JAL Begins Testing Donecle Drones For Aircraft Inspections

Japan Airlines has launched what it says is the country’s first joint project to deploy drones for fully automated inspections of aircraft exteriors.

The carrier is working with Toulouse-headquartered drone specialist Donecle to use its Iris GVI drones to capture high-resolution photos of aircraft exteriors, which Japan Airlines’ (JAL) technicians then review and inspect.

The technology has increasingly gained traction across the aftermarket as airlines report that it makes what was previously a time-consuming manual process that required technicians to work at height much safer and faster. JAL says it has been comparing manual visual inspections with drone-captured images since late June to verify the technology’s effectiveness.

While the project is currently focused on operational demonstration tests in JAL’s hangars, the carrier says future phases of the partnership could expand the technology’s scope to other use cases, such as unscheduled lightning strike inspections and regular monitoring of aircraft paint conditions.

Earlier this month, Donecle announced that it has developed a drone-based inspection tool in partnership with AkzoNobel to directly measure aircraft coating performance using a sensor that captures data related to coating thickness, color and gloss. Developed as part of AkzoNobel Aerofleet Coatings Management service, the technology aims to help airlines optimize coating maintenance on their fleets and reduce unnecessary repainting, according to the companies.

In April, Donecle received €10 million (approximately $11.5 million) in new capital investment to support its international expansion and artificial intelligence technology development. Later that month, JetBlue chose Donecle’s drones to inspect its Airbus A220 and A320 family aircraft.

Donecle and competitor Mainblades had previously told Aviation Week that they were targeting new customers in the Asia-Pacific region. Asia-Pacific based maintenance specialists that have already trialed or adopted drone inspection technology into their operations include HAECO Group, Korean Air and ST Engineering.