I never thought this would happen to me after so many flights, pre flight checks, flying in different conditions, etc.
But now I'm at a loss.

Beautiful morning, little wind, clear skies, I was doing some beach videography at Newport Beachg on the fringes of C airspace (with tower permission) - like I've done many times before. ~ max 400m from shore, under 100m ceiling (as requested by the tower).

Before flight the compass was calibrated, GPS, and signals were strong, no interference, did my usualy control ranges and flight checks (up/down, turn/yaw, etc), just like any other time.

All of a sudden the bird fstarts falling out out of the sky and I see a compass error on the screen as it pummets towards the ocean. Thinking the props have stopped and seconds from the ocean I try to restart them to no avail and splash.

I'm unable to retrieve it as it too far out from shore. An hour later I get some people on surf boards to go look for it, but no luck. Lost...

What can I do to find out what happened?
What are my options?

A very sad Blaine

Phantom Pro 3
iPad Mini

There are a lot of people that are good at analyzing data from your device.
Go to http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight records.
Paste the link here from the report you generate.

How old was your P3.....when did you buy it?

Sad to hear about the loss; hate that dreadfull feeling. Curious, did the Go 4 App request compass calibration?  

Sportbike_Pilot Posted at 2017-10-3 09:55
Sad to hear about the loss; hate that dreadfull feeling. Curious, did the Go 4 App request compass calibration?

Every time someone mentions compass calibration, people jump all over it.  A compass error will not cause loss of altitude.  Jesus H. Christ!  Maybe you guys can stop repeating from rote everything you read on other threads like some sort of damn parrot.

Not that it's important, but the compass error could have been just a side effect of the thing spinning out of control.

Yeah, try to upload you logs if you can. Sorry for your loss. In case you get another bird at some point, you might consider not calibrating each time you fly. Unless it was prompting you to do so. Not trying to pour salt in the wound here, but it sounds like if it were a compass error, you may have made a wrong move by re-calibrating a perfectly good compass calibration. Don't know until your data can be analyzed. Again, sorry to hear! Not that it matters, but even if you were over land, at that altitude I doubt you would have had much to recover. I also fly over the water for the majority of my flying. Just the chance you take.  

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-10-3 10:12
Every time someone mentions compass calibration, people jump all over it.  A compass error will not cause loss of altitude.  Jesus H. Christ!  Maybe you guys can stop repeating from rote everything you read on other threads like some sort of damn parrot.

Not that it's important, but the compass error could have been just a side effect of the thing spinning out of control.

Dude...calm down!
You may be right, but getting irate (pun intended) about it wont help or solve anything that way.
I think we should wait and see if Blaine takes Tmygun up on his advice and then we can analyze & speculate all day long on why and what caused this.  
Chill...

Genghis9 Posted at 2017-10-3 10:20
Dude...calm down!
You may be right, but getting irate (pun intended) about it wont help or solve anything that way.
I think we should wait and see if Blaine takes Tmygun up on his advice and then we can analyze & speculate all day long on why and what caused this.  

Hey, I was just voicing a valid concern about activity on this forum.  As for my demeanor, they don't call me irate for no reason.  

Yeah, without the logs it's impossible to say.  I will wait for data.  And it seems while you were typing that we got another Einstein chiming in about the compass recalibration causing the thing to fall out of the sky.  "Q.E.D."

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-10-3 10:24
Hey, I was just voicing a valid concern about activity on this forum.  As for my demeanor, they don't call me irate for no reason.  

Yeah, without the logs it's impossible to say.  I will wait for data.  And it seems while you were typing that we got another Einstein chiming in about the compass recalibration causing the thing to fall out of the sky.  "Q.E.D."

I'm guessing I'm the Einstein your are referring to. I was just offering some suggestions. I never said that was the problem. I also said it was impossible to tell until the data is looked at. I thought the whole idea of a forum was sharing ideas. Didn't know we had to be experts before speaking.

RicardoGray Posted at 2017-10-3 10:36
I'm guessing I'm the Einstein your are referring to. I was just offering some suggestions. I never said that was the problem. I also said it was impossible to tell until the data is looked at. I thought the whole idea of a forum was sharing ideas. Didn't know we had to be experts before speaking.

