Credit: Ashley Nicole
The mystery of the white unmarked helicopter over Bensalem Township, Bristol Borough, and Bristol Township’s Croydon section that lit up local social media this week has been solved.
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Sightings of the low-flying helicopter were reported on social media groups and to LevittownNow.com throughout the week.
Readers and posters speculated that it was related to police activity, surveying of land, Sterling Helicopter’s service center, military training, and spraying for bugs.
However, the helicopter wasn’t there for any of those reasons.
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Helicopter inspections of PECO’s lines and equipment in the area isn’t uncommon, but a utility spokesperson said Friday the chopper wasn’t in their service this week.
Several readers noted the helicopter appeared to be close to and hovering over Amtrak’s Northeast Regional that goes through the area.
A check with Amtrak spokesperson Beth Toll confirmed the chopper was working for them.
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“Amtrak is utilizing a new helicopter service to take aerial pictures of our overhead power structures. This has been a very successful program, which has allowed our engineering crews to conduct preventative maintenance to our infrastructure,” she said.
Power line inspection firm Catalyst Aviation owns the helicopter that was flying over the area, according to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records.
The Northeast Regional is Amtrak’s busiest line and runs between the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions of the country, with regional stations in Philadelphia, Trenton, and Wilmington.
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The busy line, which also shares its tracks with SEPTA’s Trenton line in Lower Bucks County, brings Amtrak more than half-a-billion dollars in ticket revenue each year.
While Amtrak’s helicopter inspection service is a new program, the government-owned rail service previously operated a police helicopter in the region, and in the 1970s, SEPTA police also operated a patrol helicopter.
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