Motors stopped at 100 metres while in LANDING mode

[Chips]

I know there are a few thread about Sparks falling out of the sky and I experienced it today. I had loitered at 160 metres for a couple of minutes taking pictures and then activated RTH. The drone came right over my house which was the home point. Then it went into LANDING mode and descended at the usual speed. At 100 metres, the motors stopped and it started to fall. I could see the propellers windmilling as it got lower and I think that slowed the fall a bit but still it was dropping at 4 metres/sec, when usually it would be 1.2 m/sec.

My fear was it would land away from the house in a neighbour's area or worse, on somebody, as I had totally no control. Very, very luckily, it was right over an awning and it impacted the awning, bounced up again and I saw the propellers spinning again so I tried to regain control and managed to control it and brought it back to my landing area. Very, very lucky.

Normally, I use RTH to bring the drone within close range and then stop it and manually guide it to land. It's not always accurate enough to land on the GPS home point so I handle the last bit myself. I do remember that I did hit the STOP FUNCTION button on the controller as it was coming down but from all the previous times, that is supposed to just cancel the mode and it goes into a hover. That button is not supposed to shut down the engine, I am sure! Maybe a glitch in the signal did that although I don't think DJI would have anything in its software that has an engine shutdown (while flying) command. It would be too dangerous.

There was no message indicating signal loss and as it was in LANDING mode, it was under computer control.

The drone doesn't seem to be damaged though I can't be sure about inside. The camera still works and it still starts up and behaves normally. But I have lost confidence in this unit (my third DJI drone) and maybe I'll save money on repairs and use it to get another one, either a Mavic Air or Pro.

Any comments would be welcome.

 

[Bob Radford]

Any chance you moved both sticks down and in or down and out? This is the motor kill function.

 

[msinger]

Check out your TXT flight log to see if it explains what happened. You can upload and view it online here. If you'd like other people to review and comment on your flight log, then please post a link back here after you upload it.

 

[Chips]

Any chance you moved both sticks down and in or down and out? This this the motor kill function.

That action would require a very conscious action and I know I did not do it. I just took a look at the playback and it shows that the sticks were centered during the descent and movement only occurred when, as I said, I saw the motors work again and I regained control and pushed the drone up a bit.

 

[Chips]

DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com
The shutdown occurred after 6:30.

 

[suprPHREAK]

Any chance you moved both sticks down and in or down and out? This this the motor kill function.

Spark does not have a motor kill function. It will descend in a tight spiral, motors still on.

 

[Bob Radford]

Spark does not have a motor kill function. It will descend in a tight spiral, motors still on.

You are wrong, read the manual before making such outlandish statements. Page 49 at the top, black and white, hold the sticks for 1.5 seconds. Dont give advice out your @$$. Prople read these forums looking for answers, not your assumptions.

 

[koffe]

You are wrong, read the manual before making such outlandish statements. Page 49 at the top, black and white, hold the sticks for 1.5 seconds. Dont give advice out your @$$. Prople read these forums looking for answers, not your assumptions.

Among others, KlooGee has showed on Youtube that the motors do NOT stop with that command, although it says so in the info from DJI.

 

[Bob Radford]

Just tested it from 1 meter. Works as described

 

[idbl_fanatic]

Just tested it from 1 meter. Works as described

Question for you, not trying to start anything, but I have seen this guy try to get them to stop:

a couple different ways, what is he doing/not doing?

 

[Bob Radford]

This I can not comment on. The video is shot before I bought mine and there has been firmware upgrades since. I can only comment on what my manual says and what my Spark does. Excuse me for believing this to be a universal function. I suggest you test yours before an emergency arises so you know how to respond.

 

[idbl_fanatic]

This I can not comment on. The video is shot before I bought mine and there has been firmware upgrades since. I can only comment on what my manual says and what my Spark does. Excuse me for believing this to be a universal function. I suggest you test yours before an emergency arises so you know how to respond.

That's exactly what I was thinking, my manual says the same thing, and I can see where I, personally might move the sticks in that way, I really don't want to try it out though. LOL

 

[Chips]

From the manual, I learnt that to shut down the motors on landing, I am to push the sticks to one corner. I think they provide 2 ways to shut down but I am not sure if that will work if the drone is still in the air. I would think that DJI would not provide such a function as it can be dangerous. Someone might accidentally do it or in a panic as the drone is flying away, try to shut down the motors without thinking what is below and it could drop onto a crowded area.

 

[Bob Radford]

All DJI drones I use have this function, Phanton 3 advanced, 4,4 pro and Inspire 2 and Spark. There needs to be a way to quickly power down in emergencies such as the props coming in contact with a person. I cannot imagine anyone doing this without thinking over a crowd. That would be the same as saying we cant have a control that will fly forwand because someone might accidently fly into a crown in a panic.

 

[Chips]

All DJI drones I use have this function, Phanton 3 advanced, 4,4 pro and Inspire 2 and Spark. There needs to be a way to quickly power down in emergencies such as the props coming in contact with a person. I cannot imagine anyone doing this without thinking over a crowd. That would be the same as saying we cant have a control that will fly forwand because someone might accidently fly into a crown in a panic.

You have a valid point though I do not remember seeing it in the manual for the Phantom 3A which I had before. The only shutdown sequence I learnt was after the Spark lost a signal just after takeoff and was hovering and threatening to climb. I caught it but could not find a way to switch off the motors and the only way was cutting the power by pressing the battery button.. Later, someone said that there is a way where turning it upside down will automatically shut down the motors.

That was last year and until yesterday, the drone was flying okay 99% of the time. There were occasional signal losses but I read about that happening to many other people and mine were just intermittent for a second or two. Probably just minor interference or obstruction.

 

[mpcustoms]

Just like in the YouTube video linked, I've tried the "motor kill" stick movement. No matter how many times I've tried it, it's never killed my motors. I'd like to see video proof of it happening before I believe it. I've yet to see it.

 

[Gavieboydgi]

Just like in the YouTube video linked, I've tried the "motor kill" stick movement. No matter how many times I've tried it, it's never killed my motors. I'd like to see video proof of it happening before I believe it. I've yet to see it.

pro has it in the settings but you have to switch it on in settings

sent on my Sammy s8 with Dji spark attached to it [emoji16]

 

[Inno]

Sorry, I read all threads but rarely post or reply. The CSC command works, sometimes too well. it's in all DJI phantom, mavic, inspire, spark manuals which are available online at DJI. It can be found under "Starting/Stopping the Motors". There are many threads that discus this in detail on phantompilots.com since I joined it in 2015. There are times you can accidently initiate a CSC without realizing it. How I know this, I did it at a very low altitude (approx. 20') and snapped one of the skids when it hit the ground. lesson learned. hope this helps.

Safe flying

 

[Apache j]

I put mine up to 100meters last nite also in a 16 mph wind
Got the warning high wind it started to sway really bad going out of control I brought it down immediately about 4 ft from landing all Light's went red I lost control an it crashed into my fence battery life was at 93 percent also I notice one propeller was broken off from where it connect into the motor change it an flew it inside for a minute it seem to be ok I'm afraid to fly any distance untail I have it check out at the DJI shop luckily I have one close by

 

[DameEdnaBrown]

Any chance you moved both sticks down and in or down and out? This is the motor kill function.

That method does not work on the spark