Phantom 4 pro+ shut down in mid air with no warning!

SkylerPoston

I had my Phantom 4 pro+ for THREE DAYS. Opened on Christmas. Flew EIGHT TIMES. Combined total flight time of NINETEEN MINUTES. Kept it in beginner mode to learn the functions. Last flight I let it hover at 4ft for a few seconds then climbed to 7ft then moved forward 20ft. NO impact warnings. NO wind warnings. TEN GPS satalites and home were locked in. Suddenly all motors stopped at once and it flipped over and fell straight down. I mean STRAIGHT down. Props broke. Gimbal broke. Battery was at 67% and locked in place. Flight logs show the 20.3 seconds of flight then suddenly all data lost.

I sent it to DJI within my 15 day grace period (3rd day) for my free replacement per their warranty. They quoted me for the physical repairs. They made no mention of the fact my unit completely shut off mid air so who's to say that would be fixed? And they say it is not a warranty covered issue because it "crashed" Well it "crashed" because their product shut off.

So now I'm in a dispute with DJI and no drone in my hands.

I'm not on my home computer so I can't share the flight logs till later, just screen caps

ALABAMA

Will be interesting to see the flight log.

DJI Stephen

Hello and good day SkylerPoston. I am sorry to know what happened to your previous flight with your DJI Phantom 4 Pro. This is not the experience we want you to have with DJI. Since this issue happened. The best thing you need to do is to contact DJI Support at https://www.dji.com/support for additional help and analysis on the DJI Phantom 4 Pro. Please sync the flight records as well using the DJI Go 4 application. Thank you.

Death 4rm Above

DJI Stephen Posted at 1-10 07:50
Hello and good day SkylerPoston. I am sorry to know what happened to your previous flight with your DJI Phantom 4 Pro. This is not the experience we want you to have with DJI. Since this issue happened. The best thing you need to do is to contact DJI Support at https://www.dji.com/support for additional help and analysis on the DJI Phantom 4 Pro. Please sync the flight records as well using the DJI Go 4 application. Thank you.

[view_image]

All of this has been done multiple times.

Death 4rm Above

ALABAMA Posted at 1-10 06:04
Will be interesting to see the flight log.

I've watched it so so many times with the stick overlay as well. It just stops at 20.3 seconds.

Labroides

I'm not on my home computer so I can't share the flight logs till later, just screen caps
Without flight data, people can only make guesses and most are likely to be completely wrong.
To share your recorded flight data, go to http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
Follow the instructions there to upload your flight record from your phone or tablet.
Come back and post a link to the report it gives you.

Death 4rm Above

Labroides Posted at 1-10 12:47
I'm not on my home computer so I can't share the flight logs till later, just screen caps
Without flight data, people can only make guesses and most are likely to be completely wrong.
To share your recorded flight data, go to http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

I know how to share my flight data. As stated I'm not on my home computer

Death 4rm Above

Wifi is out. Tech will be here tomorrow afternoon then i can upload my flight logs. Unless I can find the address of them and manually type it in the mobile site. Bare with.

Death 4rm Above

OK! Finally everything is fixed with my wifi.

Here is the flight log link https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/UYVRQR3CP9OGPHN3A6CV/#

Also, here is the latest middle finger DJI sent me:

Dear Skyler,

Thank you for your patience.

This is Belle from Technical Support team, and I will be assisting you on this case from now on for related inquiries about data analysis.

Based on the available data on your flight records, no crash was found. The incident was not caused by any product malfunction factors. There was obvious damage that impairs normal function to aircraft. Cause of the issue is due to physical damage.

According to the analysis, the incident was not caused by any product malfunction.

We can still proceed with the repairs however, you need to cover the repair fees. We will have our quotation team to follow up on your case soon.

Your understanding and cooperation are highly appreciated.

Thank you for choosing DJI and have a great day!
Best Regards,

Belle
DJI Technical Support
Website: http://www.dji.com/support
Youtube: http://s.dji.com/Youtube-DJI

So basically they are now saying the "crash" that doesn't exist is due to the damage caused by the crash that doesn't exist....yeah even I have a hard time understanding that one...

