Abstract: A system and apparatus for acquiring images of electric transmission line tower structures, equipment attached to said tower structures, and transmission lines suspended from said towers. The system uses a fixed wing aircraft and an arrangement of at least one still camera, means for detecting a tower structure, a data storage unit, and a central processing unit containing operational software. The central processing unit is connected to the camera, the means for detecting a tower structure, and the storage unit. The detection means is a laser altimeter or a combination of preset longitude/latitude coordinates for tower locations and a GPS unit which supplies continuous longitude/latitude coordinates for the aircraft location for comparison to those preset coordinates. The aircraft is flown along the transmission line at a predetermined altitude above the tops of said towers (60–100 feet).