So yesterday I flew my spark to an altitude to get above some fog and pretty high up, I started seeing that the craft was drifting at about 11 mph and was rapidly leaving the home point, so I started to try and come down and the Spark wouldn't respond to any commands I sent it. It was as if the wind was the only controlling factor in where it was headed, no matter what I did. I tried to bring it back as fast as I could, but I was helpless. At this time the Spark was coming down at up to 14 mph, which is more than twice the speed I have ever seen it coming down in my life(It usually comes down at a max of 6 mph, if I put it in landing mode and have the sticks all the way down). I believe that the motors failed, as it was giving me motor overload errors and obviously couldn't pick itself up(even with the left stick all the way up it wouldn't respond) and believe that I had recieved a faulty Spark. I do have DJI care refresh, which I thought could replace the drone, but it apparently cannot replace the quad if you cannot find the quad.

We looked for it in the field we believe it landed in for 4 hours yesterday, and another 3 hours today, and could not locate the quad. We even tried to calculate about where the drone could be, and there was no such luck in finding it there either. My flight logs are here. (Yes I know it's a bad log, but the crash was due to errors with the quad, not pilot error(Although I probably will never do another high altitude flight after this ever again, as hopefully it would drift left).

Log link: http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/TWHLPPP6O7BAOEAX94YP/#
Notice the errors on the right of it.

The last word is a typo. I meant less* not left. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.

Gonna warn you now - you're probably going to get slammed here.

1.  The max altitude above takeoff permitted in the US is 400 feet.  You were over 3 times higher than that.
2.  You admit that you took it above the clouds and the data seems to indicate that you punched through them at about 700 feet (300 feet above what is legal).

As far as the motor overload is concerned, doesn't surprise me.  You're in Denver so already taking off in thin air and climbing in sport mode to almost 1400 feet AGL is going to be hard on the Spark's motors.  You did get a "Motor Overloaded" error at 2m 41.9s but you kept on climbing.  Was it windy?  The winds at over 1400' are going to be much stronger than at ground level and this may have contributed to the drifting that you reported.

Sorry to say, this WAS pilot error.  You operated your Spark outside of what is allowed in the US and in conditions that DJI specifically recommends not flying in.  Do not be surprised if DJI feels the same way.

Sorry to be harsh but all looked good at 400 ft or below.

Winds were from the East North East yesterday.  Likely a high altitude hawk gliding with the winds took it.  Hence the rapid decent to finish lunch.  Look in the area by the school walking trail for hawk poop with bits of camera gimbal in it.

What did the video show?  Gleeful hawk eyes?

why exactly are you at 16,000 ft when returning to home? higher altitude means stronger winds. it is not advisable for you to fly a spark at altitudes exceeding a thousand.

Gotta say it:  Please don't purchase another drone. Your actions will bring tougher regulations on all of us.

I read the magic word "fog" and instantly knew what went wrong. :-(

I got nothing.

mtnlandpix Posted at 2018-1-16 18:12
Gotta say it:  Please don't purchase another drone. Your actions will bring tougher regulations on all of us.

You are Dead Wrong because this will be an example of what can happen if you fly over 400'.  So in the long run his actions will benefit us all.

Lesson Learned: Don't fly over 400 feet if you care about your Spark Drone!

Looking at the logs, it seems to me that your aircraft should be very likely near to the last coordinates found in the log file:  39.51964781        -104.9606967
Is this the area you've already searched?

At the point of the last GPS coordinates in the log, I think the aircraft lost connection with the controlling device because it had gone down behind those houses and into the gulley behind them.  So there was no longer a direct line of site between the RC and the AC.

At the point of the last GPS coordinates, it was likely still at least 20+ feet off the ground because the VPS elevation still wasn't registering anything.  So it was likely still moving at a speed of about 14mph away and dropping at a rate of 1.5m/s (about 3.3 mph).  

High density altitude, condensing atmosphere, possible icing conditions, high winds aloft. All predictable conditions and avoidable by NOT flying above safe altitude. Motor overload isn't a surprise given the conditions. That's why pilots of conventional aircraft calculate the density altitude to determine safe payload and take off distances. Just sayin...

Exactly what I was saying above. Thanks for proving my point mate

Already, fog is an "enemy" of radio frequency, which attenuates communication in a very significant way. Never operate with fog.

Agree with Kloo Gee, last LatLon are correct, Spark was heading not to HomePoint, see below.Heading 255 with 6, did you search in that direction?
Apart for the overload warning all looks fine, just too much wind for going home, drone was flying kind of backwards...
Strange ofcourse that Spark decended during the GoHome mode, should it not stay at the same height?