Of course there is no crash record...THE DRONE TURNED OFF IN MID FLIGHT. How is it going to record a crash if it isn't powered???

fansb1fe1104

Death 4rm Above Posted at 1-11 20:01
OK! Finally everything is fixed with my wifi.

Here is the flight log link https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/UYVRQR3CP9OGPHN3A6CV/#

Your flight log shows you took off with 57% battery, were you using the same battery for all your flights? Also were these flights in 1 day or spread out over 3 days?

Death 4rm Above

Sorry I thought 67%

That link should show only 1 flight.
The same battery for every flight. I only own the 1 that came with

8 "flights" over 3 days. Two of which were not flights, just stationary on the table testing the gimbal and familiarizing with the unit. The battery was charged between flights. Only one flight gave me a low battery warning (I think 20%) at which point I returned to home and charged it. It was not this flight.

Death 4rm Above

This is every single flight since I owned it.

Geebax

Death 4rm Above Posted at 1-11 20:42
This is every single flight since I owned it.

What is being suggested is that you took off with less than a fully charged battery. This is extremely unwise and has caused the death of Phantoms many times.

Death 4rm Above

Geebax Posted at 1-11 22:31
What is being suggested is that you took off with less than a fully charged battery. This is extremely unwise and has caused the death of Phantoms many times.

"extremely unwise" is a bit dramatic. Nowhere in their responses is the battery life mentioned. Even if so, you don't have a product that reads over half battery power yet dies after 20.3 seconds of flight. Name any other product where that would be acceptable?

Regardless it's a very clear case of unit malfunction.

DEUCEDOG

Death 4rm Above Posted at 1-11 23:42
"extremely unwise" is a bit dramatic. Nowhere in their responses is the battery life mentioned. Even if so, you don't have a product that reads over half battery power yet dies after 20.3 seconds of flight. Name any other product where that would be acceptable?

Regardless it's a very clear case of unit malfunction.

Sorry for your loss i hope you get it sorted soon . In this case I think the term "extremely unwise" is a warning to us all to not fly a partially discharged or discharging battery as accidents can happen .

ALABAMA

Your battery reading was probably not correct after being used over several flights. As Geebax suggested, never begin without a full charge.

Death 4rm Above

ALABAMA Posted at 1-12 05:36
Your battery reading was probably not correct after being used over several flights. As Geebax suggested, never begin without a full charge.

several flights? I flew it literally less than 10 times since I opened it and and had charged it between flights when it was less than 20%

This can not be blamed on a batter charged over halfway. Agin if so, then that is a DJI defect that needs to be covered. 57% doesn't warrant a complete power loss with no warning 20.3 seconds into a flight.

Geebax

Death 4rm Above Posted at 1-12 11:55
several flights? I flew it literally less than 10 times since I opened it and and had charged it between flights when it was less than 20%

This can not be blamed on a batter charged over halfway. Agin if so, then that is a DJI defect that needs to be covered. 57% doesn't warrant a complete power loss with no warning 20.3 seconds into a flight.

If you do a search of this site, one of the most common pieces of advice given to new owners is to never take off on a partly discharged battery. It has been responsible for many crashes over time, because the remaining capacity display is not extremely accurate. The battery capacity is a calculated figure, it is calculated within the battery smarts by noting the amount of charge applied and the amount used. Over a number of flights, it will eventually become a misleading figure. And it is not a defect, it is simply a fact of life that you need to pay attention to in flying your model.

Mark The Droner

Goldenseal

The flight records say you were 16 feet off the ground and it stops. How does DJI say there is no crash? I know, you are a really tall person and caught it by hand. As stated the battery not being fully charged, gives a wrong reading. Still, why was there no warning? It will send you a 57% battery reading and still sense when the battery is low. It will then cause a force landing no matter what the reading is. So, if you were at fault of flying with a low battery and there was no warning. The Phantom was defective for not warning you. No Phantom should just drop out of the sky. Ask DJI to explain it to you. You can't say DJI isn't polite. It can be very unnerving.

Mark The Droner

Launching battery not fully charged = battery shutting itself off

It's been documented ten thousand times.

