Please do not dismiss the "Strong wireless interference" warning on your P4 Pro. I updated the firmware yesterday, and performed my pre-flight check. All was in order. I received the "Strong wireless interference" message shortly after I took off, then proceeded to check that the controls were responding properly, and continued to shoot a video of a house. I flew at this location before with no issue so I felt all was fine. I was wrong. This location is under a canopy of trees and next to a moderately busy 2 lane road with many residences nearby (about 1/2 acre lots). I was flying no higher than 30 feet above the ground and was standing only 50 feet away. The controls started to behave erratically - either no response, or opposite response to the control input. Then it started to take on a mind of its own and became uncontrollable, flying on its own without input from the controller. I was very concerned about a runaway drone with traffic and residences nearby. After about 2 minutes of trying to control it, I gave up. I felt it was dangerous to continue. When the drone was in a safe spot, I cut the power in flight, resulting in a drop from about 15 feet to a hard surface. The drone received significant damage. A couple expensive lessons learned: - Do not ignore the "Strong Wireless Interference" warning. I thought it was crying wolf (again), but this time it was a real problem.
- I acted a bit in haste as I was worried about a runaway drone in a populated area with heavy road traffic just 100 feet away. Next time I will pause to better evaluate the situation before taking the drastic measure of cutting power in flight.
- I will try to position myself to catch the drone after cutting power in flight to minimize damage.
- Next time I will abort the flight at first sign of an issue (like a warning message), reset, recalibrate, perform another pre-flight check, etc... That 10 minutes is better than the weeks and money I'll be out now.
- I was afraid to activate RTH. Even though my return to home point was clear of trees above, I was not comfortable to have the drone to raise to the 30 meters RTH height and risk it flying away uncontrollably over traffic or homes. I prefered to keep it at it's then lower altitude of 15 to 30 feet and risk it flying into trees. I don't know if that was the correct decision.
My instinct was to risk the drone before risking it causing a car accident or damaging someone else personal property. That I do not regret. I am insured for liability, but not for the drone itself, so I am looking at an expensive repair. Please fly carefully and have your emergency checklist ready. And have a plan in place in the event of uncontrolled flight and runaway situations. Sad operator, Jim |