My Inspire 1 Pro body with X3 camera fell from the sky with 66% battery remaining.

Battery charged 1 hour before flight and was 100% at takeoff.

Firmware 1.6
DJIGO App 2.5.1
TB48 - 10 charge cycles

Here is the video playback from ipad showing 100% at takeoff.
http://youtu.be/q3mCO21d5Es

Here is the CSV data file
https://www.dropbox.com/s/a341av ... prehensive.csv?dl=0

Here is the TXT file from iPad
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xvfitc ... 0-28-56%5D.txt?dl=0

Unable to retrieve the craft as it sits atop a 80ft tree

I am in no way an expert from a Drone perspective but I am an engineer used to carrying out RCFA.

I haven't looked at the logs but just looking at the images you have posted it would seem that the bird has 3 badly damaged rotors (as you would expect from such an incident) but 1 rotor including it's hub is missing.

A severe impact would shear off the blades from the hub but I doubt it would remove the hub from the spigot so cleanly?

I suspect you lost a rotor during flight for some reason.

mick.briggs Posted at 2016-2-13 07:25
I am in no way an expert from a Drone perspective but I am an engineer used to carrying out RCFA.

I ...

First thing I heard was the sound from my ipad that my video stopped recording.  Then my screen went blank and lost all connection to inspire.  a few seconds later I heard the sound of it crashing into the tree.  I was up at 350ft when I lost power.  If I lost a motor, the video would not have stopped until the crash and the camera came off.

Here is the onboard video, you can see where the video stopped where power was lost.

On the 2nd picture above you can see the 4 motors.  2 of them still have the props attached.

DJI is treating this as a RTH issue because the craft is un-retrievable.  Purchased in October, hope they will replace it.

I'm a victim of the battery failure plague that has hit many.

Ok, my opinion was based upon your first post, you didn't mention loosing power.
Third picture shows 3 rotors attached (in various states of impact failure) but as I said earlier it also shows 1 rotor & it's hub is missing.

I see 4 hubs

Thanks for the link , but I fly frequently, and top off my batteries before each flight.  

fdnyfish Posted at 2016-2-13 00:27
I see 4 hubs

Third picture, bottom left hub is missing.

You can clearly see the mounting spigot, no hub.

If it is missing it was due to impact , if it wasn't a power failure, then why did my video stop when the inspire was still in the air and not during impact

That is not the hub showing, that is the QR lock of the 1345T. look at the picture on a PC in full size

fdnyfish Posted at 2016-2-13 00:38
If it is missing it was due to impact , if it wasn't a power failure, then why did my video stop whe ...

I haven't offered an opinion on why the hub is missing, but it is missing. (In your first post you didn't mention loss of power)

You can clearly see the threaded spigot that should be obscured by the hub if it was present.

I had what sounds like the same issue as yours, It sucks.
http://forum.dji.com/thread-15576-1-1.html
Hope DJI will take care of you. They did for me.
Good Luck

there must be a local tree arborist somewhere close.......I am sure for a can of beer he would put on his harness and go and get it for you..........good luck.....these incidents scare the hell out of me.

"I may be completely wrong, of course. I'm not that familiar with the new style but that's how it looks to me. Have a look at some of the new style without the rotors and I think you'll see what I'm getting at."

Paul my Inspire has the "new style",  I know very little about piloting the Inspire but I do know that if you remove the rotor from mine I see exactly what seems to be apparent in the bottom left of the third picture.

PaulKerry Posted at 2016-2-13 01:18
Does it? Then I apologise, Mick. You know more about that style than I.

Paul..

No need for an apology Paul, I was just trying to point out to the original poster that he had lost an entire rotor rather than just the blades.

This could well be (and considering the information he gave in his second post, probably is) completely irrelevant to the cause of the crash (result rather than cause), I was just making an observation based upon what I saw in the photographs.

