Japan Airlines and French drone maker Donecle have launched Japan’s first joint verification of fully autonomous drones for aircraft exterior inspections at JAL hangars. The trial uses Donecle’s manufacturer-approved Iris GVI system to compare drone-captured images with conventional visual checks, with the aim of improving safety, cutting inspection time and reducing high-altitude manual work on aircraft such as the Boeing 737-800.
The verification started at the end of June, with testing now under way inside JAL hangars. The drones operate without contact with the aircraft and use obstacle detection for autonomous flight, allowing inspectors to review high-resolution images rather than rely solely on scaffold or lift-based checks. JAL expects time saved in routine exterior inspections to be redirected to predictive maintenance tasks.
The trial remains a verification programme rather than a fleetwide deployment decision. JAL is also assessing future applications including faster lightning-strike inspections and ongoing paint-condition monitoring, while Japanese media coverage of the demonstration at Haneda indicated the process could eventually cut some small-aircraft inspections from as much as 10 hours to about 30 minutes.