When my low battery warning came on, I flew my P4 Pro back to my location and tried to land it on a table so the camera didnt get dirty. As I was landing, the battery went critical and I was slightly fighting the auto land function so I could guide it to the exact location I wanted it to set down. All of a sudden, the controls stopped responding and the drone began hovering in mid air. I looked at my screen and saw a red X symbolizing that it was in some kind of automated mode. Pressing the X did not take it out of that mode and it started to auto land without sensing the landing site. It ended up landing on the edge of the table and flipped upside down onto the ground where the props continued to spin for several seconds. Luckly, there was no noticeable damage, not even dents or scrapes.

I do not want these forced automated systems taking over for me while I am trying to fly. Auto land and RTH are fine, but I do not want them taking over controls and forcing automation. At the very least, give users a setting to turn forced autoland or RTH on or off. Perhaps have it on when it is in auto flight mode and off when the pilot is in manual control.

The pop up window asking for the pilot to rth when it is on 15% battery is also annoying. If sound is not on and the pilot is looking at the drone, they will miss the message and possibly get into a crash with the RTH.

Have you ever thought of rteading the Manual for the aircraft? It clearly tells you how to cancel RTH, and it is not done by pressing the 'red X'.

During Auto-land, you can still control the aircrafts height and position manually, however it is better to not get into this situation by returning home while you have plenty of battery left.

If the pilot is looking at the drone, he won't miss the RTH message on the app because the lamps on the AC will flash in the manner to indicate RTH.  

If it was me, I would change the landing site.  I would move from a table to the ground.  I often use a piece of plywood to launch from and land on.  You could also hand-catch when it's in auto land to make things easy, but that's frowned upon in certain circles...

Geebax Posted at 2017-11-10 15:13
Have you ever thought of rteading the Manual for the aircraft? It clearly tells you how to cancel RTH, and it is not done by pressing the 'red X'.

During Auto-land, you can still control the aircrafts height and position manually, however it is better to not get into this situation by returning home while you have plenty of battery left.

I have read the manual. There are multiple ways to turn off RTH with one of them being pressing the X on the app. I did not have much time available to me to explore every way to turn it off to see if anything worked.

Either way, I do not believe I was in RTH mode. I believe I was in some kind of forced auto land mode which I was unable to disable. I doubt pressing the auto pause button or switching it to attitude mode would have made any difference.

Hohh20 Posted at 2017-11-10 15:26
I have read the manual. There are multiple ways to turn off RTH with one of them being pressing the X on the app. I did not have much time available to me to explore every way to turn it off to see if anything worked.

Either way, I do not believe I was in RTH mode. I believe I was in some kind of forced auto land mode which I was unable to disable. I doubt pressing the auto pause button or switching it to attitude mode would have made any difference.

The aircraft was probably landing due to very low battery. But as the manual explains, you can still control the aircraqft while this is happening, you have not lost control over it. And there is no need to press any button, just use the sticks to control it. Pushing the throttle up during Low Battery RTH will cause the aircaft to hover, then you can adjust its position and lower it.

You always have control over low battery RTH but no control over critical battery, it is your job to know this you have options to set critical battery and low battery, in other words you set the automation on your Aircraft its your responsibility to know what it is and when it will all kick in.
So reading the manual is not the important part it’s understanding the manual that’s the difficult part.
It’s lessons like these that help us all to be more aware of the technology we are using. Glad not to much damage was done, you should also be aware that you can cut motors when it’s spinning on the ground by preforming CSC.

Why not just land at 20 to 25% and save yourself a lot of heartache.

The issue here is not how early or late someone chooses to land their drone. The problem is that in the event of an emergency, you do not have full control over your drone. You should have full control over your drone any time it is flying and has a charge.

You are not allowed to fly over people not involved in the operation of the drone, but I'm sure some people do so. What if they were flying over a crowd and the battery threw an error and appeared to suddenly be critical. I'm sure the drone would do the same thing, force auto land right into the crowd of people. That could result in people getting hurt all because an autonomous system took your control away from you and prevented you from landing it safely.

I will stress again, pilots need full control from take off until landing, including in emergencies.

Hohh20 Posted at 2017-11-10 19:36
The issue here is not how early or late someone chooses to land their drone. The problem is that in the event of an emergency, you do not have full control over your drone. You should have full control over your drone any time it is flying and has a charge.

