The aerial vegetation management inspections are scheduled to take place from May to mid-September in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and New York. The helicopters will fly approximately 300 to 400 feet above the transmission lines at speeds between 25 and 35 miles per hour.
The helicopters will be equipped with light detection and ranging (LiDAR) units, which FirstEnergy began using for vegetation management inspections in 2016. The units help prevent potential power outages by using a laser’s infrared light to measure distances between transmission lines and vegetation, confirming that lines are clear or identifying potential issues that cannot be observed during regular visual inspections.
If any clearance concerns are identified by the helicopter patrols, ground crews will follow up to further inspect or address.
