Original Message

Southern Cal Edison tried it but it wasn’t very useful or practical. Some of that was at the time most of their pilots were low time long liners. PG&E hints at it enough that PJ Helicopters bought a few 429’s but mostly the 407 and 500 series are preferred for the lighter loads and HEC. Cost per hour is still the big factor.
Truth is HEC is pretty low on the danger scale as lineman stuff goes. More die each year from other work then all HEC deaths ever combined.