Please be advised that on JCP&L will be performing Helicopter patrols of our transmission lines beginning the week of February 10, weather permitting. Haverfield will be mobilizing and will begin performing routine patrols on all 500kV and 230kV transmission lines. The patrols are expected to take 10-12 days to complete but as always, completion can be impeded due to inclement weather and any patrol work related to outages and/or storm restoration. The following helicopter will be used for the routine patrols: Black Helicopter with Red numbers- Hughes MD500 with tail registration: N9159F
A routine patrol is a general, overall look at the transmission line, right-of-way, structures, and all associated hardware where the inspection crew is trying to look for any obvious/outstanding maintenance conditions. A Routine Patrol is typically flown around 25-30 knots (30-35mph) but the helicopter may be seen hovering or circling structures or spans of a transmission line to get a better look at any conditions found during the patrol(s).
It should be noted that the contractor has been authorized to patrol the transmission circuits in their entirety (i.e. "breaker-to-breaker"), so patrols on certain lines may therefore extend into the neighboring regions. The flight crew provides information on their daily location to both Transmission Lines Maintenance and the FCC, and the pilot will be in communication with any local airports when in their airspace.