Hi all,
One more case of spark lost due to lost of control and later remote control disconnection. I really do not understand how it could be prevented.

Summary:
1. Using original dji remote control
2. Original battery in 92%
3. Motors started
4. Started with 10 satellites
5. Home point recorded. Return to home 25m.
6. 13s automatically changed to opti
5. After 37s of flight (same place that take off (2m)but in 33m height. Message:   Magnet field interference. Changed to atti mode ( automatically)
6. 1m17s changed automatically to GPS mode (qty 13) ( ~heigh 60m distance 115m)
7. 2min and cannot go home due to weak GPS signal. Magnetic interference detected. Tried to use go home from rc but does not work. Used from mobile and received previous message
8. 17 satellites detected.
9. passing in a non fly zone. Take care with return to home. (Already spinning in their own axis since first seconds of fly)
10. Air craft is returning to home 25m height. 298m distance from home point and rc. (17 satellites at this moment)
11. Large wind. Take care.

Note:
--From step 7 on onwards rc was disconnected. Just have the following information due to dji app log
-- i lost drone since is in a dense forest and controlled by drug dealer.
- I am very disappointed in lost my investment that would be used as hobby, professional and to church external events :-(

Would appreciate experts help on the following:

a. What I could have done to prevent this crash?
b. Is there something wrong with drone?
c. Could happen with any other drone brand or model?

Thank you in advance
Regards
Andre C.

Did you try to return home (mannualy - since no GPS) on this moment?

Hi. Yes tried but spark was spinning around his own axis. Fast and moving far. I can share video and flight record. Just don't know how to do

When trying to go home manually the RC disconnected  very near from drone. I opened ticket
747515 in dji support but no reply yet.

I think you should first sync your flight log to DJI cloud, contact support@dji.com to start a case.

If you would like a better understanding of what might have happened use link below just click on link and follow instructions come back here and post the link.. I will take a look for you.

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

Concur with Hallmark007, I'd like to see the logs of the flight as well.  And available video can provide great visual clues.  There are a couple of observations I have based on your verbal description of the flight, but I'd like to wait until we have more data to offer you insight on what you might have been able to do differently.

I have one question, and I don't think this is a question I have ever asked of a forum participant before.  You were flying near/in property owned by a drug dealer???????

Ok, the droneʻs respective issues aside, Iʻd think if there are professional narcotics runners in your area, it is possible they have measures to disrupt drones that can do reconnaissance over their operations. ʻMagnetic Interferenceʻ in a forest? The crooks donʻt know who you are, Iʻm sure thatʻs mutual, but theyʻre the bad guys. If you knew there were this sort of criminal element in the forest, you simply should not have flown there.  It is possible those crooks would have the resources to protect their subterfuge, theyʻre selling drugs. In this case, itʻd be great if you didnʻt have your name and address on the drone, or that those guys in the forest are not particularly sophisticated when it comes to how they operate. Hopefully, all they do is farm weed and they pawn your drone for snack money. I hope you donʻt see that drone, or whomever finds it, again, actually. Cut your losses.

brian_b Posted at 2017-9-20 10:46
Ok, the droneʻs respective issues aside, Iʻd think if there are professional narcotics runners in your area, it is possible they have measures to disrupt drones that can do reconnaissance over their operations. ʻMagnetic Interferenceʻ in a forest? The crooks donʻt know who you are, Iʻm sure thatʻs mutual, but theyʻre the bad guys. If you knew there were this sort of criminal element in the forest, you simply should not have flown there.  It is possible those crooks would have the resources to protect their subterfuge, theyʻre selling drugs. In this case, itʻd be great if you didnʻt have your name and address on the drone, or that those guys in the forest are not particularly sophisticated when it comes to how they operate. Hopefully, all they do is farm weed and they pawn your drone for snack money. I hope you donʻt see that drone, or whomever finds it, again, actually. Cut your losses.

Hi. I live in a private condominium near to this dangerous area, but never I intended to fly to the dangerous side until this crazy flight out of my control. I will  consider your good observation about have the name and my phone number wrote in drone. Can be dangerous in this scenario. Thank you. Regards.

