Me and my friend were flying together. My Phantom 3 Standard was returning home automatically, the Phantom 2 was flying above our head (about 20m high).Just when I hit the cancel RTH button on my DJI Go screen, my friend's Phantom 2 lost control, started to fall down and crashed...
Could it be a very unlikely coincidence???!!! We'll never know... :-(
What do you think?


A closer look at the crash (look for the small white dot - the falling Phantom 2):
Video footage synchronized with my screen recording:

Wow - it's rare to watch one go down  like that.  

Your friend had a straight P2?  It was not a Vision?  

Is that you and him I see standing under the tree?  

It's possible your command interfered with his control signal if it was a straight P2, but it seems to me if there was interference, the P2 would just hover.  I don't know what would drive it into the dirt like that other than a lost prop, battery disconnect, etc.  

Were you standing pretty far away from your friend's P3 RC?

Mark The Droner Posted at 2017-5-27 10:48
Wow - it's rare to watch one go down  like that.  

Your friend had a straight P2?  It was not a Vision?  

It was a P2 Vision Plus v3.0, and yes, we were standing under the tree, close to each other.
The props were still rotating when he picked it up (at least 3 of them, because one wing has been deformed during the crash). 2 props were broken... But I think the props were in pretty wrong condition even before the flight.

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2017-5-27 11:26
Were you standing pretty far away from your friend's P3 RC?

No, we were standing pretty close to each other... could it be the problem? And how could my "Cancel RTH" command make his P2 fall down? Or it was only a very rare coincidence...

So all four props were on the AC...?  

Mark The Droner Posted at 2017-5-28 07:29
So all four props were on the AC...?

Yes, but 2 of them were broke...

If it was a Vision series, then the control was 5.8, and your cancel-RTH command from your Go screen with your P3S would have been a 2.4 signal, so I don't see obvious interference.  Let's see what Jamie has to say...

Mark The Droner Posted at 2017-5-28 14:47
If it was a Vision series, then the control was 5.8, and your cancel-RTH command from your Go screen with your P3S would have been a 2.4 signal, so I don't see obvious interference.  Let's see what Jamie has to say...

The P3S also uses a 5.8GHz antenna for controlling the Phantom (2.4GHz is used for video transmission and app control).

But your order to cancel RTH was sent by 2.4, not 5.8

kovbenc Posted at 2017-5-28 06:38
No, we were standing pretty close to each other... could it be the problem? And how could my "Cancel RTH" command make his P2 fall down? Or it was only a very rare coincidence...

A P3S also runs on a 5.8 GHz for the RC control and 2.4 GHz for the WiFi connection, so it can interfere with the P2V+.  If you are going to fly units that operate under the same frequency combinations, you should stand farther away from each other. It is possible that commands from the P3S could have been crossed by the P2V+, and I've seen interference from another unit cause them to veer and crash.

DJI-Jamie Posted at 2017-5-30 12:08
A P3S also runs on a 5.8 GHz for the RC control and 2.4 GHz for the WiFi connection, so it can interfere with the P2V+.  If you are going to fly units that operate under the same frequency combinations, you should stand farther away from each other. It is possible that commands from the P3S could have been crossed by the P2V+, and I've seen interference from another unit cause them to veer and crash.

I think they shouldn't interfere, even on the same frequency and also on the same WiFi channel... That's why we have to pair the controller with the drone. I've seen drone flights where 10+ drones were controlled by users standing side-by-side... Although any drone or RC can be buggy.

kovbenc Posted at 2017-5-31 09:46
I think they shouldn't interfere, even on the same frequency and also on the same WiFi channel... That's why we have to pair the controller with the drone. I've seen drone flights where 10+ drones were controlled by users standing side-by-side... Although any drone or RC can be buggy.

I can't really attest to the flights you've seen, but there is a chance that there were 5.8 GHz and 2.4 GHz  control frequencies that could have helped minimized interference. Depending on the models involved, there could be a variation in channel hopping ability that could help reduce the chance of interference. Again, that would be speculation on my part unless I see which flights in particular you're talking about.
If your friend didn't incur that much damage and the unit is ultimately fine, he should do test flights on his own so as to better confirm whether there is any similar unstable flight occurring. If it doesn't have any further issues, but happens again when you two fly together again in close proximity, then it will confirm the single interference that was previously mentioned.