An aircraft visual inspection is a recurring procedure in aviation maintenance, repair & overhaul (MRO) to ensure the aircraft’s airworthiness. Over 75 percent of inspections on large transport aircraft are visual. It is the process of using the naked eye to inspect and detect damages or anomalies that might pose a risk to the continued safe operation of the aircraft. Therefore, as the most basic method of assessing the overall condition of an aircraft and its parts, aircraft visual inspections must be accurate and proficient in order to report defects, manufacturing errors, or component fatigue.   

Continuous studies have proven that commercial air travel is one of the safest methods of transportation. However, aircraft visual inspections still raise concerns about its reliability. To properly conduct a visual inspection, the inspector must possess visual acuity to detect defects and a working knowledge of the aircraft and its parts. As it mostly relies on the uses of the human senses, the whole process of visually inspecting the aircraft must ensure uniform procedures and techniques that, when repeated, provide the same results from different inspectors.