2.20.2004


Here are some of the details from blimp or dirigible accidents in the last four years. These are ALL of the accidents that were reported to the NTSB. Uneducated commentary is included in italics.

Accident occurred Wednesday, December 03, 2003 in Carson, CA
Aircraft: Goodyear GZ-20A, registration: N10A
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.

The pilot reported that he was aware the airship was "very light" when he attempted to land. During the pilot's first attempt, he descended to about 50 feet above ground level (agl) before aborting the attempt because he "was not in a safe position to land." On the pilot's second attempt, he also descended to 50 feet agl before going around. On the third and final landing approach the forward ballonet was "loaded" in an attempt to allow the ground crew the ability to grab onto the airship's bowlines. The pilot further reported that approaching the landing site he used a combination of engine power, reverse power, and elevator control to maneuver. During this procedure the ground crew attempted to pull the nose of the airship down in order to add ballast to the airship. However, during this process the ground crew's position changed and they followed the airship's travel away from the chosen landing site area.

"Jesus, Phil! Hold onto the rope!"

The pilot reported that he added engine power to assist in pinning the nose of the airship down. Eventually, as the available clearance between the airship and obstacles on the ground decreased, the ground crew directed the pilot to abort the attempted landing. They released the ground handling lines.

"What part of hold on don't you underst...DUCK!"

The pilot reported that, thereafter, the nose of the airship stayed down, and its forward momentum continued. He indicated that he "tried to allow for the [light] static condition of the ship" to increase its altitude, but "northing happened...." Then, the pilot increased engine power and applied full elevator deflection to force the nose of the airship upward. The airship continued to move forward until it impacted a fence and a lumber pile.

"OK, Phil. You just let the Goodyear blimp take out Terminal C. I'm not angry, I'm just confused."

Incident occurred Monday, October 21, 2002 in Valdosta, GA
Aircraft: American Blimp Corp. A-60, registration: N660VL
Injuries: 1 Uninjured.

According to the pilot, he and his crew member were preparing to secure the blimp after landing. The crew member exited the blimp and attempted to tie it down. The winds were gusting, and the crew member needed extra assistance in securing the blimp. As onlookers came to aid the crew members, a gust of wind blew the blimp into nearby trees.

Hey, it's a blimp. What are you going to do?

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this incident as follows: Loss of airship control during tie down, due to gusty wind conditions.

I determine the probable cause of this incident as follows: PHIL! (Yeah, I don't know.)

Accident occurred Sunday, July 01, 2001 in TORONTO, Canada
Aircraft: American Blimp Corp. A-1-50, registration: N151AB
Injuries: 2 Minor, 9 Uninjured.

According to Canadian authorities, the airship returned to the airport due to an incoming thunderstorm. The thunderstorm (frontal line- FROPA) arrived as the airship was on a low level approach for the docking mast. Fourteen ground crew members attempted to guide the airship to the docking mast using the available lines, but were having difficulties due to high winds associated with the thunderstorm (35 knots). The airship was buffeted by the high winds and struck the ground damaging the port engine. The tower initiated an emergency and ERS responded. The passengers evacuated the airship while it was on the ground, when the ground crew attempted the docking. The tower called all of the companies located at CYTZ and requested all available manpower to assist the ground crew in docking the airship.

"It's headed toward downtown! Stop it!"

Accident occurred Tuesday, January 09, 2001 in Oakland, CA
Aircraft: Worldwide Aeros 40B, registration: N819AC
Injuries: 2 Uninjured.

On January 9, 2001, at 1330 hours Pacific standard time, a Worldwide Aeros 40B airship, N819AC, encountered aircraft control problems while attempting to land at the Metropolitan Oakland International Airport, Oakland, California. The airship landed hard, skidded across a taxiway, and struck a parked airplane. After the pilots abandoned the airship, it became airborne and flew about 4 miles northwest of the airport where it collided with a sailboat and restaurant.

There's a short story to be written from the perspective of someone eating in that restaurant. It would be like the worst Stephen King plot line ever:

Man with oddly cold stare: There are things that happen to a man when he spends too much time with a blimp.
Kid with oddly prescient insight: Hey, this is just Christine, but with a blimp.
Man with oddly cold stare: I've seen things...

Accident occurred Wednesday, June 28, 2000 in SAN BERNADINO, CA
Aircraft: Worldwide Aero Corp AEROS-40B, registration: N819AC
Injuries: 1 Fatal, 2 Uninjured.

According to a written statement provided by the pilot, she was demonstrating a lighter than neutral landing for her student. There were two ground crew assigned to catch the mooring rope and assist with the airship landing. As the blimp neared the landing area, one of the ground handlers (listed as number 1 for the purposes of this report) caught the nose line and the other ground crew (listed as number 2 for the purposes of this report) ran to assist ground handler number 1, who was running with the nose rope to slow the airship. Ground handler number 2 realized that he was on a collision course with ground handler number 1 and "began running backward to avoid being hit." Ground handler number 2 then stumbled, fell and hit his head on the concrete apron. Ground handler number 1 immediately launched the airship back into the air so he could attend to ground handler number 2. A local ambulance was called and the ground handler was taken to the hospital. According to the San Bernardino International Airport Aircraft Accident/Incident Report, ground handler number 1 stated that ground handler number 2 ran into him while trying to grab the rope. The collision caused ground handler number 2 to fall and hit his head.

