I had my phantom 4 sitting in a hover just above the ground right after take off.  I turned for 2 seconds to ask my 2 year old to step back just a little bit.  With hands no where near the controls or iPad my P4 suddenly took off up and hard right and into a tree.  Has anyone else had anything like this happen?  What does one do in a situation like this?  It broke a propeller in the tree and hit the ground hard bending 2 of the arms and now states it won't recognize the sd card.  I am a professional aerial photographer and have tons of experience flying drones.  I've never seen anything like this.  

First: upload the flight record to http://healthydrones.com/main?a=upload

Hello Matt,

Yes, I got my phantom 4 on March 18th, 2016 and i look it for a short flight that same day with no problems.

When i got back home, i updated the firmware as suggested and on the next day i went again to fly.

I was in a clear place and I calibrated the aircraft as suggested until i got safe to Fly GPS.

I flew about 5 metres high and i let the aircraft hover for about 5 seconds. the drone start to go left and right and suddenly was go so fast without me doing anything with the controller. I tried to get it back but it was impossible and i hit go home, but that did not do anything so i watched my brand new phantom 4 going crazy fast till it crashed on the rocks.

I have DJI care and i sent it back to them , i have made it clear that i need a brand new replacement and not just a repaired aircraft. and also i made it to the agents clear that i do not want to use my DJI care for this case.

This is a big faulty thing with DJI phantom 4 and the firmware.

keep me posted in your situation and i will post more info here also once DJi receive the damaged units and see what will happen.

Hi Matt
In case your phantom 4 out of control, you should switch the flight mode switch to A so you can take the control.
Note: In P or S mode, the flight control module (the brain) controls the phantom so if something is wrong the the phantom 4 will be out of control.

Hey guys,  
So my first question is were you in intelligent mode or active track?  There are several ways you could have crashed your drone in these modes.  You could have accidentally pushed tap fly or a similar intelligent command.  Could you give us more deets?

In my case, i was on P mode.

I got safe to fly GPS.

I hit take off and confirmed the take off.

The drone took off and hovered as it should for about 5 seconds then it went so fat away. at this point i used the control to get it bak and it was going to the other side so fast again not stop. I decided to press go home button and after i did that i got a message to come home on my iPad screen, i confirmed.  the drone did not come back but rather was dying away till it crashed.

I can't understand why when people have this type of issue they never put a direct link of the flight on YouTube if you are being serious and you want help you really need to provide more info ration,

Two alleged flyaways but no-one wants to give any information.
Without supplying flight record data people are only going to think it was user error.
You may as well tell us that aliens abducted your Phantom because there is nothing to show whether your drone actually flew away or that you didn't know how to fly it and did something stupid.

If you want people to take you seriously and help, you should go to:
http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/  or www.healthydrones.com
Follow the instructions to upload your flight record and post a link to the analysis here.
Until you do that you are out there in dog-ate-my-homework territory.

Oh Frightening hope they get to the bottom of this

Hello guys,

At least myself I am not asking anyone to believe me or say this is an allegation. It is what happen and this is the email i got from dji and the email i send them. I also already sent the drone back and they should receive it today

Dear Brahim xxxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you for contacting DJI.
Please send your unit into our DJI repair facility in North America. The steps you must take to properly ship your product in are listed below.

Note: Failure to complete any step below may cause delays in your repair, and could require our logistics team to ship your product back without repair service provided.

1. Please fill out and print the Customer Information Sheet attached to this email/ticket. This is required for every RMA.

2. Please include a copy of your proof of purchase. Not including your proof of purchase will automatically categorize your repair as Non-Warrantied and you will be invoiced after analysis. Please keep your original proof of purchase for your records.