Andre, no disrespect intended, at all. I feel for your loss. This drone is at a cost that is appreciable to most incomes, so anyone of us would want to recover that in some way. My perspective is, Iʻd rather you be safe, and if it comes down to you, or your drone, well, drones can be replaced. Itʻs better for you to avoid that forest and not invite trouble, by way of the drone. Take care.

Hi all.  So I had a fly away this past weekend over a lake and my Spark lost connection and attempted to return to home.  However it could not locate the home location and just kept flying higher & higher but never made it back to home.  Consequently, it ended up landing in the water once it ran out of battery.  I went through the whole process of opening a case with DJI and sending them all of the requested information:


- First and Last Name:
- Shipping Address:
- Phone number:
- Model of your aircraft:
- Serial Number of the remote controller:
- Email address associated with your DJI Account you used for your last flight:
- Date and time of the incident：
- Description what you did to try and regain control:
- Video Cached (Applicable if you are recording during the accident, please refer to the attachment and export it from your mobile device and upload to Google drive/Dropbox.)
- Proof of Purchase:

Does anyone know about how long it takes for DJI to review the case and either supply a new drone or offer any other alternative?

Thanks

Edit: My comment below refers to the original case submitted here, not the subsequent one.

I can only second the advice given here before, as unfortunate as it is! Gosh, I have to admit that I had never excpected to learn about such a situation in an innocent Spark forum. Quite breathtaking indeed... I join all others in hoping that this particular Spark has disappeared deep in this forest and will not be found by anyone from the "dark side".
I would like to also suggest that you do not post your flight log here for your own protection! You can of course make it available to DJI for analysis and possible identification of the root of the malfunction and they might even consider to take a generous approach under these very special circumstances.

fans222dbd45 Posted at 2017-9-20 12:05
Hi all.  So I had a fly away this past weekend over a lake and my Spark lost connection and attempted to return to home.  However it could not locate the home location and just kept flying higher & higher but never made it back to home.  Consequently, it ended up landing in the water once it ran out of battery.  I went through the whole process of opening a case with DJI and sending them all of the requested information:

You may have to wait 7/14 days. You could contact a mod here and get them to try escalating it maybe get a decision earlier.

Good luck...

Those of us (or me specifically) take for granted that I live in a safe and secure environment.  I'm very fortunate in that regard, and I hope you can resolve the spark issue with no complications.

Sorry for your loss, have you synced the flight records, then provide your DJI Account email and the date this occurred to DJI Support? They'll reply your email soon, please wait patiently.

fans222dbd45 Posted at 2017-9-20 12:05
Hi all.  So I had a fly away this past weekend over a lake and my Spark lost connection and attempted to return to home.  However it could not locate the home location and just kept flying higher & higher but never made it back to home.  Consequently, it ended up landing in the water once it ran out of battery.  I went through the whole process of opening a case with DJI and sending them all of the requested information:

Sorry to hear, could you please provide me with your case number so I can look into it?

djiuser_XGmOaOo Posted at 2017-9-20 05:22
Hi. Yes tried but spark was spinning around his own axis. Fast and moving far. I can share video and flight record. Just don't know how to do

Sorry to hear about losing your drone.  For those of us on the forum to have a look at your logs, you can post them to the following site.  They have a link to directions that tells you how to get them.

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

fans222dbd45 Posted at 2017-9-20 12:05
Hi all.  So I had a fly away this past weekend over a lake and my Spark lost connection and attempted to return to home.  However it could not locate the home location and just kept flying higher & higher but never made it back to home.  Consequently, it ended up landing in the water once it ran out of battery.  I went through the whole process of opening a case with DJI and sending them all of the requested information:

Please wait patiently for the response. And you can follow Diana's advice and provide your case number.

Same thing happened to me. I have more than 100 flights experience, l lost my Spark after it flew away  a day after I did the firmware update for the drone, batteries and remote.
I spent a week looking for it before i resigned. I emailed DJI and hopefully something positive will result.

As you can see in the following videos, I was extremely cautious after the update :

- drone was hovering at low altitude before it flew away
- all signals, gps, wind, compass, RTH were all checked and good before it took off.


