I am flying a Spark since summer and I have express my fears here at this forum on another post about "fly aways". I am looking that these incidents are too many and I think is not accidental. I want to ask from members owning other models from DJI (Mavics, Phantom...) is "fly away"  relate only to Spark?  (Failed harware or Buggy Software)?

This occurs with all DJI drones. Fly aways are usually caused by some type of pilot error. People use that term because the drone seems to just fly away (and they don't understand it was caused by them).

Want to prevent fly aways? Follow the tips in this guide:

Prevent a Crash or Flyaway with Your DJI Drone (The Complete Guide)

Hello there, we thank you for sharing your queries about Fly away. For more detailed information, we suggest to read some of the tips in Flying Safely . We appreciate your continued support.

I think you see more of this with spark because a lot of spark pilots are just taking up this hobby and Spark is their first drone, just because it’s small doesn’t mean that it needs as much care as bigger drones.
Follow msinger’s link it will help greatly .
Good Luck.

Also, we usually don't post, "flew today and nothing out-of-the-ordinary happened."

Hi gk_eagle2002,

All above is excellent advice, also practice Atti mode indoors is possible to get used to taking control of the AC if you loose GPS or get a sensor error in flight.
Happy flying!

Thank you all for your advice. I am a  radio-controlled model user for the last 30 years and a no gps drone user  for the last 2 years. Spark is my first "inteligent" drone. I always follow  before flight checklists and fly carefully . Attitude mode does not scare me because the drone is always in vlos and I am trained to face it. What terrifies me is an uncontrolled AC (disconnection between AC and RC) due to hardware failure.

its the compass that will cause crazy things
as i tried to fly my drone in a 999 compass interference area and it was spinning like crazy no control

SAADHERO Posted at 11-15 11:58
its the compass that will cause crazy things
as i tried to fly my drone in a 999 compass interference area and it was spinning like crazy no control

What is (or where is) ''999 compass interference area''?

fly away's happen with all models drones , don't forget we are flying $ 700 to $1500 not real expensive in the real world of drones . like we say in the RC planes world it's not if , it's going to fly away and crash it happened more when we flew FM 72 mh gliched galor . as we all know it will happen to the best drones especially when we push the limit's like flying out of site .just fly and have fun play by the rules you will be fine .

Even in this forum, you have more topics about happily flighing the Spark, as about fly aways.
And: DJI is still selling it in the US ;-)
Not all is gold, but I doubt, that there is anything wrong with 'em, which could trigger a class action law suit

Will say that I have read about many and most were pilot error. To define pilot error is something they did wrong  not only  keeping flying when warning signs showed along with drone not responding or acting right. It is also a lack of knowledge, such as calibrating compass on or around metal or unknowing underground power lines etc. do not forget some areas are highly mineralized and can affect it.


Also with any machine or electronics things can fail! and yes some sadly have. So its a 50/50 chance just as buying a new car. Look at the airbag issue that has been around along with others! but those were defects that can happen but! many issues were pilot error as if you will read back.


Yes I had some bad issues with my spark and still trying to figure out what went wrong but got a good idea and do check more than many say before flying and never had anymore issues, it seemed something did not load right on phone or drone as instead of lifting off scooted sideways on my back porch.  Yes checked all and have flown same spot before but not this time. Did get it stopped but did not shut off app and looked through it and it showed Good GPS and no interference but it went crazy on me, looking more noticed that when getting to battery info showed N/A on many. Times charged and se# …. all was NA.   Long story short is I went into house and tried again but this time had all the info and flew like a charm then took back to same spot and the same.


Will say learn as much as you can and in time your fears will be gone but yes things do happen but not often.


Sorry so long but feel you needed to know more.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 11-15 15:13
What is (or where is) ''999 compass interference area''?

a place in my home which has steel beams in the ground i placed it on top of the area where the beam should be and i got a 999 in compass settings

SAADHERO Posted at 11-16 01:13
a place in my home which has steel beams in the ground i placed it on top of the area where the beam should be and i got a 999 in compass settings

Thanks, I understand reference now.

