I was flying my Phantom 2 in GPS mode. The battery went down to 25% so I landed the drone. Just as I landed, it went into low battery/autoland mode and took off. I had no control. I figured no problem, it will just land at the home point. But the Phantom proceeded to flyaway. I had no control. I watched in horror. It headed straight for a building and then stopped short and started descending. I chased it and got it as it started to land over some bushes.

Would flipping S1 have given me back control? Should I turn off the low battery/autloand feature?

Here is the video:

http://youtu.be/6PBKZ9QhVwg

You could have flipped the S1 switch down and back up to top.  That would have given you control back to land where you were at.

Thanks Gerry! I have never had this happen before, but now I know.

Do you have autoland enabled on your DJi if it has a low battery? I think I will turn this feature off.

Hell of a lesson to learn.

If the motors are idling and the drone is on the ground, the software should not have caused the drone to flyaway. This is a glitch.

alanw2005@gmail Posted at 2015-1-10 11:25
If the motors are idling and the drone is on the ground, the software should not have caused the dro ...

It is not a glitch, you can have the Phantom on the ground with the props turning and hit the minimum battery warning, it will automatically go into failsafe and takeoff to preset RTH altitude and land again.  You can also land, turn off the motors and then turn off the Transmitter before turning off the Phantom, the motors will start and fly to failsafe altitude and land.  Always turn off the Phantom first after landing.

Gerry1124 Posted at 2015-1-10 11:33
It is not a glitch, you can have the Phantom on the ground with the props turning and hit the mini ...

Good to know.

if you turn off the Return To Home on low battery mode, it will descend slowly when the battery is low. It really depends on where you are flying as to the best response. Also, flipping the S1 switch will only work in Naza-M mode, not the default Phantom mode. In Phantom mode, you have no control over a Return To Home. I found that Naza-M mode is a lot clearer in showing when the GPS lock is solid as I just need to wait until the red flashes have stopped and you get the rapid green flashes.

phalton@intech. Posted at 2015-1-10 13:24
if you turn off the Return To Home on low battery mode, it will descend slowly when the battery is l ...

If you are in Phantom mode and lose connection so it goes into RTH automatically, when it is near enough, you can move S1 switch to bottom and back to top and regain control to land manually.

Thanks for all the excellent feedback. Very much appreciated.

Thanks Jerry for reminding me of that, the mode will remain in GPS as there is no ATTI mode in Phantom 2 unless there aren't enough satellites to lock on to.

phalton@intech. Posted at 2015-1-10 14:58
Thanks Jerry for reminding me of that, the mode will remain in GPS as there is no ATTI mode in Phant ...

Is this correct?  I am now confused.
I have canceled RTH by flipping the switch down and up.  The manual also states that putting the switch in second position puts it into ATTI mode.  Is this not the case?  

Also to add to the OP, If you have your phone attached you should get a notice that your phantom is going to go home and a countdown.  You can click to cancel that.  

Fortunatley I have never experienced where the phantom will take off again after landing.   I did purposley leave my phantom on to try to drain the battery for calibration and it did not take off when it go below failsafe.  Not sure I like that feature if it is already on the ground and stopped.

ZippyZapp Posted at 2015-1-10 15:06
Is this correct?  I am now confused.
I have canceled RTH by flipping the switch down and up.  The ...

That is when you are in the NAZA-M mode.

Gerry1124 Posted at 2015-1-10 15:10
That is when you are in the NAZA-M mode.

I have not changed from the default of Phantom mode so why would it work?

ZippyZapp Posted at 2015-1-10 15:11
I have not changed from the default of Phantom mode so why would it work?

If you want to cancel the automatic RTH and you are in range and have connection again, you can flip the s1 switch to the bottom and back to the top to regain control and fly it yourself in GPS mode and you land it.

Gerry1124 Posted at 2015-1-10 15:13
If you want to cancel the automatic RTH and you are in range and have connection again, you can fl ...

Then why did it work for me?  Really confused.  lol

ZippyZapp Posted at 2015-1-10 15:17
Then why did it work for me?  Really confused.  lol

If you do not have enough sats, it will automatically revert to atti mode,  you will maintain altitude but it will drift with the wind.  If you put it in atti mode, it will act the same.

I think we got out of sync on the questions and answers.

I think so. So atti mode is still available in phantom mode? Flipping the switch could still cancel out the automatic landing/come home feature. I think i get it now.  Which as you said would help in this kind of situation. Had to use it once as it was going to land me on a mesh fence.

ZippyZapp Posted at 2015-1-10 15:32
I think so. So atti mode is still available in phantom mode? Flipping the switch could still cancel  ...

Right,  it is active in the Phantom mode, the cancelation of RTH is active on the S1 switch so you can take control if you are in range again.  You don't want to land on the fence or the lake.