3. Please review the warranty terms for your product to see if you should expect an invoice or may potentially be covered by our manufacturer’s warranty: http://www.dji.com/service/warranty-service

4. Do not ship swollen/punctured/visibly damaged batteries. If you do ship batteries in this condition, we are required to recycle them and cannot ship them back to you. If your battery was damaged in a crash and you would like to be considered for warranty replacement of the battery, you will need to provide proof of purchase and pictures of the damage and serial number(s) of each battery affected in the package you ship to us.

5. Please do not include any product accessories, such as batteries, propellers, chargers, tuning stands, micro SD cards, cables etc. If you choose to send in any of these items, you acknowledge that DJI is not liable for any of these products.

6. Please do not include any non-DJI equipment, such as aircraft accessories, hard carrying cases, SD cards, and third-party transmitters. If you choose to send in any of these items, you acknowledge that DJI is not liable for any of these products and that we are unable to test your DJI products with any third-party products.

7. Pack your equipment safely. Include protection such as bubble wrap and packing peanuts. Keep in mind that any product shipped just in the on-shelf packaging (i.e. white Phantom box) is not acceptable and will automatically qualify it for invoiced repair. You can always place the product box or case in a cardboard box, this is acceptable.
Inspire 1 is the exception to rule 6, please do ship it in its original hard case, packed safely inside of a cardboard box.
Once received by our North American repair facility your unit will be considered an active repair. The ETA for repairs is approximately 2-3 Weeks from the date it is checked in by our facility. On that day, you will be emailed. In the rare event that more than 2-3 Weeks have passed since your unit was checked in, please call 818-235-0789 for further assistance.
Once your unit has been checked in, and you have been provided a Repair Tracking number, you can check the status of your RMA here:
https://repair.dji.com/en/support/RepairTrace

DJI Technology, LLC
23610 Banning Blvd
Carson, CA, 90745

RMA: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Please include this number on the shipping label and on the front and back of the package. Not putting this number on the outside of your package may cause delays in being checked in).
By sending in your product for repair, you agree that you have read and accepted the repair terms as stated above. If you have any questions about this process, please reply to this email or call our phone support team. In certain circumstances DJI may as a courtesy provide a shipping label for those RMAs that qualify. Please allow approximately 24-48 hours for this label to arrive.

Thank you for contacting DJI. We look forward to servicing your product very soon!

My email

Hi there,

I have send back the drone including all the accessories and it should be there by Thursday.

I just want to confirm that I want a brand new brand new drone as a replacement only.

I followed all the instruction after i did the firmware update, calibrated the drone, got safe to fly gps, hovered the aircraft for 10 sec then it start to go crazy, flying so fast without my control till it crashed.

I was very lucky it did not crash to the vehicles on the road or someone else.

Thank you

Again, I am just trying to share my experience after the firmware update and i can send images if you want, I am not however trying to convince you to believe what happen.

deleted,deleted video

Phantoms can't record sound so this ones B.S.

R&L this is not my video so i can not say, the video can be added always the sound .

all i can confirm is that my dji phantom 4 was not working as it should and it flew away by itself till it crashed, we will see what dji technicians will say in couple weeks and hopefully couple days.

jbrahim@me.com Posted at 2016-3-24 14:15
I just found this link that says Phantom 4, I am not sure as i ahem not seen the actual drone but wh ...

That is a Phantom 2

Why do people post this crap on YouTube

jbrahim@me.com Posted at 2016-3-24 19:21
R&L this is not my video so i can not say, the video can be added always the sound .

all i can conf ...

Are you serious some one would add the sound of a drone onto this video, you need to shake your head from left to right and clear your thoughts

First off that is NOT a Phantom 4 (The poster of the video even says "My Dji Phantom 2 fly away").
Second, look at index 5:25 of the film and you see something else in the air (bird or UAS not sure).

So this is a BS video on the phantom 4.

   Matt,   Why were your hands no where near the Controls ?  Never remove your thumbs or fingers off the Sticks.  The Flight log will show exactly what happened.  I think  this will end up being a case of pilot error. ( Maybe you bumped the sticks at the last second when you went  to move your child)    It happens .   
EDIT : After Jbrahaims provided his log, I am not saying anything is impossible until   I see logs from now on, that is my policy.  So Matt I have No DAM idea what happened with your aircraft, and I am sorry  for your crash.   And I apologize.

