If you’re an operator, you already know the drill – your aircraft fuselage needs to be inspected to check the damage after a lightning strike, or maybe the regulatory stickers. That means it’s going to spend almsot a day in the hangar as your MRO sets up gangways and cherry-pickers so the inspectors can get a look at it. Right?

Wrong! By using a drone to fly around the fuselage and inspect the aircraft, inspection times can be slashed to 2 hours!

Currently, AFI KLM E&M's drone inspection program uses LiDAR technology to ensure that the drone can autonomously navigate in a hangar environment, where GPS signal is restricted. Meanwhile, a high-resolution camera takes pictures of the airframe and AI processes the photos with the use of ML (Machine Learning) by comparing them with database images. An inspection report is automatically generated, providing reliable and fully traceable data to improve efficiency across the board.

• Vastly reduced inspection times
• More accuracy and data traceabaility
• More efficient work scopes for technicians
• Inspections can be performed outside, eliminating the need to tow aircraft to the hangar