You are not allowed to fly over people not involved in the operation of the drone, but I'm sure some people do so. What if they were flying over a crowd and the battery threw an error and appeared to suddenly be critical. I'm sure the drone would do the same thing, force auto land right into the crowd of people. That could result in people getting hurt all because an autonomous system took your control away from you and prevented you from landing it safely.

The heading of this thread is quite misleading. There was no forced RTH because you stated you flew it back when the battery was getting low. There was no malfunction of the drone and the decision to  let the battery get to a critical level is one you made. You just need to accept that, on this occasion, you were inexperienced in handling the situation.

Hohh20 Posted at 2017-11-10 19:36
The issue here is not how early or late someone chooses to land their drone. The problem is that in the event of an emergency, you do not have full control over your drone. You should have full control over your drone any time it is flying and has a charge.

You are not allowed to fly over people not involved in the operation of the drone, but I'm sure some people do so. What if they were flying over a crowd and the battery threw an error and appeared to suddenly be critical. I'm sure the drone would do the same thing, force auto land right into the crowd of people. That could result in people getting hurt all because an autonomous system took your control away from you and prevented you from landing it safely.

' The problem is that in the event of an emergency, you do not have full control over your drone.'

No, and that is because, as you amply demonstrated, you were not flying responsibly at the time. And that is precisely why DJI implement these automatic procedures. You complained about annoying messages popping up, well you are expected to heed those messages, asking for them to be removed is just plain ridiculous.

And you keep saying control was taken away from you. It was not, as has been pointed out several times, even when the aircraft decides to land, you can still move it arounds to select a better landing spot.

Hohh20 Posted at 2017-11-10 15:08
The pop up window asking for the pilot to rth when it is on 15% battery is also annoying. If sound is not on and the pilot is looking at the drone, they will miss the message and possibly get into a crash with the RTH.

Aloha Hohh,

     Actually, all your requests noted in your opening post were available to you but you shifted the schedule and put your Phantom at risk.  The system is designed to protect your investment and innocent bystanders, but you acted to increase the risk to your investment and you saw the result.  You should display one of the damaged propellers where you can see it to remind you of your mistake.  I have one of mine that I use for that purpose.

     As Geebax and the rest noted, reading the manual better might have helped you understand what you were doing.  You were indeed in RTH, but you were in Failsafe RTH.  Geebax explanation and the others will help you understand this process in the future.

     Your suggestion to have control any time there is a charge in the battery will create many more situations where the Phantom will fall from the sky and potentially crash into people.  This is an old "Beat the Dead Dog" issue debated numerous times on this Forum.  Always, the logical and sensible result of the discussion is to not push your Phantom as far as you did into Failsafe RTH in the problem scenario.  Just do not do it.  If you want to do it, get a different drone from a different company because DJI wants their customers to fly responsibly and what you are proposing is to simply be allowed to fly irresponsibly with a 95% probability of damage to property and / or people.

     The issue here is indeed how early or late someone chooses to land their drone.  If you choose to land your Phantom so late that failsafe RTH is executed, you better learn how to handle it and minimize your loss and liability.  Your flight records will document your irresponsibility and DJI will be absolved of any obligation to do other than sell you another Phantom that you can crash due to your irresponsibility.  Eventually, you will lose so much money and / or spend so much time in jail for your irresponsible actions that you will wake up to the reality that you should not fly so irresponsibly

     Finally, you show your failure to understand the clear and simple instructions that are noted in the manual with your example of flying over a crowd and having a battery emergency.  When your Phantom goes into Failsafe RTH, you will still have the control to hold altitude and move laterally.  So, in your scenario of a faulty battery over a crowd of people, if the Phantom does go down and land in the crowd, it is clearly the operator's fault and this will be noted in the investigation.  The manufacturer will be absolved in the investigation.  The reason is because the operator could have pushed the throttle stick (left stick, Mode 2) up and moved laterally away from the crowd using the right stick to land away from the people in the crowd.  Simple.  

     Read the manual again.  You have missed a lot if you do not understand this.  BTW, each commentor in this thread has read the manual many times.  We actually mention this in our discussions elsewhere.

     Hope this helps!

Aloha and Drone On!

I see a lot of replies stating that I still had full control over the drone. The step after that is what I am referring to. As far as I can see, there are multiple steps that occur in order once you get a low battery.