-donnie

Exib Posted at 2016-3-24 14:42
Why do people post this crap on YouTube

competitor - or maybe someone that can't afford one. If you own one you know there is no pulse with the motors on start up.

ok guys,

Yes i am a new pilot and No i was not in sport mode and I was on P mode.

also , i flew the drone the day before and i did not have any problems at all,

the problem occurred in my opinion because when i got home i did the firmware update and next day on my first flight it happened.

I am certain 100%  that i was in P mode, I am certain 100% that i calibrated the compass, I am certain 100% that i got the safe to fly GPS.

I am also confident 100% that i took the drone about 5 more high and it was hovering and seedily with our me touching anything it went as fast as you can image without a stop.

Guys, this was a faulty drone and I have sent it back to DJI in Carson, California, I see the they received it today so let just wait couple days and see the answer.

I have full DJI care for one year also and we just have to wait, but i am certain it was not me at all.

thx

jbrahim@me.com Posted at 2016-3-25 12:16
ok guys,

Yes i am a new pilot and No i was not in sport mode and I was on P mode.

"the problem occurred in my opinion because " .....

As a new pilot, your opinion could easily be quite wrong.
Misunderstanding how the Phantom works is a major cause of problems and DJI aren't going to  tell you much that you can learn from.
If you want to learn what caused the problem so that you can prevent it in future,  go to: http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
follow the instructions to upload your flight record and post a link here where experienced flyers can analyse the flight and show you  what really happened.

jbrahim@me.com Posted at 2016-3-24 20:16
ok guys,

Yes i am a new pilot and No i was not in sport mode and I was on P mode.

  Ok, but you were using the tap fly feature correct ?  You did use the auto takeoff correct ?  How much battery was there when you took off if you can remeber ?  Did you happen to take off from two seperate areas  ( IN one flight)?  where if you hit the RTH it was going to   the original  take off point?  Maybe it was not your fault, please post the logs here or let us know what the result from DJI was.  And I really am sorry about the crash.

-donnie

Donnie,

Yes i took off using the tap on my iPad and confirmed it and that all i did.

I flew on this one place only

the battery was 100%

i got gps signal and safe to fly.

Now, i see some people asking if i used tap to fly , the answer is no. Even though i used tap to fly, or let say i used it wit id it crash to the biggest rock possible, where was the obstacle avoidance and why did the aircraft run away from me left and right without touching the screen

it was weird, i see though that the status of the drone is in process and it is been examined now, i will let you know the status soon


THANKS

jbrahim@me.com Posted at 2016-3-26 07:10
Donnie,

Yes i took off using the tap on my iPad and confirmed it and that all i did.

"where was the obstacle avoidance and why did the aircraft run away from me left and right without touching the screen"

You don't know what happened and ask questions that could be answered if you would supply flight data so experienced flyers could analyse it.

where would i get flight data??

i don't have the aircraft anymore, is that stored somewhere??

jbrahim@me.com Posted at 2016-3-26 08:35
where would i get flight data??

i don't have the aircraft anymore, is that stored somewhere??

from your device you use to connect to the controller (phone or Tablet) through the DJI Go App

jbrahim@me.com Posted at 2016-3-26 11:35
where would i get flight data??

i don't have the aircraft anymore, is that stored somewhere??

Read post #8 or #24 above.
They tell you what you need to know.