He very well may have made a "wrong move" (as you put it) by recalibrating the compass, but that would cause loss of directional control, if he was startled by it, not a swim in the water.

It has little to do with needing to be an expert before commenting.  It's just that it doesn't even pass the smell test.  You parrot this, and then 10 other people are going to read it and start parroting it, and so on.  This type of thing is becoming an epidemic and is getting in the way of people getting real answers.  If it's not called out it's just going to get worse.  Same with the "format your SD card" and "update your firmware" BS.  Folks who are having trouble need help, not being asked to waste their time on all sorts of BS things which have no possible way of solving their problem.  And worse, it wastes their time and patience.  Causing them to get fed up.  Obviously that doesn't exactly apply here since the drone is already destroyed.

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-10-3 10:12
Every time someone mentions compass calibration, people jump all over it.  A compass error will not cause loss of altitude.  Jesus H. Christ!  Maybe you guys can stop repeating from rote everything you read on other threads like some sort of damn parrot.

Not that it's important, but the compass error could have been just a side effect of the thing spinning out of control.

Who the &^%$# think you are !! People, anybody on here can ask and say whatever they want !  a million F&*^%  times if they want to. Who do you think you are to prevent them from doing so.

Members can ask whatever the &$^ they want, whenever they want, wherever they want. If you don't like it then that's your problem. Looks like that problem belongs to you so if you don't like it, go hide somewhere and don't come on here with your truck of BS .

Furthermore, CC does have some effect on the copter so do yourself a favor and keep your ignorant comments to yourself. If you don't anything good or positive to say , DON'T SAY A WORD !
You're very far from being an expert period. You're a 'wannabe expert' that knows jacks*&^%.

Move on and go back into your hole and don't come out.

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-10-3 10:24
Hey, I was just voicing a valid concern about activity on this forum.  As for my demeanor, they don't call me irate for no reason.  

Yeah, without the logs it's impossible to say.  I will wait for data.  And it seems while you were typing that we got another Einstein chiming in about the compass recalibration causing the thing to fall out of the sky.  "Q.E.D."

Nothing valid about yr stupid comment.

Genghis9 Posted at 2017-10-3 10:20
Dude...calm down!
You may be right, but getting irate (pun intended) about it wont help or solve anything that way.
I think we should wait and see if Blaine takes Tmygun up on his advice and then we can analyze & speculate all day long on why and what caused this.  

Genghis9 thanks for being the voice of reason.

To the OP: again did the Go 4 App request compass calibration?  

To the OP: again did the Go 4 App request compass calibration?  

What a grouchy bunch!  I think you all need to go calibrate your fingers lol.

Irate Retro Posted at 2017-10-3 10:44
He very well may have made a "wrong move" (as you put it) by recalibrating the compass, but that would cause loss of directional control, if he was startled by it, not a swim in the water.

It has little to do with needing to be an expert before commenting.  It's just that it doesn't even pass the smell test.  You parrot this, and then 10 other people are going to read it and start parroting it, and so on.  This type of thing is becoming an epidemic and is getting in the way of people getting real answers.  If it's not called out it's just going to get worse.  Same with the "format your SD card" and "update your firmware" BS.  Folks who are having trouble need help, not being asked to waste their time on all sorts of BS things which have no possible way of solving their problem.  And worse, it wastes their time and patience.  Causing them to get fed up.  Obviously that doesn't exactly apply here since the drone is already destroyed.

I totally agree with your response that a compass error wouldn't cause it to fall out of the sky. I have experienced a goofy compass, and my aircraft did some crazy stuff, but yes it kept flying. I was simply mentioning it to him. Sure, I maybe should have said that it was in no way the reason for his bird to fall out of the sky. My bad!
But to that, you don't have to bash us for mentioning it. I also agree with you about how you see a lot of the same things mentioned over and over, and yes it seems a bit much at times to me too. But who am I to tell somebody to not ask a question or give an answer that has been discussed a hundred times. I am not one to do that, but you seem to not be able to stand it. You have the right to voice your opinion as much as the next guy, but I don't think your ranting is helping anyone here.
So, here we are all discussing your comments, and missing the objective of trying to help this guy.
Take a deep breath, and if you don't like what you are reading, don't read.

