DJI Phantom 4 Pro Fell Out of the Sky with no warning

Hi,

On the 3rd January, I was flying my Phantom 4 Pro, and after it was ‘returning home’ it suddenly came crashing out of the sky, with no warning.

The camera has broken off, two of the propellors are broken and some other minor damage. It doesn’t fly now at all.

My question is, why would this happen, the drone is only 1 year old? And what options do I have, to have it fixed?

Thank you,

Steve

Does is still power on? If so, upload your DAT flight log to dropbox.com and post a link back here. It’ll contain information that might explain what happened. If needed, you can find instructions for retrieving the DAT file here.

As mentioned, the .dat file from the aircraft will give more information. However, if the aircraft did not completely lose all power ( Which you did not mention, although assumed from your statement ) the device flight log may also show some indications of what occurred. Upload your device log to the link below and place a link back here to that. NOTE: If the aircraft did indeed completely shut down, this file may not help to determine a cause. Instructions are on the link:

Log Viewer

Create a DJI repair ticket on it - they send you a PP label and will look at it and give you an estimate… it has been my experience with two instances with them that they re extremely reasonable and pretty damn quick… they charge you for what it costs to fix, when you accept they simply ship you a refurbished one, and yours goes in to be refurbished and passed to the next customer.

In one instance my spotter failed to warn me of a palm tree and she fell straight onto a concrete driveway… looked awful… was anticipating the worst… both shells, camera et al… yet repair was just $180…

Good luck brah…

ps: I just bought a crashed Mavic pro on the www for 300 sending it in to DJI for repair… will see how it works out…

My first P4P crashed (possibly my fault not a fly away). Camera completely came off (got stuck in a tree 85 feet up and fell out. All legs were damaged too

I was advised the camera itself was $700-ish With parts labor etc it was going to be close to $1000

I simply bought a new one. I didn’t have DJI Care. My logic: what else could go wrong (ie did the impact knock something lose etc). The other part of my logic: Friend told me that if I bought on credit card they might have a claim I can fill out. They did have a process and would cover up to 1K.

So I just bought a new one. Btw Amex policy on purchase protection “we don’t cover aircraft” So I was stuck with another $1500

But like I said I had the knowledge of a brand new drone in full working order. I did buy DJI Care on the second one along with State Farm Ins (personal articles clause). I did both since they compliment each other well. Plus State farm was only $60/year.

Sorry for the long winded reply

My first crash… just 1 week after getting the Phantom 3 4k - I was under the canopy of the rainforest and allowed the battery to run too far down… after all it was close by and low to the ground right, what could possibly go wrong - WRONG… when battery got too low it just shot up into the sky (and the canopy) got tangled up and crashed down to earth… this was still in warranty but totally my fault… no DJI Care or any protection at all… they repaired it for $160…

Second time I described above had DJI Care, but it had expired 3 months prior to the crash and so at time of crash was not covered at all… yet cost me just $186… Can’t heap enough praise on these guys… but hey, will wait to see what they say for the Mavic I just sent in.

Happy you are back up and flying again… Been thinking about State Farm… have to check them out, but I fly mostly commercial and I don’t think they cover that…

Dang… you are lucky. I would consider playing lottery… Thanks for sharing and best wishes

Btw you are right they do NOT cover if you are flying commercially. How the hell are they going to know. That is why I got both DJI care and SF. DJI will only cover if the drone is recovered - so if it flys off into space or crashes in the ocean OR stolen they won’t cover you. SF will cover if say its stolen or flys off.

FYI

If only… no lottery in Hawaii, besides which never been much one for gambling.

So… Mavic “fixed” (meaning evaluated and switched for a previously refurbished model) and shipped back to me today… $240.

So with the $300 I paid and the “fix” of $240 I have a freshly refurbished Mavic Pro for $540… I must confess to expecting a lower repair bill based on past experience, but the past has always been phantoms… and my initial inspection and test flight with this led me to believe it was just the gimbal… alas no - this Mavic needed: all 4 arms, Gimbal Vibration Damping Module, lower shell and 4 sets of props… + repair fee of 2x$65/hr

I’m pretty happy…
Aloha

Hey,
Yes the drone did power on and I’ve uploaded the DAT flight information down below. Hopefully this will help you guys find out what happened. Let me know if you need anything else. Thanks a lot.

That’s not a public link to your DAT file. Can you try linking it again?

May I post a link to DAT file here too for same problem so that it can be looked at?
Thanks

You may. But, please create a new topic in the appropriate drone category.

OK, new topic created and posted; thanks