Xttps://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7t-IEA3D3QSc29nSHJVN2FMSGc

Xttps://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7t-IEA3D3QSN0tTVDRHMTc5c00

DJI Diana Posted at 2017-9-20 19:59
Sorry for your loss, have you synced the flight records, then provide your DJI Account email and the date this occurred to DJI Support? They'll reply your email soon, please wait patiently.

Hi Diana,
My case is the number 747515.

Thanks for your attention.
Hope that can DJI can look at this case with special attention.

Regards

Hi all,
appreciated the attention, advices and words from all. I read all. Yes, Maybe share the log here in my case can be not a good idea.
Instead I share a printscreen and video of my last flight with this baby.

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B3uuYjGoU5fTWXBKYWkteE41OXM

Remote control could not be disconnected in 300m only. No high builds near me. So no way to return home manually. Would appreciate  some DJI bonus. I really cannot go to the forest and try to find the drone. Life in first place as some of you mentioned.

I inform you all once have DJI update

Thank you on again
Regards

Andre,

just a question, the forest is Floresta da Tijuca?? I'm from RJ but I moved to ES nine years ago.

Wish you lucky with your case.

my theory is that some of these flyaways are being caused by faulty GPS receivers...it seems like the 'Weak GPS Signal' & 'Exit-P GPS Mode' errors are the common thread among them

Flaviocc Posted at 2017-9-21 09:26
Andre,

just a question, the forest is Floresta da Tijuca?? I'm from RJ but I moved to ES nine years ago.

Flávio,
I am in Angra-RJ.

jcwconsulting Posted at 2017-9-21 09:37
my theory is that some of these flyaways are being caused by faulty GPS receivers...it seems like the 'Weak GPS Signal' & 'Exit-P GPS Mode' errors are the common thread among them

Could have a tecnology to automatically land in situations defected as out of control. Is there something I could have done? Remember that RC was disconnected after some time. While I still had RC connected the drone was spinning in his own axis.

Thanks

djiuser_XGmOaOo Posted at 2017-9-21 10:02
Could have a tecnology to automatically land in situations defected as out of control. Is there something I could have done? Remember that RC was disconnected after some time. While I still had RC connected the drone was spinning in his own axis.

Thanks

the best they can do right now for signal loss between the R/C & AC is failsafe RTH. as for these other randomly anomalous scenarios, it simply switches to ATTI mode making you responsible to pilot the AC home successfully.

Jytspark2 Posted at 2017-9-21 05:23
Same thing happened to me. I have more than 100 flights experience, l lost my Spark after it flew away  a day after I did the firmware update for the drone, batteries and remote.
I spent a week looking for it before i resigned. I emailed DJI and hopefully something positive will result.

Replied your post, please check it.

djiuser_XGmOaOo Posted at 2017-9-21 06:58
Hi Diana,
My case is the number 747515.

This is a ticket number, just checked it, the Support will create a case for you soon since you've provided the necessary info. Please wait patiently. Should you have any further issue, please feel free to let us know, we'd like to check it for you.

DJI Diana Posted at 2017-9-21 20:03
This is a ticket number, just checked it, the Support will create a case for you soon since you've provided the necessary info. Please wait patiently. Should you have any further issue, please feel free to let us know, we'd like to check it for you.

Thanks Diana.
Will wait for the support reply

Regards

Hi all,
A quick update:
I am happy that DJI understood that my case is covered by warranty and will refund me 100% in coupon code in DJI website. The issue is that since serial number of original spark is from China so they only can ship to China. I am in Brazil so I am dealing with Banggood to they send me. DJI did the difficult part, now I hope Banggood understand and cooperation to resolve it. Initially they was asking to show evidences that drone has a technical issue. I only have DJI communication of course since drone flight away.

Maybe someone faced similar issue and can share how was resolved. I told Banggood that I pay the transportation. DJI can provide a new spark but not refund me. I perfectly understand.

Thanks
Andre

Hi all,
Received my new spark in USA already. Anyway Without Banggood help. I am very dissapointed with them. Now I will send to Brazil paying the costs
:-(

Aside to DJI,
To be perfect from your side please send me the invoice. Already sent many email to onlinesales@dji.com and asked support to intermediate but there is no reply. Some one here could help? Order 0010618898664

Thank you in advance.
Regards

André de Castro

Thanks all. Invoice received :-)