From Chino to around the world, Southern California Edison's chief pilot takes global role

CHINO >> Torbjo Correll stepped into the lobby of Southe Califoia Edison’s aircraft operations — but he’d rather be in the air.

“It’s boring being on the ground,” said the director of the little-known aircraft division for the electric utility company.

As SCE’s chief pilot, his earthly home base is a 46,000-square-foot building, which includes a hanger and maintenance facility, tucked away on the southwest end of Chinou2009Airport.

“If the grid is dead, (aircraft operations) have to support that when it breaks,” says Correll, who goes by “TC,” in his Swedish accent.

He oversees training and regulations for his flight division, which operates a fleet of EC135s, AS350 B3s, and a B205 A1++ helicopters.

Correll, 49, has amassed thousands of hours of experience in his 24 years working in the helicopter industry. Although he currently works for Edison, he’s done stints in search and rescue, worked military contracts and fought fires in countries across three continents.

Speaking of fires, the Ranchou2009Cucamonga resident just spent the last two weeks overseeing the air support — even doing training — at the Sandu2009fire, which bued more than 30,000u2009acres of the Angeles National Forest near Santau2009Clarita.

Providing electricity with air power

SCE serves more than 14u2009million people in Southe and Central Califoia, 50,000-plus square miles and 104,000u2009miles of power lines. Of the more than 10,000u2009SCE employees, 27 work out of Chinou2009Airport; seven of them pilots. Correll joked that some of Edison’s employees aren’t even aware there is an aircraft division — and it’s been around for 58u2009years.

Pilots in the utility industry are rare. There are 45,000u2009active pilots in the United States; those who do utility work comprise less than 1u2009percent, Correll said.

For SCE, the fleet helps check out and repairs power lines and transmissions installations in rural locations. It cuts down the time it would take for a crew to have to drive to each transmission line and then go up and repair. Correll said when his crew transport linemen, the work can be done in two days rather than 18.

“Whenever you have power lines, they are in very remote areas. So 80u2009percent of the bulk tower — those larger transmission towers — are in the desert,” he said.

During the Stationu2009fire above the Sanu2009Gabriel Valley in Septemberu20092009, the flight crew worked it for 30u2009days straight. As is typical in fire incidents, the crews wait a couple of days after a bued area is no longer considered a hot spot to begin their job. Even though fires can prompt temporary flight restrictions, Edison crews are cleared to go through to rebuild the infrastructure, using helicopters to drop in new poles and in some instances, even drop in crews to conduct the work.

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But the crew has to follow strict FAA guidelines, including a thorough inspection of a helicopter every 100u2009hours in the air. On Friday afteoon, the crew had begun inspection on the Bellu2009205, which only Wednesday retued from the Sand fire. Correll said it will be out of service for at least a week and a half.

Taking a global role

On Julyu20091, Correll was named chairman of the Virginia-based Helicopter Association Inteational, which has more than 2,500u2009members in some 68u2009nations. Among the roles of the association is to oversee any key legislation that involves the industry. In 2008, he was voted onto the board of directors. This is his third term, having previously served as vice president.

“You become the voice for the industry,” said Correll, the youngest to hold the post.

Matt Zuccaro, president and CEO of HAI has worked on the board with Correll for the past six years.

“I have been impressed with his commitment and passion for serving our members and the inteational helicopter community, and I’m very excited about what we can accomplish in the coming year under his leadership as chairman,” said Zuccaro in an email.

His time with the nonprofit hasn’t always been smooth flying — he’s not afraid to be outspoken.

“I want to serve the members a little better. There are so many people out there who don’t know what HAI is doing,” he said.

His role as chairman will require some time away from SCE, which the company fully supports. He just retued from a trip to Savaah, Georgia, and another one to Goshen, Indiana.

In the coming year he’ll be traveling to Washington, D.C., three times for board meetings, as well as to China. He also has scheduled a mission with the Portuguese Air Force. “You lea from each other, so this is a great opportunity for our own flight department to become even better,” Correll said.

Looking for adventure

A native of Sweden, Correll was introduced to helicopters through the Swedish Armed Forces. Everyone is required to complete at least one year of service, which he did after college.

“My first ride was in a CH-46, a combat medic,” he said. “I thought, ‘This pretty cool.’ ”

After his one-year stint, Correll was offered the opportunity to continue in the armed forces, but there was a catch — he had to commit for 12u2009years.

“I was only 21u2009years old, and I wanted to do something exciting,” he said.

It was then that a friend suggested he come to the United States to work as a flight instructor. In 1987, he arrived in New Jersey.

He then was selected by the United Nations Protection Force to do contract work and fly two missions in the mid-’90s, one monitoring the Serbian-Croation border. The second was to Cote d’Ivoire in West Africa as part of an effort to eradicate the parasitic Onchocerciasis, a worm that causes blindness.

“I got malaria and I got a parasite when I was there. But you’re saving people from getting blind,” he said. “This is a very successful program — you fly by yourself and you are on your own. We had to set up everything for ourselves. These are people who have barely seen vehicles, and we come in with helicopters.”

But Correll was well aware of the danger.

“If you went down in the triple-canopy jungle, they were not going to find you,” he said.

After completing work in West Africa, Correll took a job in Alaska doing air support for the U.S. Forest Service geological research and drilling operations. It was there that he met his wife, Snow.

In 1998, he began contract work with the U.S. Navy, helping to diffuse bombs on the Kaho’olawe Island target range. He also did some search and rescue for Maui County.

Leaing from tragedy

In 2003, SCE approached him and offered him a position. Correll said he declined because he was content in Hawaii. Then in 2005, the utility company again came knocking. Correll decided to give it a chance.

The company really impressed him: There was very little tuover and the maintenance department was impeccable. Correll took a position as a line pilot.

“I did see some weakness from my world that I came from, and also saw an opportunity that this is an untapped market,” he said.

Two years later, he was named the pilot chief.

“TC has built a great program here. Southe Califoia Edison’s flight department is recognized throughout utility aviation as the premiere organization in the United States,” said Ryan Stampe, line pilot for SCE the past 1u20091/2 years. “Because of that reputation, I wanted to come here and be a part of this team.”

In 2006, two Edison workers were killed when their helicopter struck a wire in Somis in Ventura County. The incident prompted Correll to change the utility company’s training program. He also made a safety video with HAI about flying in a wired world.

To date, 22,000u2009copies have been distributed, and most companies now use it as their primary training tool for flying in the wire environment, he said.

“We thought we were the expert of flying into the wire world, and we leaed a lot from it,” he said.

Stampe, who has 10u2009years of flying, said he has leaed a lot from his boss.

While the two were covering the Sand fire, Stampe said Correll guided him on his first water drop. The pilots conduct water drops to suppress ash and so crews below can work without the dust flaring up.

“It’s really reassuring and it’s so great to have someone as respected in the industry, and someone that I look up to, that can mentor me,” Stampe said. “Even though I’m an experienced pilot, I still have stuff to lea and I trust TC, so it’s great to look to him whenever I have questions and know that I’m getting it from an expert.”