GoPro To Relaunch Karma Drones Following Recall

GoPro

GoPro has announced its plans to relaunch its Karma drone after it was recalled in November.

The company released news last week that it was completing its testing and would provide more detail for the relaunch in early February for the drone that can capture footage so long as it could stay in flight.

The recall of about 2,500 remote-controlled aircraft came after the Karma drone experienced power loss in a small number of instances due to a mechanical issue related to securing the drone’s battery, according to the company.

“Of course we had to recall Karma because the battery would pop out during flight on a small number of occasions,” GoPro CEO Nick Woodman said on the TechCrunch stage at CES.

“It would become decoupled from the connector, which would cause a power loss during flight.”

Customers received refunds for their purchases of the drones, and GoPro also sent each participating customer a HERO5 Black action camera “as a thank you.” In wake of the recall, GoPro has faced a class action lawsuit led by a number of shareholder rights attorneys.

GoPro asked that even owners of Karma drones that appeared to be working fine return them and immediately stop using them. One owner released a YouTube video of a farewell flight before saying he would return the drone.

“Man, GoPro, I hope you can get your act together because I think this thing has potential,” he said.

“Hopefully GoPro’s on it getting this stuff fixed, and we’ll see the Karma in another life.”