Lawmaker asks that flight logs for transmission line flyovers be made public

Rep. Víctor Parés Otero

By The Star Staff

Rep. Víctor Parés Otero, who chairs the Government Committee in the island House of Representatives, requested on Monday that LUMA Energy immediately make public the log of all flights by the company’s helicopter fleet, including those over the 230-kilovolt (kV) line number 50-100, which runs from the Manatí transmission center to the Cambalache power plant in Arecibo, and to which the private power grid operator attributes last Wednesday’s total blackout.

“All of Puerto Rico lost power last Wednesday … at 12:38 p.m. According to the preliminary report from LUMA Energy, which operates the island’s electricity transmission and distribution grid, the main cause was vegetation touching the 230 kV power line between Manatí and Arecibo,” Parés Otero said. “All 230 kV transmission lines are supposed to be regularly inspected from the air, using helicopters, to determine, among other things, whether there is nearby vegetation that could touch the line.”

“LUMA claims that vegetation touched the 230-meter line, so it’s logical that the corresponding aerial inspections weren’t conducted, as vegetation doesn’t grow in hours; it takes weeks and months,” the San Juan district lawmaker noted. “Inspections are also conducted to detect whether vegetation could touch the line under strong winds. Given this, and the reality that the preliminary report consists of three pages, one with the LUMA logo, another with a map of power lines, and the third with a very ambiguous description of the event, with no accountability, we want LUMA to publish the aircraft flight log for the past 30 days on its website and social media today.”

On April 9, the House Government Committee held a public hearing with LUMA executives, where they emphasized that they have four helicopters, two of which were operational, while the other two aircraft were undergoing maintenance.

According to the established flight plan, LUMA is expected to constantly fly over the 230, 115 and 38 kV lines.