EEEE!

In the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, under the section titled "Recommendation (How Could This Accident Have Been Prevented)," the pilot recommended that the ground crew wear helmets.
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12.3.2003


Well, this is just mean (from the Morning News interview with Dale Peck):

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10.31.2003


It's been a while since I updated this, I know, but things have been busy. You'll be happy to know that the long hours I spent trying to perfect my surly worker routine have not gone unnoticed. Here, let me give you a little demonstration:

"You want that when?"
*shakes head*
"No, that's impossible. I'm going to be in my office playing Snood."

My digital camera got stolen when I was in India in March, and I finally got around to replacing it. This one is a little fancier, and it lets me muck around with shutter speed and aperture and all that jazz. I never could be bothered about that stuff with my 35mm SLR number because there was such a long time between taking the picture and seeing what it looked like -- even when I was careful about writing down exposure times and f stops blah blah blah, I just couldn't really care when I got the pictures back. Oh, it's a whole roll of pictures of a flower. Wheeee!

I got off subject there. I need to FOCUS! (A little photographic humor there. Kill me.)

Anyway, last night I was bored, so I set up my tripod by the window in my bedroom from which I can see the city, and I took a bunch of pictures. They're all terrible, because I'm not a photographer and I'm not particularly patient. Here's one:

So, what you've no doubt noticed is that there's a double image of the sign from the convenience store across the street. I didn't notice this when I was taking the pictures, and it took me a while today to figure out why that would happen -- at first I thought maybe I jiggled the camera, but then I saw that it was in all the pictures. That's when I remembered that it was cold last night and I had the double-pane windows closed. I'm pretty sure the light from the sign bounced between the panes giving me that second exposure of the sign. Or, it's a UFO. Dude.

Oh, also, I've noticed that today is Halloween and a lot of people seem to be having trouble coming up with a costume. This seems to happen every year. "What am I going to wear? It has to be original and funny and and and." It sounds frustrating, all this indecision and paranoia. I have a suggestion. Find a costume you like, and get new friends every year. Your friends are annoying, anyway. Remember that time when you were sick and one of them brought you chicken soup and jello and coloring books? No, you don't, and that's my point. They're useless. Friends are fleeting, but a really good Halloween costume? That's forever.
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8.4.2003


Tomorrow I have a birthday. As a present, I'm hoping to get semicolons.
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7.30.2003


I was on vacation last week in New York and Chicago. I did lots of stuff, but it all felt kind of optional. Most days I feel like I'm pulling myself toward some other thing: I'm at work, but tonight I'm doing this, then tomorrow there's more work and a couple of errands and then plans tomorrow night, etc. I don't know how it happened, but I made a million plans for vacation, followed through on all of them and I didn't feel harried at all. Let's ignore the obvious fact that I had fifty extra hours to work with last week.

I feel like I should give some kind of a recap, so here it goes:

COULD I GET AWAY WITH CALLING THIS "THINGS I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION?"

[Answer: No.]

- I went to Foxwoods and won some money playing blackjack and 7 card stud. For a second, I was convinced that someone at my poker table was a professional poker player whom I recognized from watching the World Series of Poker on TV. Did I look to see if he was wearing a horseshoe bracelet? Yes. Did he lose all his money pretty quickly calling with crappy hands? Yes. Did he smell like gin? Yes. I might have been wrong.

- I saw Bryan Adams trying to hail a cab. Well, I didn't recognize him, but my friend Cait told me it was him and then I looked again and it totally was. He was trying to hail a cab that had already passed through the intersection by whistling and pointing. I HAIL THEE WITH MY CELEBRITY!

- I went to the Art Institute of Chicago Museum for a couple of hours. I get winded pretty quickly at museums and my mind starts to wander. Ooh, a piece of string. What was I talking about? Oh, yeah. Anyway, for some reason I did a better job paying attention at this one than I usually do. I stood in front of "American Gothic" and "Nighthawks" for a while because I felt like I should. Then I went back and looked at this Kokoschka painting again and again. I need to go back to Vienna. I'm going to try to stay on topic more now.

- I had lunch with John Thirteen, who is a good, good man. He pointed out Cabrini Green from the balcony of his work building.

- I bought some CDs.

- I had a cab ride in which the cab driver was on the cell phone the entire time (maybe twenty minutes) explaining to his friend about how he was angry that a tenant of his had failed to make good on the rent. I'd have difficulty explaining this even if I were articulate, but let's leave it at the fact that I was scared for both the well-being of the tenant and myself.

- I saw Rilo Kiley in concert and they were really great.

There's more, but I've run out of
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mark@markand.com
aim: mdanderson75