Hi everyone,

Recently while I was flying my Inspire One, my young cousin got hold of the controls while the aircraft was mid-flight, and accidentally executed the CSC (Combination Stick Command) by pressing the left joystick to the left and down and the right joystick to the right and down (you can also perform it by doing left joystick to the right and down and right joystick to the left and down, see page 51 of the manual). This stopped the motors and my Inspire One crashed into a lake. Luckily, no one was hurt and I was able to salvage the drone, dry it out in rice, and the battery and the UV filter appear to be the only items in need of replacement. There is a line in the manual that says, "Do not perform CSC when aircraft is midair, otherwise the motors will be stopped." I did read the manual (most of it) before flying but it never registered fully to me that this was potentially a major hazard. I thought I would post this here hopefully to spare others such an event.

Yes, it was certainly my fault for letting someone unqualified touch the controls (I never gave him permission explicitly, he did this after I had set the controls down and was distracted), but I think there could also be more done to make such a hazard less likely.

I understand that this command needs to be available in case of certain emergencies, but would others here agree that implementing some kind of software change to make some kind of additional step necessary, such as confirming the stoppage of the motors via DJI Go App (similar to confirming the deletion of an account by retyping a password, etc...), would be a good idea? In my opinion, this is far too easy a mistake to make, even if the controls were in the hands of an experienced and trained pilot.

I understand this is a debated issue, but it seems to me that the current command creates a larger hazard than it seeks to prevent (shutting off the motors quickly in rare scenarios). What do others think?

It sucks that this happened. A kill switch is a must have on a quad, this has happened to a few people and it has been discussed but I don't think DJI is going to change the combination. Sorry for your loss, is there any chance at recovery?

Sorry to hear it, hope you get it back in the air soon.

The root cause issue here is that you were not in control of the aircraft while it was airborne. (controller set down and your attention was elsewhere)
Irrespective of your cousin's actions, there wasn't any way that you could have taken action had anything occurred to the AC in flight.
Yes, GPS will keep it in position but you cannot completely rely on it doing so every single time - it will be that one time in 100 (1000?) that something goes wrong and a catastrophe occurs.

As a Pilot (or 'Controller' here in Oz) you have to maintain situational awareness and be in complete control from takeoff to landing and shutdown.

Adding a delay to CSC (for a verification step) invalidates its intended purpose which is to bring the AC down immediately as literally a 'last ditch' risk mitigation against injuring people.

We cannot lose focus for even a second. Or set down controller. Too much at stake.
I think of the CSC often and will not descend while going backwards to avoid the possibility of shutting down the motors.
It had to suck watching the bird fall out of the sky!!

I sat my controller down once to take a picture of my bird with my phone. It was hovering 8 feet high and 8 feet away from me and for that few seconds I was very nervous that if something went wrong, I would be powerless to take any kind of corrective measure over it.
Glad nobody was hurt and it sounds like not too much damage.

R&L Aerial  Posted at 2016-7-27 06:13
It sucks that this happened. A kill switch is a must have on a quad, this has happened to a few peop ...

I actually got quite lucky and the aircraft is back in the air after a new battery!

Farnk666 Posted at 2016-7-27 06:37
Sorry to hear it, hope you get it back in the air soon.

The root cause issue here is that you were  ...

Agreed, a lesson learned.

Could you describe a situation where you would need such an immediate shutdown? I think I've heard things about people moving towards the aircraft rapidly without realizing that it's there...

Aeromirage Posted at 2016-7-27 10:33
We cannot lose focus for even a second. Or set down controller. Too much at stake.
I think of the CS ...

Agreed and I understand your concern. I will not be setting the controller down again!

spensergabin Posted at 2016-7-28 02:22
Agreed, a lesson learned.

Could you describe a situation where you would need such an immediate s ...

It's hypothetical, but really pretty much as you described.
The AC is operating in a location, for some reason (system issue / comms / GPS / pilot error) it heads toward a group of people at speed, the pilot is unable to correct the situation and brings it down before it injures anyone.

With the reports of uncontrolled ascent in the previous firmware, I'd also use CSC if I was in a situation where the AC was set to impact a structure or object overhead. Again a 'last ditch' situation in that I would prefer to be able to collect the damaged AC rather that have it stuck in a tree or similar. Better to pay some $$ for repairs that risk injury climbing up to retrieve it.

A lot of folks have concerns over CSC, but if you think about what maneuver the AC would be doing with the sticks in the CSC positions, it's pretty unlikely that anyone would do that on purpose.

Just something to be aware of and manage, like so many other operating factors with UAV.