Hi guys,

i found the log on my iPad dji app

can someone tell me what is this

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/H0MKETV5CCGACJFWY83O/


this log shows that aircraft was sometimes going 49 miles an hour, holly

from dji information i found this

1.       What are the top ascending/descending/horizontal speeds in P/S/A Mode?

  

a.       P Mode – 11mph (18kph)/7mph (11kph)/ 22mph (36kph)   

  

b.       S Mode – 13mph (27kph)/9mph (14.4kph)/45mph (72kph)   

  

c.       A Mode – 11mph (18kph) 7mph (11kph)/36mph (58kph)

so why is my phantom flying by itself at 49MPH in P mode

jbrahim@me.com Posted at 2016-3-26 19:59
Hi guys,

i found the log on my iPad dji app

That's a very interesting flight record.
I've never seen one like it and it appears that your Phantom had a real problem.
It doesn't have a lot of detail and the flight was quite short but the course it flew and the crazy fluctuations in speed don't appear to be the kind of thing that would be caused by any operator input.
And it got up to 52mph - way more than P-GPS should be doing.

I'm puzzled that it just stops the way it does.
The track shows it slamming into trees about 50 feet east of the Sea to Sky Highway.
The land there is rising and at the altitude the Phantom was flying, it couldn't have avoided crashing.
If you look around 49.560486 N  123.232346 you may find it but it could be up in the trees about 100 feet higher than the takeoff point.

I would expect that you should have a good case to take up with DJI.
They will want you to upload the flight record to the DJI cloud so they can see it.
You can do that with the little cloud symbol in the flight records section of the app.
Then go to: http://www.dji.com/support/product/phantom-4
... and click on online support and chat woth the DJI person to tell them what happened and start a claim.
Good Luck

did you also see the speed on P mode, it was showing 49Miles/ Hour

that is insane, the maximum should be 22 miles

microcyb Posted at 2016-3-24 14:44
First off that is NOT a Phantom 4 (The poster of the video even says "My Dji Phantom 2 fly away").
S ...

5:25 is an antenna mounted on a pole.

microcyb Posted at 2016-3-24 19:44
First off that is NOT a Phantom 4 (The poster of the video even says "My Dji Phantom 2 fly away").
S ...

It's a TV aerial on a pole and very lucky the drone did not hit it

Use pause and slide the video to the correct frame - you can clearly see what it is

jbrahim@me.com Posted at 2016-3-26 03:59
Hi guys,

i found the log on my iPad dji app

    Jbrahim, You are correct and I apologize, so often people come on the forum, make outlandish claims and then never back them up.  You have backed up your data.  That is a strange flight indeed, The only thing I can think of is the bridge may have had a lot of metal and if any calibrations were done near there it might have thrown it off  BUT there is no proof of that in your logs. So I am stumped as to what happened.  Thank you for providing proof and I am sorry I was quick to judge, hopefully DJI will make a favorable judgement for you , please let us know the result so we can learn from what hapened. Once again Im sorry.

-donnie

donnie,

i see the process has started and i will guys let you know the outcome, i just made it clear that i wanted a new one and nor a repaired one using my dji care

Donnie Posted at 2016-3-27 09:56
Jbrahim, You are correct and I apologize, so often people come on the forum, make outlandish c ...

"The only thing I can think of is the bridge may have had a lot of metal and if any calibrations were done near there it might have thrown it off "

Even if the compass calibration was off because of calibration close to a lot of steel, You would see a compass error as the phantom moved away from the steel and it a poor compass calibration would have no effect on speed.
It would make it want to fly a curve but with hands off the sticks the Phantom would stop and possibly slowly rotate.

In this case the speed is crazy, not just high but oscillating up and down rapidly and the smooth corkscrew flight path is something no pilot could do at those speeds.

You are absolutely right, the speed was insane, this is my first drone and i fell so bad.

i was so exited and i put all my saving on this, i bough the phantom 4, extra 1 year dji care and additional 6 batteries, i was hopping i could fly couple hours a day and just after 1 day i have nothing.  so sad but at least i hope this DJI can replace it with a brand new one that i paid for. This is a test for DJI

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2016-3-26 18:12
"The only thing I can think of is the bridge may have had a lot of metal and if any calibrations we ...

