An apparatus comprising: a power connector configured to be disposed along an outer surface of a fuselage of an aircraft that is configured to electrically couple electrical power received from a ground system to an onboard power bus of the aircraft characterized by : a power sensor electrically coupled to the power connector that is configured to measure electrical characteristics of the electrical power received from the ground system, the electrical characteristics comprising a frequency, a phase, and a voltage; and a controller that is configured to receive measurements of the electrical characteristics from the power sensor, and to prevent the ground system from electrically coupling with the onboard power bus in response to any of of the measured electrical characteristics being different than a corresponding electrical target value by a first threshold amount; wherein the electrical target value comprises: 400 Hertz in response to the electrical characteristics comprising a frequency; 3-phase in response to the electrical characteristics comprising a phase; and 115 Volts Root Mean Square (RMS) in response to the electrical characteristics comprising a voltage. a power connector configured to be disposed along an outer surface of a fuselage of an aircraft that is configured to electrically couple electrical power received from a ground system to an onboard power bus of the aircraft characterized by : a power sensor electrically coupled to the power connector that is configured to measure electrical characteristics of the electrical power received from the ground system, the electrical characteristics comprising a frequency, a phase, and a voltage; and a controller that is configured to receive measurements of the electrical characteristics from the power sensor, and to prevent the ground system from electrically coupling with the onboard power bus in response to any of of the measured electrical characteristics being different than a corresponding electrical target value by a first threshold amount; a power sensor electrically coupled to the power connector that is configured to measure electrical characteristics of the electrical power received from the ground system, the electrical characteristics comprising a frequency, a phase, and a voltage; and a controller that is configured to receive measurements of the electrical characteristics from the power sensor, and to prevent the ground system from electrically coupling with the onboard power bus in response to any of of the measured electrical characteristics being different than a corresponding electrical target value by a first threshold amount; wherein the electrical target value comprises: 400 Hertz in response to the electrical characteristics comprising a frequency; 3-phase in response to the electrical characteristics comprising a phase; and 115 Volts Root Mean Square (RMS) in response to the electrical characteristics comprising a voltage. 400 Hertz in response to the electrical characteristics comprising a frequency; 3-phase in response to the electrical characteristics comprising a phase; and 115 Volts Root Mean Square (RMS) in response to the electrical characteristics comprising a voltage. <EOS>