They were trying to shovel out the helium?
Dude ...
I cant say they were trying to "shovel" out a gas...but, from what I saw, they sure were using shovels to "cut" the fabric...
or as Mr. Bob Boyle said, IMO, so eloquently in the 1600s, "So long as temperature remains constant at the same value the same amount of energy given to the system persists throughout its operation and therefore, theoretically, the value of k will remain constant. However, due to the derivation of pressure as perpendicular applied force and the probabilistic likelihood of collisions with other particles through collision theory, the application of force to a surface may not be infinitely constant for such values of k, but will have a limit when differentiating such values over a given time."
i.e. da gas leaked out...