Have a few calls out for a tree trimmer, climber.  If DJI is going to replace it, then it will hang there until it falls, if they want me to pay because I don't have the craft, then I will have to get it down somehow. It is clearly demolished from the crash.  Appreciate all the kind words and informational links.

Temp was 48f.  Like I said previously, a malfunction of the prop system would not of cut the video recording when it did .

oucchhh.. thousand bucks my heart is pumping

Fdnyfish?
Just watching the video I don't see where you lost power? The end of the vid when you whacked the tree your status is showing 66%,  When I lost power from 50 to 4% in a second the status showed on the app. Didn't help and dji ignored me until I paid the 552 repair bill.
Is there more video of the go app

I didn't wack the tree at 66%, at 66% I was over a field at 350ft high.  the video stops because all power to the inspire was lost. the result that was not captured was the inspire falling almost 300ft and crashing into the tree.  there is no more video of the go app, that's where everything stopped recording.

PaulKerry Posted at 2016-2-13 01:18
I agree. I had taken in that information. However, coincidence, causation and correlation are thre ...

I have done multiple test on these battery's, I actually turn myself into an idiot, which buy the way is an easy thing for me cause I'm not far off, I walk into my work shop grab my inspire and head outside mind you my inspires been setting idle for a few weeks. So I push the battery button and when I do it usually shows 4 green lights so up in the air I go just like most idiots who own one of these things would do. But what most idiots don't realize is that even though the battery shows 4 green lights it's actually self discharged down to around 60%. So we all know what happens now, they get out about 400 feet from where there standing and all of a sudden the battery goes from 55% down to 6 % and auto land kicks in red lights flash then panic sets the rest is history. DJI could you please stop trying to control what happens in side a battery and just let it discharge like a normal lipo. If it becomes damage so be it I'll buy another.

fdnyfish Posted at 2016-2-12 16:30
Thanks for the link , but I fly frequently, and top off my batteries before each flight.

First of all, I am sorry this happened! and I have some questions;
1) Are you using the DJI hub to charge your batteries?
2) When was the last time you did a deep cycle to 5%?
3) Was the battery history showing anything unusual on the DJI Go App?
4) Were the battery insulation panels on the battery that failed?


Rich

fdnyfish Posted at 2016-2-13 05:23
I didn't wack the tree at 66%, at 66% I was over a field at 350ft high.  the video stops because all ...

fdnyfish

this is a my example using the Shou App (pain in the butt) video of the flight log showing the battery dropping.  

Maybe you could take a video of your flight record that shows us the compete record?

You purchased this in October of 2015?  Maybe DJI can help with the repair cost, but you will need to give them the aircraft logs (meaning you will need to get the Inspire down from the tree)

Rich

RichJ53 Posted at 2016-2-14 04:09
First of all, I am sorry this happened! and I have some questions;
1) Are you using the DJI hub to ...

1. No, Using a Smart Power Charger
2. Never, the battery only had 10 charge cycles on it.
3. no warning message from the DJI App
4. Insulation panels were installed on battery

PaulKerry Posted at 2016-2-14 02:23
hahahahha... Someone's been reading too many of my posts...

...

before I fly, I take the battery I am going to use, Turn it on, then insert it into the Smart Power Charger, even though it shows 4 green lights, the voltage drops to 25.x when inserted into the SPC.  That is how I top off batteries before flight

Here is the full playback from the DJIGO app

That was me manually flipping to ATTI mode, as that is the mode I like to fly in

Number one rule before take off...... bring up battery display and check for any abnormality's... over 1000 battery charges here no problem...

fdnyfish Posted at 2016-2-13 16:38
That was me manually flipping to ATTI mode, as that is the mode I like to fly in

definitely a battery issue.

PaulKerry Posted at 2016-2-13 13:23
hahahahha... Someone's been reading too many of my posts...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1i ...

