Over the years Boeing has delivered a total of 1,181 aircraft to more than 70 airlines all over the world. Since 2012 there is significant interest in the Boeing 767 as a freighter and this assured production for the coming years.

The Boeing 767 is struck once or twice a year by lightning and given the global fleet in the world, this results in 1,000 to 2,000 lightning strikes per year.

Despite the frequency of lightning strikes, no major aircraft incidents have occurred for the Boeing 767.

In 2015 an All Nippon Airlines Boeing 767 was hit by a bolt of lightning. As a result, Flight ANA/NH303 from Chubu Centrair to Naha was forced to return to Chubu half an hour after taking off due to the oil system malfunction caused by a lightning strike. The post-lightning strike inspection showed that a part of the left flap was peeled off by a bolt of lightning. 

After the aircraft is struck by lightning, the aircraft is grounded and thoroughly inspected for damage such as pits and burn marks by aircraft maintenance engineers to guarantee its airworthiness before the next flight. The inspection alone requires 2 licensed aircraft maintenance engineers and 10 hours to complete. The total man-hours for a Boeing 767 lightning strike inspection is 20 hours.

To assess the status of the aircraft, the aircraft maintenance engineers will move from station to station, from stringer to stringer, using additional equipment to inspect the top of the fuselage and the tail. The tail is 16 meters high and not easy to reach while the aircraft elevators and stabilizers are blocking the man lifter equipment. Often during the inspection, additional damage can be caused.

The use of drones for aircraft inspections brings game-changing results for the aviation industry and particularly Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) companies and organizations. All aspects of the inspection procedure, from drone flight to report generation, are automated, allowing the ground team to easily analyze and report the status of an aircraft.
In the event of a lightning strike, using a drone to perform aircraft inspection on the Boeing 767 can decrease the inspection time by 60%. A drone can speed up the entire process of the General Visual Inspection (GVI) during a lightning strike inspection, which can now be performed in minutes (60 minutes) instead of hours (10 hours). Our drone will safely fly around the aircraft and capture high-resolution pictures, allowing aircraft maintenance engineers to make a much faster damage assessment.