Here’s Why You May See a Helicopter Flying Over Danbury This Week

If you're wondering why you're seeing a helicopter flying over your house sometime within the next week or so, it's just Eversource checking it's transmission lines.

No, it's not a scene from Goodfellas when Henry notices the helicopter is following him overhead, but it still could seem kind of suspicious and freaky.

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If you see a blue and yellow helicopter hovering above your house or over a road which you're driving on, no need to think the fed's are watching you, it's just Eversource surveying its electrical transmission lines.

They will be using a helicopter with heat sensing, infrared scanning technology that is capable of detecting potential equipment issues before they occur.

The Eversource helicopter uses what they call LiDar, which is light detection and ranging technology to gather data from the air and send it back to their engineers so they can use the data to make sure their transmissions system are working to full potential.

According to eversource.com, the utility will be flying over many towns and cities in Connecticut from now until December 23, and will have their helicopter airborne between the hours of 9 AM and 4 PM, and that will include weekends as well.

Steve Driscoll is the Eversource Vice President of Operation Services, and talked in the company's press release about exactly what's entailed in these helicopter inspections.

The helicopter inspections of our transmission lines are a crucial and effective part of our commitment to reducing the frequency and duration of power outages. Well over a million customers in Connecticut depend on us for their electric service and that’s why we’re always working proactively to keep the system operating safely and reliably.

You can identify the blue and yellow Eversource helicopter by its tail number identification which is N803JB, and will usually be at an altitude of approximately 1400 feet.