71 AirportImprovement.com October 2026 INFO TECHNOLOGY LCQ | VDI outweigh the risks,” Savage says. The fallback option might be a nighttime LiDAR flight that trades visual imagery for uninterrupted operations, or the crew might use an entirely different method. “It’s a tool,” says Savage. “We’ve learned when it’s not the right tool.” Regulation remains the drag on the system. Survey-equipment standards for FAA airport data programs still don’t certify drones for some deliverables. Firms must still use traditional aerial platforms to meet specifications for obstruction studies and certain other projects. “Drones are very capable of providing the level of data that they’re looking for,” Savage says. “It’s just the regulation hasn’t caught up.” The federal ban on new products from Chinese manufacturer DJI stings, too: Of Passero’s roughly 15 drones, 13 are from the company. Savage calls the ban “a rough pill to swallow.” Indoors, Overhead and Next Door The airfield isn’t the only place unmanned aircraft systems are going. Savage flies a specialized indoor inspection drone from ReadyVIS Facility (a Passero subsidiary) inside hangars and maintenance facilities to inspect HVAC and fire protection systems, as well as culverts and sewers. Contained in a carbon-fiber crash cage, the unit is specifically built for GPS-denied spaces and is equipped with LiDAR, infrared cameras and flood lighting. “We can essentially be the eyes up above without disturbing anything else,” says Savage. “We’re in and we’re out.” A day’s flight produces 4K video, infrared and LiDAR. A trained machine-learning model pre-inspects the footage before a team of experienced techs and structural engineers review the captured data. Results are streamlined through a custom web app that flags points of interest and assists tracking remediations. The approach was previously proven in indoor waterparks, where the floor is a pool and erecting scaffolding is a nonstarter. Well-known brands like Great Wolf Resorts and Kalahari Resorts have used drones to inspect mechanical attachments for overhead utilities and infrastructure that would otherwise be very difficult to access. Then there is the airspace itself. Passero built automated tooling that loads an engineered approach surface and ingests hundreds of LiDAR files—80Gb+ point clouds. It also flags every penetration: Red indicates current obstructions and orange identifies trees projected to penetrate within upcoming years, using a standard 13-foot growth buffer. When personnel re-run the analysis against a new surface — say, for proposed nighttime arrivals—the answer is generated instantly. Savage remembers the imprecise alternative: “It used to literally be a dude on the end of the runway with an inclinometer (a telescope with a digital level attached to it) who identified trees optically down the approach slope, then hiked into the woods to flag a trunk.” The same data can now do double-duty in the community. When an airport asks a homeowner to clear trees, Passero renders the obstruction analysis into a picture of that resident’s property. “I can show them this picture and they can see exactly what we’re talking about,” Savage says. “It beats the alternative, which is just saying, ‘Trust us.’” Passero is also able to help determine the costs that a land owner may potentially hope to recoup. Knowing the approximate value of the trees to be removed is helpful during the (sometimes heated) discussions an airport might have with neighbors to gain access and permission. The Race That Matters Where does it go from here? Savage’s team is experimenting with browser-based 3D models that clients open on an iPad, can be portrayed on augmented reality headsets, and use artificial intelligence. “We’re not necessarily slapping AI on the actual survey data itself, but we’re using it to build tools around the data—to make them more useful, more consumable to our clients,” he explains. “I only see it getting more easy, more accessible. The equipment will be cheaper and more accurate,” Savage adds. “But it’ll still be a race of who knows how to use the data to actually do things that are useful, versus who’s got the shiniest- looking stuff. And we’re trying to do both.” Back in Georgia, VDI is leveraging data gathered with a cellphone app to give its World War II concrete another lease on life, one slab at a time. “This project is the first time I’ve had experience with this technology—just taking pictures, uploading them to their software,” says Ragan. “It’s pretty neat. Technology is ever-evolving.” PRECISE DATA. SMARTER DECISIONS. BETTER AIRPORTS. Passero Associates passero.com Service. Solutions. Results. LEARN MORE HERE BRUCE BRADLEY, PE Client Relationship bbradley@passero.com WYATT MASTERS, PE Project Engineer | Drone Operations wmasters@passero.com BRYAN SAVAGE, PE Technology Leader bsavage@passero.com MATTHEW PARK, EIT Project Engineer | Technology mpark@passero.com
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