P4Pro+ fell out of sky :(

Hi everyone. Unfortunately my first post is a sad one as my beloved P4Pro+ fell out of the sky today.
Thanks to the great advice here I have connected my controller and downloaded the flight log to check battery state etc. I can’t upload it here as i’m a new user but the battery was fine, voltages stable and then the log just stops!
I was flying away to line up for a photo and the controller suddenly says Aircraft Disconnected and that was that. VERY fortunately , as i very often fly over water, i was able to recover the crashed craft. So the battery was in it and on and over 50% and the little internal fan was running. The drone is absolutely smashed to bits having fallen from nearly 300ft. I’m really gutted but also a bit angry as i could have killed someone! Or smashed down in to a car or the like :frowning: Anyway I’ve emailed DJI support (number 1340114)
So a little extra info: props all attached. Genuine battery. I didn’t hit anything or crash or anything untoward. Unfortunately i wasn’t reconding video when it crashed (i’m a photog through and through) Loads of flying experience and no glitches from the craft at all previously…apart from the DJI app did freeze on a separate earlier flight today so I hit RTH on the controller to get the craft back on its way home. I then restarted the controller and it reconnected fine and all was well - but that’s the first time it’s ever crashed.
Other than that, i couldn’t have been more surprised - it simply fell out of the sky!
I suppose what i’m looking for is some reassurance that DJI will not quibble and will replace my very expensive drone! I sold all my cameras to buy this!
Many thanks for any advice
Richard

Please upload your TXT flight log here and post the link back here.

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http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/JOGYH612RS6033PH0WX2/

Thanks

Your TXT flight log doesn’t show anything more than you described above.

Does your Phantom still power on? If so, you could retrieve the DAT flight log from the Phantom like this. If you’re able to retrieve it, you can view the data within with CsvView or DatCon. That’ll at least allow you to confirm if the Phantom powered down mid-flight (which seems to be the case).

While this normally wouldn’t cause a problem, you can see the flight log ends right after you abruptly let go of the left stick while flying at full speed. That caused the Phantom to quickly tilt in the opposite direction (since it was trying to stop). If the battery wasn’t inserted properly, that might have been enough to make it slide out of the battery compartment just enough to make it disconnect.

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I’m SUPER careful to click both top and bottom tabs in, but i take your point thanks
It powers up, yes - I’ll see if i can dig out that flight log for more info now.
Thanks, Richard

OK, i managed to get the log. There seem to be three from the relevant timeframe. I’d be delighted if you could let me know if there’s anything relevant to me in them. Unfortunately i can’t upload files as I’m a new user so have shared them on my one drive here: Microsoft OneDrive - Access files anywhere. Create docs with free Office Online.

This certainly appears to be another case of P4 battery dislodge and/or disconnect. As the data ends, you can see the motor voltage drop off and the motors stop running. This has occurred more often than anyone would ever imagine. As of yet, there is no determination of a “root cause” for this. There have been cases where the battery simply fell out, and others that are still a bit of a mystery as to the exact reason.

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Thank you for this useful information. DJI have replied saying i should go through the motions to send it back for repair and assessment. I’ll let you know what they come up with but I’m confident this should be replaced under warranty. I mean it just disconnected and fell out of the sky! I’m so careful to click both top and bottom tabs in on the battery too- how can they just lose connection/power like this?! That is a pretty fundamental error in design isn’t it. Then i note that on the V2 there is a sensor there - makes sense. I’m sure DJI won’t fight me on this.
Back in touch soon and thanks again guys

Well guys, as much as i was shocked and upset, DJI have stepped up without a second word: the battery was replaced FOC a couple of days ago and then I’m delighted to say I have just received an email saying they are repairing craft FOC.
Do you have any further thoughts? What is the flight controller?
TIA guys
Richard

Remark: Warranty Fly161 2018.09.05 S/N: 07JDEBA00200NL Activation date: 2018-03-01 1. The aircraft worked under GPS mode; 2. T=98 s, h=70 m, d=225.6 m, power cut off in the air, flight controller voltage dropped. 3. Last coordinate: 54.5456170 -3.0569077. Conclusion: No pilot error, warranty.

