Posted on 06/13/2011 11:40:41 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
An Australian pilot who died in an airship crash in Germany yesterday is being hailed as a hero for saving the lives of his three passengers.
Michael Nerandzic from Wollongong died at Reichelsheim near Frankfurt when the airship he was trying to land caught fire.
The 53-year-old lowered the aircraft two metres from the ground so his three passengers could jump off.
Witnesses say the airship then shot 50 metres into the air and exploded.
The airship crashed into a paddock and Mr Nerandzic was unable to escape.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc.net.au ...
Was it full of hydrogen rather than helium?
Did Mr. Nerandzic resemble Bruce Dern in any way?
It seems it was an engine fire that spread to the fuel tanks and then the rest of the gondola - not the blimp. That's why it rose again after he forced it down to let the passengers off. The pilot is a hero.
You’d think after the Hindenburg they’d make gondolas, not just blimp cases, out of fireproof material. (Oh the humanity!)
No greater love hath a man than to lay down his life for others. May God reward him. Prayers up for his friends and relatives.
Goodyear. They never mentioned that in the article.
I knew helium balloons had an emergency rip panel to immediately dump the gas in a rough landing to keep from bouncing back up. I had wondered if there was a similar emergency device on blimps. Something like a row of squib charges to instantly shred the gas cells to collapse the bag. I guess not.
Full of Chinese wiring and electronics.
So explain to us how one makes fireproof fuel for an internal combustion engine.
Would that be ETHANOL??? :-{)
RIP.
If blazing fuel spews on the gondola, the gondola ought not to catch. Barring that, use something like kerosene or diesel, which will not burn at room temperature, and no gondola surfaces should be such as to be able to act as wicks.
Thought he was a hero at first as well. After reading the passengers accounts of this my theory is different. He rather apperas to be a victim. He crashlanded that thing and told the passengers that a crash happened. The passengers (3 reporters) immideately jumped out without telling him about it and the now lighter blimp shot back into the air, where the fire got bigger. The first thing one of the reporters must have done on the ground was to get his camera ready. There are some pics which appear to be shot when the blimp was still near the ground (closeup, small fire).
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