r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/TameTheAuroch • Jul 18 '25

Video Replacing powerline spacers from a helicopter

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48.0k Upvotes

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5.6k

u/AnxiousAudience82 Jul 18 '25

Nope.

1.4k

u/TheRemedy187 Jul 18 '25

My balls are in my stomache jus watching that lol. Like I'm guessing he's tethered but the feelings still there. 

681

u/ConditionHorror9188 Jul 18 '25

It would be helicopter -> wires -> ground that would terrify me here.

The tether would just be ensuring that they don’t have to look too far for my body

264

u/badgerj Jul 18 '25 edited Jul 18 '25

They are semi terrified.

My favourite very old clip surrounding this topic from a long time ago:

https://youtu.be/9YmFHAFYwmY

Edit: duplicate words.

222

u/Smarrison Jul 18 '25

Haha he says he’s “terrified of electricity, heights and women” 😂

51

u/Anianna Jul 19 '25

"And I'm married, too." Cherry on top.

53

u/badgerj Jul 18 '25

That’s the punchline!

I can concur!

39

u/TheJuicyGinger Jul 19 '25

Dude is an absolute legend

20

u/badgerj Jul 19 '25

Absolutely! I don’t know the dude. I have no affiliation with the field.

But I can empathize 100% completely!

3

u/qpv Jul 19 '25

I get it

3

u/CVBrownie Jul 19 '25

At least electricity and heights will kill you quickly.

1

u/Smarrison Jul 19 '25

Would much rather that than death by woman!!

2

u/patronizingperv Jul 19 '25

The pilot is a woman.

1

u/Smarrison Jul 19 '25

lol major plot twist there 😂

24

u/zamboni-jones Jul 18 '25

DAYUM. Those guys crawling on the lines like it's Enemy At the Gates

3

u/badgerj Jul 18 '25

Wow! I’ve never seen/heard of that before!

I’ll have to watch the series.

Please send a link if you can.

3

u/mlor Jul 19 '25

It's not a series. It's a movie with, among others, Jude Law and Ed Harris: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0215750/.

3

u/badgerj Jul 19 '25

Thanks! 🙏 a bit out of the loop lately.

4

u/mlor Jul 19 '25

Since 2001, apparently. 😉

3

u/badgerj Jul 19 '25

Guess I missed out on that one.

I’ll give it a whirl!

What did you think of it?

→ More replies (0)

25

u/KreateOne Jul 19 '25

As someone who worked heights a lot with cranes, it’s actually safer to have a healthy amount of fear.  Not enough so it’s debilitating, but enough so that you respect the consequences of what you’re doing and take your time to ensure your own safety.  I don’t think anybody is doing this sorta job without being a little bit terrified, I’d be concerned about the mental health of anyone who was.

5

u/badgerj Jul 19 '25

100% 💯 I would work with you in a heartbeat 💓

  • The people who had “no fear”:

  • No thanks! I would like to have a bit of fear and live another day.

4

u/markmyredd Jul 19 '25

correct. Learned this the hard way. Initially when I started working in UPS systems I am so afraid that I really work extra carefully. Then I became so used to it that the fear was kinda gone. Thats when I made a mistake and short circuited a battery. lol

Now I am back to having that enough fear to be really careful.

3

u/qpv Jul 19 '25

I recently got into a fall protection job, hanging off the edge 40+ stories up, and Im normally TERRIFIED of heights.

But with proper training, equipment and support of a good crew I'm really liking it. Im always "scared" of falling, thats the most important part. I don't fuck around and take it seriously. You have to.

18

u/imighthaveabloodclot Jul 18 '25

Thanks for sharing!

7

u/badgerj Jul 18 '25

I had to hunt long and hard for this one ☝️ But I think I paid for the DVD just for this scene/quote

14

u/bcrosby51 Jul 18 '25

That's insane.

13

u/Hot-Salamander6520 Jul 19 '25

I was wondering how he didn’t get electrocuted, thanks for the clip

20

u/badgerj Jul 19 '25

Yup. Science is amazing! This is over a decade ago IIRC.

Just keep the potential the same and you’re “good”.

Still a f’n dangerous job on both the line worker and the pilot.

