Over the years Boeing has delivered a total of 1,600 aircraft airlines all over the world. It is one of the most popular aircraft in commercial aviation.

The Boeing 777 is struck once or twice a year by lightning and given the global fleet in the world, this results in 1,500 to 3,000 lightning strikes per year.

Despite the frequency of lightning strikes, no major aircraft incidents have occurred for the Boeing 777.

In 2015 an Aeromexico Boeing 777 (N7774AM) was hit by a bolt of lightning, but its impact was only determined upon landing. During the flight, the passengers complained that the IFE systems were not working properly. In order to determine the problem, the aircraft was inspected, and lightning strike damage was found on the radome of the aircraft.

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 3 licensed aircraft maintenance engineers and 12 hours to complete. The total man-hours for a Boeing 777 lightning strike inspection are 36 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 17 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 777 can decrease the inspection time by 75%. 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 (12 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.