Labroides, I stated that in my post, that if there was a compass error it should have showed up in the Log.  Right Now I am eating Crow and having Humble Pie For dessert, I think you have a place at the table as well.

I dont know what caused Jbrahim's  strange flight,  I hope DJI provides some information as to what happened so that we can learn from it.  The logs back up everything Jbrahim stated, I am at a loss for the cause.
Cheers Lab- Donnie

jbrahim@me.com Posted at 2016-3-26 19:24
You are absolutely right, the speed was insane, this is my first drone and i fell so bad.

i was so  ...

I will be curious what your experience will be with DJI Care so let us know how it ends up.  Given this may be a mechanical failure and not pilot error of a brand new product, they should do the replacement and transfer under warranty and transfer the DJI Care to your new drone (or also refund DJI Care and let you buy it again on the new drone).  They should not tap into your DJI Care for the replacement and they should not give yo grief that it was tied to the serial # of the old drone and not apply it to the new.  But should and could are not always the same, so it's a good test case and I wish you the best of luck.  Hopefully all will be handled well by them and promptly for you.

hi guys,

i havde some update that i want to share,

I called this morning DJI and i spoke to one agent who acted like a robot, he never said hello this is DJi how may i help you nor did he introduce himself. DJI need more training in a polite and professional way to answer the phone.

After I explained the situation, he informed me that the aircraft is been repaired, I then made it clear that i can not accept a repaired aircraft , that will be considered a refurbished unit and I paid for a brand new unit ( keep in mind i bough phantom 4, i bought also 6 add batteries and dji care, that about 4000$).

Anyway, i explained that this is a manufacturer default and i have not used the drone for even 1 hour, so how can i accept a refurbished unit when i paid for a brand new and who know may be this unit will have more problems. He confirmed that DJi will not give me a new one, they will not charge me for the repairs but they will not give me new one even though this is not my fault and that the drone was flying away at 54 miles an hour on p mode.

I again confirmed to him all my reasons why i need a new unit, and advised him that i will not accepted a repaired unit if that was the case, and that i will dispute the charges with my credit card at the end if they do not resolve this the right way.

I fell that i am right , i fell that they should give me new one with an apology not a grief.

I just checked the status and i see the following:

1-   Received 2016/3/25 12:47:09
2-  Repair cost assessed and quoted 2016/3/28 15:24:10
3-  Repaired and tested 2016/3/28 22:04:18
4-  Product delivered: NOT YET

Payment Status: Free of Charge

I have also just now sent another message to them on the ticket centre to confirm and this is the copy of my message to DJI:

Dear DJI,

I have spoken this morning with your DJI customer service centre and I want to also document what happen on this message.

I bought a brand new DJI phantom 4, and I bought 6 Additional batteries, I also bought DJI care and the total spending  is about 4000$.

I got the drone and after i updated the firmware i took it for a flight, calibrated the compass and everything suppose to be fine,

I was on P mode and GPS was safe to fly.

The drone was hovering for couple seconds before it started to go so fast that the flight data was showing 54 miles an hour.

I was very very lucky as it headed toward the 99 highway and hit the rocks just above the highway and no injuries, this could of created a  big accident.

I fell so bad that this has happened to my brand new , never used aircraft.

I posted the data flight info on DJI forum and confirm that this was strange and this is a big manufacturer problem in this specific unit. and i will be sharing the outcome of this incident at the forum once this is done.

As you can see, i got a new aircraft that suppose to make me happen and NOT A REFURBISHED OR REPAIRED ONE. and that why I am asking you kindly without any escalation to provide me with the same product that i purchased.

I do not want a repaired one that is just fixed and who know may be will ahem another problem and i am not ready to take that risk.

I have also informed my bank just in case we disagree on the outcome and I hope that DJI will do the right thing and just provide me a product that will make me happy as intended.

Thank you so much for your help and understanding of my point of view.

Brahim Jounh