25%(default) low battery alarm - controller/tablet beeps, full control maintained
15% - RTH alert, cancelable
10%(default) critical battery alarm - switches to sport flight mode and begins trying to auto land. you still have control and can fight it if need be.
5-8% - controls are completely disabled and it forces auto land with no way to cancel it. This is also what will most likely happen if a battery gets an error and misreads as critical.

I am not upset about my crash. There was no damage and I was somewhat testing to see what it would do for future reference. Glad I figured it out before something bad happened.

What I am upset about is the fact that my control might possibly get taken away at a moments notice, perhaps causing me to have to pay lots of money in damages. The more complicated a system is, the more it is prone to failure and these drones and their batteries are very complicated. I would prefer to have total control over the drone so I can either successfully land it, or if landing is not an option then keep it from hurting people or damaging property when it crashes. I would much rather pay $100 to get a replacement than a lot more paying for a hospital bill or repairs to someones property.

The Phantom 3 does not have this same system that locks your controls and forces the drone to auto land without it being canceled. During testing, I have landed my Phantom 3 when it was around 3% battery just fine. I was fighting the controllable auto land but I am ok with that. This is the same thing I want my Phantom 4 to do.

Just to clear up any other confusion,

I am ok with the RTH alert at 15% battery. I just find it a little annoying but nothing needs to change about it.

I am also ok with the controllable auto land mode and sport mode switch that occurs at 10% critical battery. It is telling you that you really need to set it down asap to prevent it falling but it doesn't force anything.

The problem that I have is the 5-8% battery forced auto land that you can not cancel and lose all control inputs.

Hohh20 Posted at 2017-11-11 02:19
I see a lot of replies stating that I still had full control over the drone. The step after that is what I am referring to. As far as I can see, there are multiple steps that occur in order once you get a low battery.

25%(default) low battery alarm - controller/tablet beeps, full control maintained

“If your aircraft goes into critical while flying over people”
If this happens you let it happen YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!!!!

Again you are just proving a serious lack of understanding.
1/ you set the parameters of RTH , while flying You know what amount of battery you need to get home and land (your responsibility)
2/ you know what happens when your Aircraft goes into critical battery what the procedure will be (your responsibility)
3/ again you show lack of reading your manual in critical battery aircraft doesn’t go into sport mode and land it’s (your responsibility) to know what is going to happen .

It seems like you can’t see the wood from the trees and you pride is a bit dented, but if you look at this logically you will clearly see that all of the failsafe s are there for very good reason and it’s to protect injury and harm to people and also to protect your aircraft.

Hohh20 Posted at 2017-11-11 02:19
I see a lot of replies stating that I still had full control over the drone. The step after that is what I am referring to. As far as I can see, there are multiple steps that occur in order once you get a low battery.

25%(default) low battery alarm - controller/tablet beeps, full control maintained

Aloha Hohh,

     First of all, the default, at least for my up-to-date P4 Pro, is Low Battery Notification 30% and it is cancelable, not 25% like you wrote.  Second, I have no idea what you seem to be trying to say about my P4 Pro loosing control at 5-8%.  When I pushed my P4 Pro to the limit to see if the motors would cut off, I had altitude hover and lateral movement control all the way up until the motors cut off at 1 foot above the grass which I had decided to land on instead of my plastic end-table launch pad.  It was softer.

     So, you appear to be very confused as compared to my experience with the same Phantom you are reporting about.  But, the bottom line, as the experienced commentors are repeatedly saying in this thread, is you are flying very irresponsibly and somehow you want to make your irresponsibility DJI's fault.  Well, as they say, "That Does Not Fly."

     There is also a line of reasoning, that is unresolved at this point, that running your battery down below 8% too often is bad for your battery.  At most that should be done once every three months.

     Finally, if your concern, so much that it makes you upset, is that your control might possibly get taken away from you at a moment's notice, you are really splitting hairs.  In such a case, you should pack up your P4 Pro and sell it.  You should also sell your car and house because they could burst into flame at any moment and kill you while you drive or while you sleep.  What you are talking about is life in LaLa Land.

     DJI, and any other manufacturer, should never do as you are asking.  It would be simply irresponsible.  It is bad enough that you want to fly irresponsibly as it is.  Keep your irresponsibility to yourself and please stay away from people when you fly if you insist on flying.  You are dangerous.