Death 4rm Above

Hey I drove to work today with a 1/2 tank of gas and got a mile down the road and my truck shut off...

regardless of whether the battery was 57% or 100% there is NO reason or excuse for the unit shutting completely off with NO warning to return to home. THAT would definitely constitute a defect. and 57% to 0% is a lot more than just "inaccurate" it would be downright fraudulent. Keep in mind the batter is also 3 days old in terms of use. A drone that boasts a 30 minute flight time... So every single time we land we have to re charge to 100%? Well who's to say 100% is 100% by this logic? This hang up on my battery being 57% still absolutely does not excuse the unit completely shutting off (total data loss) with no warning in mid flight. Period

Death 4rm Above

Goldenseal Posted at 1-12 17:13
The flight records say you were 16 feet off the ground and it stops. How does DJI say there is no crash? I know, you are a really tall person and caught it by hand. As stated the battery not being fully charged, gives a wrong reading. Still, why was there no warning? It will send you a 57% battery reading and still sense when the battery is low. It will then cause a force landing no matter what the reading is. So, if you were at fault of flying with a low battery and there was no warning. The Phantom was defective for not warning you. No Phantom should just drop out of the sky. Ask DJI to explain it to you. You can't say DJI isn't polite. It can be very unnerving.

Exactly. Theres no crash record because there was no power at all. I'm not at all ruling out the battery not being accurate, but for some to say that 57% is an obvious reason a drone would shut completely off is absurd. And even if it were, that is still a blatant defect of the drone line. Who would buy the newest top of the line phone if it shut off at 57%?

And you're correct. There should have still been a low power warning, a return to home, SOMETHING.

Ercoupedriver

Death 4rm Above Posted at 1-12 19:08
Exactly. Theres no crash record because there was no power at all. I'm not at all ruling out the battery not being accurate, but for some to say that 57% is an obvious reason a drone would shut completely off is absurd. And even if it were, that is still a blatant defect of the drone line. Who would buy the newest top of the line phone if it shut off at 57%?

And you're correct. There should have still been a low power warning, a return to home, SOMETHING.

After looking at the flight records I am going to give you my 2 cents. Everyone is trying to blame the pilot for flying multiple times on 1 battery but after having the same type experience my bet is that the battery just was not inserted to the locking position and the battery just lost contact. Vibration from the flight merely caused the contact between the battery and aircraft to separate. Just my 2 cents worth.

Death 4rm Above

Ercoupedriver Posted at 1-14 05:42
After looking at the flight records I am going to give you my 2 cents. Everyone is trying to blame the pilot for flying multiple times on 1 battery but after having the same type experience my bet is that the battery just was not inserted to the locking position and the battery just lost contact. Vibration from the flight merely caused the contact between the battery and aircraft to separate. Just my 2 cents worth.

After my incident, I had read a few blogs describing what you're explaining as well. However, by some miracle, I remember checking everything the second I picked it up off the ground and noting for sure that the battery was securely locked. This was before I even read about the possibility of the battery not being locked in so I lucked out with that bit of action.

Thank you for not being so quick to try and claim operator error especially over something as silly as a 57% battery charge... LOL

They've now assigned my case to a specific technician. The one who sent me the email above about the crash being caused by damage and not the damage being caused by the crash... she's now requesting the entire txt files for all of my flights combined.

Death 4rm Above

Ercoupedriver Posted at 1-14 05:42
After looking at the flight records I am going to give you my 2 cents. Everyone is trying to blame the pilot for flying multiple times on 1 battery but after having the same type experience my bet is that the battery just was not inserted to the locking position and the battery just lost contact. Vibration from the flight merely caused the contact between the battery and aircraft to separate. Just my 2 cents worth.

