In an industry first, Delta Air Lines has received approval from the FAA Certificate Management Office for the use of drones to conduct aircraft maintenance inspections.
On Friday (October 4, 2024), Delta Air Lines announced that the FAA recently accepted their application to use camera-based small drones to conduct visual aircraft maintenance inspections. Delta TechOps was granted this acceptance earlier this year, and has been implementing drone inspections into their maintenance processes. Initially, these conditional visual inspections will be used following lightning strikes, and the use of drone inspections has now been added to the Aircraft Maintenance Manual (AMM) for Delta’s entire mainline fleet.
To conduct the inspections, Delta will use small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) which are semi-autonomous drones that navigate around an aircraft while taking images without manual inputs from a pilot. After airframe images are captured, trained TechOps technicians and inspectors will evaluate the photos to determine airworthiness, prior to returning the aircraft to service.
The introduction of the new technology will allow Delta TechOps to conduct inspections, while removing risks associated with technicians and inspectors working from heights. In addition to reducing injury risks, the technology will help technicians and inspectors make decisions on aircraft conditions up to 82 percent faster, thereby reducing potential delays and cancellations.
Source: Delta Air Lines
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