Will Improve The Efficiency And Reliability Of Aircraft Visual Inspections During Base Maintenance For The Carrier's A320 Fleet

Following a successful 3-month trial period, LATAM Airlines Group, the largest airline in South America, will move forward with a program to integrate Donecle’s aircraft drone inspection solution in its São Carlos site, one of the company’s main base maintenance sites. The drone will be used for visual inspections during heavy checks.

“We are very proud to count LATAM as a new customer and expand our operations in South America," said Josselin Bequet, CEO & Co-founder at Donecle. “The 3-month test was a key phase for LATAM to better understand the added-value of the drone and to anticipate the integration into their maintenance process. We are happy to now have the drone up and flying with LATAM and are committed to support them to make the most of the solution.”

The drone, which does not require a pilot thanks to its laser positioning technology, can automatically scan a narrowbody aircraft in less than one hour. In addition to time savings, the solution will improve safety conditions for LATAM’s workforce. The precise location of defects relative to the aircraft structure will help LATAM to optimize scheduling of repairs and job cards during checks.
The solution also contributes to a paperless process and to better traceability of inspections.

Ultimately both partners are looking how to deploy the drone inspection solution in the other sites of LATAM group as well as to look for new potential use cases.

“This is a project that reinforces our pioneering approach in Latin America for the implementation of a brand new aircraft inspection method. It is a privilege having the opportunity to test this advanced technology, which has already helped us gain efficiency and elevated our Quality and Safety standards," said Alexandre Peronti, Director of Maintenance at LATAM Airlines Brasil.

LATAM Airlines Group, headquartered in Santiago Chile is the largest Airline in Latin America with a fleet of more than 300 aircraft, including several models from the A320 family and 4 sites of maintenance.

(Image provided with LATAM Airlines news release)

FMI: www.latam.com