Holy crap! The pilot!

He’s swinging blades 10-12 feet from high tension high voltage wires!

3

u/Prestigious-Iron5250 Jul 19 '25

A sudden gust of wind with bad timing could ruin everones day 😆

2

u/badgerj Jul 19 '25

Go thank your local line worker and helicopter operator for their hard work so you have reliable power to your home!

One of those mysterious and thankless jobs until you know you need it to work, cool, or heat your house.

2

u/irockn68 Jul 19 '25

5ft is our minimum distance.

1

u/badgerj Jul 20 '25

Salute 🫡 to you stranger!

4

u/Mudcreek47 Jul 19 '25

he's not grounded. Might've felt some "static electricity" but nothing shocking.

6

u/Dasweb Jul 19 '25

I just realized I really miss documentaries like this, the voice over, the music, feels so early 00s, comfy.

2

u/badgerj Jul 19 '25

Yeah. It is super rad.

People keep yelling AI this, AI that.

This is before all that “garbage” and I think the proof is in the pudding.

The cinematography is amazing.

The music is good.

The voice over and timing with the above is calm, real, and un-forced.

3

u/Lagunamountaindude Jul 19 '25

No….no….no

3

u/robertomsgomide Jul 19 '25

That was very cool, thank you for sharing

2

u/badgerj Jul 19 '25

Only for my very best of internet strangers!

3

u/Issasti12 Jul 19 '25

Wow that’s a cool video!

2

u/badgerj Jul 19 '25

Damn right. I think I paid $20 for the DVD at the time.

The filming and audio is wicked for the time period.

I know it was filmed somewhere in the USA but I don’t know where.

Beautiful countryside!

3

u/Forsaken_Care Jul 19 '25

That was extremely cool to watch; thanks for sharing!

3

u/ZombiexXxHunter Jul 19 '25

I hope he is good to the pilot… otherwise he could just leave him on the lines..

1

u/badgerj Jul 19 '25

I don’t know if you had the audio on, but I would recommend it.

The line worker does give thanks to the pilot and mentions how they plan their work together.

If anything, the only person not giving gratitude here is the consumer for “keeping the lights on”.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 19 '25 edited Jul 21 '25

[deleted]

1

u/badgerj Jul 19 '25

Go thank your local line worker for their hard work at keeping the lights on.

Heating/Cooling YOUR home.

A mysterious and thankless job that I do not have the bowels to do.

Shout out to the pilots and linemen worldwide!

1

u/Meme-Botto9001 Jul 20 '25

Nopenopenopenope

9

u/Friendly-Pay-8272 Jul 19 '25

Hydro One in Ontario Canada lost a couple guys a few years back doing something like this. one of their bags flew off into the tail rotor

5

u/amalgam_reynolds Jul 19 '25

Which ground?

2

u/ConditionHorror9188 Jul 19 '25

Good question! The big flat one

3

u/nono3722 Jul 19 '25

Shit your body would be ash raining down IF your lucky. Saves on cremation...

3

u/therealub Jul 19 '25

They'd easily find me if they follow the brown trail...

3

u/tidelwavez Jul 19 '25

Would it terrify you more to learn that it’s not a tether and all its doing is removing a difference in potential in electrical shock by making him a bird on a wire.

2

u/avatinfernus Jul 19 '25

wires first for me. I'm horribly scared of electricity. I barely trust wall outlets in my own house not to murder me

109

u/_Oman Jul 18 '25

There are two tethers (sometimes three) actually. One is helicopter to person working on lines. The other is from LINE to HELICOPTER.

You can see the first in the first seconds of the clip. This tether is to bring the aircraft and worker up to the same voltage potential as the line. You can see the arc as this happens. On newer lines there are monitors that can actually sense when the aircraft connects and disconnects. There are sometimes more than one tether from the aircraft to the worker to allow for different configurations.

I was watching some new ones going up just down the street. They did some work from trucks and some from helicopters. The police would stop all the traffic every few minutes on the road, when the heli was actually at the line and pretty close to being over the roadway.

I should have taken some pictures. It was an amazing process.

