Flown at least 100 times and never had any problem with dropping altitude all of a sudden. Had a couple small flyaways but that is it. Last night I was shooting a night shot of the stadium of our local football team and all of a sudden it just dropped. I was not that far away, maybe 400' and my P3 Pro was hovering just fine at about 150'.
Don't know if it is salvageable b ut it really freaked me out. What if I was over a crowd or somebody's car?

So anyway, for some reason I could not find the camera. I am assuming this is prob a big ticket item on the drone. So I will have to decide if I will spend the bucks to fix it or buy another P3 Pro. I would like a P4 but I have 2 extra batteries and a nice Pelican case for my P3.

Any comments would be appreciated.

BTW, is there a support group for survivors of drone crashes

Sorry for your crash. :-( Perhaps a Bat hit you or some other night flying thing. Did you look for the camera during day light?  You might be able to fix it but also you might use his opportunity to get a P4. ;-)

Please don't fly over people, cars, houses, etc. I also had an unexpected crash but I was in the middle of the woods. I found all parts and was able to send it into DJI for repair.

Sorry for your loss, this time of year the sky is full of bats feasting themselves on bugs, you may have hit one like the other poster said. Also, I might be wrong but isn't it against faa regulation to fly at night?

I do know I am not supposed to fly over crowds but did not know about the night time flying.

Somebody called me this morning and said they found the camera so that is good news. I'll see what kind of shape it is in when I pick it up.

Thought maybe a prop came off but all 4 were still screwed on.

Bats, that interesting. Didn't think about that.

Thanks guys

Hi Joe, DJI repair center in California repaired mine after a pilot error and it was done in 19 days from crash to back flying! They did it for less than I could find the parts for! They paid shipping both ways!
The best way to get over a crash is to get back up flying again.

And, if the cost ends up being so significant that you do end up upgrading to a P4, you could always find someone who wants a case and a couple of P3 batteries, I should think!

Longshot but....I'm wondering (because of your proximity to a stadium) if someone was using one of those jammer things against your drone?

Probably not but eventually it'll happen to someone.  I see more and more companies offering them.

John Hansey Posted at 2016-8-27 12:54
Hi Joe, DJI repair center in California repaired mine after a pilot error and it was done in 19 days ...

Did they quote you first? Do you mind sharing how much the charge was? 1st accident today for me. Clipped a tree and ended up in the water. Fairly significant damage. When I clipped the tree it rose up into the tree, bashed around and fell into the water. I've rinsed it out so far. The battery ejected, I retrieved from the river, it was still powered on

Joe D. Posted at 2016-8-27 11:08
I do know I am not supposed to fly over crowds but did not know about the night time flying.

Somebo ...

Did you register?  Part of the process is stating that you know the rules.  

Cessna172 Posted at 2016-8-28 04:11
Longshot but....I'm wondering (because of your proximity to a stadium) if someone was using one of t ...

It would be a useless jammer if it simply caused the aircraft to shutdown and drop. It would potentially do more damage then leaving it alone.

Cessna172 Posted at 2016-8-27 14:11
Longshot but....I'm wondering (because of your proximity to a stadium) if someone was using one of t ...

This was my exact initial thought. Then the bats thing... IDK. Scary, cause I see them a lot here in Florida (bats) and also love taking night shots.

Not a jammer, as Geebax said, unless someone created one that dangerous (unlikely).

I have seen a P3P fall out of the sky like when hit be very strong radar station waves.

You can purchase the entire camera / gimbal package from DJI for under $400. It's easy to replace. Ask here for pointers to videos, but it's mostly just two multi-pin connectors.

Chris

Not A Speck Of  Posted at 2016-8-28 16:58
Not a jammer, as Geebax said, unless someone created one that dangerous (unlikely).

I have seen a P ...

Hey Chris,

Trying to find the 4k camera and gimbal on the DJI store website. It's for a Phantom 3 4k. Any chance you can show me where. I can't seem to find it. Probably under my nose, but well .....

The best course of action would be to send the unit to the North American Support Center for a repair service, they would be able to recover the flight data from the aircraft to determine what caused the crash.

MaYhEm sMiLeY Posted at 2016-8-29 06:51
Hey Chris,

Trying to find the 4k camera and gimbal on the DJI store website. It's for a Phantom 3 ...

Here is the link to the P3 4K camera:

http://store.dji.com/product/phantom-3-camera-4k