I don't follow what has happened here.
I was able to control the drone through the bridge. I was under it and the done was above it.
Came back to land where I was under a giant bridge. I was about 2 feet form landing when it took control of itself, flew straight up into the bottom of the bridge and then crashed onto the road below.
So can I assume that you were standing under a bridge, controlling a drone, and just prior to landing it "took control of itself"?
Sounds like one of two things happened, both of which are pre-programmed return-to-home (RTH) procedures for the drone:
- Your battery was low, and Karma decided to RTH to land at its launch site.
- Your connection to the controller was lost (something that's likely if you stand under/around large metal objects), and Karma decided to RTH to land at its launch site.
In either case, Karma will first
ascend to its RTH altitude (which you can configure in the controller settings), then fly to a point above the launch site, then descend and land. If it's under a bridge when either of these scenarios occur, it's going to fly up into the bridge. It doesn't know there's a bridge there.
It wont make you feel better but the lost connection caused the drone to go into fly home mode. Your drone was attempting to go to the preset height before heading home. You still could have taken control if you only knew what was going on.
You can take control from RTH if it's the result of a low battery. You can re-take control from RTH if it's the result of a lost connection and the connection re-establishes itself.
I'd be very surprised if GoPro admitted fault on this one, but to be honest, I'd be surprised if any drone manufacturer would admit fault here. You need to understand the capabilities, limitations and behaviours of the drone. This sounds to me like known, pre-programmed behaviour, and you put it in a spot where this was a likely outcome. Sorry.