There’s a good reason for the low flying helicopters many people have seen around the Butler County area the past few days.
Manager of the Pittsburgh-Butler Regional Airport Ike Kelly told our newsroom, “These are subcontractors for the utility companies. There’s actually two. One is a dark color, almost a military paintjob. They’re doing power line and pipeline inspections.”
These pilots are mostly looking for discolorations on plants on the ground that would indicate a leak in a pipeline.
The other helicopter is brighter colored and has ten circular saw blades suspended on a 100 foot line for the purpose of trimming branches that have grown into power line right-of-ways. According to Kelly, people should not try to get a closer look.
“What I would recommend is if they’re near your property or near your home, don’t get too close to walk over and take a look because there’ll be a lot of debris coming off of those blades,” Kelly explained.
The helicopters will be operating mostly in the northern and eastern parts of the county through the end of the month.
Written by Ryan Saeler
The post Low Flying Helicopters Working For Utility Companies appeared first on Inside Butler County – Butler, PA.
