Power company taking flight
A “Magnum, P.I.”-lookalike helicopter hovering low over the most-populated parts of Washington Wednesday was not being used for surveillance by the National Security Agency, CIA or FBI. It was being used for some summer maintenance.
First Energy spokesman Todd Meyers said helicopters flew over West Penn Power transmission lines as part of a routine program to check for problems before the height of electrical usage in the hottest months.
This helps utiltiy workers fix problems before they cause power outages.
Some hardware problems are easier to see from the air, he said, and flying a helicopter saves time when traveling thousands of miles of transmission lines.
“It’s much more efficient to fly a helicopter because you can travel along a line much more quickly than you can take a truck out there and get in a bucket,” he said. “There are a lot of spots you can’t even get a truck.”
The inspections started Tuesday over The Meadows Racetrack and Casino and continued Wednesday in downtown Washington. Flights will continue for about two weeks.
“Any community in Washington County could see us in the next couple weeks,” he said. “You’ll see us out and about.”
The helicopter may hover as low as 30 to 40 feet above buildings, and people inside might take notes and photos.
The helicopter can also be fitted with a giant chainsaw to trim brush and branches.
It is a black-and-green Hughes 500 helicopter with tail number N4QX. While it doesn’t bear the same colors as the helicopter of the same make and model used in the television program “Magnum, P.I.”, this method of inspecting lines has been around since Tom Selleck was solving crimes on Oahu. His fictitious alterego knew, like First Energy officials, taking flight to make observations was an efficient method.
“That was how he hopped around the islands and solved a lot of his crimes, using his helicopter,” Meyers said.