Blimp down at US Open

Nothing reliable yet. I've heard everything from "it exploded!" to "the pilot ejected!" (Um...)

Best picture I've seen is this one from the AP:

170615-blimp-crash-us-open-1-ew-106p_dff2c66645bad01df4d40cba2b05ea74.nbcnews-ux-2880-1000.jpg

So - Clearly there was a fire.
 
That is all of about 5 minutes from my house, though, so hopefully I'll hear something a little more direct soon...
 
Best news story I've found so far:

http://golfweek.com/2017/06/15/video-blimp-crashes-near-u-s-open-at-erin-hills/

Pilot experienced some injuries and/or burns but is expected to be OK, despite being life-flighted out. That was probably an overabundance of caution by people not used to dealing with aircraft accidents.

He was with the aircraft all the way to the ground and was pulled out by ground crew.

If you look at the pic I posted, the towers you see in the background are the "Holy Hill National Shrine of Mary, Help of Christians", known locally simply as Holy Hill. The blimp took off from Erin Aero (WN75), directly between the Erin Hills golf course and Holy Hill:

Screen Shot 2017-06-15 at 1.44.38 PM.png

Based on that and the article linked above, it sounds like whatever happened happened very shortly after takeoff, which would explain how he was pulled from the wreckage by his own ground crew.
 
Pilot badly burned was the press release from the Sheriff's office.
 
Has it hit the ground yet?

I also saw the reports that the pilot "ejected".
 
NTSB news conference now.

Foreign registered aircraft. Hmmm. It's a "hybrid" of a blimp and a balloon according to NTSB. Gefa Flug AS 105 GD aircraft type. (Link is to a different company.) "Thermal Airship."

Pilot had burns, but was wearing Nomex suit and gloves.

Freshly refueled, went back up to about 200 AGL, determined winds were too gusty, went back. Pilot tried to vent envelope to get down quicker, heard "ripping sound" and burners were still burning a bit of residual fuel. Envelope caught fire and down he went. Latest word is that he got out on his own.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Pilot experienced some injuries and/or burns but is expected to be OK, despite being life-flighted out. That was probably an overabundance of caution by people not used to dealing with aircraft accidents.
Click to expand...

Or people seeing a burned guy. ;)

Not a single, "Oh the humanity!" in this thread. I'm disappointed in PoA. Haha.

Seriously though, hope his burns aren't too bad. Karen's wound care clinic does some amazing things with some amazing stuff for burns these days, but that's after the burn ward does their magic first.
 
lurkerLuke said:
Ouch. :)

Gotta admit I was sort of a Daly fan back in the day. Then again, I'm not much of a golf fan.
Click to expand...

A lot of folks became fans of Daly when he won the PGA at Crooked Stick in 1991 after making the tournament as an alternate. He was a virtual unknown at the time and his style of play and personality was a contrast to 90%+ of the other golfers. It made for some interesting moments.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Foreign registered aircraft. Hmmm. It's a "hybrid" of a blimp and a balloon according to NTSB. Gefa Flug AS 105 GD aircraft type. (Link is to a different company.) "Thermal Airship."
Click to expand...

Wait, this thing has burners like a hot air balloon? That genius thought of that one? Gefa Flug outta here!
 
Pilot's name released. Here's his cert:

TREVOR BERKLEY THOMPSON
Medical Infomation:
Medical Class: Second Medical Date: 8/2016
MUST HAVE AVAILABLE GLASSES FOR NEAR VISION.
BasicMed Date: None
Certificates
COMMERCIAL PILOT
Certificates Description

Certificate: COMMERCIAL PILOT
Date of Issue: 11/3/2012

Ratings:
COMMERCIAL PILOT
AIRPLANE SINGLE ENGINE LAND
AIRPLANE MULTIENGINE LAND
INSTRUMENT AIRPLANE
LIGHTER-THAN-AIR BALLOON


Limits:
ENGLISH PROFICIENT.
LIMITED TO HOT AIR BALLOONS WITH AIRBORNE HEATER.​

So, sounds like the FAA considers this to be a hot air balloon, not a blimp (airship).

According to this article, the pilot has had two emergency landings in the last couple of years on this type aircraft as well - One engine failure and another high winds incident.
 
His ratings are interesting compared to what he was flying. He has a lighter-than-air ballon rating when it probably required a lighter-than-air airship rating. Those types of aircraft are considered airships by definition or more specifically thermal airships.
 