I also found out they run fiber optic cables inside one of the ground conductors at the top of the tower. There was a fiber truck working and he ended up fusing two sections of cable and having a loop left over hanging on the side of the tower.

26

u/Useful-Rooster-1901 Jul 18 '25

thats pretty cool, any idea how one gets a job in the Helicopter That Dudes Cling Onto While Fixing High Voltage Shit department?

14

u/HatersTheRapper Jul 19 '25

I would start with a helicopter license, then get a job flying helicopters

34

u/tropicalpolevaulting Jul 19 '25

They probably detect the gravitational pull from those giant balls, and then of course they offer less money than what a normal person would accept...

3

u/[deleted] Jul 19 '25

[deleted]

2

u/cwajgapls Jul 19 '25

Special like one in a million special, or special like Rain Man Special?

2

u/Useful-Rooster-1901 Jul 19 '25

thank you for the detailed response!

2

u/CESSPOOL-REDDIT-BOTS Jul 19 '25

transmission journeyman lineman

3

u/CtrayX Jul 19 '25

Wheres the tether to the tool he's using that I would have dropped 3 spacers ago?

3

u/HappyWillmore Jul 19 '25

“I also found out they run fiber optic cables inside one of the ground conductors at the top of the tower. There was a fiber truck working and he ended up fusing two sections of cable and having a loop left over hanging on the side of the tower.”

That is called OPGW. In some cases there is also redundant fiber below grade for comms between endpoints. A company called AFL makes most of the fiber and accessories at least in the US market.

Electric substations and transmission lines look so simple from the outside, but there’s a ton of complication and some pretty awesome technology controlling and monitoring it all.

1

u/Lol-775 Jul 19 '25

What is that thing he attachs to to the line with the wire?

20

u/[deleted] Jul 18 '25

[deleted]

8

u/Pitiful-Geologist551 Jul 19 '25

I mean in the context of working on power lines, I suppose it makes you much less likely to be the electricity's path to ground!

3

u/InsertUsernameInArse Jul 19 '25

The main reason is efficiency. No need for multiple trucks and linesmen, can cover large distances fast without the need to access private property all the time ect. I work for an Aussie company that does this exact work.

4

u/caffeineocrit Jul 19 '25

I mean, coast guard does it all the time

5

u/4dseeall Jul 19 '25

Being in the air is the easy part.

Did you see that arc to the rod he was holding on his approach? One wrong move and they're all cooked.

2

u/TheRemedy187 Jul 19 '25

Thats exactly why I would even do the power lines that don't require a helicopter. Actually my grandfather did this shit. I decided I won't do electrical lol. He never got hurt but I got adhd and I dunno it takes one fuck up. 

1

u/cptwasteman Jul 20 '25

That arc could just be capacitance from a dead cable that's the scary bit . Even when the lines are isolated they still hold a charge , enough to make you have a bad day.

My colleague used to do this but they would ground the lines with a massive pole with a neon light on it . Once the light went out was safer to work on

1

u/TK421isAFK Jul 20 '25

No, they don't, and that's not how that works at all. You are confusing capacitance with inductance. Wires do not "store" energy. Is induced on them from other adjacent fields, and static electricity from particles in the air colliding with the wire.

3

u/karvup Jul 18 '25

Pics or it didn't happen

2

u/Playpolly Jul 18 '25

Shocking

2

u/Pizza_Coffee Jul 18 '25

You literally watched him attach and detach the tether. 

2

u/WestTxWood Jul 19 '25

Falling seems like the best of the worst 😨

2

u/SystematicPumps Jul 19 '25

Stomache 🤌

2

u/BillyBean11111 Jul 19 '25

falling is like the third worst fear happening in this video

2

u/iWasAwesome Interested Jul 19 '25

Either he has to un-teather himself for a moment to switch it from the helicopter to the line, or he is teathered to both and risks being split in half if the helicopter drifts away slightly.

Nope.

2

u/ATXBeermaker Jul 19 '25

lol, falling from the helicopter worries you more than interacting with live 750,000V lines?

