Posted on 09/08/2001 6:03:54 AM PDT by rface
Oh, the humility.
It wasn't exactly the Hindenburg disaster, but Kansas City had its own brush with inflatable infamy Friday night when the MetLife blimp tore loose from its moorings in a wind gust at the Downtown Airport and drifted away.
And Snoopy, adorning 4,400 pounds of floating MetLife advertisement, had no interest in coming home.
The blimp was in town to shoot aerials for Sunday afternoon's Chiefs/Raiders contest. It floated two hours and a respectable 50 to 60 miles before coming to rest on a pickup truck just northeast of Chillicothe, Mo., the Federal Aviation Administration reported.
Dustin Gooding and an Executive Beechcraft co-worker at Downtown Airport were towing a plane to a hangar to protect it from the high winds just after 8 p.m. when the blimp made a break for it. None of the blimp crew members was aboard at the time.
"It rolled over and it just floated away backward," Gooding said. "It was bouncing around there pretty good."
Joe McBride, spokesman for Kansas City's airports, said the 20-foot mooring mast cracked in the wind and, despite efforts of the craft's handlers, the blimp was airborne quickly.
The National Weather Service reported gusts of at least 60 mph at the airport.
McBride said the incident made some people nervous.
"We don't like having an air traffic safety hazard out there," McBride said. "This is a fairly new one on me."
Tony Molinaro, spokesman for the FAA's central regional office, said agency investigators were headed to the crash site Friday night and would assess the scene this morning.
"Everybody's OK; I can't speak for the truck," Molinaro said.
He said FAA officials, from the agency's Kansas City regional center in Olathe, had tracked the blimp's journey. Air controllers, he said, knew the blimp wouldn't go too far: It's equipped with a safety mechanism that causes a loss of helium if no one is at the controls, limiting flights to 60 to 80 miles.
McBride said the blimp's handlers, from a company called High Degree Operations out of Tampa, Fla., were responsible for keeping the craft under control while they rented space at the airport.
The great blimp chase was one bit of drama in an otherwise routine summer storm. Power lines and trees were scattered across the area, and Kansas City Power & Light Co. reported about six blown circuits.
A witness at the airport recalled that about 10 persons were in the company's terminal watching the blimp being buffeted by the storm.
"Everyone was yelling, `The blimp is loose, the blimp is loose!' " he said. "Half were crowding the windows to see it and half ran outside. People were just in shock."
According to MetLife's Web site, since the maiden voyage in 1987, MetLife blimps have provided aerial coverage for a variety of televised events.
The blimp's crew has 14 members: two pilots and a 12-member ground crew. At least one crew member monitors the ship 24 hours a day. Crew members include electronic engineers, mechanics and licensed radio technicians and riggers.
Ashland, Missouri
I can imagine the conversation with the claims adjuster for the guy's insurance agency- "You say...your truck was hit...by a what, now?"
But they just have too much sail area and not enough power for heavy weather. FYI, until they were torn down in the 1970's the hangers @ Glynco were the largest wooden structures in the world....
Back in 1975 I had the opportunity to take a ride in the Goodyear blimp. It was stationed in Carson CA and business execs with companies that worked with Goodyear were invited. It was a typical smoggy day in the LA basin so visibility was restricted, aside from that it was an interesting experience. Fast forward about 12 years and I had another opportunity, this time at the Albuquerque, NM Hot Air Balloon festival. We launched just before sunrise with at least twenty other hot air balloons ... it was like being in a gumball machine with all the flamboyant color schemes on the balloons that surrounded us ... another unique experience in lighter than air travel.
Sounds as though they should have considered tying it up to something a li'l more substantial. Poor 'Noopy had a bad ride.
Michael
4400 lbs. that’s like a ford explorer falling out of the sky.
hope they were insured :-)
Not sure ... the blimp spent a great of time airborne in the greater LA area, doing promotional work for Goodyear. The Rose Bowl game, Rams games (they were still in LA), early evening flights with the scrolling lights on the side advertising ... who else ... Goodyear.
On another note, since your a pilot, did you hear anything about a Transat jet, with a Canadian crew and 300 passengers losing engine power over the Atlantic recently? The pilot was prepared to ditch at sea but managed to glide the aircraft to Terceira Island in the Azores and land safely. It made news in Canada, haven't heard much about it here in the U.S..
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