Looped the RX antenna over the RX?? That's asking for trouble. This is most likely the culprit. Sounds like the RX didn't have a clear signal.

Spektrum Failsafe - always sets itself during the binding. If you want it to brake then hold the brake on when turning on the TX during binding. If you let it sit at neutral then that's what the failsafe will default to, neutral. Same with the steering, if you leave it centered while binding it will default to center on failsafe.