Aloha and Drone On!

> Quote (Hohh20): "The problem that I have is the 5-8% battery forced auto land that you can not cancel and lose all control inputs."

Is the above statement true? I've just referred to the manual and, as usual, it's not very enlightening. If the above statement is true (that there is no control at all once battery is 5-8% all control is revoked from the pilot then I agree with Hohh20 that this is a problem. If my car locked my steering wheel, disabled my brakes and accelerator, locked all the doors and then basically blindly tried to park itself with no possible intervention possible on my part I'd be a bit concerned as well.

CraigR Posted at 2017-11-11 04:00
> Quote (Hohh20): "The problem that I have is the 5-8% battery forced auto land that you can not cancel and lose all control inputs."

Is the above statement true? I've just referred to the manual and, as usual, it's not very enlightening. If the above statement is true (that there is no control at all once battery is 5-8% all control is revoked from the pilot then I agree with Hohh20 that this is a problem. If my car locked my steering wheel, disabled my brakes and accelerator, locked all the doors and then basically blindly tried to park itself with no possible intervention possible on my part I'd be a bit concerned as well.

Then your not reading it correctly, when the aircraft has only enough battery to land, yes it will land but controller still has the ability to set the orientation of the aircraft.

Think about it Aircraft only has enough battery to land, what are you going to do that would be safer than land, you don’t have any power to do much else but land .

Is it not the responsibility of the pilot to insure he has enough power to land where he chooses to, if he has not been responsible to insure this, what kind of trouble might he cause flying around on 5% battery.

You as the pilot are given all the tools preflight it is your job to be aware of what will occur when your flying dji are not going to be around to hold your hand while your flying, that’s why you have your manual your telemetry your warnings etc.

If you can’t follow all of above I suggest you leave your stabilizers on and fly around in beginner mode while figuring out all of above.

CraigR Posted at 2017-11-11 04:00
> Quote (Hohh20): "The problem that I have is the 5-8% battery forced auto land that you can not cancel and lose all control inputs."

Is the above statement true? I've just referred to the manual and, as usual, it's not very enlightening. If the above statement is true (that there is no control at all once battery is 5-8% all control is revoked from the pilot then I agree with Hohh20 that this is a problem. If my car locked my steering wheel, disabled my brakes and accelerator, locked all the doors and then basically blindly tried to park itself with no possible intervention possible on my part I'd be a bit concerned as well.

I'm sure the OP is mistaken.  There is no such thing as a 5-8% forced auto land that I've ever heard of.   Obviously we know the elevator stick operates the AC differently when the AC is in critical landing, so that's probably the explanation.  What I have heard of is the battery shutting itself down before it's at 0%, probably due to a low cell combined with aggressive maneuvering (i.e. trying to force an AC to not land when it is in critical landing).  

I think you guys are over reacting here by saying he’s fly irresponsible, even DJI Say to and I quote “Fly the Phantom 4 outdoors until there is less than 8% of power left, or until the battery can no longer be turned on” as a one way to completely drain the battery even if that wasn’t what he was trying to do. It all depends on where you’re flying your drone and who or what is around as to whether it’s irresponsible or just a risk to your pocket. I live on large acreage and if I flew my drone beyond its limits and it crashed, that’s my problem and it’s only my pocket that will get hurt. I would never take that risk around people or other people’s property. I think the point Hohh20 is trying to make that you all seem to be missing is if there is an error and the drone miss reads the battery and force lands you should still have control to a degree, the only problem is that it says nothing in the manual about forced landing without control so something is not right here. I think you all need to get out of your “Sheldon” mind sets and be a little more helpful instead of judgmental.

Geebax Posted at 2017-11-10 15:13
Have you ever thought of rteading the Manual for the aircraft? It clearly tells you how to cancel RTH, and it is not done by pressing the 'red X'.

During Auto-land, you can still control the aircrafts height and position manually, however it is better to not get into this situation by returning home while you have plenty of battery left.

