I was flying my brand new Phantom 2 Vision+ in my backyard just doing basic flight testing. Everything was fine until I accidently turned off the controller. My iPhone said the quad was heading home but instead it shot up about 30 feet into the air, smacked into a tree branch, came literally tumbling down, flew sideways into my fence, flipped over the fence and landing upside down on my neighbor's sidewalk.

What the hell was that?????? I thought the FailSafe mode just brought to quad back to where it started!

By the grace of god, it doensn't look like there was any permanent damage.

What happened? Should I contact DJI customer service? Thanks.

Hi Tony, your phantom was trying to come home.  It will first ascend to RTH default height of 20 metres, then come back home.  You were obviously flying lower than this hence the ascent!  You can adjust the RTH in the software, usually most people take it higher- mine is 40 metres.
Anyway you have learned a lesson that sounds as though hasn't cost you anything. If you haven't done so already, download the manual from the DJI web site- it contains a wealth of info and training for new flyers and should be your bedtime reading.
Fly safe- Cheers!
Rod

Oh man, I have read and watched everything I could find. I guess I didn't memorize the 20 meters thing....damn. :-(

I guess I got lucky. Stupid me. Going to stick with huge-open-field-flying only for a while :-)

Thank you!

tony.naptown Posted at 2015-2-12 08:55
Oh man, I have read and watched everything I could find. I guess I didn't memorize the 20 meters thi ...

Tony we've all made mistakes-hey and I bet you $100 bucks you will not do it again!
fly safe.
Cheers!
Rod

I've never had that happen - accidentally turned off the controller! I have brushed against the S1 and S2 switches, though...which can confuse.

Tony, read this to save your Phantom! I'd say that many of the long time flyers here - and this is a educated guess - almost never have used Return to Home. On the other hand, many crashes and losses are stories of using it. I'd say to set the goal of never having to use RTH!

http://www.droneflyers.com/2014/ ... m-fly-away-crashes/

With a Phantom I almost never watch the screen - probably because all my trainer quads didn't have screens. But I think it's much safer to look at the machine most of the time because you are truly looking at it in 3D space (real world) as opposed to a just looking at some data and what it is seeing.

This may change in the future when more accurate and reliable GPS waypoints are being flown (the current system is really just a toy demo).

droneflyers.com Posted at 2015-2-12 09:51
I've never had that happen - accidentally turned off the controller! I have brushed against the S1 a ...

You speak the truth, never used RTH intentionally apart from on my day1 test flight.
I have encountered the odd RTH while flying at the range limit, but cancel it after the 3 seconds it takes to come back into range.

Hey did you get the video?  

My phantom is set to return to home when the battery runs low. So, I'm landing my quad - I'm maybe 10 feet off the ground. All the sudden, it shoots up 100 feet. I'm freaking out. I had only had the drone for a dozen or so flights. I was sure that the thing was about to take off to drone heaven in a tree somewhere a mile away.

Fortunately, I realized what was happening, and I was able to regain control and land without incident.

All the same, I know the feeling, Tony. Nothing like seeing your quad suddenly have a mind of it's own...

jmims@me.com Posted at 2015-2-12 14:02
My phantom is set to return to home when the battery runs low. So, I'm landing my quad - I'm maybe 1 ...

this situation (which we hear about a lot) gave me an idea.  if the phantom is within 10m of home point it doesnt do HL but does CL instead.  i was thinking that using the same radius, it should just initiate a land instead of raising to the RTH altitude first.  i mean, cmon, if the bird is 5 feet away from where it wants to land, there is no real benefit in going up 100ft just to go over 5ft then land.  in fact, the 'going up' part when people might be around could seriously injure someone. (like is the case when you think you are currently landing anyhow and you might walk up closer to it without thinking)

gnixon2015 Posted at 2015-2-12 20:45
this situation (which we hear about a lot) gave me an idea.  if the phantom is within 10m of home p ...

That would be a good idea, unless there was a tree or a house only 4 feet away, it would land in one of them.  Some people take off from their deck on the back of the house, very close to the house.  The original home point I would assume would have a clear space directly above it, but 5 feet away might be your car, your house or something else in the way.  
BTW, I got to fly yesterday for the first time since mid December.  It was GREAT even if I did freeze.

yes, i get that gerry, but if i am flying that close to my house and car, the rth isnt perfect, it is 'within a meter or two' so having a homepoint 5 ft away from your house, car or trees would create crash risk whether it goes up to a fixed altitude or not.  and if counting scenarios, i would think there are more real world examples of where it 'taking off' straight up could cut someone up standing there thinking it was landing than there would be examples where it actually goes up and over an obstacle in the 5 ft between it and the homepoint.  odds wise it would seem that 'net net' you are or could be avoiding more problems with my suggestion than with the way it currently functions.

gnixon2015 Posted at 2015-2-12 21:09
yes, i get that gerry, but if i am flying that close to my house and car, the rth isnt perfect, it i ...

Where I live, Things are close,  If I take off from my house, it is within 10 feet of my house.  That would put me about the middle of my lawn.  I understand your thinking perfectly,  why go all the way back up to land 5, 10, 15 or more feet away, when you could just land where it came down.  We know going up should be a clear up flight, but if it auto landed 5, 10, 15 feet or more from original takeoff point might have a tree in the way.  That is why we have that capability to take manual control back from auto land.

Thanks all. You know, I am really impressed with the build quality of this thing. The prop guards exploded but other than that the thing worked great.

Sorry @jeepinocala, I wasn't recording

Its a good idea to disable RTH and instead set it for auto land, specially if flying in forest or near buildings.

BWJ Posted at 2015-2-13 01:10
Its a good idea to disable RTH and instead set it for auto land, specially if flying in forest or ne ...

Both have advantages and disadvantages. Since I often fly over water, auto land would be a bad idea fo me If something went wrong and I would need to rely on failsafe.

markus2015 Posted at 2015-2-13 01:20
Both have advantages and disadvantages. Since I often fly over water, auto land would be a bad ide ...

You right, but I usually I don't see forest or buildings over water   
The only thing to hit there is seagulls