Positioning system and method for positioning engine components on an aircraft, the system including a moveable support for the engine component, a laser assembly, and a system controller. First and second lasers of the laser assembly align their respective beams with an engine target position on the aircraft and provide an indication of a first angle of the first laser beam to a reference line, and an indication of a second angle of the second laser beam to the reference line; and the system controller is configured to rotate the moveable support to rotationally position the engine component, determine the vertical distance between the engine component and the target position based at least in part on the first and second angles, and to control a lift mechanism to reduce the vertical distance between the engine component and the engine.