One thing I’ve noticed about you Geebax or should I say Sheldon, is you always assume they didn’t read the manual, you need to give people more credit.

mic75 Posted at 2017-11-11 04:40
I think you guys are over reacting here by saying he’s fly irresponsible, even DJI Say to and I quote “Fly the Phantom 4 outdoors until there is less than 8% of power left, or until the battery can no longer be turned on” as a one way to completely drain the battery even if that wasn’t what he was trying to do. It all depends on where you’re flying your drone and who or what is around as to whether it’s irresponsible or just a risk to your pocket. I live on large acreage and if I flew my drone beyond its limits and it crashed, that’s my problem and it’s only my pocket that will get hurt. I would never take that risk around people or other people’s property. I think the point Hohh20 is trying to make that you all seem to be missing is if there is an error and the drone miss reads the battery and force lands you should still have control to a degree, the only problem is that it says nothing in the manual about forced landing without control so something is not right here. I think you all need to get out of your “Sheldon” mind sets and be a little more helpful instead of judgmental.

Maybe you would be so good enough to show me where dji says to fly your phantom outdoors until it is less than 8%?
We are not talking about Forced Landing here, we are talking about RTH and critical battery in both of these methods you have some control, full control low battery RTH by cancelling RTH and pilot can orientate craft for landing in critical battery.

I think Geebax was trying to help OP by suggesting to go and read and try to understand the manual we all should do this and we should continue to refer to the manual in the hope we can fully understand what we are trying to do.

I think the problem might be that the OP comes along and explains what has happened and somehow it’s not his fault , but rather something to do with an ill taught out failsafe that has been programmed into the P4Pro, but his logic simply makes very little sense.

Yes if we as a forum can put forward realistic suggestions as to how to improve safety in these aircraft, I’m all for that, but when the suggestion just isn’t right then it needs and should be pointed out, and in this case I believe that pointing to reading and understanding the manual will not only help OP but a lot of others.

Hohh20 Posted at 2017-11-10 19:36
You are not allowed to fly over people not involved in the operation of the drone, but I'm sure some people do so. What if they were flying over a crowd and the battery threw an error and appeared to suddenly be critical. I'm sure the drone would do the same thing, force auto land right into the crowd of people. That could result in people getting hurt all because an autonomous system took your control away from you and prevented you from landing it safely.

Much better to drop into the crowd at 3m/s descent speed than run out of power and drop into the crowd unpowered at 100 km/h!  At the slower speed the crowd can hear it coming and have a chance to step out of the way, at the faster speed they have zero chance.

It is necessary for the aircraft to force a landing when safety demands it.  If the battery gets to critical voltage then it doesn't have enough power to perform high speed manoeuvres even if the battery level indicator still says 8%, the motors will be in reduced power mode, trying to land before there is no option but to fall.

You should always make sure you have enough power left to be able to perform a safe landing, and have a reasonable amount in reserve.

Listen to the Captains!  They have more experience and are the smartest ones on here.  

ALABAMA Posted at 2017-11-11 05:36
Listen to the Captains!  They have more experience and are the smartest ones on here.

I’ve got the same flight experience as the Captains on here but I’m only level 4 because I have posted less, I think ranking system needs some work.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-11-11 05:18
Maybe you would be so good enough to show me where dji says to fly your phantom outdoors until it is less than 8%?
We are not talking about Forced Landing here, we are talking about RTH and critical battery in both of these methods you have some control, full control low battery RTH by cancelling RTH and pilot can orientate craft for landing in critical battery.

If one has watched the evolution of the critical battery and what we can do with it through the various DJI Phantoms, one might better understand why it is the way it is today.  

There is a risk that the battery could abruptly shut itself off with no warning during a critical battery state (e.g. 7%, 5%, etc.).  It may stay on all the way to 0%, but it may shut off before it reaches 0%.  The critical battery auto land is a desperate last-ditch attempt to save the AC.  

With the P2 series, the critical battery started at 15% but could be reduced to 10%.  But then DJI issued a fw upgrade which forced critical back up to 15% and couldn't be changed.  Also, the descent couldn't be slowed down.  So at 15% your AC is coming down and there's nothing you can do about it.  You can steer it down but you can't slow it down.  So if you're over a lake, too bad for you.

Then with the P3, DJI moved critical so that it could be set at 10%.  They also allowed us the option of keeping it in the air by pushing up on the elevator stick.  This makes sense because now we at least have the potential opportunity to fly it to hard terrain if it's over the lake.  But there's still the risk of the battery shutting itself off earlier than expected.  Therefore, flying below 10% is not something you should want to do deliberately.  It should be something you MUST do in order to save the AC.  And it will be tricky because the elevator stick will not behave in the manner you're accustomed to.  Forcing the AC to fly below 10% is a reckless endeavor and one that should only be used in emergencies or in thrill-seeking with the understanding that you may do irrepairable damage to the AC or the battery or both.  

