Buzz Coming: Eversource Helicopters to Fly Over Darien Checking High-Voltage Lines

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Eversource helicopter transmission line inspection 02-22-17

Photo from Eversource on Facebook

A helicopter over a transmission line

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From today through March 1, Eversource helicopters will be flying over various Connecticut towns, including Darien, doing semi-annual inspections of high-voltage electrical lines and equipment. 

The chopper will be in the air from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in various towns, including all the shoreline towns from Greenwich to Fairfield, along with Wilton, Ridgefield and Redding in Fairfield County.

The twice-a-year inspections involve “the use of a helicopter equipped with heat-sensing, infrared scanning technology which can detect potential equipment issues before they occur.” The utility says the inspections are an important way to reduce the number and duration of power outages.

 

Eversource helicopter N1431W 02-22-17

Photo from Eversource on Facebook

Utility employees will be in two helicopters to perform the inspections. This blue and silver helicopter with tail “N1431W” marked on its tail and and a blue and white helicopter with the tail marking “N411DD.”

 

An Eversource news release about the helicopter inspections said:

The region’s transmission system is the backbone of the electric grid.  Overhead inspections of transmission lines and equipment – often located upwards of 100 feet in the air – help engineers detect potential problems in advance, allowing the company to schedule necessary maintenance and upgrades before reliability issues arise.

Eversource helicopter transmission line inspection 02-22-17

Photo from Eversource on Facebook

A helicopter over a transmission line: The helicopters doing the inspections for the next week or so will be blue and silver or blue and white, not this color.

 

Here’s the full list of cities and towns that the helicopters will be flying over through March 1:

Andover, Beacon Falls, Berlin, Bethany, Bethel, Bethlehem, Bloomfield, Bozrah, Branford, Bristol, Brookfield, Brooklyn, Canton, Chaplin, Cheshire, Chester, Columbia, Coventry, Danbury, Darien, Deep River, Durham, East Granby, East Haddam, East Hartford, East Haven, East Lyme, East Windsor, Ellington, Essex, Farmington, Franklin, Glastonbury, Granby, Greenwich, Guilford, Haddam, Hamden, Hampton, Hartford, Harwinton, Hebron, Killingly, Lebanon, Ledyard, Litchfield, Lyme, Manchester, Mansfield, Meriden, Middlebury, Middlefield, Middletown, Milford, Monroe, Montville, Naugatuck, New Hartford, New Milford, Newington, Newtown, North Branford, North Stonington, Norwalk, Old Saybrook, Orange, Oxford, Plymouth, Pomfret, Portland, Putnam, Redding, Ridgefield, Rocky Hill, Roxbury, Salisbury, Shelton, Simsbury, Somers, South Windsor, Southington, Stamford, Suffield, Thomaston, Thompson, Wallingford, Washington, Waterbury, Waterford, Watertown, Westport, Wethersfield, Wilton, Windham, Windsor, Wolcott, Woodbridge and Woodbury.

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