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Airbus reveals "Advanced Inspection Drone" to reduce aircraft downtime and improve inspection quality
Orlando - In most cases, drones are considered dangerous to commercial aircraft. But in some cases, they can also be useful to aircraft manufacturers and operators. On April 10th, Airbus has demonstrated its drone-based inspection system to some airlines at MRO Americas in Orlando held by Aviation Week from 10 to 12 April. (airlinerwatch.com) المزيد...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
I hope there are some audits or studies/investigations done to assure that this inspection is comparative to the quality currently done "by hand" or whatever. Wouldn't the FAA have to approve or sign-off on this?
Given that the article itself says that they're going for EASA approval, it certainly sounds like the studies you're talking about are part of the program.
It seems to me that a closer inspection by a drone (even with just an HD camera) provides better coverage than what can be seen by the usual method of someone walking around the plane on the ground and looking up. With current drone obstacle detection and avoidance there is less risk that the drone will collide with the aircraft. The drone can be programmed to follow a repeatable path around the aircraft without operator intervention (and errors).
"Yeah, we flew the drone around the plane and everything looked okay." How confident does that make everyone feel?
As long as drones are NOT flying the plane, I am happy.
Same as when a pilot or ramp agent walks around the plane for the preflight inspection in bad weather. How much do you actually expect them to see?
It may well be useful, be programmed to "fly" a specific program and might be a useful tool for a visual inspection in hard to get to locations. Where would this happen?