Goodyear Blimp crashes and bursts into flames; pilot dies after saving his passengers - Polidicks

[img]http://www.clevescene.com/images/blogimages/2011/06/13/1307976119-goodyear-blimp-crash.jpg[/img] [quote][b]The pilot who died Sunday when the airship he was inside caught fire and crashed in Germany died a hero, saving the lives of the three passengers onboard by urging them to jump to safety while he stayed behind. Mike Nerandzic, 53, a veteran airship pilot who flew for more than 20 years, brought the Goodyear airship to just below 7 feet off the ground and told his passengers to jump. After the three leaped to safety, the airship was soon engulfed in flames and soared to 150 feet due to the loss of weight in the cabin. The native Australian has been called a hero after he told them to jump, saying, “We’re having a crash.” "We could also hear the cries of the doomed pilot as the fire surrounded him," one witness said, according to the Daily Mail. "It was terrible." There is speculation that the airship’s propellers may have hit the ground too hard during the landing. Spiegel newspaper cited media reports that indicated there had been a smell of fuel aboard the airship during the trip. The passengers included a photographer from Germany's Bild newspaper and two from RTL television, the Daily Mail reported. The accident occurred at the Reichelsheim aerodrome, near Friedberg in central Germany. The cause of the crash has not been determined, but an investigation is under way. The airship was owned and operated by Lightship Europe Limited. It was one of two leased by Goodyear from Lightship Europe Limited for marketing purposes in Europe, Goodyear said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the crew member, and also with our colleagues and the passengers involved with the airship tour in Germany," Goodyear said in the statement.’ A former colleague told the Telegraph that Nerandzic was a talented pilot with a deep passion for flying. "He has always put other people first. I don't even think he would have realized he was doing it -- it would have just been instinct," the friend, who declined to be named, told the paper. "He will be a real loss to our community."[/b][/quote] [url]http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/06/13/blimp-crash-in-germany-claims-pilots-life/[/url] A true hero.:smith: FOX says that it caught fire first and then crashed, but it actually went to land, crashed into something in the process and THEN caught on fire.

At least the pilot didn't go out without a bang. [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Terrible joke and post snipe." - Seiteki))[/highlight]

A true captain goes with his ship. He did even better by saving everyone but sacrificing himself :smith:

so leaking fuel and prop strike caused the fire? Terrible luck.

Holy fuck I've ridden in a goodyear blimp. They told me it was incombustible, those bastards. Furthermore, blimps are terrifying, and to land, they need a team of guys to run out into a field and catch it with ropes. Forget that noise...

[url]http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=cbf_1307968295[/url] "The 3 passengers managed to jump from the airship through a window and the door and survived uninjured. Losing the weight of the passengers, the ship rose to about 50m. The pilot was burned alive,[b] his screams could be heard on the ground. [/b]" Thats very very sad.

I still don't know why we still have blimps

Oh yeah wasn't Hindenburg from Germany to?

[QUOTE=rampageturke 2;30433250]I still don't know why we still have blimps[/QUOTE] because they're bad ass

[QUOTE=Sexy Eskimo;30433305]Oh yeah wasn't Hindenburg from Germany to?[/QUOTE] Yes. Hindenburg was a zeppelin that used hydrogen, not a blimp running off of helium, however.

[QUOTE=rampageturke 2;30433250]I still don't know why we still have blimps[/QUOTE] Fuel efficiency, loitering capability, etc.

[QUOTE=Zero-Point;30434165]Fuel efficiency, loitering capability, etc.[/QUOTE] There was talk in Australia and Europe of reviving full-blown zeppelins as a means of travel and using solar panels to power them. It's a pretty cool idea. They'd use helium, as well. [url]http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jun/05/greentech.transport[/url]

America caused the hindenburg disaster. If America gave helium to germany, the hindenburg would have used helium, not hydrogen.

[release]his screams could be heard on the ground. [/release] :c

[U][media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwh07fYNdCY[/media] Non-flammable my ass [/U]

[QUOTE=The Bee Gees;30433122]At least the pilot didn't go out without a bang.[/QUOTE] of course a ponyfag is the big asshole That's fucking terrible. Glad to hear that the passengers got out all right.

