So my P3P just fell out of the sky. I have one broken propeller, camera came right off, and so did the battery.
Picture of damage:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/c1nef6l6eyva6mp/IMG_3991.jpg?dl=0

As usual, I turned on the P3 and wait for it to get GPS connectivity before I take off. The P3 finished warming up and the status was green.

I started off by accending to ~390 feet and started going forward full throttle. When it was approximately 800 ft away from me, I got a "Critical Battery Error" or something along those lines. I can't remember because I know some other people have had a similar issue and immedialtely thought "Oh SH*T!!!, I need to bring it back ASAP". So I stopped moving forward and started to come back in reverse at about 26 MPH. When The P3 was 464FT away from me, it stopped and started to free fall.  I was able to see that the propellers literally stopped moving as it came down full speed. I ran to the crash site and saw it on the grass just sitting there sideways. The battery was sitting on the ground powered on. The camera was a few feet away from where the P3 crashed.

Interestingly enough, as all of this was happening, I was not upset or sad. After seeing this same thing happen to others, I just figured it would happen to me sooner or later.

Some info about the P3 status:
Battery was at 94% when I got the Critical Battery Error.
The time window that show you how much flight time was left said 14 minutes.
I was flying in P-GPS the whole time.
At no point in time did I do the CSC thing. I just went forward on the right stick, saw the error, then went back on the right stick until it stopped and went down.
I did not have the memory card in the camera because I was just taking it around the neighborhood and did not plan on taking any pictures or video. I do however have the flight data and have uploaded to the cloud.

Some will probably say that maybe the battery was not in all the way. Well, that would be hard to believe in my case because I had to fight to get the battery out of the P3 each time that I needed to remove it so that I can charge it.

It will be what DJI says about this one.

Good luck and Keep us posted.   

Sorry about your Phantom

jacmac64 Posted at 2015-6-14 09:42
It will be what DJI says about this one.

Good luck and Keep us posted.   

Hi Guys, I dont know whether this is going over the top but I always use DEOXIT Gold on all my battery contacts. It is a liquid contact enhancer made especially for gold contacts and you just put the lightest smear over all surfaces. So far it has worked for me.

Hopefully dji will get you a replacement free of charge if it wasnt your fault...
Wait, has dji ever given a replacement free of charge?

Sorry to hear about your loss!

Most of the others who reported this admitted their battery was not in tight (their error).
You'll never know in your case since it popped out - but that is the likely cause.

Also, as Jeff says use the DEOXIT.

Oh, always fly with the SD card in the P3.
Mine throws many errors when I don't have that in. There is no harm leaving one in there all the time - you don't have to take pictures with it.

Note - DJI pre-flight checklist
3. Micro-SD card has been inserted, if necessary.

I assume that means if one wasn't in there, put it in.

One last comment for others who want their machines to last as long as possible.
These are flying cameras - that is what they are for. They will cost you a certain amount of money per minute or per flight or however you want to calculate it.

Flying around just for kicks would be better done in another machine. In my guide about "how to keep your Phantom" I wrote:
"The Phantom 3 series quadcopter are Flying Cameras. They are “tools”, not a sport or racing machine. Our first piece of advice goes something like this:
“These are very delicate machines and should not be used as your sole flying machine – that is, don’t practice with it, demo it and fly it around for your regular hobby. Rather, these are flying cameras which should only be used when you intend to actual take footage and still photos. Flying them for other reasons will likely cost you time and money”.

To the OP - not trying to lecture you, just throwing this stuff out for others who read this thread.

droneflyers.com Posted at 2015-6-14 10:40
Sorry to hear about your loss!

Most of the others who reported this admitted their battery was not  ...

It is fine to lecture me . Like you said, it is a flying camera, and I was looking at the output of the camera on my tablet while I flew it. I don't always fly with intentions of taking video or pictures. I should not be afraid to fly it around.

I didn't take out the memory card out on purpose. I was transferring pics to the laptop and left it attached to it. When I saw the warning about the memory card, I simply ignored it because I was not going to use it.

As for battery not being seated properly, I have seen others mention it. I can guarantee you that it is not what happened in my case.

ara9112003@yaho Posted at 2015-6-14 10:45
wow! 800 ft, ..sorry for your Lost ,
but that was the most irresponsible Thing you can never do'.
  ...

Thanks.

You misread my post. The P3 was 394ft above me. I have the max altitude on the app set to 400ft.

I was out 800 feet horizontally when I got the error.

Jack57 Posted at 2015-6-14 10:33
Hopefully dji will get you a replacement free of charge if it wasnt your fault...
Wait, has dji eve ...

I am hoping for the same. I am not sure that they have, but I expect nothing less than that.

vmp Posted at 2015-6-14 11:04
Thanks.

You misread my post. The P3 was 394ft above me. I have the max altitude on the app set to ...

OH I am sorry ,That battery was a spare battery?

ara9112003@yaho Posted at 2015-6-14 11:06
OH I am sorry ,That battery was a spare battery?

No, it was the one that came with the P3. The same one I used for all 40+ flights.

vmp Posted at 2015-6-14 11:10
No, it was the one that came with the P3. The same one I used for all 40+ flights.

that's scary

Did you touch any of the contacts inside of the Phantom? I know I'm tempted to see how strong they are, but I refrain from touching any of the contacts. I try to keep it new as possible.

vmp Posted at 2015-6-14 11:03
It is fine to lecture me . Like you said, it is a flying camera, and I was looking at the output o ...

I saw all the errors and never dismissed the - it game gimbal errors, so it spooked me.
But likely that has nothing to do with your crash.

As to the battery - all just a guess because there have been reports of the same error where they were able to land and then see that they hadn't seated it to the last click. I'm 100% sure we all assume we pushed it in all the way - the only reason those others knew was they saw the evidence afterwards.

Poor contact would give the same error.
I don't foresee a bad battery - were you able to test the battery for capacity (not charge, life)?

I think if it was a bad battery it would have come down while still showing some power (just descended quickly, but props still turning)....

Anyway, I hope you can get the thing fixed or get a decent deal on another.

It looks repairable- maybe they can take care of you in that regard.

Maybe the logs will show something...but logs usually protect them more than they do you. Let us know what happens.

droneflyers.com Posted at 2015-6-14 11:28
I saw all the errors and never dismissed the - it game gimbal errors, so it spooked me.
But likely ...

I am seeing a loose battery as the common issue related to the error I saw. But one particular reason why I remember that the battery was seated all the way was because I recently got the GPC case for the P3 and the battery had been placed in one of the pockets. So I had to put the battery in it today and I always tap the battery with the palm of my hand to make sure it is seated properly.

I'll be opening a support request with DJI on Monday and will report any new findings as soon as I get them.

I was flying tonight with full battery and out of the blue, I heard critically battery.  I looked at my screen and all was green.  No beeping,no errors being displayed, but I freaked out.  All I heard was the audible critical battery and atti-mode.  I flew it back and landed with no errors.  I thought with 87% battery remaining, that I would try it again and I kept it close and only about 5 meters off the ground.  All was good.

Did you actually get a critical battery on your screen that turns your status red or was it just an audible message like I got.  My battery was in tight, no issues there.  I have flown over 105 flights and that was my first time getting the critical battery audible message.  Thanks in advance and sorry about your P3 crash.  I hope DJI comes through and does the right thing.