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Korean Air drone technology cuts maintenance inspection times by 60%
December 17th 2021
Korean Air (KAL) has developed world-first technology to inspect aircraft using a drone “swarm”. Read More » A demonstration this week used four 5.5-kilogram drones to inspect an aircraft fuselage simultaneously to reduce inspection time from about 10 hours to four hours, a saving of 60%. Drones have been used previously for aircraft inspections, but KAL said its technology is the first to deploy multiple drones simultaneously. The company has developed an operations program that allows the four drones to be programmed to take photos of pre-planned areas. If one fails, the system is pre-programmed to use the remaining three to complete the mission. The drones are equipped with high-performance cameras, can identify objects up to 1mm in size, allowing for detection of micro defects that cannot be seen from above with the naked eye. KAL shares inspection data through the cloud, enabling employees to easily check inspection results anywhere and anytime. The airline has applied a collision avoidance system and geo-fencing to maintain safety distances from surrounding facilities and prevent breakaways from the mission area.
