Over the next few weeks, Met-Ed will be conducting helicopter inspections in Lebanon and other central Pennsylvania counties.
Inspections will be performed by contractor Haverfield. The helicopter that will be used is the one pictured above – a black Hughes MD500 with red tail registration numbers N9159F.
As part of the comprehensive visual inspection process, the helicopter will fly in a slow, structure-by-structure/span-by-span approach across eight 500-kilovolt (kV) transmission lines within its service area.
In addition to Lebanon County, inspections will be conducted in York, Reading, and Easton areas.
Met-Ed said that the helicopter will be traveling very slowly – five miles per hour – and taking high-resolutions photos of hardware for assessment as to whether it needs to be repaired or replaced. Specific things to be identified include broken crossarms, loose or missing metal fasteners, chipped insulators, bent lattice steel, and damaged wire. Findings will then be prioritized and addressed.
Met-Ed is one of several companies operated by FirstEnergy in Pennsylvania.