Hello,

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas on this. I have been flying my Spark for a couple of weeks. Sunday night, I decided to get a great horizon view and sent it straight up to 850 feet. Big mistake. It was calm on the ground. Then all of a sudden, it started to take off in a loop and I got a high wind warning. It only traveled about 300 feet, but the warnings started to cascade in Compass, low GPS. I started to descend as fast as possible. It went to ATTI mode even though there were 15 satellites. I tried RTH, but no go. It had recorded the home point and set RTH to 98 feet at the beginning of the flight. When I viewed the flight later in DJI Go, it showed the drone going into landing somewhere around 200 feet. Then it disappeared at 158 feet, the flight data ended. The location was in the clear, and about 200 feet from my location, but behind a tall tree line. Perhaps 50 feet from the tree line. I scoured the last known location, including the tree line, no sign at all of the Spark. So I'm scratching my head. Where in the world could it have gone? DJI Go said "landing". The firmware for the drone and remote was updated 2 weeks ago.

Hi there, sorry for the inconvenience. The best that we can do is contact our support. Kindly using this link: (https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav). Our team will create a case for you and give you instructions on what to do next.

Ok, so you are unable to use the Find my map feature in DJI GO4 app ?

If it started landing at 200ft it may very well have been because the batteries were depleted. You might want to upload your flight data and post a link here, someone may be able to help with locating your drone.

It should also be mentioned that in the US, planes are allowed to fly as low as 500' AGL in the country, and 1000' AGL in the city. Even lower when entering a pattern. You should never go above 400' (except in specific circumstances)

S.J Posted at 2018-7-10 08:07
Ok, so you are unable to use the Find my map feature in DJI GO4 app ?

Hi,

I used the find my drone feature. But the drone was not near the final known location, the place where it was descending in order to land.

MarkMN Posted at 2018-7-10 08:08
If it started landing at 200ft it may very well have been because the batteries were depleted. You might want to upload your flight data and post a link here, someone may be able to help with locating your drone.

It should also be mentioned that in the US, planes are allowed to fly as low as 500' AGL in the country, and 1000' AGL in the city. Even lower when entering a pattern. You should never go above 400' (except in specific circumstances)

Thanks so much for the info. Believe me, I will never go above 300 again.

The battery was at 61% when the flight data ended. I'm having trouble getting the log because Itunes keeps freezing up when I connect the ipad mini to try to retrieve it. But I can view the flight data for the 5 minute flight on the ipad through DJI Go.

IF you upload your flight logs, good people on here will analyse them and help you know where to look.   RTH does not function in ATTI mode so that was not going to work.  The high winds were pushing your drone as it descended and started to land.   You connection was lost at about 150.. flight logs will show how fast it was moving and in what direction (wind)  as well as the vertical descent rate. From there you can figure out how long it would take to reach the ground at that rate and then calculate how much further it would have flown in the direction of the wind. That will be the point to start looking at.

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/  then post the resulting URL

it may be stuck on a tree..

Hi. I am sorry to know what happened to your DJI Spark. Please sync the flight records of the Drone to know what really happened to it and for us to check the location of the DJI Spark by using your DJI Go 4 application.

DJI Stephen Posted at 2018-7-10 12:41
Hi. I am sorry to know what happened to your DJI Spark. Please sync the flight records of the Drone to know what really happened to it and for us to check the location of the DJI Spark by using your DJI Go 4 application.

Thank you. I just did sync the flight records. I'm not sure what to do next. I understand that there is a way to download the flight record from the ipad into a txt file. But my itunes locks up when I connect the ipad. I have dial up internet, so can't update itunes. I did the sync from the ipad using 3g and it took about an hour. So I'm wondering if I did sync them, does that mean that DJI has them?

Hi there. Just to be sure that you have synced the flight records properly. I will be posting the official DJI tutorial on how to sync the flight records of your Drone using the DJI Go 4 application ( )  and exporting the flight records ( ).

DJI Stephen Posted at 2018-7-10 14:37
Hi there. Just to be sure that you have synced the flight records properly. I will be posting the official DJI tutorial on how to sync the flight records of your Drone using the DJI Go 4 application ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brKQZ-gTBXg )  and exporting the flight records ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngEHdAlAh9A ).

Thank you. I did sync the records and there is a little cloud on the right side of each flight record. But I'm not sure what cloud they are in!

Thank you for that information. Rest assured once our DJI technical team finished assessing the flight records that you have sent. You will be notified as well.

N2QLT Posted at 2018-7-10 14:46
Thank you. I did sync the records and there is a little cloud on the right side of each flight record. But I'm not sure what cloud they are in!

N2QLT,

In addition to syncing your records as DJI suggested, please upload your flight record to the phantom site - see Northwood post above - and provide us with the link.

What you describe seems like a known pattern but we would need to check your logs. Perhaps we can help you find your drone.

Mirek

Northwood Posted at 2018-7-10 12:09
http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/  then post the resulting URL

Thank you!

Mirek6 Posted at 2018-7-10 14:52
N2QLT,

In addition to syncing your records as DJI suggested, please upload your flight record to the phantom site - see Northwood post above - and provide us with the link.

Thanks so much!

N2QLT Posted at 2018-7-10 15:01
Thanks so much!

We need more than "thank you" to help you :-) We need Web link to your log on phantom site :-)

Mirek6 Posted at 2018-7-10 15:10
We need more than "thank you" to help you :-) We need Web link to your log on phantom site :-)

Will do. I cannot download the files from my ipad because itunes freezes whenever I plug the iphone in. I can't update itunes because I have a dial up internet connection at my location. I am going to bring the ipad to a different computer, closer to a city. There I would hope to be able to download the files and have them processed at the website mentioned in the posts. Then I can post the resulting URL. Hopefully before it rains. But that's a few days off.