Actually after recently reading some of your post I can see were you would think that I was repeating your words but I wrote my post before I read your post. I think it is entirely possible for two people to come up with similar results.

skycam Posted at 2016-2-14 05:49
Number one rule before take off...... bring up battery display and check for any abnormality's... ov ...

Out of curiosity are you using the latest or previous version of Inspire F/W, or possibly an earlier version?
I ask this because I've been wondering if the battery issue has ultimately been further compromised with the use of the later versions of F/W.
F/w updates have not always accomplished what they were intended, but in some instances have further complicated an already bad situation, were my thoughts.

PaulKerry Posted at 2016-2-12 16:49
I think the hub is still there. I could identify by looking closely at that pic, from the shape of ...

Looks like one motor is missing the prop completely, and still has the center rectangular QR fitting point but it seems to be missing  the two ears that you use to click the QR lock into place...zoomed in on an iPad retina with my readers on... The fall may have caught both blades as it hit the branches taking that prop and part of the locking system with it. Boy it was a real nice looking bird too with the paint work.
Sorry to see this...

Phantomflyer Posted at 2016-2-14 08:32
Out of curiosity are you using the latest or previous version of Inspire F/W, or possibly an earli ...

Hi Phantomflyer
I always update to the latest FW... sure there have been some issues but for me they are minor.. DJI are leading the world with this technology and are improving the FW all the time..,its a never ending story....
any restrictions that have been implemented in the FW (which a lot of people are concerned about) are there for a reason... that being  to comply with many countrys regulations,..... by doing this DJI are safe guarding the future of UAV's for us all... not to update because of any restrictions is irresponsible... and in fact could  put the whole industry at risk...

fdnyfish Posted at 2016-2-13 08:23
I didn't wack the tree at 66%, at 66% I was over a field at 350ft high.  the video stops because all ...

Thanks, the more I read and watch, I'm finding two different battery issues at least! Some that just act disconnected but the app reads power and some that actually drop power suddenly and the app warns of low power. I guess it could be related but I was one of the first I1 users to report the sudden drop of power in flight to dji. They just repaired and billed me, then refused to answer emails until the bill was paid. Good luck getting a whole I1 warranted. To date I can't find anything from dji that even comes close to saying there is a problem other than cold weather. Lol central Florida in October does not have a cold weather problem.

skycam Posted at 2016-2-14 10:57
Hi Phantomflyer
I always update to the latest FW... sure there have been some issues but for me th ...

Hello Skycam, Thanks for clarifying.  Please don't misunderstand, I do realize the importance of F/W updates, however on that same note F/W bugs which at times ultimately create new concerns are not necessarily in the best interests of the UAV community either, and If, and I say IF, a particular F/W creates a concern of a 5lb. model aircraft instantaneously dropping out of the sky for one reason or another, then I see that as a huge issue that certainly needs to be addressed, either thru an appropriate F/W or hardware solution. ASAP!

Phantomflyer Posted at 2016-2-14 11:20
Hello Skycam, Thanks for clarifying.  Please don't misunderstand, I do realize the importance of F ...

I personally dont think reports of UAV's dropping out of the sky has anything to do with FW... more than not its pilot error ....not securing the props properly, and not maintainning and checking their UAV and batterys  ... people will say anything to try and get it replaced or repaired ... i am saying this from my own experience .. of over 200 hrs flying my inspires with no problems... you have nothing to worry about updating the latest FW...

PaulKerry Posted at 2016-2-13 20:18
Naaah... Just my posts in general... It sounded like a parody of one of my silly rants...

I thoug ...

I like to rant now and then myself.

I just watched a YouTube video where a pilot describes his inspire falling from the sky also. The specifics were frighteningly similar to what fdnyfish described. In the YouTube account the Inspire was up to date, battery in good condition and fully charged. He had his Inspire for a year with 2,000 flights. The pilot was able to observe the Inspire nosing over and dropping from 100'. His video similarly stopped at the time of the fall.
http://youtu.be/w_vlHPbxva4