If you want - Try putting something (cardboard box, thick foam) that raises drone about 1-foot off top of steel beam area and see if you still get a ''999 compass''.

HedgeTrimmer Posted at 11-16 07:03
Thanks, I understand reference now.

If you want - Try putting something (cardboard box, thick foam) that raises drone about 1-foot off top of steel beam area and see if you still get a ''999 compass''.

no need to as i wont fly in that area but if i do i will do a hand take off

Today i had my first real fly away. Have been flying at same lication several times.
Checked my drone ets at home.
Got to location had like the Ipad wasnt reacting.
Than i got that the home point was ok. And we took of
Going up and forward becouse the wind , still in controle .
And than suddenly it flew (drifted) away so fast , never seen before. Sugnal lost Atti mode .
I kept pushing the remote up so i could see the drone but nothing.
Kept remote and ipad on jumped in my car and went looking for it.
To a neighbourhood i tought it would have gone ore fly over..
Asked around while driving slowly.
I have pushed the return to home button a few times.
Than suddenly my remite started beeping and light was red Than it turned green and than red again . I stopped and made a U turn drove verry slowly and , unbelieveble my dtone was sitting there on the side of an asfalted area between sime houses , undamaged.
I was happy no damage to anyone or propetties.
It was scary .
Happy i got the drone

Still cant open the footage on the Sd card on my laptop.
I might have done something wrong but i dont know what
DJI help i love my sparks have one as backup havent used it much i think maybe once. Indoors.
But need to know what was the failure today.
Let mevknow whatvto do next. Thank u

Still cant open the footage on the Sd card on my laptop.
I might have done something wrong but i dont know what
DJI help i love my sparks have one as backup havent used it much i think maybe once. Indoors.
But need to know what was the failure today.
Let mevknow whatvto do next. Thank u

Today i had my first real fly away. Have been flying at same lication several times.
Checked my drone ets at home.
Got to location had like the Ipad wasnt reacting.
Than i got that the home point was ok. And we took of
Going up and forward becouse the wind , still in controle .
And than suddenly it flew (drifted) away so fast , never seen before. Sugnal lost Atti mode .
I kept pushing the remote up so i could see the drone but nothing.
Kept remote and ipad on jumped in my car and went looking for it.
To a neighbourhood i tought it would have gone ore fly over..
Asked around while driving slowly.
I have pushed the return to home button a few times.
Than suddenly my remite started beeping and light was red Than it turned green and than red again . I stopped and made a U turn drove verry slowly and , unbelieveble my dtone was sitting there on the side of an asfalted area between sime houses , undamaged.
I was happy no damage to anyone or propetties.
It was scary .
Happy i got the drone

juniwever\@yahoo Posted at 12-12 19:23
Today i had my first real fly away. Have been flying at same lication several times.
Checked my drone ets at home.
Got to location had like the Ipad wasnt reacting.

You should practice flying in ATTI mode, so you know what to do when that happens.

See this thread: https://forum.dji.com/thread-173114-1-1.html

Cheers,
Wolferl

I agree with what msinger has written, it is usually related to some type of pilot error.
It probably happens more in the Spark because it's probably a first drone experience to a lot of people.

A piece of advise is always setting your RTH properly to make sure you drone returns safely back in case of Wi-FI interference or connection loss.

Some folks argue that the Spark has a design flaw in that it has only 1 compass embedded versus most other drones have built in 2 compasses. It seems to me by following the blogs for many month that most fly always occur with the Spark. Although there are plenty of pilot errors there are too many similar stories about common errors such as yaw error, compass errors, gps errors, etc. Some folks complain that while flying the Spark rapidly in sport mode there is a propensity for these errors to occur more frequently. DJI has never addressed these issues or came up with a fix. They have however been gracious by replacing lost birds, providing a flight log is submitted and no pilot error was at fault. Happy flying!