I was flying my new Phantom 4 (yeah, brand new) down a river, about 6 feet above the water.  No traffic on the river.  I flew under a bridge and came out the other side.  My display showed "You are in a no-fly zone.  Auto landing initiated".  I tried to cancel but it went down anyway, and, of course, sank.  The thing is I had flown in the same area just an hour prior to that flight with no issues whatsoever.  I was at least a mile or more from the edge of the nearest airport 5 mile radius.  And not near any government buildings.  Why would it tell me that?  And if you enter a no-fly zone isn't it supposed to stop and hover????  Any input would be great.
Thanks

I'm sorry for your loss, if you are flying in a NFZ the aircraft will go into auto land mode but you still have throttle control and can use the throttle to keep the aircraft aloft and fly back to your takeoff point.
You cannot cancel the auto landing initiated, but can only keep throttle up to keep it from landing. Also it gives you a warning.
What is your email and I will look at your flight record. Sync your flight records then I can view the flight.
Also, call 818-235-0789 and start a ticket to see if there is anything they can do.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-23 15:47
I'm sorry for your loss, if you are flying in a NFZ the aircraft will go into auto land mode but you ...

I already have a ticket started (#266100). rollandDOTryanATgmail.com.  would be great if you could look into it for me.  DJI is saying it's pilot error.  Again, I've flown in that same spot and this was the only time it happened.  Why would it be a no fly zone???

rolland.ryan Posted at 2016-8-24 04:50
I already have a ticket started (#266100). rollandDOTryanATgmail.com.  would be great if you could ...

Rolland,
I've looked at the ticket and see the screen shot they emailed you and see the warning that you were in a NFZ.
I also reviewed the whole flight, when you armed the motors you were given the warning (Aircraft is in a Warning Zone, Class B, Fly with Caution) to let you know before you took off.
When you flew under the bridge you lost GPS and when you came out the other side of the bridge GPS was reacquired and you got the NFZ and Auto landing warning. I see you gave throttle but only very quickly and then let the throttle off and the aircraft continued down to the water.
It was avoidable first by the warning before you took off, and then again could have been avoided by keeping full throttle and have it ascend instead of descending into the water.
That's why the flight analysis deemed it user error. I am sorry about your aircraft.
I did speak to the RTHF department to see if you could get any kind of discount on another aircraft. They will send you an email in a few offering a small discount.

Thank you Ken for looking into my case.  When you say a "class B" airspace doesn't that apply to a certain altitude?  Yes, it is prone for low flying aircraft but should be limited to the 400' max altitude.  I was flying at an altitude of 6'.  If you could shed a little more light on that it would be greatly appreciated.  It seems to be a confusing subject on these threads.

From where I observed my stick inputs were not stopping the aircraft from landing.  I had a co-worker with me and he observed the same.  The aircraft was already in the water when I returned the sticks to the neutral position.  Can you observe any video footage from the flight recording???  You can tell by my previous flight records I had been flying in the same spot earlier that day, just not under the bridge, without incident.  

I would like to be able to capture shots like this in the future with the Phantom 4.  But if this is going to be an ongoing scenario then how are other pilots able to accomplish this within the same guidelines (same flying zones).  It's not unusual to fly in a class B zone but why would flying at low altitude and loosing GPS signal cause an alert and trigger an auto land????  Could this happen indoors as well????

rolland.ryan Posted at 2016-8-24 08:34
Thank you Ken for looking into my case.  When you say a "class B" airspace doesn't that apply to a c ...

Rolland, sorry to hear of your aircraft loos. I think it might be wise to mention that flying under bridges can be very dangerous. Often you lose GPS signal and the aircraft will go into ATTI mode, and if you are not ready for it, the aircraft can move suddenly to one side and hit the bridge.

'It's not unusual to fly in a class B zone but why would flying at low altitude and loosing GPS signal cause an alert and trigger an auto land????  Could this happen indoors as well????'

The autolanding is not caused by the loss of the GPS signal, it is caused because the aircraft thought it was entering a NFZ. Being indoors has nothing to do with it.

I agree with DJI-Ken. Throttle up would stop the descent and then use the right stick to bring it on land.

Sorry for your loss.

I also want to add that flying only 6' above water is not a good idea.  

Furthermore,
Flying 6' above water AND under a bridge a very bad idea in my book.

Furthermore,
Flying 6' above water AND under a bridge AND in a NFZ area is an EXTREMELY Very bad idea in my book.

I am only bringing this up just in case you, or anyone else plans to do this again. Too many variables working against you and not enough buffer to avoid catastrophic results.

BTW: Many bridges have active wifi security systems and some say they may even have noise jammers.  

Very interesting reading.  As I'm studying to take the Part 107 its introduced me to the airspace "Classes".   Its seems like a as potential buyer, you need to know what these airspace classes mean before taking off or flying around one....