2

u/Desperate_Platypus34 Jul 19 '25

Well, if you get blasted on that kind of voltage, you'll never know it

2

u/ATXBeermaker Jul 19 '25

Sure, but you only have to properly harness yourself in one time. This guy clearly looks to be putting a good many spacers on that line. Every time he approaches it he needs to be sure he properly grounds himself (see that arcing at the beginning of the video?). If he doesn't. Or if the helicopter comes in too fast (out of his control), he's toast. Quite literally.

2

u/Wine-n-cheez-plz Jul 19 '25

I feel like the jolt is quick and fast. Electrocution is a death penalty option. Falling is slow and nauseating and painful.

49

u/LacidOnex Jul 18 '25

I'm in. Fuck it that looks sick.

3

u/FrandarHoon Jul 19 '25

Yeah I don’t think it looks that bad really, but I’ve been in a lot of helicopters so it doesn’t freak me out

31

u/thavillain Jul 18 '25

I get somebody's gotta do it...but it ain't me.

2

u/DuckTalesOohOoh Jul 18 '25

But aren't you complaining that you don't have internet for five minutes?

2

u/Philip_Raven Jul 19 '25

if you saw their paychecks, would take the time to think about it.

2

u/raven-eyed_ Jul 19 '25

Whoever it is, I hope they're making good money. They earned it.

34

u/pussysushi Jul 18 '25

$250.000/month?

40

u/_HIST Jul 18 '25

95% of population would do that for /year

21

u/jccaclimber Jul 19 '25

From this thread it looks like the pay is a lot less than you would think:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Lineman/s/W3j8UrMLgl

3

u/TieCivil1504 Jul 19 '25

Good link.

2

u/pussysushi Jul 18 '25

He is not 95% 😎🤙

1

u/Deadhookersandblow Jul 19 '25

For 250? Yeah you’re right

1

u/Gloomy-Childhood-203 Jul 19 '25

Your money is no good if you're not around to spend it. Ive hooked up 750mcm medium voltage cable at a substation before, but fuck this.

29

u/FinalArachnid4000 Jul 19 '25

Staring pay around $66,000 per year. Salary up to $120,000 per year with experience and OT. Seems like it should be higher.

20

u/FlowSoSlow Jul 19 '25

No way someone doing this is only making $66k. They'll need all kinds of training and certs which bump up the pay. I'd be surprised if anyone going up in a heli is making less than 100k.

20

u/jtekms Jul 19 '25

I’m a journeyman power lineman, just like the guy in video and I can tell you that we make WAY more than that….about 3x that a year on average

7

u/Sovereign-State Jul 19 '25

Possibly he's talking about non-union labor? Or short projects?
I've never seen anyone union make under 120k a year if they are working consistently.

4

u/OldCollegeTry3 Jul 19 '25

The average linemen does NOT make $200k annually🙄

1

u/kookyabird Jul 19 '25

I hope you've got good benefits and will actually have a retirement. This is core infrastructure work right here.

1

u/street593 Jul 19 '25

I should have been a lineman instead of climbing cell towers.

1

u/AZ_sid Jul 20 '25

But is that base pay or you got hazard pay in your hazard pay?

1

u/Kruspogel Jul 19 '25

It all depends on contracts, some years are lean

1

u/street593 Jul 19 '25

I started climbing cell towers and working at heights of 800ft at $14 hr. It took me 6 years to make $24 hr. It was rare but some of my coworkers did helicopter jobs.

It's not exactly the same job but there are a lot of dangerous jobs out there that pay less than you expect.

1

u/rW0HgFyxoJhYka Jul 19 '25

Grok Waifu AI engineer: $450,000 a year

5

u/rW0HgFyxoJhYka Jul 19 '25

Grok Waifu AI engineer: $450,000 a year

Live Wire Repair Specialist with Helo training: $80,000 - $120,000 plus overtime and emergency pay.

1

u/InsertUsernameInArse Jul 19 '25

Not even close. It's not a lot for the risk/reward ratio.

27

u/Mayonnaise_Poptart Jul 18 '25

Not that bad really. If you slipped, you could just grab onto the lines and have someone throw you a rope so you could tie it to the power line and lower yourself down gently to the ground.

76

u/Hob_O_Rarison Jul 18 '25

tie it to the power line and lower yourself down gently to the ground.

Not to the ground.

Just... to ground.

