Anafi dropped from the sky - how to use US warranty repair?

[lemieszek]

Hi all,

My Anafi dropped from the sky yesterday. I had just updated all software including battery, sky was clear, no obstacles for miles around, good reception. It just fell.

The log doesn't show any altitude, battery or speed drop at the end, which makes me think it was a battery failure of some sort.

So... apparently the seller is responsible for fulfilling repair claims in the US. How should I proceed? I bought it at a BestBuy and I contacted them through their forum but am still waiting for a response.

Thanks all!

 

[dashSolo]

Write a very detailed sequence of events to parrot and follow up with parrot next day. I've found Parrot to be reliable on replacements with equipment failure. A slow process but generally a good outcome.

 

[lemieszek]

Write a very detailed sequence of events to parrot and follow up with parrot next day. I've found Parrot to be reliable on replacements with equipment failure. A slow process but generally a good outcome.

Thanks! What path should I follow on their website to write that? When I click "Contact our support" - "Repair a product" - "repair process - warranted product" I get this message: "We call your attention to the fact that all Parrot products are guaranteed by your retailer. We thank you in advance for taking all of the necessary steps at your original place of purchase before contacting us."

And no way to write to them.

Again, thanks!

 

[dashSolo]

yes on the website, log in and start a technical question or perhaps start a new warranty process.

The quickest solution is to take it back to BestBuy and ask for a replacement, they might take your word for it and replace.

If not, start the process as stated.

 

[lemieszek]

So I went to BestBuy... they said they only cover Parrot drones for 15 days (!!!). That I should reach out to Parrot.

I feel like this is going to draw out for a long time...

 

[dashSolo]

It will be drawn out but you will get a replacement.

 

[Liger 1956]

If you can get the .json file for that flight you can run it through @h-elsner 's excellent ShowAnafiLog software which will give you a lot more information than FF6 does. To get the .json file on the right side of the My.Parrot screen which lists your flights if you tap on the upload symbol (small box with arrow) right of each flight entry, you can download the JSON files for that flight.

The ShowAnafiLog software is here:
ShowAnafiLog

The (long) thread about how it came to be is here:

Show Anafi Log Project

I have been working with someone who makes programs to read telemetry files and displays the output with errors if any are found. His specialty is with Yuneec drones but I thought I would pick his brain and see if he could make a similar program for our Anafi's. Here is a link to what he has so...

parrotpilots.com

Also if you post the .json for that flight here then other users, myself included, can examine it to see if we can ascertain what the problem was.

 

[S.C.C.]

Seeing you reached 120 meters altitude, which is now the legal limit in many countries, just by curiosity, is there any airport in the area, < 20-30 kilometers ? I have been heavily jammed twice as soon as the Anafi was at the max legal altitude, 2 weeks ago...

 

[lemieszek]

Seeing you reached 120 meters altitude, which is now the legal limit in many countries, just by curiosity, is there any airport in the area, < 20-30 kilometers ? I have been heavily jammed twice as soon as the Anafi was at the max legal altitude, 2 weeks ago...

This is not likely since I did not actually exceed 400 feet at any point. There's an airport not too far from where I am, but I used the official FAA B4UFLY app to check beforehand and I was clear for flying where I am.

 

[lemieszek]

Also if you post the .json for that flight here then other users, myself included, can examine it to see if we can ascertain what the problem was.

There you go. From the looks of it the drone just died midair. There are no visible, sudden changes leading up to the moment when it lost contact (I had clear line of sight all along, including when it crashed). I was flying on the rooftop of my building which is allowed around here (no one was up there besides me and my brother).

Let me know when you've downloaded it because I'll delete it soon for privacy.

Also note that 400 feet is 121.92 meters - I never went above that.

 

[S.C.C.]

This is not likely since I did not actually exceed 400 feet at any point. There's an airport not too far from where I am, but I used the official FAA B4UFLY app to check beforehand and I was clear for flying where I am.

