Three helicopters fitted with industry-leading technology are a key part of our annual vegetation management program.

Flown by a team of highly-qualified pilots, our helicopters are fitted with sensor systems, which use LiDAR scanning technology to accurately measure the distance between tree branches or vegetation and the electricity network.

The data creates a 3D image of our entire network, which is then analysed by our team of highly-qualified data analysts to help inform our annual tree-cutting schedule.

Each time the network is inspected, our teams learn more about the environmental conditions and vegetation growing rates across the region we cover. This data helps ensure we know exactly which trees to cut, by how much and at what time.

The helicopters – which fly just 300m above powerlines at a speed of about 130kmh – operate all year round. We normally publish when and where our helicopters will be in action on our social media pages so residents are aware when they may be flying low.

Fleet fast facts

Aircraft: Bell 505 helicopter

• Fleet size: 2 aircraft
• Crew: One pilot and one LiDAR system operator per aircraft
• Top speed: 232km/h
• Range: 617km
  
• Aircraft length: 12.93m
• Aircraft height: 3.25m
• LiDAR system: RIEGL VUX-240
• Slow cruise speed for LiDAR capture: 129km/h
• LiDAR scan speed: 1.8MHz and 400 lines per second
• Data capture: 1TB per aircraft per day

Aircraft: Bell 407 helicopter

• Fleet size: 1 aircraft
• Crew: One Pilot and one LiDAR System Operator per aircraft
• Top speed: 260km/h
• Range: 870km
• Aircraft length: 12.62m
• Aircraft height: 3.33m
• LiDAR system: RIEGL VUX-240
• Slow cruise speed for LiDAR capture: 129km/h
• LiDAR scan speed: 1.8MHz and 400 lines per second
• Data capture: 1TB per day