How Energy Drone Leaders Use AirData to Streamline Operations

Drones have become indispensable in the energy industry for everything from infrastructure inspections to emergency response. But operating drones at scale—while ensuring safety, compliance, and efficiency—requires more than just hardware. It demands a robust data management system that can grow with your program.

That was the focus of a recent webinar hosted by AirData, titled “Unlock Drone Program Efficiency in the Energy Sector.” The event brought together four leaders with deep experience in drone operations across energy, oil and gas, and utilities. Each shared real-world insights on how their organizations use AirData’s platform to manage pilot training, track equipment, analyze flight data, and meet compliance requirements.

From Government Technology

AirData’s Trevor Hall moderated, and the panelists were:

• Richard Turner, CAN-USA

• Yoshi Schechter, Alamo Airborne

• Chris Marquart, SDG&E

• Fred Farin, SDG&E

From GoPros to Gas Line Inspections: The Evolution of Drone Programs

SDG&E’s drone journey began in 2014 with a borrowed military drone equipped with a non-gimbaled GoPro. Today, their team operates a sophisticated fleet that handles everything from wildfire mitigation to methane leak detection.

Chris Marquart said, “One of our biggest accomplishments is precision line pulling. We’ve operated over a canyon where a veg crew had accidentally clipped a line and there was no bucket truck access.”

The company also uses drones for post-incident assessments, environmental restoration monitoring, and even commercial marketing content—demonstrating the wide range of value that drone technology can provide to energy utilities.

Managing Pilot Proficiency with Manned Aviation Precision

When it comes to drone safety, pilot training and proficiency tracking are crucial—especially in dangerous or regulated environments. Richard Turner shared how CAN-USA tracks pilot skills and preparedness using AirData’s flight logging and tagging tools.

“We treat this just like we do manned aviation,” he said. “We want to be able to have that same detail of logbook, which AirData gives us the ability to have.”

Turner described how his team logs everything from simulator training to real-world emergency procedures, using tags and notes in AirData to document each pilot’s experience and readiness. This level of detail allows CAN-USA to pass rigorous audits.

Yoshi Schechter noted that as Alamo Airborne has grown to manage about 24 pilots, tracking certifications and internal training has become increasingly important. He said, “There's so many different requirements depending on the company that we're working for. It can be pretty safety intensive, a lot of documentation, a lot of paperwork.”

When Things Go Wrong: Post-Flight Analysis in Action

Incidents are rare, but when they do happen, having accurate flight data is essential. Fred Farin described a sobering event in which an SDG&E drone was shot out of the sky during a routine LiDAR flight in a remote area.

The aircraft was 300 or 400 feet in the air, and a customer shot it down. They retrieved the drone and the data showed power system failure—which matched up with the 22-caliber bullet they found in the back of the battery.

In cases like this, AirData’s forensic-level flight logs not only help determine what happened—they support investigations by the FBI and other authorities. The HD Flight Player provides GPS-tracked 3D visualizations, stick movement data, and system messages that go beyond basic telemetry.

Richard Turner shared another example involving a hard landing on an offshore oil platform due to unseen vessel movement. AirData’s high-resolution timeline and wind data helped prove that the aircraft had been under control the entire time, validating the incident as a “hard landing” rather than a crash.

Turner said, “We recreated it just like a black box scenario. By sharing this with a manned aviation group, it gave some legitimacy to our program and how we investigated this incident.” 

Schechter added that Alamo Airborne also uses AirData’s post-flight analysis features to teach efficient flying techniques by comparing stick movements from veteran pilots to newer ones.

Simplifying Maintenance Across a Complex Fleet

Whether you’re flying a DJI M300 for utility inspections or confined-space drones like the Elios 3, keeping up with maintenance is critical—and complicated. That’s why both SDG&E and CAN-USA adopted AirData to streamline equipment tracking.

“AirData made it almost hands-off,” said Chris Marquart. “With the automatic uploads, we can view maintenance data right away. This helped us start working toward paperless flight logs.”

Turner highlighted how tracking maintenance on multiple drone types with different use cases—some with 40-minute flights, others with 9-minute bursts—required tweaking how flight time and battery cycles were recorded. AirData’s customizable settings and support for manual uploads gave his team the flexibility to manage everything in one place.

He said, “We were manually logging every bit of our maintenance, and it was extremely intensive based on the number of flights we're putting that aircraft through—we fly hundreds of flights.”

Both teams also praised the ability to upload third-party service records and attach them to specific airframes, giving them a clean digital audit trail.

Reporting That Goes Beyond Compliance

For teams juggling multiple stakeholders—from internal leadership to federal regulators—AirData’s reporting tools offer time-saving automation and clarity.

Turner uses AirData’s custom tags and grouping features to send clients monthly summaries of what was flown, by which aircraft, and under what mission type. These reports feed directly into client KPIs.

He shared the example of one client, “They want to know monthly what flights were flown on their facilities, what type of aircraft, what type of flight. I'm able to just have AirData generate that and kick it straight out, and they absolutely love that feature.”

Meanwhile, Schechter's team pulls data via AirData’s API to integrate with internal business systems—including pilot payroll and performance dashboards.

“We want to know that these flights were done and they've got this many flights and they're getting paid per asset or whatever the case may be,” he said. “We also use the data for marketing—the number of flights and how many miles we've flown makes good content for our marketing efforts.”

Advice from the Field: Use What You’ve Got

As the session wrapped, each panelist offered a bit of parting advice. From building custom reports to tagging training flights to enabling live streaming, the message was consistent: AirData is a flexible toolset—don’t let it sit idle.

Schechter said, “Use the tools you’ve got. We’re all using AirData in different ways—and we’re still discovering new ones.”

Turner said, “The heat map that shows flight recency? That’s one of my favorite tools. It helps us spot gaps in proficiency quickly.”

Farin called out AirData’s live streaming capabilities for enhancing security missions and training—especially when streaming directly to office-based viewers.

Go Higher: Watch the Full Webinar

Whether you’re launching a drone program or scaling one to meet enterprise demands, these expert insights show how AirData helps energy-sector teams work smarter.

Watch the full webinar here: Unlock Drone Program Efficiency in the Energy Sector