WTF…
My first thought?
Advertorial…
My second thought?
There’s no way I’m getting on a plane that’s been inspected by a drone 
As an aircraft maintenance technician/engineer I have been talking with my boss about trying to create such a program for the airline I work for. Basically the crown of the aircraft is extremely challenging to inspect in a line (non-hangar) environment, The only time we generally need to do this this sort of unscheduled inspection is in the event of a lightning strike which is a common occurrence during the stormy months. Getting a hangar is not possible in our remote stations and getting a cherry picker and high-reaching buckets virtually impossible!!
To be able to use a drone for this sort of an inspection would be awesome!! The sort of damage we look for resembles hail damage - lightning enters and exits a plane so we have to find the entrance point which is usually a small burn mark appearing ping and then we follow the trail of small dents usually in a row the size of small hail damage. We have to measure the depth and width of every dent and determine if on a stringer or a rivet etc … it is rare that the damage is found on the crown of the aircraft but every surface must be inspected.
A drone would be a great tool to add to our arsenal of tools - and better yet, to be allowed to fly it in an airport legally would be awesome.
It would in my opinion be a safety enhancement and would not replace the need for the technician to measure and document and repair -but would help us be even more thorough!!
I’m only sad i didn’t make it to the table first with what I thought was a great idea … and is already being implemented!! Cool stuff!!