[QUOTE=The Bee Gees;30433122]At least the pilot didn't go out without a bang.[/QUOTE] shut the fuck up

Why couldn't he get out too :(

[QUOTE=Uberman77883;30434375]America caused the hindenburg disaster. If America gave helium to germany, the hindenburg would have used helium, not hydrogen.[/QUOTE] It's been speculated since the disaster numerous times that sabotage was to blame for the Hindenburg's destruction, not a static spark as was claimed by Addison Bain, since zeppelins had been traveling all across the world doing jobs as simple as passenger and mail carrying missions for civilians to reconnaissance and bombing runs for the German military for decades beforehand and had never had anything like what racked the Hindenburg occur before. Zeppelins had even survived direct lightning strikes without exploding, as was the case with LZ-40 in 1915 to name one particular instance. There was a guy the Gestapo investigated who worked on board the airship that's usually been named as the culprit, but his name escapes me at the moment. He had connections with the Communists and anti-Nazi resistance groups, too. They think he might have used a flashpoint bomb that used a battery to cause a sudden burst of heat, which could have theoretically ignited the fabric tanks holding the hydrogen. Another guy named Joseph Späh, who was an acrobat going to perform at a circus in New York City, might have been responsible. His case stands out because he was fervently opposed to the Nazis and kept disappearing from the passenger areas to go and "feed his dog" which was being kept within the baggage hold. They think he might have actually managed to clamber up the aluminum airframe inside the ship and then planted a bomb to ignite the airship's fabric or possibly the same aforementioned fabric tanks holding the hydrogen. [editline]13th June 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=BackflipHatchetAttack;30434519]Why couldn't he get out too :([/QUOTE] Because the passengers jumped out before he did, and their loss of weight caused the airship to suddenly ascend. He could have jumped, but it almost surely would have been fatal since he was 50 meters up in the air.

This is not a good year for blimps.

[QUOTE=redBadger;30434596]This is not a good year for blimps.[/QUOTE] I laughed. I laughed and I feel terrible. But I laughed. :smith:

I know nothing about blimps, but if he managed to get it to 7 ft off the ground, couldn't he have landed it?

I still think I woulda jumped out and hoped for the best, either I survive somehow or I die more or less instantly when I hit the ground. Better than burning alive, only thing I think thats worse than that is drowning.

[QUOTE=Jo The Shmo;30434834]I know nothing about blimps, but if he managed to get it to 7 ft off the ground, couldn't he have landed it?[/QUOTE] Did you miss the part where he was on fire?

[QUOTE=Doomish;30435688]Did you miss the part where he was on fire?[/QUOTE] It was only a smallish fire at the start It went up in flames [i]after[/i] he brought the passengers in close to the ground.

[QUOTE=rampageturke 2;30433250]I still don't know why we still have blimps[/QUOTE] As if planes don't crash and burst into flames as well. And they can't save their passengers in that scenario.

Oh man :\ At least he managed to make the best of his situation. I know if I was in that situation I'd be panic like holy fuck. A true hero, right there.

RIP Pilot Guy, you were a great man. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vp--AlWBrU[/media]

[QUOTE=LunchboxOfDoom;30433061]FOX says that it caught fire first and then crashed, but it actually went to land, crashed into something in the process and THEN caught on fire.[/QUOTE] FOX? BS. They would have said it was a terrorist influenced by video games based on the life of Obama. Jokes aside, the captain was badass.

It's strange that only the terrible media is reporting about it. It mentions Daily Mail, the source is FOX News, in the blimp were reporters from Bild Zeitung and RTL television. Bild Zeitung is Germany's [i]The Sun[/i] while RTL is Germany's [i]FOX News[/i]. Whatever. What happened is really sad. RIP. PS: You can't see the slogan on the picture in the first post: [img]http://a57.foxnews.com/static/managed/img/Scitech/Sept/660/371/blimp3.jpg[/img]