Hi All,

I'm disappointed writing this note as I was so looking forward to sharing many great stories and footage with others here.   I'm unfortunately one of the unlucky ones that experienced the so called and not recognised fly aways!!  

Like others I've read about,  I didn't jump into a flight right out the box,  I spent weeks diligently reading and watching many youtube videos.  I installed everything myself from gimbal to fpv etc, and when I finally did take the virgin flight I kept it close and in an open space so I could really put into practice all I had learnt.

I was very happy with the first few flights, it really does handle beautifully and with the gopro 4, captures amazing footage.  This until my 3rd day of holiday in Sri Lanka, where I was hoping to get 2 weeks of amazing scenic footage, it failed.

Each time I took it out I would diligently follow process and would set the compass, I  always wanted to make sure if anything did happen that home was a good clear and open spot.  

My Phantom had been up for about 6 minuets when it suddenly lifted, I was in gps mode so immediately switched to ati,  expecting I could take back control and land (it was only about 50 metres from my position at this time),  ati  mode didn't work and it hovered for a moment then started to move out over the ocean at this point I feared the worst and turned off the controller with the hope it would action return to home.   It didn't and about 50 metres out to sea started it's decent, (not where home was).

I was able to swim out quick and retrieved it but not before it had completely submerged.  I quickly removed the battery and as soon as I was on land rinsed the entire thing in fresh water.  I then dried all for over 24 hours under a hair dryer, fearing the worst.  I did the same with the brand new Gopro, which funnily enough 2 weeks later after I removed it from a bag of rice is working.  (Gopro have said it could fail and have offered 40% discount on a replacement )

DJI however, I have to say you have really disappointed me.  Not only did you reply to my initial email with a stock response, you then insult me with the statement "buy a new one in the mid week sale" Thanks for the generosity!!

I would have expected at least you offer to have a professional look at the device, if not yourselves a local dealer.  It appears however you are not interested in these cases now..

I'm sure some of you will call out pilot error, that is your prerogative.  All I can say is, I followed all the steps, I read up on many of your or others past accidents, I spent hours ready lots of the great advice and many videos guys like you have shared, I made sure I knew what I needed to do if such an incident occurred, but in spite all of that, I lost my device,  and along with it the opportunity to capture some of the amazing countryside of Sri Lanka.

A disappointed customer and most likely a lost opportunity of future sales.

Cheers DJI,

Ben

So sorry to hear about your misadventure.  When something like that happens the natural inclination is to try and figure out what went wrong.  Out of curiosity I looked up the magnetic declination in that part of the world: http://maps.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/historical_declination/ and was astonished to see how mangled the force lines were -- I thought it looked like Sri Lanka is on the edge of some bizarre magnetic vortex!  Now I can't say definitively that has anything to do with the cause of your fly away but it sure makes one wonder!

One thing to clear any confusion
Did you have at the least 6 sats or more locked in and I am assuming you had the Phantom setup in NAZA-M mode and not Phantom mode, did you also check the IOC box?