I was flying my 6 week old Phantom 4 Advanced off cliffs in County Kerry  Ireland, near my home, on Sunday when it seems to have hit the top of  adjacent cliff, and lost contact with the controller.

I couldn't see it and assumed it had fallen to the bottom of the cliff,  which is not accessible, other than possibly by boat. However, after  contacting DJI, I became aware of the flight data, which seemed to show  that it was on the top of the cliff.

I followed the coordinates, the next day, to the exact spot but I  couldn't see it, even after a long search in tall grass. But, it did  seems as if there was other footfall in long grass (but I can't be  sure). I contacted the local police to ask if it was found (it hasn't  been so far) and I have filed a crash report with DJI.

My question is (as a drone tec newbie): If it was found, can it be  traced via the GPS (assuming it was turned on). If so, how would I do  that, and is there any point?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Stephen                                                

Sorry for your loss, have you tried the function,'Find My Drone', on the APP? Click the icon in the top right corner of the DJI GO 4 homepage, you'll see "Find My Drone". Besides, have you got a case number from the Support?

You may want to upload your flight log to phantomhelp and provide us with the link.
There are some pretty good analysts here that have more then once pin pointed the exact location of a lost drone.

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

Sorry to read about your temporarily lost drone.

Perhaps it can be located and retrieved.

Post the flight LOG link, as suggested... Thanks

Can it be identified? Sure if you put your name and phone number on it.
Did you put some identification, upon the aircraft?


RedHotPoker

Thank you for the replies (for some reason, I'm not being notified of them; I'll look into that).

I used the coordinates from the flight records to try and track the drone and went to the spot it was showing me twice (at the top of a cliff) with no luck. The coordinates under "find my drone" are slightly different (only half a kilometer of so away, but on the other side of the road. I'll try going there today.

DJI are in touch and are investigating the reason for the crash, but I doubt they will replace it. I saw a very good deal on Amazon (about €400 less than the price I originally paid) so I've bought another P4A and I'm expecting it today.

Also, the coastguard are taking their drone up on Sunday to see if they can spot my lost one.

Thanks for the assistance.

Stephen

Valentiaman2 Posted at 2017-9-22 00:59
Thank you for the replies (for some reason, I'm not being notified of them; I'll look into that).

I used the coordinates from the flight records to try and track the drone and went to the spot it was showing me twice (at the top of a cliff) with no luck. The coordinates under "find my drone" are slightly different (only half a kilometer of so away, but on the other side of the road. I'll try going there today.

You will only be notified if someone hits "Reply" at the bottom of your post.
If someone just ads a post in your thread you won't be notified.

Eric13 Posted at 2017-9-22 02:16
You will only be notified if someone hits "Reply" at the bottom of your post.
If someone just ads a post in your thread you won't be notified.

Thank you. BTW, I have submitted my data as you suggested.

I went to the alternative coordinates (very close to where it took off from) but it's not there. That's a popular tourist spot and if it did land there, it would have been found a few days ago. I think I would have seen it crash there, too. I reckon it's in the Atlantic Ocean. New one arriving today.

I have now heard back from DJI. It Appears that they feel the problem was "Pilot Error" (see below). They are, I think, offering me 30% discount on a new P4A, with no controller or charger (I have those anyway). They are asking me to reply with "I accept the offer" but, there is no mention of the total cost. I have contacted them to find out how much I would pay if I accept the offer.


For your claimed case CAS-1013448-S3D1V0, we have already finished the analysis, and the result is as follows:
1) Aircraft worked at GPS mode in flight.
2) Pilot pushed pitch stick backward, the aircraft flew backward, then the record ended at t=13:47, h=1 m, d=169 m.

With the record ended without any sign of abnormality, we could not verify what happened afterwards. We truly appreciate your support for DJI, and especially applied for a 30% off discount for P4A without charger and remote.

Sorry that we are not able to credit money back to your account and this discount doesn’t apply to any other model.

If you would like to accept the offer, please let us know, for example “I accept the offer”and inform us the shipment country.

Not a bad deal, certainly beats nothing.

I believe the OP might have been asking if DJI would be of any assistance if someone found / "stole" it and used the drone under a different account with a new RC.  Nobody has answered so far, and I'm kinda curious about the answer myself.

But no, if the drone was just turned on but the person never did anything more with it than turn it on, there would be no way.  The aircraft itself has no way of communicating with any servers.

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-9-22 06:37
I believe the OP might have been asking if DJI would be of any assistance if someone found / "stole" it and used the drone under a different account with a new RC.  Nobody has answered so far, and I'm kinda curious about the answer myself.

But no, if the drone was just turned on but the person never did anything more with it than turn it on, there would be no way.  The aircraft itself has no way of communicating with any servers.

DJI does not do that.  
There have been several posts asking the same question and several of the Moderator's have definitively  answered that will or can not do a trace on a stolen aircraft.......even if linked with another RC.
They suggest that you work with local authorities if stolen or lost.

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-9-22 06:37
I believe the OP might have been asking if DJI would be of any assistance if someone found / "stole" it and used the drone under a different account with a new RC.  Nobody has answered so far, and I'm kinda curious about the answer myself.

But no, if the drone was just turned on but the person never did anything more with it than turn it on, there would be no way.  The aircraft itself has no way of communicating with any servers.

An example of one of the forum threads that addresses to this can be found here.

Tmygun Posted at 2017-9-22 07:50
An example of one of the forum threads that addresses to this can be found here.

Thanks.  The only info in there I can see is a lie from a moderator, but I suppose it does pretty much answer the question.