26-05-2025
Low-flying helicopters over Michigan? Here's what's going on
ITC will conduct aerial patrols of transmission lines in Michigan starting Tuesday, May 27. According to a community announcement, the inspections will run through Monday, June 30, weather permitting.
The helicopter patrols aim to assess the status of high-voltage transmission structures operated by ITCTransmission and Michigan Electric Transmission Company, LLC (METC).
The aerial inspections will cover nearly all of the Lower Peninsula. The schedule for the inspections is as follows:
From May 27-30, areas including Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, Washtenaw, and Wayne will be inspected.
From June 2-11, the patrols will extend to counties such as Bay, Genesee, Gratiot, Huron, Ingham, and others.
The next phase from June 12-17 will include Allegan, Barry, Branch, Calhoun, and several more counties, including Monroe again.
The next inspection period from June 18-21 will cover counties including Allegan, Clinton, and Kent.
The last leg from June 24-30 will include Alcona, Alpena, and others.
These patrols are required by the North American Electrical Reliability Corporation as part of ITC's vegetation management program. They support proactive maintenance objectives and align with the company's operational standards.
Crews will check for damaged or worn equipment and vegetation hazards during these flights, which will be conducted at low altitudes for accurate visual inspections. Residents should not be alarmed if they see low-flying helicopters near transmission lines, as this is standard procedure.
Monroe News is bringing you more local news: Here's how you can submit your announcements
This story was created by Janis Reeser, jreeser@ with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at or share your thoughts at with our News Automation and AI team.
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Helicopters will fly low across Michigan for power line checks
