Legends,

Just heard from my friend that his P3S just flew away and crash landed in the middle of the crowded street. His friend was flying that craft and he had to pay the cops a huge sum of money to bail him out!!!

Now my question is - Are phantom 3 standard flyaway's real? Is this happening regularly? If yes, what is DJI doing about it? IMO DJi is cutting corners by selling us sub-standard product without any proper qulaity checks. I also think that its realted to software issues. I dont know who to believe guys...

I myself own a P3S and now i am scared to fly it

Views/opinions?

"Now my question is - Are phantom 3 standard flyaway's real? Is this happening regularly? If yes, what is DJI doing about it? IMO DJi is cutting corners by selling us sub-standard product without any proper qulaity checks. I also think that its realted to software issues."

As someone that has flown P2s and P3 ever since they have been available and have also investigated many reported "flyaways", I can say that:
Genuine flyaways are extremely rare for the P3 series.
Almost all reported cases turn out to be operator confusion or misunderstanding.

What can DJI do about that?  
Not much.  There will always be people that don't take the time to learn how to fly properly.

Mine flew away at 6 weeks old ,I think it's the with the wi fi .so I got a professional and don't fly it far

Mrcrane2u Posted at 2016-4-15 00:21
Mine flew away at 6 weeks old ,I think it's the with the wi fi .so I got a professional and don't fl ...

It's easy to say that your Phantom flew away but without evidence to back that up, it's a meaningless statement.

Have you worked out what happened?
If you want  some understanding of what went wrong so you can prevent similar occurrences.

Go to http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
Follow the instructions to upload your flight record.

Come back and post a link to the report it provides and some of the experienced people here will probably be able to analyse it and give you an understanding of the cause of the incident

The p3S can hardly be considered as a "sub standard product'. On the contrary, the P3S is one helluva engineering masterpiece for the price of admission!

Initially, I too was upset about some things but then I actually learned what these are and aren't supposed to do. Made all the difference in the world to my attitude.

You will NEVER have a fly-a-way (minus technical complications) as long as you don't fly farther than you have battery power to return (BOTH the aircraft AND the remote), have a home point set that is accurate, and keep it in LOS.

The biggest problem with a "FlyAway" is due to misunderstanding on how to correctly use the equipment.
If someone did not have enough GPS signals, and have their home point set, the bird does not know where to return to.




To top right should be switched to the up position.
The left switch should be in the middle position.

Always make sure you home point is set, you RTH altitude is reviewed and changed, and also pracrtice the RTH feature.
Also, toggle the left dwitch up and down twice to kick in the RTH feature if the App has issues.

According to DJI flyaways do happen but its always pilot error.

While there have been a few flyaway issues in the past that were due to software issues,  with the current crop of Phantoms  I have yet to see a fly away that was actually a fly away.  There was an issue with battery failure due to software that has also been repaired.  In that case, the aircraft would just fall out of the sky. While it was in fact a software issue,  it could have been avoided in every case I saw simply by flying with a fully freshly charged battery.  It was discussed to death on this forum,  and yet people still had the issue.  It was also stated  in the manual to always be sure all batteries were fully charged before flight.  It is again a case of people not bothering to read the literature available.  Everyone wants to have freedom from oversight by big brother,  yet they are the quick to lay the blame for every problem at someone else's feet and demand that someone do something about it.  So we get more laws and rules to protect us from the people who will not do the necessary footwork before engaging in an activity.  If I engage in some activity that requires a certain level of knowledge and I fail to aquire that knowledge before I get involved,  and then I have an incident that I could have avoided simply by making the effort to get all the information I could find about the subject,  well,  who is to blame?  Yes, the manufacturer of a product has an obligation to make the product as good as he can.  He will simply not get any business if he makes a crap product.  The word will get out quickly.  But should it be the manufacturers problem if someone misuses the product either willfully or through ignorance?  The information you need to operate something like the Phantom is out there.  It is up to you to do the homework.  If a product is defective,  and if enough people have the same problem with that product,  the manufacturer will probably respond.  But if the numbers reflect that most of the products are fine,  only a few have the issue,  then you can expect the manufacturer to ignore it.  Is the manufacturer correct in doing this?  I suppose it depends on your point of view.  Business are in business to make money.  They will do what they need to do to stay in business.  Consumers should have the right to expect a product to perform as advertised.  There is no answer to situations like this since we are all human beings with human imperfections and problems.  But the world could sure use a bit more of people taking personal responsibility for their actions,  and the consequences of those actions.  And that should apply equally to both the consumer and the manufacturer.

