Boston Marathon 2018: Low Flying Helicopters?

BOSTON, MA — Daffodils, running tourists and, starting Thursday; low flying helicopters. Folks who live along the marathon route and around Boston will begin to hear helicopters flying low from Boston to Brookline and then Newton and all the way to Hopkinton. It's Marathon season.

Each year since 2014 the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration bring out a special helicopter to measure naturally occurring background radiation before Marathon Monday. It takes about three days and they use it to compare to day of events to watch for anything out of the ordinary, according to officials.

Patch Marathon Coverage:

• Boston Marathon 2018: Start Times, What's Qualifying Time Everything To Know
• Boston Marathon Security: What Not To Bring
• When To Watch In Brookline

If you hear the rumble and make it outside, you can see a twin-engine Bell 412 helicopter, a Remote Sensing Laboratory Aerial Measuring System from Joint Base Andrews that is equipped with radiation sensing technology.

The helicopter will fly in a grid pattern over the area at about 150 feet above the ground at a speed of approximately 80 miles per hour between April 12 and April 15.

But NNSA say the flyovers will happen only during daylight hours and are estimated to take about three days to complete.

The measurement of naturally occurring radiation to establish baseline levels is a normal part of security and emergency preparedness for major public events, they said in a release.

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Image Credit: courtesy .gov

Patch Marathon Coverage:

• Boston Marathon 2018: Start Times, What's Qualifying Time Everything To Know
• Boston Marathon Security: What Not To Bring
• When To Watch In Brookline