Hello guys, after i bought my first ever drone for some weekend fun, unfortunately i crashed it and I want to share how i did it. Fortunately while waiting for the battery to charge i was looking at the papers it come with, and noticed the DJI CARE REFRESH ! which i bought thinking I am a newbie.. back to the story!

The weird thing is how it happened...
I got on my roof top and pressed take off ! I was excited , but apparently the drone was excited as well and it started drifting.
Then I landed it, move to a different location take off, still drifting...
Landed it again , moved to a different spot but then it drifted too much ! I pressed land but it was descending slowly and went off the edge of the roof top !!
I then panicked pressed return home and the drone turned back but without adjusting it's altitude!! As you can imagine it crashed on the side of the building.
The results?
The "motor holder" plastic part was completely severed from the arm... cables included.. 4hrs after purchase...
Now, I do have some questions. After inspection the motor accross the severed one makes a scratchy noise. Is it possible I had a DOA and hence the drifting? Why the obstacle detection didn't stopped it from crashing? My max speed was 7m/s and the drone attempted "return home" at literally -3m !(according to flight history) begginer mode was on as well.

My most interesting question, do I have to send it to NL or can my local dji certified shop replace it?? I really wanted to use it this Sunday...

Did you calibrate you Gps before taking off and your IMU sound like you did not set your calibration that's why it's was drifting

Don't never takeoff from a roof

Sorry about your drone

Also if you roof made out of metal that's whats cause your imu and GPS way out never try to fly your drone around metal roof

Please read up about your drone it may say take off all ways check you imu and GPS calibration every time you land

I tried taking off from a roof exactly ONE time... metal in the roof made it really squirly until it was several feet in the air.. when i came to land it did what yours did.. started moving sideways so I got it down quick before it went over the edge.. as for the crash.... if the drone is within a few meters of the home point it should just land where it is, not climb to the RTH height.

Sorry for you accident. Please ensure that there is no interference around your spark. I would recommend you contact our support and start a case: http://www.dji.com/support You can apply for data analysis and locate the problem.

COPILOT VATER Posted at 2018-4-12 18:08
Also if you roof made out of metal that's whats cause your imu and GPS way out never try to fly your drone around metal roof

I did has trouble with calibration in the end it said success..
Why the obstacle avoidance didn't work is the real question

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-4-12 20:22
Sorry for you accident. Please ensure that there is no interference around your spark. I would recommend you contact our support and start a case: http://www.dji.com/support You can apply for data analysis and locate the problem.

I did contact and waiting for their reply.
Should i go for replacement drone (2 per year) or fix it at a local certified service?

djiuser_zZhmU2sNWxIE Posted at 2018-4-12 20:51
I did contact and waiting for their reply.
Should i go for replacement drone (2 per year) or fix it at a local certified service?

Don't you still have warranty on the replaced drone?

djiuser_zZhmU2sNWxIE Posted at 2018-4-12 20:35
I did has trouble with calibration in the end it said success..
Why the obstacle avoidance didn't work is the real question

Obstacle avoidance doesn't work when the processor is going nuts with magnetic interference.
Never try to take off a drone from the roof of a building especially when you noted the drone is drifting.  IMU and compass calibration need to be done if such an incident has occurred

djiuser_zZhmU2sNWxIE Posted at 2018-4-12 20:51
I did contact and waiting for their reply.
Should i go for replacement drone (2 per year) or fix it at a local certified service?

Since you buy Care Refresh, I think you can use it and get a replacement soon. Or you can wait for the invoice and make decision then.  

DJI Elektra Posted at 2018-4-13 00:25
Since you buy Care Refresh, I think you can use it and get a replacement soon. Or you can wait for the invoice and make decision then.

The problem with Care Refresh is that i have to send it to Netherlands from Greece and it will take a while. (10 working days approximately... 3 to arrive 2-4 to ship me a new one and 2-3 to arrive on my address)

The service center in Greece will charge me about twice the money for new body and a motor but i will have it ready in 1 day. (by the way since the official parts list state motor+body cost = ~30e i wonder why the service center is charging over 100e for the same fix).

S.J Posted at 2018-4-13 00:09
Obstacle avoidance doesn't work when the processor is going nuts with magnetic interference.
Never try to take off a drone from the roof of a building especially when you noted the drone is drifting.  IMU and compass calibration need to be done if such an incident has occurred

Why would that be? Isn't it just supposed to "push" the drone backwards ? Independent of its magnetic/gyro/whatever readings.

LouisP Posted at 2018-4-12 18:28
I tried taking off from a roof exactly ONE time... metal in the roof made it really squirly until it was several feet in the air.. when i came to land it did what yours did.. started moving sideways so I got it down quick before it went over the edge.. as for the crash.... if the drone is within a few meters of the home point it should just land where it is, not climb to the RTH height.

Still attempting a landing at -3m compared to RTH isn't that smart...

ssakellaro Posted at 2018-4-13 02:39
The problem with Care Refresh is that i have to send it to Netherlands from Greece and it will take a while. (10 working days approximately... 3 to arrive 2-4 to ship me a new one and 2-3 to arrive on my address)

The service center in Greece will charge me about twice the money for new body and a motor but i will have it ready in 1 day. (by the way since the official parts list state motor+body cost = ~30e i wonder why the service center is charging over 100e for the same fix).

Did you contact our support and start a case? Please provide us your case number or ticket number for more info.

Couple of people have said here don’t launch from a roof?

Why not?

NedUK Posted at 2018-4-24 07:52
Couple of people have said here don’t launch from a roof?

Why not?

Because if it lands anywhere but exactly where it takes off from on the roof, we get a forum message about the wrecked Spark.  Not to mention the large amounts of radio and GPS interference you can get on top of a building.  

Leave flying in tricky places to the experts.  And even the experts expect to lose a drone or two flying near buildings.

No problems or damage if my drone lands anywhere while flying at my local radio control model aircraft field.

NedUK Posted at 2018-4-24 07:52
Couple of people have said here don’t launch from a roof?

Why not?

A lot of metal around . And a (relative) small area to land.
Mine was displaying "recalibrate compass, metals nearby" all the time, and in the end i ignored it.. (which if i was DJI i wouldn't allow it in beginner mode...)