By the way, out of curiosity what route did you wind up going after your unit was damaged?

akos79

I have the EXACT same model and the EXACT same problem. Also received the EXACT same response:

" Dear customer,
we inform you, that the repair of claim no. 68931; (your id: ); will require higher costs than previously agreed. (If the above mentioned claim was sent as a warranty repair, we inform you, that the following defect does not meet warranty conditions. Therefore the repair type was reviewed as non-warranty repair)
claim no.: 68931
Product code: DJI0425
Product name: DJI - Phantom 4 PRO+ Obsidian Edition
Identified defects: Service center DJI: no warranty- hard landing. both landinggears damaged, gimbal cannot hold the position, Y-, P- and R-axis powerless, //after repair/replacement, faulty unit or parts will not be returned. Parts to be replaced: Yaw-axis Motor Cover, Antenna Feeder 2, Antenna Feeder 1, Gimbal Yaw-axis & Roll-axis ESC Board, Antenna Feeder 3, Roll-axis Motor, Left Landing Gear Module (Black), Antenna Feeder 4, Right Landing Gear Module (Black), Phantom 4 Yaw-axis Motor V2, Bottom Cover, Pitch-axis Motor, Roll-axis Mounting Bracket V2, Pitch-axis Mounting Piece V2, 2x Repair Service Fee, freight.
Device state does not meet warranty terms and conditions of the manufacturer. Due to the current Repair agreement, we ask you to agree with one of the following options:
1) Repair will be proceeded for payment, the customer agrees with the change of the paragraph "price limit".New price is set to: 313 EUR incl. VAT
2) The device will be returned without repairing. The contractor, however, will require the payment of diagnostics, postage and handling costs in the amount of 20,- EUR incl. VAT

I forked out the 313 EUR but since then the damn thing doesnt fly like it should be. I am getting continous compass errors.

Death 4rm Above

akos79 Posted at 1-14 10:40
I have the EXACT same model and the EXACT same problem. Also received the EXACT same response:

" Dear customer,

Jesus. EU DJI sounds douchier than US DJI.

I let them know I'm adamant about them doing the right thing. I'm not going away.  Progress is microscopic but now someone is assigned to me and they're looking for more in depth info. Its something.

By the way its worth noting that in not one correspondence have they suggested the battery percentage is at all even partially to blame.  As it should not be...

akos79

Death 4rm Above Posted at 1-14 12:39
Jesus. EU DJI sounds douchier than US DJI.

I let them know I'm adamant about them doing the right thing. I'm not going away. Progress is microscopic but now someone is assigned to me and they're looking for more in depth info. Its something.

I would suggest to get a different model then Phantom, probably Mavic 2. I have a Mavic Air, while its camera is subpar compare to Phantom, it flys and performs flawlessly.

Death 4rm Above

akos79 Posted at 1-14 13:13
I would suggest to get a different model then Phantom, probably Mavic 2. I have a Mavic Air, while its camera is subpar compare to Phantom, it flys and performs flawlessly.

Unfortunately I prefer the better image and camera. I'm a photographer so i need it for my business. That's another thing. I registered with the faa and don't even have the drone to fly.

Death 4rm Above

Attached is a Google drive link to the TXT files of every “flight” log since I have owned the drone

Here is a link to log view of the specific "flight" the incident happened:
https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/UYVRQR3CP9OGPHN3A6CV/#

You will notice there are no crashes in any of the "flights" as well as no improper operation of the drone. The drone was in beginner mode for each of the "flights” which all lasted less than 6 minutes each.

Date of the incident should be 12/27/2018. Best guesstimate of time would be early afternoon between 1 and 3 pm Texas time. It was the last flight on the logs. Lasted 20.3 second

An account of the flight in question:
* I started my drone in beginner mode using the phantom 4 pro+ remote with built in monitor.

* Once done I auto launched using the feature on the touch screen monitor. I locked on to 10 GPs and waited for a new home point.

* It hovered at 4 feet for a few seconds.

Death 4rm Above

* I began to proceed forward about 20 feet and vertically about 16 feet at about 1 - 1 1/2 mph with a maximum speed of 2.4 mph.
* At exactly 20.3 seconds all four motors stopped instantly at the same time. No propellers were spinning any more. Complete power loss of the drone. The remote was no longer receiving signal from the drone.
* The drone fell nearly 100% perpendicularly to the ground (straight down with minimal to no angle). It happened so suddenly and without warning that I couldn’t attempt to catch the drone by hand.
* As it fell, about half way down, it rolled onto its top in the air and made impact with the ground, all four propellers face down.
* I immediately ran over to inspect the drone.
* 3 propellers were broken. The gimbal was dislodged. The battery was locked in place but the power indicators on it were not illuminated, neither were any of the flight lights.
* I took the drone inside and began looking through my warranty and contacted DJI to start my claim

Death 4rm Above

EdM

Death 4rm Above Posted at 1-14 16:41
Unfortunately I prefer the better image and camera. I'm a photographer so i need it for my business. That's another thing. I registered with the faa and don't even have the drone to fly.