1,393.0ft - Wow - in Fog - DOUBLE WOW

At what point do we employ common sense? You flew that high over a residential area... lets baffle you with science.

IF the battery came loose or the AC dropped from that height you are looking at an impact speed of around 345kmh. That's gonna kill somebody.

I haven't been in this Hobby for long but I'm already seeing why Drone Pilots are getting such bad press.

According to your log it landed 1694 from homepoint it’s not difficult to see where it might be, I would go and have another look , was the ground soft if it was it could be stuck in the ground,

Dragon, sorry for your loss, I would recommend you contact the support to start a case, provide the flight records to them, see if they can find out what happened. Please refer to the link below to contact the support. http://www.dji.com/support. If you have any doubt, please inform us.  

JJBspark Posted at 2018-1-17 06:56
Agree with Kloo Gee, last LatLon are correct, Spark was heading not to HomePoint, see below.Heading 255 with 6, did you search in that direction?
Apart for the overload warning all looks fine, just too much wind for going home, drone was flying kind of backwards...
Strange ofcourse that Spark decended during the GoHome mode, should it not stay at the same height?

Hi, what tool are you using to generate these graphs?

BlueBox Posted at 2018-1-19 05:08
Hi, what tool are you using to generate these graphs?

Hi BlueBox, its my own made tool. When i am happy with it i will publish it on here.
Better tool than others because it will tell you the move direction of the drone and not only the heading wich the nose is facing, plus many more ...
Cheers Hans

JJBspark Posted at 2018-1-19 06:35
Hi BlueBox, its my own made tool. When i am happy with it i will publish it on here.
Better tool than others because it will tell you the move direction of the drone and not only the heading wich the nose is facing, plus many more ...
Cheers Hans

That would be great it looks good, happy to help with some beta-testing if you need!

Well, I'm not going to slam you.  But I must warn anyone wanting to fly that high and in most cases breaking most country regulations.  If you are going to fly above the legal limit, you are also accepting the lost of your drone, damage to your drone and could also be deemed liable for any damaged caused when your drone come crashing down to earth; hitting cars, houses, PEOPLE .. etc.

USE COMMON SENSE AND FLY YOUR DRONE WITH RESPECT FOR OTHERS AND THE LAW.  Regulations are being put in place; and most times very limiting .. because of actions like this.

Sparky_17 Posted at 2018-1-19 06:52
Well, I'm not going to slam you.  But I must warn anyone wanting to fly that high and in most cases breaking most country regulations.  If you are going to fly above the legal limit, you are also accepting the lost of your drone, damage to your drone and could also be deemed liable for any damaged caused when your drone come crashing down to earth; hitting cars, houses, PEOPLE .. etc.

USE COMMON SENSE AND FLY YOUR DRONE WITH RESPECT FOR OTHERS AND THE LAW.  Regulations are being put in place; and most times very limiting .. because of actions like this.

Spark does not know that its flying above legal limits! So flying that high does not mean it will crash or damage a drone or loose a drone etc etc.
I agree with you that you better stay within legal limits and for the Spark drone keep it in sight always, beacuse any Yaw / Compass problem will end up in ATTI mode....a challenge to bring it back to the homepoint! Cheers JJB

I would love a copy of that app you use for flight records.

KSBV Posted at 2018-1-16 17:30
Gonna warn you now - you're probably going to get slammed here.

1.  The max altitude above takeoff permitted in the US is 400 feet.  You were over 3 times higher than that.

The air is much thinner in Denver so at some point, the air gets to thin for things to fly. I know at some point a helicopter can't go any higher due to the thin air.  

For the record, an Astar helicopter landed on Mt. Everest.  That would be the limit.  The risks to drone loss go up as you fly further from yourself.  Further up or further out.  New pilots don't seem to grasp this simple fact of RC models.  Interestingly, the OP's drone landed near a walking/jogging path near a couple of schools.  High pitched school kid voice, "Look a free toy drone flying to us!  Thanks, Santa."

Read this thread it will help you get a better sense of how to use a drone and its functions

It was definitely fog that did u in . It happened to a buddy of mine it wreaks havoc on the sparks sensors. It was only a few hundred feet up though anyway because of the fog it went into landing mode started to come down very fast and then slow down to a crawl .....basically so slow that it ran out of battery it was demolished. Anyway he could not get out of "landing mode" nor speed up the descent