Blimp Is Ripped in Two, But No Injuries

P H I L A D E L P H I A, Aug. 20, 2000 -- A Goodyear blimp coming in for a landingSaturday at Northeast Philadelphia Airport was blown into a mooringpole and ripped in half, deflating the balloon in a way that hasnot been seen in decades.

The 192-foot-long, 59-foot-high blimp had just touched theground at about 1 p.m. with about 10 people tugging on mooringropes from the nose when a small gust of wind blew the airshipabout 20 feet, lifting one of the men off the ground. The pilot started the engines and tried to avoid the40-foot-high red mooring mast in the middle of the grassy airfield.The blimp hit the pole, ripping the airship in half and sending themetal cockpit carrying a pilot and six passengers skidding alongthe ground, where it eventually fell on its side. The occupants, who were not wearing seat belts but were holdingonto railings, all walked out with no injuries. “It’s a very rare occurrence where we deflate an airship in thecourse of a trip,” said Goodyear spokesman Jerry Jenkins, whowitnessed the mishap. He said the three-year-old airship, one ofseven in Goodyear’s fleet, was a total loss but could not estimateits worth. He said a blimp had not deflated to this extent in at least 20years.

‘Like It Happened in Slow Motion’

“You knew it was going to hit the pole,” said Steve Johnson,47, of Honey Brook. “We weren’t really going very fast. It’s alllike in slow motion.” After the crash, he said, “you’re all onthe ground because there’s nothing you can do about it.” “It was kind of weird,” said his son, Jeff, 12. “I wasn’tsure if it was going back in the air or landing on the ground.” The blimp, which was taking passengers on a promotional flight,had filmed the NFL preseason game between the Philadelphia Eaglesand Tennessee Titans on Friday night and was to leave Sunday forthe Little League World Series in Williamsport. A Goodyear airship crashed in October 1999 in Akron, Ohio. Thatblimp, which was not carrying passengers, had mechanical problemsand flew into a tree. Goodyear blimps have been flying for 75 years and have never hada fatality, Jenkins said. The Akron-based company has built more than 300 blimps since,more than any other firm. The cigar-shaped blimps, which thecompany likes to call “aerial ambassadors,” are filled with amixture of air and helium, can fly at 50 miles per hour and have acruising speed of 30 mph, and can stay in the air up to 24 hours,although they rarely do. Goodyear blimps are not open for public rides but givepromotional rides to about 1,200 passengers a month.