Aeronautical maintenance professionals have the help of an important flying ally to assist in the aircraft inspection work.
Since 2019, drones have been used in Latam Mro – the largest South America Airplane Maintenance Center, located in the interior of São Paulo – to identify small damage to the outside of the aircraft.
Engineer Marcos Melchiori, senior manager of Latam Mro, explains that the drone inspection is one of the first procedures done when a plane arrives for a space review in São Carlos (SP), where the team of CNN traveled at the company’s invitation.
“It identifies from minor damage to the fuselage, which we call Mossa, which is when some thing hits the aircraft, is even cracks or corrosions, which happen by aging of the aircraft,” he explains.
“It is important to say that they are really very small damage. You will not see an aircraft with extensive damage flying around. But the drone, even because of his accuracy, helps us identify these flaws,” he adds.
According to Melchiori, the drones used have high resolution and flash cameras. “He is doing a self navigating the aircraft and taking thousands of photos. In the same aircraft, he will take a few thousand photos. These photos are then unloaded to software, where artificial intelligence makes an analysis of the images and helps the technician find problems,” says the complex manager.
Melchiori points out that, for security reasons, the final word about the diagnosis of the aircraft is always of a human being.
“The human being who says whether or not the aircraft has a problem that needs to be worked on. And then he helps us also generate a report where everything is well registered what damage found in the aircraft.”
Saving time
In the case of an Airbus A320, which is about 37 meters long and almost 12 meters high from the floor to the tip of the tail, the drone flight to make the inspection takes between 20 and 30 minutes.
After the flight ended, the images captured undergo an analysis of a technician. This process lasts between one and a half and two hours. The total time, therefore, ranges from two hours to two and a half hours.
Melchiori explains that if the activity were done manually, the scan would have to be performed by two professionals, which would take approximately 16 hours to complete the service.
That is, the total time for this inspection procedure fell from 16 to two hours.
How the scheduled review is made
Latam Mro’s senior manager explains that as soon as a plane arrives in the complex for programmed maintenance, the tanks are shortened. The goal is to avoid accidents while professionals are working at the aircraft.
Then external inspection is done with the use of drones. In the next step, the so -called input tests are done. “There are several aircraft systems that are being tested for us to identify if there is any failure. After these entry tests, we start to dismantle the aircraft according to the inspections that have to be done. Each check profile [revisão] Demand different disassembly, ”says Melchiori.
Next, inspections are made: some visuals and others by the methodology known as NDT (non destructive testing – or non -destructive tests in Portuguese).
After performing the necessary services, when everything is completed, the aircraft begins to reassemble.
“The last step is the final tests, which is basically validating if the problems were corrected with the actions that were taken during the maintenance of the aircraft,” details Melchiori.
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Overview of one of the hangars of the LATAM Maintenance Center in São Carlos, in the interior of São Paulo • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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LATAM MAINTENANCE CENTER IN SÃO CARLOS (SP) • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Airbus A320 during a latam maintenance center in São Carlos (SP) • • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Employees work at the LATAM Maintenance Center in São Carlos, in the interior of São Paulo • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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LATAM’s Boeing 767 during review at the company’s maintenance center in São Carlos (SP) • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Airbus A320 during a latam maintenance center in São Carlos (SP) • • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Airbus A320 during a latam maintenance center in São Carlos (SP) • • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
Largest South America Airplane Maintenance Center is in SP
Installed in a 95,000 square meter industrial park, Latam Mro is the largest aircraft maintenance center in South America. Mro is the English acronym for Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul, which in Portuguese means “maintenance, repair and review”.
The space, located almost 250 kilometers from the state capital, serves, on average, 270 aircraft per year. Almost 70% of all the company’s scheduled maintenance in Latin America is done there, where nearly 2,000 people work.
The complex is able to serve up to 16 aircraft at the same time and performs preventive and corrective work on almost all models of the company’s fleet: Airbus A320 family aircraft and Boeings 767 and 787. The exception is Boeing 777, whose maintenance in Brazil is made in Guarulhos (SP).
The area also is licensed to provide services to Embraer and ATR aircraft – which are not part of the company’s fleet. The Maintenance Center has 22 workshops, such as electronic components, landing trains, tapestry and emergency equipment.
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Pousing Train Workshop at the LATAM Maintenance Center in São Carlos (SP) • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Pousing Train Workshop at the LATAM Maintenance Center in São Carlos (SP) • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Pousing Train Workshop at the LATAM Maintenance Center in São Carlos (SP) • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Main landing train from a Boeing 767 undergoes a review at the LATAM Maintenance Center in São Carlos (SP) • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Airbus A320 front landing train at the Latam Maintenance Center in São Carlos (SP) • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
On site also works a school to form aviation mechanics. The space was inaugurated in December last year and the first class began classes in January this year.
For students’ learning, parts of aircraft are available through the school area, where participants can perform practical tasks. There are engines, propellers, pieces of fuselage and aircraft models.
Outside, the cabin of an Airbus A320 has been dismantled so that students can understand and visualize how each component of the interior of the jet works. There is also a wing of the same aircraft, which was opened at some points to enable access to the fuel tank. See below:
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Wing and plane cabin were placed at the LATAM MECHANICAL SCHOOL IN SÃO CARLOS (SP) • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Part of a fuselage from a plane for mechanics training at LATAM’s school in São Carlos (SP) • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Latam’s Cabin of an A320 has been dismantled so that students can see how an airplane works inside • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Latam’s Cabin of an A320 has been dismantled so that students can see how an airplane works inside • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Airplanes used for mechanical training at LATAM’s school in São Carlos (SP) • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Latam’s Cabin of an A320 has been dismantled so that students can see how an airplane works inside • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Latam’s Cabin of an A320 has been dismantled so that students can see how an airplane works inside • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Latam’s Cabin of an A320 has been dismantled so that students can see how an airplane works inside • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Latam’s Cabin of an A320 has been dismantled so that students can see how an airplane works inside • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Latam’s Cabin of an A320 has been dismantled so that students can see how an airplane works inside • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Airplane Wing was dismantled for students’ learning at LATAM’s school in São Carlos (SP) • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Airplane Wing was dismantled for students’ learning at LATAM’s school in São Carlos (SP) • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Open hole in the wing gives access to the plane’s fuel tank • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Open hole in the wing gives access to the plane’s fuel tank • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Wing and plane cabin were placed at the LATAM MECHANICAL SCHOOL IN SÃO CARLOS (SP) • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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PART OF THE AIR WINGS • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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PART OF THE AIR WINGS • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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Access to the aircraft fuel tank • Fábio Munhoz/CNN
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