Why are helicopters flying low round Toledo?

You may see 2 helicopters surveying the lines in the area. One is blue and the other is black and silver. The work should take about 3 weeks.

TOLEDO, Ohio – Over the next few weeks, you may see low-flying helicopters as part of a survey on Toledo Edison lines in the area.

Starting Tuesday January 26th, Chesapeake Bay Helicopters will be in the Toledo Edison area performing UV and infrared (UV / IR) surveys on all Toledo Edison 345kV transmission lines.

In addition, routine patrols are conducted on all Toledo Edison 138 kV and 69 kV lines.

These patrols will last approximately three weeks, although bad weather or outage helicopter patrols could extend the survey campaign.

The following helicopters are used for these patrols:

• UV / IR Patrols – A black and silver Hughes MD500 with tail registration number N774CB
• Routine Patrols – A blue Bell 206 Jet Ranger with tail registration number N719CB

HOW THE PATROLS WORK

A UV / IR patrol is like a routine patrol in terms of patrol speed (25-35 mph), but uses an infrared and corona camera attached to the bottom of the helicopter. The onboard thermograph uses these cameras to view the transmission line conductor and hardware through the infrared and ultraviolet spectrum and identify sources of overheated components.

A routine patrol, flown at a speed of 25 to 35 mph and is a general overview of the transmission line, the inspector on board looking for outstanding damage to the conductors, hardware, and structures of the transmission line. You can also see the helicopter hovering for a closer look at the conditions.

It should be noted that the contractor is authorized to monitor the transmission circuits in their entirety (ie “circuit breaker to circuit breaker”), so that the monitoring on certain lines can therefore extend to the neighboring regions.

The pilots will be in communication with all local airports in their airspace.

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