Goodyear GZ-20A N10A

Summary

On 4 December 2003 at about 05:30 local time, a Goodyear GZ-20A registered N10A was involved in an accident near Gardena, California, United States. 2 people were on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 December 2003 at 05:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Gardena, California, United States

Coordinates

33.8533, -118.2744

Aircraft

Goodyear GZ-20A

Registration

N10A

Category

Blimp

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Aerial Observation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Gardena → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Bright

NTSB number

LAX04LA055

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's delayed go-around during final approach to land, which resulted in an in-flight collision with a fence. A factor associated with the accident is the pilot's failure to maintain adequate altitude/clearance from obstructions.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of an airship was attempting to land with the assistance of his ground crew. The pilot acknowledged that the airship was "very light" during the attempted landing, and he had made and aborted two previous landing attempts. On the third and final landing approach, the forward ballonet was "loaded" to facilitate the ground crew's reaching the airship's bowlines. Approaching the landing site, the pilot 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 gave way as engine power was increased by the pilot in an effort at lowering the nose of the airship. The ground crew followed the airship as it moved away from the chosen landing site area. 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. The pilot stated that he attempted to abort the landing, and "tried to allow for the [light] static condition of the ship" to increase its altitude, but "nothing happened...." The airship continued to move forward until it impacted a fence and a lumber pile. At the time, the local wind speed and direction was reported as being light and variable.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.