Fri, Sep 30, 2011
Utility Company Did Not Report Two Rotor Strikes By Work
Crews
San Diego Gas & Electric is spending $2 billion to build an
electrical transmission line between San Diego and Imperial
Counties in California and the state of Arizona. It's called the
Sunrise Powerlink, and the project involves lots of work for
helicopter crews. But a few days after a newspaper revealed two
helicopter incidents which were not reported to the California
Public Utilities Commission, the agency has halted the project
until pilots receive safety reviews.
The Associated Press notes the story ran in the San Diego
Union Tribune, which reported that helicopters hit a boulder
in one incident, and a fencepost in another, in both cases with
their tail rotors. Section 830 of the Federal Aviation Regulations
state that damage to rotors alone does not rise to the definition
of an accident for reporting purposes, and San Diego Gas &
Electric is reported to have told the Union Tribune it wasn't clear
it had to report it to the state, either.
But the Public Utilities Commission says a report should have
been made, and notes that there have been other accidents involving
dropped loads due to improper rigging, including three in a recent
two-week period. Commission Director Julie Fitch told SDG&E,
"The pattern of Sunrise Project helicopter incidents is
troubling...and is of serious concern due to the safety risks such
incidents impose on the residents...and project personnel."
AP reports the commission has ordered the helicopter work
stopped until the pilots get safety reviews. The utility says it
will comply, and continue with other parts of the job not involving
helicopters.
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