The more I read on the forum about unexpected behaviors, the stronger I feel there may be hardware and or software failures due to quality control or bad manufacturing processes. Example of what maybe bad hardware failures are number of GPS receivers failures  reported in threads on the forum, number of lost links between controller and Quad...etc etc, do not rule out hardware/software or pilot error. Having been a Electrical Engineer from when computer were just coming out of the Vacuum Tube to when VLSI and Arrays. There is a tremendous amount of electronics and lines of software that can go SOUTH.

RMJovo Posted at 2017-10-3 11:45
The more I read on the forum about unexpected behaviors, the stronger I feel there may be hardware and or software failures due to quality control or bad manufacturing processes. Example of what maybe bad hardware failures are number of GPS receivers failures  reported in threads on the forum, number of lost links between controller and Quad...etc etc, do not rule out hardware/software or pilot error. Having been a Electrical Engineer from when computer were just coming out of the Vacuum Tube to when VLSI and Arrays. There is a tremendous amount of electronics and lines of software that can go SOUTH.

You make a very good point! I think we all are too quick to judge sometimes. The technology has grown such that I'm sure most of us don't understand just how much is going on within the RC, aircraft and the app. Not to mention all of the other kinds of stuff that is bouncing around in the atmosphere! LOL I know there all dedicated bandwidths, channels, etc., but a lot of it out there. And yes, even though things might be good at some point during development, the ramping up to meet demands has to put a huge strain on quality. Still, some amazing machines we have.

RicardoGray Posted at 2017-10-3 12:11
You make a very good point! I think we all are too quick to judge sometimes. The technology has grown such that I'm sure most of us don't understand just how much is going on within the RC, aircraft and the app. Not to mention all of the other kinds of stuff that is bouncing around in the atmosphere! LOL I know there all dedicated bandwidths, channels, etc., but a lot of it out there. And yes, even though things might be good at some point during development, the ramping up to meet demands has to put a huge strain on quality. Still, some amazing machines we have.

"The technology has grown such that I'm sure most of us don't understand just how much is going on within the RC, aircraft and the app."

Exactly, there could've been issues with the compass who knows. Who knows if they were some unexplained issues causing the copter to malfunction. We can only speculate, provide feedback and help troubleshoot. As I said before, nobody in here is an expert and as far as I know, no members here are employed by DJI to provide professional/technical feedback on these copters. Nobody !

Could be a prop loss but we need the log.  

Post #2 explains what you need to do.
Without data you will only get uninformed guesses.
With data we'll have a chance to see what was really happening during the flight or may at least be able to eliminate some possibilities.

ps ... If you see a compass error while the Phantom is falling, spinning, that is just the compass detecting the Phantom rotating fatser than it is designed to.
It's not a problem with the compass.  It's the compass advising it has detected a problem.
On the bright (?) side, it also indicates that the Phantom was still sending data and we should see the important data to pin down a likely cause.

Now where's that flight record?

Labroides Posted at 2017-10-3 15:16
Post #2 explains what you need to do.
Without data you will only get uninformed guesses.
With data we'll have a chance to see what was really happening during the flight or may at least be able to eliminate some possibilities.

Can someone tell me about compass calibration please. The question is, do I need to calibrate and area that I fly in more than once?

Seams your all talking about calibration I thought I'd ask.

Paul Tomo Posted at 2017-10-3 15:29
Can someone tell me about compass calibration please. The question is, do I need to calibrate and area that I fly in more than once?

Seams your all talking about calibration I thought I'd ask.

The most popular will be no. But don't take my word for it. It is kind of a touchy subject on this post! LOL
Seriously, it might be better if you search on the forum. There are a ton of discussions about it. and actually you could create a post for just that answer, and everyone would then be responding to you.
I don't mind giving you an answer to your question, but some feel it is not appropriate to jump in on someone else's post on a detailed subject like what you are asking about.