I just keep repeating this to warn other drone pilots... I was also in an allowed area, vertically ascending over my head, but as soon as my Anafi went 2-3 meters over the limit - that's 1-2 seconds after reaching the legal max. altitude, I was heavily jammed by the local international airport, 15 kilometers away. I am quite surprised by the rapidity of their reaction ! Happily enough the drone was following a flight plan, and the only issue was warnings on the screen, a very sudden and inexpected "danger strong interferences" or similar, not the progressive video lag and usual warning you get when flying too far or behind obstacles. I repeated the same vertical flight plan the same afternoon, and in the seconds I reached the limit, it happened again, the exact same way.

I'm not saying this is the explanation for your Anafi's crash, of course, but anyone should be warned that apparently they take these rules very seriously...

 

[Liger 1956]

From the .json file it looks like the flight only lasted 38 seconds. Is that correct or has some of the flight not been recorded?

When you got to altitude almost directly above the take off point after 31 seconds your forward and sidewards speed increased up to the end of the log. The vertical speed does not show any fall back to earth.

The WiFi strength at the start of the flight is -32 db and at altitude it is down to -63 db but I have seen that on some other logs. Did you lose video feed at any time?

The log indicates that you were at about 120m for 7 seconds before the crash.

You had a GPS lock on the Anafi, with about 25 sattilites right up until the end of the log.

The roll and pitch angles did not alter significantly at the end of the flight

There are no "Alert States" recorded in the log and the "Flying Mode" values look normal. A crash has not been recorded.

Unless somone else can see something that I have missed the, unfortunately, the .json log for the flight does not shed any light onto what has caused the crash.

You may wish to leave the .json file on your post for a while to see if anybody else wants to analyse it.

 

[lemieszek]

From the .json file it looks like the flight only lasted 38 seconds. Is that correct or has some of the flight not been recorded?

That is correct! It failed very quickly into the flight. Just a couple of seconds after hitting maximum altitude.

When you got to altitude almost directly above the take off point after 31 seconds your forward and sidewards speed increased up to the end of the log. The vertical speed does not show any fall back to earth.

This indicates that the drone had a logical/electrical failure before falling and not the other way around. So if I had a propeller problem, or hit something, or anything external, at least part of it would be visible on the log.

The WiFi strength at the start of the flight is -32 db and at altitude it is down to -63 db but I have seen that on some other logs. Did you lose video feed at any time?

Not at all. I had my eyes on the screen and it was fine - I looked up at the drone and a split second later it was falling down. I looked back at the screen and it said "disconnected".

The log indicates that you were at about 120m for 7 seconds before the crash.

You had a GPS lock on the Anafi, with about 25 sattilites right up until the end of the log.

The roll and pitch angles did not alter significantly at the end of the flight

There are no "Alert States" recorded in the log and the "Flying Mode" values look normal. A crash has not been recorded.

Unless somone else can see something that I have missed the, unfortunately, the .json log for the flight does not shed any light onto what has caused the crash.

You may wish to leave the .json file on your post for a while to see if anybody else wants to analyse it.

Thanks for your input! Like I said, it seems pretty clear an internal failure dropped the drone to the ground. Maybe related to the battery update? Also, before taking off I had the "data synchronization" problem which cost me some time and a few tries to get the app running...

 

[SkySpy]

Hi all,

My Anafi dropped from the sky yesterday. I had just updated all software including battery, sky was clear, no obstacles for miles around, good reception. It just fell.

The log doesn't show any altitude, battery or speed drop at the end, which makes me think it was a battery failure of some sort.

So... apparently the seller is responsible for fulfilling repair claims in the US. How should I proceed? I bought it at a BestBuy and I contacted them through their forum but am still waiting for a response.

Thanks all!

View attachment 3575

I just posted my version of your experience yesterday. (Another Parrot Anafi Drops from the Sky)
Same scenario. Loaded new firmware. Flew a photography mission. Returned to land. Altitude just under 200', Distance 40'. Control had 82% battery, Drone 52% It just fell with no effort to correct. How did you get this report?