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-11-11 05:18
Maybe you would be so good enough to show me where dji says to fly your phantom outdoors until it is less than 8%?
We are not talking about Forced Landing here, we are talking about RTH and critical battery in both of these methods you have some control, full control low battery RTH by cancelling RTH and pilot can orientate craft for landing in critical battery.

As I said in my comments, there is something wrong here as in the manual it says nothing about forced landings so if his did, something is not right which has led to him commenting that you should still have some control. I think you all missed that, I don’t think he’s trying to blame DJI, His forced landed without control so he thinks it’s part of Critical battery even though in the manual it says you do have have control. I’ve have had mine land several times because of critical battery and I’ve still had control and before any gets on their high horse and says I’m irresponsible, if you truly want to be a good pilot you need to experience all of your drones features so you now how to react in that situation, if the wind picks up and it takes longer to get your drone back then the battery level indicator suggests, you don’t want to be caught in a situation where your drone starts doing something you’ve never practiced before when there are people and property around, that would definitely be irresponsible.
So maybe go fly your drones down to 10% or less a few times close to the ground in a safe environment and really get to know your drone. I regularly fly my drone at 500 meters because the view is amazing and so I know how long it takes to get it down quickly, it’s faster to come down whilst going forwards rather than straight down.

yeah def hate those auto responses, in a critical situation, rather have totally manual control for sure.

mic75 Posted at 2017-11-11 05:52
[view_image]

We are talking about P4Pro here. You cannot fly P4Pro below 10% battery this is set as default for critical battery. I’m not sure how your managing this.

mic75 Posted at 2017-11-11 04:40
I think you guys are over reacting here by saying he’s fly irresponsible, even DJI Say to and I quote “Fly the Phantom 4 outdoors until there is less than 8% of power left, or until the battery can no longer be turned on” as a one way to completely drain the battery even if that wasn’t what he was trying to do. It all depends on where you’re flying your drone and who or what is around as to whether it’s irresponsible or just a risk to your pocket. I live on large acreage and if I flew my drone beyond its limits and it crashed, that’s my problem and it’s only my pocket that will get hurt. I would never take that risk around people or other people’s property. I think the point Hohh20 is trying to make that you all seem to be missing is if there is an error and the drone miss reads the battery and force lands you should still have control to a degree, the only problem is that it says nothing in the manual about forced landing without control so something is not right here. I think you all need to get out of your “Sheldon” mind sets and be a little more helpful instead of judgmental.

The OP clearly said his battery went critical and was forced landed, this is not what happens, so what is it you think we are missing?
Maybe you need to go back and read the post to understand it.

Hohh20 Posted at 2017-11-10 19:36
The issue here is not how early or late someone chooses to land their drone. The problem is that in the event of an emergency, you do not have full control over your drone. You should have full control over your drone any time it is flying and has a charge.

You are not allowed to fly over people not involved in the operation of the drone, but I'm sure some people do so. What if they were flying over a crowd and the battery threw an error and appeared to suddenly be critical. I'm sure the drone would do the same thing, force auto land right into the crowd of people. That could result in people getting hurt all because an autonomous system took your control away from you and prevented you from landing it safely.

excuse me. but this is exactly why people are not allowed to fly over other people...  and emergencies due to too low battery level are perfectly avoidable. THIS is the issue.

mic75 Posted at 2017-11-11 04:40
I think you guys are over reacting here by saying he’s fly irresponsible, even DJI Say to and I quote “Fly the Phantom 4 outdoors until there is less than 8% of power left, or until the battery can no longer be turned on” as a one way to completely drain the battery even if that wasn’t what he was trying to do. It all depends on where you’re flying your drone and who or what is around as to whether it’s irresponsible or just a risk to your pocket. I live on large acreage and if I flew my drone beyond its limits and it crashed, that’s my problem and it’s only my pocket that will get hurt. I would never take that risk around people or other people’s property. I think the point Hohh20 is trying to make that you all seem to be missing is if there is an error and the drone miss reads the battery and force lands you should still have control to a degree, the only problem is that it says nothing in the manual about forced landing without control so something is not right here. I think you all need to get out of your “Sheldon” mind sets and be a little more helpful instead of judgmental.

