Hello, I'm a realtive newbie.  I've got over 100 flights in using the DJI GO app on my Phantom Advanced.  I recently bought Litchi, and loaded it on my Apple iPad, and that is what I use to control my Phantom.  I've run about 25 "missions" successfully.  I always create the mission at the https://flylitchi.com/hub site, save it online, then download it to my iPad.  Works great.


I ran the longest mission I've ever run today (11 minutes).  It came off without a hitch, except at the end.  It appears the aircraft actually flipped over!  I've double-checked, and there are no wires/lines/trees in that area that I was near.  The video was pretty scary.  Does anyone have any idea what may have happened here?  Any ideas on how to avoid this in the future?  If I didn't  happen to be at a good altitude (around 200 feet), I think the aircraft would have crashed into the ground.  But it somehow recovered on its own.  Have a look:    Skip ahead to about 8:35 to see the "flip".  Thanks in advance for any ideas.

Looking at the footage, I would suspect it was a bird stike.

i THINK A BIRD ATTACTED IT

Any ideas on how to avoid this in the future?

Agree that it looks like a birdstrike.  Not much you can do about random events like this, except to recon the area first and identify risks like flocks of nesting or aggressive birds in the area, or researching breeding seasons and avoiding the area.  Fortunately you were at sufficient altitude for the aircraft to recover, typically it needs a couple of hundred feet to regain control.  Keep your missions above this height to give yourself recovery distance.  Birdstrikes can of course break blades from the props and this would not be recoverable.  Sometimes big predators can make off with the whole aircraft.

WOW! That's crazy.
I agree with everyone else. Looks like a bird strike! This was certainty, not anything to do with Litchi. I use Litchi exclusively and have never had an issue. It just simply works.
I will share with you I had a similar experience, but not a complete flip like yours. A short time ago I was flying a Litchi mission, one I routinely fly, and when I looked at the video after the fact, I saw something shocking. Towards the end of a 14 minute flight while it was on the way home I see my phantom take a dive to the right and the recover just a few seconds later, somewhat like yours did. I can't 100% rule out a bird, but I was 400 feet in the air and don't really think so. Here is what happened though the next day. I took my phantom out to fly and now I get this "ESC-error" and my bird is dead! After 5-6 times trying to start the motors I give up, not really knowing what has happened. I didn't crash and just flew it the night before. The next day I try one more time and now all motor fire up except one. Ah, there's the problem...bad motor? I talked with DJI support and they told me either bad motor or bad ESC, in which I would need a new main board. I gave that motor a turn and it did feel rough to turn. So, I bought 4-new motor since they are not very expensive, and I figure it is good insurance. My phantom is 1 1/2 years old and I fly it a lot, so I don't mind spend a few bucks on it for sure. Anyway, after I swapped out the bad motor, I figured I'd see if all was good, and to my surprise I have the dreaded "ESC" error again. What! Do I really need a main board? Now to explain I just cut the wires  in the middle coming from the main board instead of unsoldering off the board itself. That is what a lot of people suggest to do when replacing motors. Upon further inspection, I see one wire going to that motor looked suspicious right past the solder joint on the main board. Sure enough, the wire was broken under the insulation. I swapped that out with another new motor and soldered it directly to the main board which was a lot easier than others had suggested. My phantom fired right up with no error. I went ahead and installed the rest of the new motors and I have been up and flying for a couple weeks now without issue.
Looking back, I had a couple times where I also had the "Loose prop or missing propeller" error that I couldn't explain either. I bought it home and check the props and all were tight. I wonder now if I had that wire coming apart, but not totally broken and giving the ESC fits......never know I guess.
Sorry for the whole story here, but my point is I would have never guessed I had a broken wire. I am lucky to have made it home with mine. Just saying, it looks like yours took a hit, but if you don't think a bird was the issue, it might be worth taking the top shell off and looking at your connections closely. I may be way off base with this, but I know what my experience was. Just thought I would share for anyone that might find it helpful.

RicardoGray Posted at 2017-6-8 05:13
WOW! That's crazy.
I agree with everyone else. Looks like a bird strike! This was certainty, not anything to do with Litchi. I use Litchi exclusively and have never had an issue. It just simply works.
I will share with you I had a similar experience, but not a complete flip like yours. A short time ago I was flying a Litchi mission, one I routinely fly, and when I looked at the video after the fact, I saw something shocking. Towards the end of a 14 minute flight while it was on the way home I see my phantom take a dive to the right and the recover just a few seconds later, somewhat like yours did. I can't 100% rule out a bird, but I was 400 feet in the air and don't really think so. Here is what happened though the next day. I took my phantom out to fly and now I get this "ESC-error" and my bird is dead! After 5-6 times trying to start the motors I give up, not really knowing what has happened. I didn't crash and just flew it the night before. The next day I try one more time and now all motor fire up except one. Ah, there's the problem...bad motor? I talked with DJI support and they told me either bad motor or bad ESC, in which I would need a new main board. I gave that motor a turn and it did feel rough to turn. So, I bought 4-new motor since they are not very expensive, and I figure it is good insurance. My phantom is 1 1/2 years old and I fly it a lot, so I don't mind spend a few bucks on it for sure. Anyway, after I swapped out the bad motor, I figured I'd see if all was good, and to my surprise I have the dreaded "ESC" error again. What! Do I really need a main board? Now to explain I just cut the wires  in the middle coming from the main board instead of unsoldering off the board itself. That is what a lot of people suggest to do when replacing motors. Upon further inspection, I see one wire going to that motor looked suspicious right past the solder joint on the main board. Sure enough, the wire was broken under the insulation. I swapped that out with another new motor and soldered it directly to the main board which was a lot easier than others had suggested. My phantom fired right up with no error. I went ahead and installed the rest of the new motors and I have been up and flying for a couple weeks now without issue.

I agree with above post, your "flip" looks like a camera reset, like phantom camera does on start up, weird.
I'd be checking the logs, looking for any ESC error or other warnings, if you did this I missed it.
I'd be darn nervous after that little flip!

Definately a bird strike

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