 

[lemieszek]

I just posted my version of your experience yesterday. (Another Parrot Anafi Drops from the Sky)
Same scenario. Loaded new firmware. Flew a photography mission. Returned to land. Altitude just under 200', Distance 40'. Control had 82% battery, Drone 52% It just fell with no effort to correct. How did you get this report?

Hi my friend,

Just read your post. It seems what happened to mine was very close to what happened to yours and to the guy who posted a video on your thread. Seems pretty clear there's an electrical failure at some point.

Please look at reply #7 on this thread. It shows how to extract a json file to get the log. Share it on the forum or, if you're concerned about privacy, feel free to e-mail it to me and I'll take a look at it and then delete it. Let's see if we can shed some light on the matter.

 

[Island Xpress]

So far I have not had any personal "fall out of the sky" experience with my Anafi. (keeping my fingers crossed) ??
I'm interested in the subject, have I missed an incident reporting a fall down during a mission flown under a flightplan?
To me it appears that the incidents only happend while the drone is manually steered?

 

[lemieszek]

So far I have not had any personal "fall out of the sky" experience with my Anafi. (keeping my fingers crossed) ??
I'm interested in the subject, have I missed an incident reporting a fall down during a mission flown under a flightplan?
To me it appears that the incidents only happend while the drone is manually steered?

I was using flight plan on mine when it crashed (38s into the mission). Sorry!

 

[SkySpy]

If you can get the .json file for that flight you can run it through @h-elsner 's excellent ShowAnafiLog software which will give you a lot more information than FF6 does. To get the .json file on the right side of the My.Parrot screen which lists your flights if you tap on the upload symbol (small box with arrow) right of each flight entry, you can download the JSON files for that flight.

The ShowAnafiLog software is here:
ShowAnafiLog

The (long) thread about how it came to be is here:

Show Anafi Log Project

I have been working with someone who makes programs to read telemetry files and displays the output with errors if any are found. His specialty is with Yuneec drones but I thought I would pick his brain and see if he could make a similar program for our Anafi's. Here is a link to what he has so...

parrotpilots.com

Also if you post the .json for that flight here then other users, myself included, can examine it to see if we can ascertain what the problem was.

Maybe I'm doing this wrong. In the My Parrot window at the bottom of the screen I see my name and the number of flights. In my case it shows 255 flights. The last flight logged shows March 13, 2020, which would be Friday. This crash occurred yesterday morning, Sunday March 15. The history does not dhow this final flight as far as I can see. Please advise.

 

[Jagerbomb52]

The problem is the flights will not populate until the next time you connect to the Anafi. This is why a lot of people cannot find their logs if their Anafi is lost at sea. You do need a working Anafi to complete the logs and then they will upload to the Parrot server.

 

[SkySpy]

Hi my friend,

Just read your post. It seems what happened to mine was very close to what happened to yours and to the guy who posted a video on your thread. Seems pretty clear there's an electrical failure at some point.

Please look at reply #7 on this thread. It shows how to extract a json file to get the log. Share it on the forum or, if you're concerned about privacy, feel free to e-mail it to me and I'll take a look at it and then delete it. Let's see if we can shed some light on the matter.

Hello lemieszek, How crash case proceeding with Parrot support? After visiting the parrot website and not finding a form to request warranty support concerning my crash I called the support phone line. The support tech sent me a case # and a long list of questions and request for several attachments. I asked for a PDF form of this request and the tech claimed they did not have one. How strange is that? He suggested I copy and paste the email questionnaire and paste into a new email which I did. I supplied all of the info and attachments and sent the email to support. I then received an email from support informing me they could not process my claim and supplied a link with instructions to make my request for support via the "online form" within the link supplied. I went to this link which was simply the same location i had visited before. I could not locate the online form they instructed me to use. Have you found such a form?