You do know that to be compliant with the regs for commercial use you have to do more than just register.

fansb1fe1104

Death 4rm Above Posted at 1-15 08:56

Starting a flight with 57% battery is never a good idea unless the flight before it started at 100% and you only landed briefly before taking off again with the 57%. The battery has an auto discharge that if not charged again that 57% will not be correct. And after 3 days of flying, with it not started at 100% Its very likely that the percentage is way off. While yes it is true many have crashed because of this, there are some that don't. I have read that what you need to look at is the voltage and if it drops below 3.3 (someone correct me if that is wrong) then you should land immediately, regardless if there was no warning. So with all this is mind, looking at your flight log it shows pretty much around 3.7V the whole flight, so in my opinion the 57% is not the reason it powered off. Perhaps a faulty battery, or some other faulty piece of equipment, or somehow the battery became unseated. I am definitely no expert on this matter and I could be way off, but anyway that's my opinion for what it is worth.

Death 4rm Above

EdM Posted at 1-15 10:26
You do know that to be compliant with the regs for commercial use you have to do more than just register.

yes.......

Death 4rm Above

flightlogicRV9

Death 4rm Above Posted at 1-16 08:32

You lucked out. When you get it back, buy a second battery. Keep one charging while you fly the other. SEAT them very carefully and also let them cool between flights. Good luck.

Death 4rm Above

I wouldn't say I lucked out. It was an obvious product defect. If it were at all related to the 57% battery charge, don't you think DJI would have suggested it at least once? They don't even elude to it in the slightest. I stood my ground for what is right and they finally followed suit. F more people stood up against blatant excuses then more people would get their warranties covered. I'm baffled by how many people just chalked it up to the battery and placed no blame on DJI. As if they were brainwashed by DJI. Again, in what other product would that be acceptable? Not even Apple obsessed sheep would take the blame if their iPhones shut down at 57% they'd be all over Apple for it.

Clearly DJI their product was malfunctioned and finally gave in to the facts.

Labroides

Death 4rm Above Posted at 1-16 18:56
I wouldn't say I lucked out. It was an obvious product defect. If it were at all related to the 57% battery charge, don't you think DJI would have suggested it at least once? They don't even elude to it in the slightest. I stood my ground for what is right and they finally followed suit. F more people stood up against blatant excuses then more people would get their warranties covered. I'm baffled by how many people just chalked it up to the battery and placed no blame on DJI. As if they were brainwashed by DJI. Again, in what other product would that be acceptable? Not even Apple obsessed sheep would take the blame if their iPhones shut down at 57% they'd be all over Apple for it.

Clearly DJI their product was malfunctioned and finally gave in to the facts.

If it were at all related to the 57% battery charge, don't you think DJI would have suggested it at least once?
In your case, it's easily seen that at the end of the data, the battery voltage was still sufficient for flight and thus it wasn't a battery issue.
But DJI are hopeless at communicating and I wouldn't expect them to mention the battery even though starting with a partly discharged battery can lead to a lesson you'd prefer to avoid.
If more people stood up against blatant excuses then more people would get their warranties covered.
What blatant excuses?
You need the data to demonstrate that the incident was due to a DJI issue.
It's not a case of standing up against anything, without the data on your side, you won't get a replacement.
I'm baffled by how many people just chalked it up to the battery and placed no blame on DJI.
Not everyone looks into the finer details in the data.
Your data shows the voltage was still well above 3.3 volts when things came undone.
But launching with a partially discharged batter is still a major issue that's caused the loss of many drones.
As if they were brainwashed by DJI.
They just aren't data experts.

Hey I drove to work today with a 1/2 tank of gas and got a mile down the road and my truck shut off...
The first gallon in your tank gives as much power as the last gallon.
Batteries aren't like that at all, the voltage goes down from the second you launch.
Get down to 3.3 volts per cell and your game is just about over.

Plus the % indicator is only reliable if you start with a fully charged battery.