OP says:


"... His friend was flying that craft and he had to pay the cops a huge sum of money to bail him out!!! ..."

this might be an issue,
if friend has no idea what is what!

Kneepuck Posted at 2016-4-14 13:28
While there have been a few flyaway issues in the past that were due to software issues,  with the c ...

Very well said!
For me, these Phantom drones are not pocket change, and I make a point to learn as much as I can and address all the potential issues before sending them in the air. I don't want to damage or lose them!

To address OP's concern, I have read my share of forum posts and watched too many videos over the last eight months. I have also flown with several P3 pilots in my area. IMHO, I don't think I have seen more than three "real" fly-aways. So, learn as much as you can about your P3, do pre-flight, and you should be fine.

I've been on this forum since October and haven't seen a single 100% real flyaway.
So far, only some "failed to set correct RTH", "didn't calibrated compass properly" and "didn't wait until homepoint set".
Can't say for the P2 or P1 series.

Pilot error my ass Dji Phantoms been flying away since day 1.My Phantom 1.5 is my FPV bird only and some times it will stop responding to my control movements and just sit there and hover like what do I do next so I click out of GPS and in a few seconds im back in control Pilot error no I don't believe so not all the time.

Yup mine flew away not to long ago lol and crashed into a building.. oh well. Life.

RATTYDUDE77 Posted at 2016-6-17 10:03
Pilot error my ass Dji Phantoms been flying away since day 1.My Phantom 1.5 is my FPV bird only and  ...

If you are commenting on the basis of your experience with a Phantom 1, that's like saying Ford cars aren't any good - My model T is pretty crummy.
Fly a P3 for a while and see how you go.
Apart from much better everything, they have a black box recorder that helps sort out the flyaways from the user errors.

well the black box is good but it still don't tell you Y there flying away does it and its really the second gen phantom the p330 is the first gen the 1.1.1 is really the 2nd gen and a flyaway is a flyaway no matter what it is ether a FORD or a CHEVY lol right

RATTYDUDE77 Posted at 2016-6-17 11:34
well the black box is good but it still don't tell you Y there flying away does it and its really th ...

Yes, the black box does show why some owners have lost their drones.
And the Phantom 3 made everything that went before it obsolete.
There's no point commenting on what happened to P1s and P2s, the P3 is in a completely different league.
P3 flyaways are very rare.

As labroides said fly aways are generally user error or lack of understanding of the way the device works.......real fly aways do happen (just like occasionally cars break down) anything that is electronic/mechanical always has a minimal risk of failure.   

labroides@yahoo Posted at 2016-6-17 02:59
Yes, the black box does show why some owners have lost their drones.
And the Phantom 3 made everyth ...

So what about the Inspire flyaway that's a little more advance than the p3 isn't it

RATTYDUDE77 Posted at 2016-6-18 09:21
So what about the Inspire flyaway that's a little more advance than the p3 isn't it

The Inspire is bigger and more expensive but the P3 is newer.
They both use the same flight controller and app so share a lot of similarities.
It would be wrong to think of the Inspire as more advanced.

I have no idea which particular Inspire "flyaway" you are referring to.
If you want to supply a flight record I'll analyse it and be able to comment.
It sounds like you don't have P3 experience.
If you are only speaking from forum gossip and hearsay, that isn't a reliable source.