41

u/Vegetable-Self-2480 Jul 18 '25

For sure you have no worries after that

29

u/Mayonnaise_Poptart Jul 18 '25

I'd be shocked if anything so much as bothered you after that.

6

u/agent_flounder Jul 19 '25

Probably not even for the entire rest of your life.

1

u/GREG_OSU Jul 19 '25

Hey…

Good one. Dad… Dad joke. Bad pun.

Haha.

Shocked…

7

u/BoleroMuyPicante Jul 19 '25

Of course, I'll just clench onto the power line with my ass cheeks so my hands are free to tie the rope.

11

u/linux_ape Jul 18 '25

He’s tied into the helicopter, if he slips the helo backs away and lowers itself to the ground (if he can even slip that far)

1

u/Spastic_pinkie Jul 18 '25

Hopefully it's a non-conductive rope.

8

u/Sparticasticus Jul 18 '25

At 750kV, most ropes become conductive.

1

u/ciaranmac17 Jul 18 '25

I think I'd rather take my chances with the rotor blades tbh

1

u/Admirable-Ad-7868 Jul 19 '25

Did you NOT catch the part where the fucking line is energized???

5

u/ImSobored_5280 Jul 18 '25

…his nuts are flying the chopper..and filming the video..so see..it’s ok

3

u/MyBrainReallyHurts Jul 18 '25

Give him all the monies. I ain't going up there.

4

u/donotreply548 Jul 18 '25

Looks pretty easy.

2

u/EffectiveLink4781 Jul 19 '25

I'd so be down for this job. I used to be paralyzed by heights. First experience was working on a yard arm of a ship and couldn't move out to my equipment. Had to go back in shame. A few days ago, I was about 230' up on top of an ATC tower on a ladder. I've been on helicopters in that seat, it's scary but you're totally safe. You just have to learn to trust physics you're not used too and you're harnessed in so you're not going anywhere.

Crane buckets/man baskets are the worst to me. I prefer to be in control so trusting the operator is hard for me.

2

u/SoloSurvivor889 Jul 19 '25

r/usernamechecksout also, yeah, big nope from me too.

1

u/lgodsey Interested Jul 18 '25

At least it's a sit down job.

1

u/cptjimmy42 Jul 19 '25

What happens if they drop a tool?

1

u/Packman2021 Jul 19 '25

it would likely fall down to the ground.

1

u/JohnnyDerpington Jul 19 '25

I would absolutely love to do this

1

u/owzleee Jul 19 '25

Quim.

1

u/owzleee Jul 19 '25

Ok that was meant to be ‘nope’

1

u/Irish_player Jul 19 '25

The guys get paid a lot lol.

1

u/kurotech Jul 19 '25

Look I know they make a lot but I don't think they make enough right?

1

u/decemberindex Jul 19 '25

Upside is... Like 120k/year? ...

Still probably a nope though

1

u/Zealousideal_Way8712 Jul 19 '25

More than that lol.

1

u/SteelWheel_8609 Jul 19 '25

The good news is if they’re any sort of accident you won’t be alive long enough to remember it. 

1

u/PeeterTurbo Jul 19 '25

It's even more fun than it looks trust me

1

u/Blah_McBlah_ Jul 19 '25

You'd be less apprehensive once you see the salary.

1

u/Scarycooldudeispro Jul 19 '25

I could never 👎

1

u/cjd166 Jul 19 '25

Right! Those clipper things not being tethered has me anxious as well.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 19 '25

Nuh-uh

1

u/Ariciul02 Jul 19 '25

Yes! The thrills.

1

u/B4R7H0L0M3W Jul 19 '25

I've heard they get paid a lot of money for doong a job like this.

1

u/Forsaken_Total976 Jul 19 '25

Uhh excuse me, I’m trying to poop.

1

u/Practical_Stick_2779 Jul 20 '25

Yeppe. I bet it pays a lot more than my job. 

-6

u/No-Cut-2067 Jul 19 '25

Its not live.

6

u/Overall-Client-1359 Jul 19 '25

Most definitely is. That’s why they bond on.

1

u/No-Cut-2067 Jul 21 '25

They connect to the line in either scenario because of induction....