3rd Flight and crash....

[AlanC]

Hi there, my 3rd flight with my H and ST16 appeared to "lock up" and become unresponsive, lost all control of it (even after switching to Home mode), off it went and crashed into a tree. Sadly, it's a mess, with significant repairs required. I was hoping someone more knowlegable than I could help identify what went wrong. The H was only 100m from me in clear line of sight when this happened. I did extract the telemetry data from the ST16 and can provide that. If anyone can take a look and help explain what went wrong it would be very much appreciated.

I initially assumed "oh, it's obviously the battery" but data shows it at 15.4V at the end, and was still fully inserted when I picked up the remains :-(...

I've seen a number of posts relating to "fly aways" and unsure if this just happens to be another one to add to the list.

 

[Steve Carr]

Have you flown in this location previously?
Is your firmware up to date?
Did you see any warning messages on the screen?
Can you describe the take off area?

 

[AlanC]

This was the 1st time flying at this location, only a few miles away from where I flew successfully before. I haven't update the firmware since I purchased it, as I had issues with installation and had to abandon it. No warning messages on screen, nor any audible warnings. The drone was within sight, approx 100m away, and the ST16 appeared to "lock up" and was unresponsive. I tried the return feature, but nothing, this is when it went head first into a tree... No power lines, cell towers or anything of that nature close by. Take off area was in my driveway with clear visibility all around.

 

[Steve Carr]

You can upload the telemetry file here by changing the file extension from .cvs to .txt
Some members here might be able to take a look and see if there is something obvious.
A driveway is generally a bad place to take off if it is concrete. That will confuse the compass and can result in erratic flight. The fact that you had trouble doing the firmware update is not a good sign. It would have been great if you had come here for some help getting it to update properly so at this point we won't be able to tell if that played a role.

 

[AlanC]

Steve, thanks. I've attached the Telemetry file in .txt flavor. I took this for 2 very short flights, identical paths, 1st flight went OK and performed as expected, 2nd one started out OK, then controller screen "froze" and became unresponsive, then the crash. It was recording video at the time, but appears stopped around the same time the controller froze up

 

[Rubik]

Alan, sorry about the mishap.
When you say "the controller froze up" are you saying the video stopped changing as the TH moved, or that the screen went blank, or that none of the flight controls responded?
Your telemetry file stops 2 seconds after entering RTH mode. That smacks of a power failure on the TH. Could the crash have re-inserted a loose battery?

 

[AlanC]

Hi Rubik,

Screen froze with no change in video, I flew it out ~100m or so from me, hovered and turned 180 to fly back to me and that's the point in time when the screen froze with no change in video, and all controls became unresponsive. It was at this point the H went off on it's own (moving to it's left) and hit a tree approx 50m or so away. If it was a power failure, then surely the H would simply have dropped like a stone? I did the usual (and required) pre-flight checks to make sure all was OK, and battery was secured properly. I contated Yuneec and sent them the telemetry files for their review and await their response.

 

[Rubik]

Hi Rubik,

Screen froze with no change in video, I flew it out ~100m or so from me, hovered and turned 180 to fly back to me and that's the point in time when the screen froze with no change in video, and all controls became unresponsive. It was at this point the H went off on it's own (moving to it's left) and hit a tree approx 50m or so away. If it was a power failure, then surely the H would simply have dropped like a stone? I did the usual (and required) pre-flight checks to make sure all was OK, and battery was secured properly. I contated Yuneec and sent them the telemetry files for their review and await their response.

OK, not a power failure on TH.
I'm still puzzled by the ending of the telemetry file almost immediately after entering RTH mode. Apparently, the TH just stopped sending and receiving telemetry. You are on the right track working with Yuneec. I hope you get a speedy solution.