox 50 feet away as I it was flying over a large tree stump the battery level suddenly dropped from 18 percent to 6 percent in a fraction of a second- then the inspire began to automatically attempt to land and lower its landing gear. At this point I had to take evasive action to stop it landing on the tree stump. By taking this action the inspire then crashed into another tree causing significant damage to the inspire. The flight record clearly shows the instant drop in battery power. The battery had a power level of 94 percent when i began the flight. I believe the battery is faulty and this led to the accident. The temperature during the flight was 10 degrees celcius.

kristian.barras Posted at 2015-12-4 23:29
I was flying my Inspire 1 Pro today when the warning message that the battery was down to 20 percent ...

how long was it since it was charged ?,  

also did you do a short flight to take it down from 100% before hand ?

Hi Paul. Yes I believe the battery displayed all the signs that I have seen you mention before. I hadnt used it for 12 days but as I said, it was showibg 91 percent at take off. I flew it for about 10 minutes before the level dropped. Its currently with Heliguy being assessed. One carbon leg virtually broken off, the vibration plate broken, all 4 props broken and damage to the end of the gimbal that attaches to the inspire. Even though theres no damage to the X5 camera, the guy initially indicated that the whole camera and gimbal may need to be replaced.I just think that this wouldnt have happened if this battery level hadnt dropped so suddenly. Funny how the new update apparently fuxes this issue so DJI are obviously aware of it. Im just glad it happened to me on a practice flight and no one was injured. Im going to have to claim on my insurance(i insured it on my house contents but ive still got a £250 excess to pay). Im hoping to use the inspire for commercial purposes when I get my license but this has really knocked my faith on the inspire as a professional product  

Consider buying  insurance. Just why to $0.02

kristian.barras Posted at 2015-12-14 18:12
Hi Paul. Yes I believe the battery displayed all the signs that I have seen you mention before. I ha ...

It has been stated many times in this forum that if the aircraft has not been flown in several days the displayed state-of-charge is likely to be wrong.  While this is something DJI needs to address, in the meantime we can save ourselves from many of these incidents by recognizing that a displayed 94% charge, at takeoff, from a battery that has been sitting for 12 days, absolutely is NOT 94%.  It's more likely 50% or so, and the system will recalculate it at some random time during the flight with potentially disastrous results.  It's unfortunate that the "intelligent" flight battery really isn't.  But we can take that into account and avoid many of these accidents.

PeteGould Posted at 2015-12-16 00:15
It has been stated many times in this forum that if the aircraft has not been flown in several day ...

Pete, I haven't flown my Inspire in quite a while.  I'm charging all the batteries to 100% before going out but is there anything else I should be doing during maiden flights to ensure everything is cool?

Jim

jimhare Posted at 2015-12-16 21:39
Pete, I haven't flown my Inspire in quite a while.  I'm charging all the batteries to 100% before  ...

I don't have a definitive answer.  When I haven't flown in a couple of weeks or more, I do a full charge/discharge/charge cycle.  It may be unnecessary but until we know for certain what's going on with these batteries I'd rather be guilty of overkill than shipping a carton of smashed pieces to DJI for buri... uh... I mean repair.

PeteGould Posted at 2015-12-17 15:32
I don't have a definitive answer.  When I haven't flown in a couple of weeks or more, I do a full  ...

Heh, cool, thanks for the info Pete!

With all these issues battery wise I have a question.
Next summer I'll go hiking in the Austrian alps. I'll probably do several short flights during my hikes. Rather than one long flight. But, once the first short flight is done, the battery isn't completely full. Is it safe to use it that battery the same day for a second flight ? Since I will be high up in the mountains it's not that simple to take a lot of spare batteries with me. Since I need to carry more than my Inspire just to keep it safe for myself.

PeteGould Posted at 2015-12-16 21:32
I don't have a definitive answer.  When I haven't flown in a couple of weeks or more, I do a full  ...

I, too, have not flown in awhile.  This is my plan as well.  
Thanks,
60

FlyGuy Posted at 2015-12-17 08:19
With all these issues battery wise I have a question.
Next summer I'll go hiking in the Austrian alp ...

Multiple stories of crashes involve short flights with the Inspire returning with a partial charge, followed by the accident flight where the remaining charge suddenly drops to near-zero.  DJI claims that at least some of the battery issues have been fixed with firmware updates.  I haven't seen any stories involving the short-flight-followed-by-another-flight scenario since the most recent firmware update, but it hasn't been long enough to tell us anything useful.  If your trip isn't until next summer, continue to watch the forum like a hawk and let's see whether more such stories emerge or if they go away completely after this update.

Just got big box from FedEx. Hoping it would be our Inspire... sure enough it was. Brand new! Even the case was new. They stepped up and replaced it all for free. Great customer service!

Glad you got this taken care of and your able to work with it again.

Yes, good to hear!


Dave

PeteGould Posted at 2015-12-16 22:32
I don't have a definitive answer.  When I haven't flown in a couple of weeks or more, I do a full  ...

Pete, I have read this a few times, but I have not seen a recent post after all of the updates showing the best method for the charge/discharge/charge process. Do you have any best practices on this?

craig@globalvid Posted at 2015-12-22 23:36
Pete, I have read this a few times, but I have not seen a recent post after all of the updates sho ...

Since I haven't sprung for the high-end charger that does a deep discharge cycle, I've been using a 35 watt halogen bulb to discharge to the point where the battery shuts off, then recharge with the standard charger.

unblind Posted at 2015-12-22 22:21
Just got big box from FedEx. Hoping it would be our Inspire... sure enough it was. Brand new! Even t ...

Nice Christmas present! Good luck with your new I1!!!