Item Quantity Unit Price(EUR) Total Nett(EUR)
Lens Front Shell (With Shielding Cover) 1 12.40 12.40
Pitch-axis Mounting Piece V2 1 6.61 6.61
Left Landing Gear Module (Black) 1 9.92 9.92
Middle Frame (Black) 1 19.01 19.01
Yaw-axis Cable Cover 1 4.13 4.13
Lens External Ring With Filter 1 32.23 32.23
Right Landing Gear Module (Black) 1 9.92 9.92
Bottom Cover 1 16.53 16.53
Roll-axis Mounting Bracket V2 1 5.79 5.79
Gimbal Flexible Flat Cable (Long) V04 1 14.05 14.05
Freight:
Total Amount: 130.59
Discount: -130.59
DJI Care deduction: 0.00
Sub Total Payment: 0.00
VAT(at 21%): 0.00
Grand Total Payment: 0

I’m not sure whether to trust this again now. Toying with idea of selling it while it’s mint and buying a V2 - any reports of any of these falling out of sky?

It’s the brain of the aircraft. It controls all of the electrical components.

The issue you experienced with your P4P is not common. It likely won’t happen to you again.

DJI continuously makes improvements (many unmentioned) to their drones throughout the life cycle of each model, so the V2 probably has some improvements over your original P4P. That doesn’t necessarily mean any changes were made to the component that failed in your P4P though.

The new P4P V2 camera and OcuSync system would be a nice upgrade over the P4P. You can check out the other improvements made in the P4P V2 FAQ.

So today I got my drone back. It’s new and I’m delighted to be back flying. DJI sent a new battery as well.
Fair play - all sorted without quibble or expense.
Tell me, this new Care Refresh after 48hrs thing. I don’t want to spend now but could i do that just as my warranty runs out? Does my warranty run from 12months from now, given I’v just activated the new one, or from my original purchase date?
And guys, a big thank you to you; you reassured me greatly as time of great distress.

The warranty is good for one year from the date you received your original drone.

I just had the same problem yesterday. I was fly my P4P with new props and a fully charged battery. I was only in the air for 5 minutes when I got a Disconnect alert. I hit the RTH button but it never came back. I was able to go to the last know satellite location and find my drone. It was destroyed. It fell from 192 feet. I have no idea what happened. I looked at the flight log and the last data entry shows everything to be normal. I can’t find any reason for why my drone would just fall out of the sky. I read in the aforementioned post that there is a problem with the battery disconnecting. When I found my drone the battery was out and laying on the ground next to the drone. A neighbor told me that he saw my drone flying and it looked like something hit it. He didn’t know if it was a bird or something else. He stated “It just went poof in the air and fell”. I was way above any obstacles and I had a clear sight on my tablet. The app was working fine with no crashes. I am wondering if the battery popped out. That might have been what the neighbor saw. I was told to down load the flight record in another post but I don’t know how to do that. I was able to find the flight record but this form won’t allow new users to download anything. If anyone knows anything more about the battery falling out in flight please let me know.

Hi mate. Myself I’d start a new thread and these very helpful folks will help you analyse the DJI log file - they did for me.
Maybe it was a bird strike - the info you need will likely be revealed soon… Good luck with it all

The device flight log will provide some information. Try and upload your log file to the link below, instructions are on the link. Then post a link back here to that. I will say however that if this was indeed a bird strike we would need the aircraft .dat file to possibly determine that. We can tell you how to do that after you upload the device log for an initial look. It is much easier than the aircraft .dat.

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/

I am trying to up load the flight log however I keep getting a message that says New users can’t up load anything. How can I get around that?

Upload your flight log here and post the link back here.

http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/FV6PBOEAA60EADY1V3NT/

Hopefully this will take you to my flight log. If anyone can see something from this please let me know. Thanks to all that are trying to help me.

@Jony, your flight log does not show any signs of an impact or explain what happened. If your Phantom still powers on, you could follow these instructions to retrieve the DAT flight log from the Phantom. It’ll contain some additional data points that might explain what happened.