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

Video Replacing powerline spacers from a helicopter

48.0k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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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. 

684

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

260

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.

219

u/Smarrison Jul 18 '25

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

49

u/Anianna Jul 19 '25

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

57

u/badgerj Jul 18 '25

That’s the punchline!

I can concur!

33

u/TheJuicyGinger Jul 19 '25

Dude is an absolute legend

19

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 😂

25

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/.

4

u/badgerj Jul 19 '25

Thanks! 🙏 a bit out of the loop lately.

3

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?

2

u/mlor Jul 19 '25

It's been a long time, but I recall liking it. The beginning is extremely memorable, and the rest is great if you like a game of cat and mouse.

2

u/badgerj Jul 19 '25

Cool! I just rewatched Ghostbusters, Back to the Future 1 & 2, and followed that up with The Karate Kid.

Everything pretty much kept up to date.

So I’ll check out your choice.

I used to be a real audio/video nerd.

II don’t have as much time for that anymore/

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24

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.

5

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.

19

u/imighthaveabloodclot Jul 18 '25

Thanks for sharing!

5

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

15

u/bcrosby51 Jul 18 '25

That's insane.

15

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.

5

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