RicardoGray Posted at 2017-10-3 15:41
The most popular will be no. But don't take my word for it. It is kind of a touchy subject on this post! LOL
Seriously, it might be better if you search on the forum. There are a ton of discussions about it. and actually you could create a post for just that answer, and everyone would then be responding to you.
I don't mind giving you an answer to your question, but some feel it is not appropriate to jump in on someone else's post on a detailed subject like what you are asking about.

ok thanks I'll repost

Paul Tomo Posted at 2017-10-3 15:29
Can someone tell me about compass calibration please. The question is, do I need to calibrate and area that I fly in more than once?

Seams your all talking about calibration I thought I'd ask.

Just like the up-to-date versions of the manual tell you, no.
If you buy a new Phantom, there is no need to calibrate the compass.
If you fly somewhere new, there is no need to calibrate the compass.
Don't mess around with calibrating a perfectly working compass.

Labroides Posted at 2017-10-3 15:51
Just like the up-to-date versions of the manual tell you, no.
If you buy a new Phantom, there is no need to calibrate the compass.
If you fly somewhere new, there is no need to calibrate the compass.

Thanks for the advice, when you look on youtube nobody say don't calibrate the compass but only to calibrate is this wrong info on youtube?

would doing the calibrate compass bit make you drone fall out of the sky if it don't need compass calibration

Paul Tomo Posted at 2017-10-3 16:01
Thanks for the advice, when you look on youtube nobody say don't calibrate the compass but only to calibrate is this wrong info on youtube?

would doing the calibrate compass bit make you drone fall out of the sky if it don't need compass calibration

Lots of things on Youtube are incorrect.

Messing with the compass can cause problems but falling from the sky isn't what it would do.

Labroides Posted at 2017-10-3 16:12
Lots of things on Youtube are incorrect.

Messing with the compass can cause problems but falling from the sky isn't what it would do.

DJI must have there own youtube channel showing dji uses about their aircraft then?

too bad no video!

#shotxclvck Posted at 2017-10-3 16:27
too bad no video!

Flying over the ocean he could have hit a seagull.

Blaine, just to verify, when did you buy the drone? If the drone is in warranty period, please contact the Support and start a case for analysis: http://www.dji.com/support.

sorry for your loss.i am interested to learn more info on what caused it.

Tmygun Posted at 2017-10-3 09:49
There are a lot of people that are good at analyzing data from your device.
Go to http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight records.

hey OP do this ^ so you/we can figure it out

Blaine, just curious if you had any luck upoloading your flight logs? I'm sure a lot of us are still interested.

After Irate Retro opened his big mouth I don't believe Blaine will respond.  One thing for sure, Irate picked a fitting name!

Sorry to hear of your lost Blaine.

Hi everyone, first thank you for all your comments and sorry that everything became a bit heated.
I didn't mean to mislead anyone about the compass error, only that it was what I observed on screen as it was falling out of the sky. Don't know if it was a cause or effect, but as some one said, a don't see how a compass error would cause it to flip or loose flight (FYI - I've been working with DJI's SDK, so understand a bit of how their system works)  

It didn't ask for calibration (actually I don't remember at the moment) but I usually recalibrate when I haven't flown for a few weeks or when flying 15-20 miles from a previous location. (Last flight was 25 miles in land).   

As for a bird strike, myself and two other spotters didn't see anything, but it happened very fast and at that distance, it could be possible... it would be a stray gull that we missed as I wasn't doing any erratic flying and more or less following a flight plan for certain shots.  

Thank you for where to upload and get the data analyzed.  
Will be doing that later today!  

FYI - I bought the P3P from DJI on Oct 28, 2013  

Again thank you everyone for your condolences and helping to find out what happened!  

- Blaine

Four years is a good life for one.  You got your money's worth.

I kinda doubt the P3P was bought in Oct 2013.  They weren't released until spring of 2015.  Maybe he had a P2V?  Or maybe it's a typo.  

Good catch.  Didn't even think about that.