Mirek6 Posted at 2018-7-10 15:10
We need more than "thank you" to help you :-) We need Web link to your log on phantom site :-)

And I checked the website. It's awesome!

N2QLT Posted at 2018-7-10 15:26
Will do. I cannot download the files from my ipad because itunes freezes whenever I plug the iphone in. I can't update itunes because I have a dial up internet connection at my location. I am going to bring the ipad to a different computer, closer to a city. There I would hope to be able to download the files and have them processed at the website mentioned in the posts. Then I can post the resulting URL. Hopefully before it rains. But that's a few days off.

My computer also has problems running iTunes.. on a PC  there is a program called iFunBox that I can use to download the logs from the iPad.  That is an option if you can't get iTunes to work.

Dialup... oh I feel better now with my Satellite internet....  my sympathies... we used to be stuck with that on the farm... totally understand how frustrating that would be.

Northwood Posted at 2018-7-10 12:09
http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/  then post the resulting URL

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/FD0YB78KAPUOAWTAVMH2/

Is this what you need?

LouisP Posted at 2018-7-10 16:38
My computer also has problems running iTunes.. on a PC  there is a program called iFunBox that I can use to download the logs from the iPad.  That is an option if you can't get iTunes to work.

Thank you!

Mirek6 Posted at 2018-7-10 15:10
We need more than "thank you" to help you :-) We need Web link to your log on phantom site :-)

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/FD0YB78KAPUOAWTAVMH2/


I think this is it.

N2QLT Posted at 2018-7-11 05:25
http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/FD0YB78KAPUOAWTAVMH2/

Very interesting. I just glanced at it and see some emerging, and not so good, patterns. But I will take much closer look this evening.

Mirek

Mirek6 Posted at 2018-7-11 08:08
Very interesting. I just glanced at it and see some emerging, and not so good, patterns. But I will take much closer look this evening.

Mirek

Thanks, Mirek. I have damage insurance on it, I just have to find it. I'm going to look in the last location where it was going down 10 feet per second. Maybe in that tree line.

N2QLT Posted at 2018-7-11 08:12
Thanks, Mirek. I have damage insurance on it, I just have to find it. I'm going to look in the last location where it was going down 10 feet per second. Maybe in that tree line.

Look for it about 50 metres or more to the East or East/South of where the red line ends.

It was landing with a speed of 2.6 m/s and had about 19 seconds left before it would stop and hover 30 cm above the ground. It was also moving with a speed of roughly 3 m/s to East or EES.

While hovering just above the ground its flight pattern might have been distorted by the wind or by its own breeze caused by propellers. If it switched to OPTI (it could have happened roughly 8 metres above the ground or lower) it could have stopped its easterly movement.

Good luck in your search. More info coming in the evening :-)

Mirek  

You are in good hands now N2QLT  - hope you find your drone.  Mirek6 is a spark Jedi for sure :-D

Northwood Posted at 2018-7-11 08:44
You are in good hands now N2QLT  - hope you find your drone.  Mirek6 is a spark Jedi for sure :-D

Thanks, Northwood! Going home to look for the wreck in a few hours. Home to my dial up internet too  ;-)

N2QLT Posted at 2018-7-11 08:55
Thanks, Northwood! Going home to look for the wreck in a few hours. Home to my dial up internet too  ;-)

I had a look at google's satellite photos of that supposed landing site, seems like open field, however, if the wind had anything to do with it, it could have blown it into the forest south of the field or into that line of trees east of the main field it was flying over.

Whow, I am really not a log guru, but that is a lot of Yaw and Compass red.
But it also shows that you had RC contact for almost all the flight.
I think, DJI needs to expose the possibilty of ATTI-mode much more.
So that people know "yes, it can happen, but as long the RC is connected, and I can see the bird, I have a chance!"

I would also extend the flightpath to the right and search there for the chance to find it.
How high are the trees?

Northwood Posted at 2018-7-11 09:04
I had a look at google's satellite photos of that supposed landing site, seems like open field, however, if the wind had anything to do with it, it could have blown it into the forest south of the field or into that line of trees east of the main field it was flying over.

I have a feeling that based upon the trajectory, it wound up in the woods. Winds were pretty calm at the time.

S-e-ven Posted at 2018-7-11 09:09
Whow, I am really not a log guru, but that is a lot of Yaw and Compass red.
But it also shows that you had RC contact for almost all the flight.
I think, DJI needs to expose the possibilty of ATTI-mode much more.

Tree line, that is.

S-e-ven Posted at 2018-7-11 09:09
Whow, I am really not a log guru, but that is a lot of Yaw and Compass red.
But it also shows that you had RC contact for almost all the flight.
I think, DJI needs to expose the possibilty of ATTI-mode much more.

Well the Spark just kind of flew off on its own. I could not see where it went. It had prompted me to calibrate the compass earlier in the day, which I did successfully. I'm not sure how tall the trees are, but probably tall enough to catch the drone at the rate it was descending.

That is (my) the question:
"I'm not sure how tall the trees are, but probably tall enough to catch the drone at the rate it was descending."

If you think, it could not get over them, you have "just" the area between the last point of the log and the trees to search.
At the last log point, it was still ~150 feet high and went down 10 feet a second. So do the math, could or could not.
If not: Start searching at the treeline but still look for a gap in there, so that the spark could have passed them

Good luck!

S-e-ven Posted at 2018-7-11 09:33
That is (my) the question:
"I'm not sure how tall the trees are, but probably tall enough to catch the drone at the rate it was descending."

Thanks so much!

Do let us know the outcome!

were you able to find it ?

djiuser_3qeCkohgNDi0 Posted at 2018-7-11 10:49
were you able to find it ?

Got it! Intact!