Well, there is a way to flying outdoors in order to drain the battery down to 8%  and I'm quite sure DJI doesn't suggest to fly over people or even a 100 meters away from you... I have done it a couple of times, and my flight was more of a very controlled hovering at very low altitude and not more than 10 meters from me... with one eye on the Aircraft and one on the battery gauge on my iPad.

Finally we are on the same track. Considering that this has been tested and their drone had full control until running out of power, my drone may have experienced an error that caused this.

When I fly today I will test this again to see if it was an error and if it is repeatable.


I am not an irresponsible pilot. I am licensed under P.107 rules so I don't plan to ever fly over a crowd unless I have a waiver. I was using that as an example because I am sure some drone owner has done or will do just that, despite it being illegal. I am worried about the safety of those people and am not looking forward to the FAA changing their rules again. I am already sure that they will eventually start requiring every UAV pilot to get certified just to fly recreationally.

Crash may be much worse this time!  Don't waste a good drone on a test lol

Well guys, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t force it to drink. Accepting responsibility and acting responsibly seems to be the primary issue. Even large commercial aircraft reach a point when the decision making is removed from the pilots hands, if you run out of fuel the plane tends to descend automatically and autonomously, a sort of law of physics. It is really a matter of accountability and how one manages to get into such a situation in the first case, and there are a several professionals that have managed it, one way or another:

Avianca Flight 52 a scheduled flight from Bogotá to New York ran out of fuel January 25, 1990,
United Airlines Flight 173 was a scheduled flight from John F. Kennedy, ran out of fuel December 28, 1978.
Air Transat Flight 236 a transatlantic flight Airbus A330 bound for Lisbon, from Toronto, Canada, ran out of fuel over the Atlantic on August 24, 2001.
A famous case was the so-called Gimli Glider, an Edmonton bound Air Canada Boeing 767 that ran out of fuel over northwestern Ontario on 29 Mar, 2017.

There are many more!

I remember a sign in a drafty wooden radio hut on an airfield I visited which said:
“There are bold pilots and there are old pilots, but there are very few old bold pilots”.

Dockater Posted at 2017-11-11 13:39
Well guys, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t force it to drink. Accepting responsibility and acting responsibly seems to be the primary issue. Even large commercial aircraft reach a point when the decision making is removed from the pilots hands, if you run out of fuel the plane tends to descend automatically and autonomously, a sort of law of physics. It is really a matter of accountability and how one manages to get into such a situation in the first case, and there are a several professionals that have managed it, one way or another:

Avianca Flight 52 a scheduled flight from Bogotá to New York ran out of fuel January 25, 1990,

I like it!  If it goes up,  it WILL come down.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-11-11 07:46
The OP clearly said his battery went critical and was forced landed, this is not what happens, so what is it you think we are missing?
Maybe you need to go back and read the post to understand it.

But according to the OP it did  force land in this case and he thought it was normal and thinks it shouldn’t, that’s the point you can’t seem to get. Maybe you should re-read the original post.
Now  he knows this isn’t normal as per his latest post.

Antonio76 Posted at 2017-11-11 11:16
Well, there is a way to flying outdoors in order to drain the battery down to 8%  and I'm quite sure DJI doesn't suggest to fly over people or even a 100 meters away from you... I have done it a couple of times, and my flight was more of a very controlled hovering at very low altitude and not more than 10 meters from me... with one eye on the Aircraft and one on the battery gauge on my iPad.

I don’t think they would suggest that either, I prefer to just leave it on a table inside with the battery on and drain that way.

mic75 Posted at 2017-11-11 14:49
But according to the OP it did  force land in this case and he thought it was normal and thinks it shouldn’t, that’s the point you can’t seem to get. Maybe you should re-read the original post.
Now  he knows this isn’t normal as per his latest post.

Yes, but he also believed he had no control over the aircraft, which is not the case, and is clearly explained in the manual. My assumtion he did not read the manual thoroughly is pretty accurate. I also was amazed that he thought the process should be able to be defeated, when it is clearly designed to protect the aircraft, pilot and bystanders.

Signed Sheldon (whoever that is).