Posted on 06/16/2005 10:23:24 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
A Goodyear blimp crash-landed Thursday near Sample Road and Coral Ridge Drive in an industrial park and the two people aboard were trapped inside while electrical crews cleared the site, authorities said.
The ``Stars & Stripes'' blimp may have gotten tangled in power lines when it went down near Pompano Beach Air Park, where it's based, said Coral Springs police spokesman Mike Moser.
The two people on board weren't injured, said Kathleen Bergen, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration. FAA investigators were on the scene.
Authorities said bad weather might have forced the blimp down. There were thunderstorms in the area at the time.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
If you want on or off my aerospace ping list, please contact me by Freep mail not by posting to this thread.
I once rode in Blockbuster's blimp.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
Lighter than air vehicles are safer still - crashes more are survivable even.
Did I channel Yoda just now in that last post of mine?
Depends on the lighter than air gas of course.
crashed 2 in 2 years....embarrassing
I miss having one of their blimps based here in Houston.
The low altitude passes were always a thrill.
What ever became of the blimp hanger on I-45?
The hanger is gone. It stayed there for a long time. Maybe there is a Wal-Mart there now.
Home Depot (across the street from where defunct Builders Square was)
In this photo provided by the Coral Springs Fire Rescue Thursday, June 16, 2005, a Goodyear blimp is shown partially deflated after it crash landed in a industrial park in Coral Springs, Fla. The two people on board were not injured. Both people onboard were trapped briefly while electrical crews cleared the site, authorities said. (AP Photo/Coral Springs Fire Rescue via The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Mike Moser, Pool)
I think it was last year that Al Queda hijacked a GoodYear Blimp.
It bounced off of 17 buildings . . .
I would rather have the blimp back, but folks gotta have their decks and paint, I guess.
Was it just like riding in a big ol' ferryboat, or was it more fun than that?
"Thunderstorms in the area..."
In South Florida. In summer. Isn't that an almost daily event? Aren't the blimpies smart enough to forsee something like that happening?
Thunderstorms in the Area,, could it be ? that the Blimp got caught in high winds and lost control ?
Thunder storms can and do come up very fast this time of the year down here one minute the sun is shining the next its windy and raining.
In South Florida. In summer. Isn't that an almost daily event? Aren't the blimpies smart enough to forsee something like that happening?
Final flight
The Goodyear blimp Stars & Stripes flies in
stormy skies Thursday evening before it
crash-landed, at left, on a storage building in
Coral Springs. Witnesses said the pilots
appeared to struggle to keep the craft in the air.
I heard yesterday that the Hindenberg was approx. 45 times the size of a Goodyear blimp.
It's a good thing the Goodyear blimp was filled with helium rather than hydrogen.
Oh the humanity.
Hindenberg wasn’t a blimp. The US is in the proess of building new dirigible. Personally I think we should of done this years ago.
Hindenberg wasn’t a blimp. The US is in the proess of building new dirigible. Personally I think we should of done this years ago.
-----
OK, "Airship"?
Is it being built for homeland security? I'd heard that suggested last year.
Ann Coulter,last month, referred to Teddy Kennedy as a dirigible. LOL
Jerry Lewis in *The Jerk* took a blimp for a spin.
Hey BurbankKarl,
I'm pinging you on this thread as you may be interested.
What a photo! So sorry it went down.
Anyone remember when the Goodyear blimp was based on Watson Island just off downtown Miami on the causeway to Miami Beach? I watched it many a times as a child growing up. It seemed a wondrous site to a little girl of the pre-space age era.
Pics here:
http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?placesearch=Miami%20-%20Goodyear%20Blimp%20Base&distinct_entry=truet
Early history circa 1929 with pic:
http://www.mdpls.org/databases/Romer_Site/pages/r570c.htm
The part left out of the story: ...their underwear however, are considered to be a total loss.
The storms started later than usual last night, were quite heavy, and lasted longer than usual. I know, I got caught in it, but not in an aircraft.
Frank Drebin: It's the same old story. Boy finds girl, boy loses girl, girl finds boy, boy forgets girl, boy remembers girl, girls dies in a tragic blimp accident over the Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.
Jane Spencer: Goodyear?
Frank Drebin: No, the worst.
Are they sure it wasn't just Ted Kennedy passed out during a visit?
1. The Hindenburg was filled with extremely flammable hydrogen, not the helium that was originally planned.
2. The doping compound on the Hindenburg's canvas covering was a combination was nitrocellulose and aluminum powder--essentially solid rocket fuel!
3. The static discharge grounding around the ship was NOT designed with the use of hydrogen as a lifting gas in mind.
4. The ship had gone through a thunderstorm and had built up a high level of static electricity.
5. Just before the Hindenburg exploded, ground crews were already handling the tie-down ropes of the airship, which probably set off the sudden static discharge that first ignited the canvas covering in the upper rear half of the airship and ignited the hydrogen inside the airship to start that massive explosion.
After the accident, besides the public hearings on what happened the Zeppelin company did its own internal report on the accident; its findings noted that there were issues with controlling static discharge and the extreme flammability of the canvas covering doping compound. For reasons unknown, the Nazi government surpressed the report, despite the fact the Graf Zeppelin II airship (which had just been completed) switched to a vastly-improved method of static discharge grounding and switched to a far-less fireprone canvas doping compound.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