SkyDog58 said:
A lot of folks became fans of Daly when he won the PGA at Crooked Stick in 1991 after making the tournament as an alternate. He was a virtual unknown at the time and his style of play and personality was a contrast to 90%+ of the other golfers. It made for some interesting moments.
Click to expand...

Made Happy Gilmore look like a conformist!
 
SkyDog58 said:
His ratings are interesting compared to what he was flying. He has a lighter-than-air ballon rating when it probably required a lighter-than-air airship rating. Those types of aircraft are considered airships by definition or more specifically thermal airships.
Click to expand...

Good catch:

"Airship means an engine-driven lighter-than-air aircraft that can be steered."

I see the Limitations says: "LIMITED TO HOT AIR BALLOONS WITH AIRBORNE HEATER"
 
Matthew said:
Good catch:

"Airship means an engine-driven lighter-than-air aircraft that can be steered."

I see the Limitations says: "LIMITED TO HOT AIR BALLOONS WITH AIRBORNE HEATER"
Click to expand...

Yep.

If you compare the definitions in Part 1 of the two types of aircraft with the ratings in Part 61, it looks like he was not qualified.

§1.1 General definitions.

Airship means an engine-driven lighter-than-air aircraft that can be steered.

Balloon means a lighter-than-air aircraft that is not engine driven, and that sustains flight through the use of either gas buoyancy or an airborne heater.


§61.5 Certificates and ratings issued under this part.
(b)(4) Lighter-than-air class ratings—
(i) Airship.
(ii) Balloon.
 
Very strange indeed... How could that possibly slip through the cracks? I could see if this was a private endevour and he owned the airship, but I assume he was working for a company as a pilot.
 
Kritchlow said:
Very strange indeed... How could that possibly slip through the cracks? I could see if this was a private endevour and he owned the airship, but I assume he was working for a company as a pilot.
Click to expand...

I'd laugh if it was a situation of not being able to convince any examiner to give a ride in the thing. LOL.

Steve Tupper has a multi episode series in his podcast about trying to find both an FAA qualified and wiling examiner to give a glider CFI rating in a motorglider. Impossible. He gave up after a year and did it from towed gliders.

I can't imagine there's a lot of examiner's who can do that rating and even fewer who'd get in that contraption. Ha.
 
Contraption? That is quite obviously a fine example of form-follows-funktion Deutsch engineering. Why even a casual observer can only marvel at using ropes to steer from a mostly open cockpit in front of a moderate sized bug blower. The use of a small fan and two Bunsen burners to maintain inflation and lift can only be truly appreciated by an accountant and buyer.
 
SkyDog58 said:
If you compare the definitions in Part 1 of the two types of aircraft with the ratings in Part 61, it looks like he was not qualified.

§1.1 General definitions.
Airship means an engine-driven lighter-than-air aircraft that can be steered.
Balloon means a lighter-than-air aircraft that is not engine driven, and that sustains flight through the use of either gas buoyancy or an airborne heater.

§61.5 Certificates and ratings issued under this part.
(b)(4) Lighter-than-air class ratings—
(i) Airship.
(ii) Balloon.
Click to expand...

Well... I think it actually depends on whether he has a UK pilot certificate!

I went to look up the Type Certificate Data Sheet for the AS-105-GD and found that there is no FAA TCDS for it - Gefa Flug does not have any type certificates with the FAA, and their UK/US arm, Cameron Balloons, only has their hot air balloons type certified here.

The accident aircraft was registered in the UK, tail number G-SUNA. I found an EASA TCDS for it, in which it is designated as a "Hot Air Airship".

I couldn't find any FAA registry references to Gefa Flug, or to the AS 105 GD, or to any sort of "Hot Air Airship."
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Well... I think it actually depends on whether he has a UK pilot certificate!

I went to look up the Type Certificate Data Sheet for the AS-105-GD and found that there is no FAA TCDS for it - Gefa Flug does not have any type certificates with the FAA, and their UK/US arm, Cameron Balloons, only has their hot air balloons type certified here.

The accident aircraft was registered in the UK, tail number G-SUNA. I found an EASA TCDS for it, in which it is designated as a "Hot Air Airship".

I couldn't find any FAA registry references to Gefa Flug, or to the AS 105 GD, or to any sort of "Hot Air Airship."
Click to expand...

Does this fall under the less than 254 pounds definition?
 
Yeah, I wouldn't touch a thermal airship with a 10 ft pole. Too many different issues that can happen. All the crap of a balloon, attached to what amounts to an ultralight to power the the thing around. More than probably 7 to 10 knots of wind, and they're done.
 
I've never even heard of a thermal airship until now.
 
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