The future of this task, as Rolls-Royce sees it, could involve deploying different kinds of of robots that patrol these aircraft parts and quickly nip any problems in the bud.

These robots are part of Rolls-Royce's IntelligentEngine project, a venture announced earlier in the year aimed at developing connected engines with the potential to repair themselves. The robots would help by first carrying out inspections, which could eliminate the need to remove an entire engine from an aircraft. The hope is that they can then actually perform some minor maintenance tasks at the same time.