Japan Airlines and French drone maker Donecle have begun Japan’s first joint verification project using fully autonomous drones for aircraft exterior inspections at JAL’s hangar at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. The trial uses Donecle’s Iris GVI, a contactless inspection drone approved in aircraft manufacturers’ maintenance manuals, to replace manual high-level visual checks with standardised image capture and analysis while reducing work-at-height exposure.
The project remains in the verification phase, with JAL comparing conventional visual inspections against drone imagery since the end of June and expanding testing in September to cover paint-condition monitoring. During a demonstration at Haneda on 11 September, the drone captured 428 images in 14 minutes and 4 seconds on a Boeing 737-800, illustrating the speed of the automated inspection process.
JAL is positioning the system as a way to cut inspection burden, improve safety and free maintenance staff for predictive maintenance and other quality-improvement work. The airline is also exploring wider future use, including lightning-strike inspections, while discussions on broader application involve Japan’s transport ministry.