Drone disconnected straight after takeoff and crashed
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3260 10 2019-12-25
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Bryce Butler
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  1#
Hey, having a great start to the holidays.

So just started up everything seemed perfect. No errors or cautions.

Took off and went about 25m into the air and the app seemed like it lagged a little, suddenly got an aircraft disconnected error and the drone dropped to my feet smashing the camera and most of the body. I noticed the remote disconnected it self but turned back on battery was still on when i picked it up. Just wondering why it would suddenly to this? Or if anyone has had the same issue before.

Batteries were at about 53% after previous flight and remote was at 40%.

Ill attach the flight record but everything seems normal i think.
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2019-12-25
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Manu P4P Paris
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Italy
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  2#
You should upload the txt file inside the DJI app flight records folder
2019-12-25
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Mark The Droner
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  3#
It's best to post the link to your phantomhelp log display, rather than a photo of it.  

It's possible you failed to fully insert the battery and it popped out enough to cause a disconnect.  I've also read of people complaining of a design malfunction with the way the P4 battery secures to the P4.  But otherwise, this appears to be the classic "Never launch without a fully charged battery" problem.  Doing so promotes drop from the sky as we've seen hundreds of times over the years - especially when coupled with a cold battery or a full throttle.  































































































































Sorry for your loss.  
2019-12-26
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djordan2
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  5#
I have a P3 Pro.  I have no idea what happened to you.  If I had to guess, I would have to say it was a battery issue of some sort.   I do have something similar happen to me every now and then when I take off without a full charge on the batter.  I have crashed twice because of it.  Once serious and once not so serious.   The battery will read about 50 to 75% or so charged when I lift off for the first time on that battery.   Generally I'm not going very far, just a little trip around the patch so to speak.  But after about 10 or 15 seconds and  maybe 10 feet AGL, I'll hear the warning  "Landing".  And down it comes.  I have to force it to stay in the air until I can get it over a good landing area.

All I do to correct it it land, turn off the drone and the controller.  Then restart both, or put in a fresh battery if I decide to go farther out.  It will do the same thing on the second battery if it is not fully charged at lift-off.  It doesn't just drop though.  It goes into the Auto-land feature and is coming down to a soft landing, expect for the two times listed about.
2019-12-26
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DJI Paladin
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  6#
Hi. I am sorry for the unfortunate incident that happened to your DJI Phantom 4 Advanced. Since there was a crash that happened on the said drone. I would recommend for you to contact our designated DJI support team to start up a ticket at ( https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav ) to diagnose, analyse and repair the said drone. Rest assured that our designated DJI support team will do their best to investigate the main reason of the incident and then a corresponding solution will be provided. Please note that DJI will not be able to perform data analysis for cases occurring after the expiry of the warranty period of the drone. Otherwise, valid charges will apply. Again I am sorry for the trouble and thank for your support.
2019-12-26
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JPilotR
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  7#
Sorry for your loss. Sounds exactly like the previously suggested battery connection/attachment issue. I have literally drawn blood making sure that damned battery is snapped into place (just make sure your finger isn't in the way when it snaps!!!! -- that thing bites!). Read too many horror stories like yours and those listed. Again, sorry you had to experience this!
2019-12-26
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Geebax
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Australia
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  8#
One thing you will hear over and over again from experienced pilots on this forum is to never launch your aircraft on a partially discharged battery. The battery capacity is not an absolute value, it is calculated by the battery by knowing the quantity of charge put into the battery and the amount of current withdrawn from the battery. While I agree with the others here about the possibility of a battery not being fully inserted into the aircraft, your statement about launching on 53% battery raises an alarm. From the single page of the log we can see, you were climbing at the time, which places the highest load on the battery, and a partially charged battery can have its terminal voltage drop quite low under high current drain conditions, such that the aircraft shuts down momentarily, causing it to drop out of the sky.
2019-12-26
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AntDX316
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  9#
Mark The Droner Posted at 12-26 04:40
It's best to post the link to your phantomhelp log display, rather than a photo of it.  

It's possible you failed to fully insert the battery and it popped out enough to cause a disconnect.  I've also read of people complaining of a design malfunction with the way the P4 battery secures to the P4.  But otherwise, this appears to be the classic "Never launch without a fully charged battery" problem.  Doing so promotes drop from the sky as we've seen hundreds of times over the years - especially when coupled with a cold battery or a full throttle.  

I lost signal once w/ the P4PV2.0.  I think because the phone was confused about the app opening or not from the cable connection being slightly faulty.  When the signal of the controller was totally lost it just landed safely.  I had to turn both the drone and the controller off for it to work again.
2019-12-26
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Labroides
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  10#
AntDX316 Posted at 12-26 15:30
I lost signal once w/ the P4PV2.0.  I think because the phone was confused about the app opening or not from the cable connection being slightly faulty.  When the signal of the controller was totally lost it just landed safely.  I had to turn both the drone and the controller off for it to work again.

That's a great story but completely irrelevant to the OP's situation.
Losing signal will never cause a drone to fall from the sky.
Losing power will, and that gives a Disconnected message because there's no connection to a dead drone.
2019-12-26
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AntDX316
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  12#
Labroides Posted at 12-26 15:35
That's a great story but completely irrelevant to the OP's situation.
Losing signal will never cause a drone to fall from the sky.
Losing power will, and that gives a Disconnected message because there's no connection to a dead drone.

Yeah, most likely a loss of power situation.

We don't know if some people are using aftermarket batteries.  When I first got the P4 I ordered aftermarket batteries because the real ones were hard to find.  Returned them because the pins were too wide and it didn't fit perfectly.  I was stressing out that they might not take it back but they did.  Also, the P4 having the compass 2 disconnected error sucked but luckily got it swapped as many here know.
2019-12-26
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andy10
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  13#
You said that at start up the battery was at 53%. How long was the battery half empty? Was it few hours or few days? This is a big difference!
I fly many times like that but only if this was the second flight that day and I knew that it will be only a short flight.
I would never fly with a half empty battery which being such for more than one day.
The battery has been programmed to shut off when the voltage drops under defined value which is around 13V or 3V for the individual cell (the exact value should be in the manual) no matter what % is shown up. If you start with a half empty battery which is being such for a while, the voltage may drop quickly below the critical value. And your situation sounds just like that.
2020-1-1
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