Regular patrol inspection of overhead transmission line is essential to ensure the reliability and sustainability of power supply.With the rapid development of UAV technology and image recognition technology,UAV inspection is gradually replacing manual foot patrol inspection.A review was conducted on the research progress of UAV vision inspection for transmission line defect.The development of UAV inspection technology at home and abroad was introduced,as well as commonly used deep learning algorithms for UAV vision inspection.And the UAV vision inspection method for transmission line defect was analyzed from three aspects:transmission line component,power tower and ancillary facility,and transmission corridor.The challenge faced by the future development of UAV inspection technology for transmission line was also put forward.