Have spent a lot of time low and slow in the back seat for aerial filming.
As most would know, High voltage powerlines are a doddle to survey compared to distribution lines that duck and weave and do their best to hide in the trees.
Did a season in NSW operating a power company's $700k stabilised gimbal. I believe this operation has since been replaced with a hand held stills.(?)
The idea was to fly higher and faster and record in HD (2k) and do a QA check in the office on a big screen. This was a success apart from its high cost (!) The demonstration/proving sales pitch was conducted during a short demo flight of poles that were not obstructed by trees so poles per minute count was higher than real world.
An accident database I collated 2000-2013, the number of incidents where stabilised gimbals are employed is very low compared to open door shooting. My view is, in general, the more expensive the cost per hour the better managed is the flight.
New technology of relevance, in the last few weeks Sony launched a 8k stills camera which is cable of 30fps. Late last year a 12k motion picture camera became available from South Melbourne run company Blackmagic design. The cost of exterior mounted stabilsied gimbals to house these cameras remains relatively high and is a barrier to their use.
Lidar continues to improve as well.
In the 1990's the cost of burying all the power lines in Australia was put at $50B.
https://www.aph.gov.au/sitecore/cont...IB9697/97cib11
In 2002 cost of replacing aerial with underground lines in NSW was $7500 per customer, if this was amortised over 15 years I believe it is doable.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/powe...30-gdfhx4.html
Roll on to 2019 in USA is $3m per mile (run buy energy companies rather than community) for distribution lines or $15k per customer
https://www.desertsun.com/story/news...ot/3937653002/
My point is that if aerial inspections are the solution to otherwise spending $15k per customer, workplace safety of those providing the solution should not be compromised. (I'm not saying it was in this incident)
Sad and frustrated to hear of two lives lost in what should be an unremarkable survey mission, I hope the cause was unavoidable, ie bird strike or freak mechanical failure.
I'm reminded of the Dec 2014 fixed wing crash during photography of the Sydney to Hobart race where Aussie Ppruners were criticised for insensitivity in discussing the incident before official investigations had begun.
Column inches immediately after an incident can have an effect on political response, which in turn can have a positive effect on workplace safety. A mission to improve the safety of critical infrastructure for the benefit of communities has ended in tragedy.
Mjb