A method includes obtaining, at an unmanned aerial vehicle, a flight plan for the unmanned aerial vehicle. The flight plan is based on an aircraft type of an aircraft to be inspected. The method also includes coordinating, with a lighting control device onboard the aircraft, activation of a particular exterior light of the aircraft based on the flight plan such that the particular exterior light activates or deactivates when a particular sensor of the one or more sensors is located (i.e., positioned and oriented) to perform a sensing operation on the particular exterior light. The method further includes performing the sensing operation on the particular exterior light using the particular sensor. The method also includes determining a functionality metric associated with the particular exterior light based on the sensing operation.