- Date
- May 22, 2004, 09:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- North Las Vegas, NV
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N154ZPAmerican Blimp A-1-50
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 1, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20040522008399A
- Case key
- 59304
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
the ground crew's inability to maintain control of the airship and the pilot's inability to obtain a sufficient rate of climb. Contributing to the accident was unfavorable winds.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
During an attempted takeoff the airship collided with a one-story building. The crew released the airship from the mooring mast to conduct its weigh-out and takeoff. A gust of wind caused the ship to translate to the right. The nose ropes manned by the ground crew were ineffective in controlling the movement. The pilot decided to execute a takeoff. However, being fully loaded, the airship was slow to respond despite the pilot's application of full power, full left rudder, and full up elevator control inputs. The landing gear hit the chain link airport fence, and then the airship settled on to a one-story building. The ground crew released the ballast and moved the airship back to the airfield. A second wind gust pushed the airship in to the next building over. The crew deflated the entire envelope and removed it off the building.
Factual narrative
On May 22, 2004, at 0915 Pacific daylight time, an American Blimp Corporation A-1-50 airship, N1542P, collided with a building during takeoff at the North Las Vegas Airport, North Las Vegas, Nevada. Lightship America Corporation was operating the airship under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The airline transport pilot and single crewmember were not injured, and the airship was substantially damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the positioning flight to Long Beach, California.
The pilot told the National Transportation Safety Board investigator that the airship was fully loaded with fuel and ballast. There were two nose ropes manned with three people each. The crew released the airship from the mooring mast to conduct its weigh-out and takeoff. A gust of wind or thermal caused the ship to translate to the right. The manned nose ropes were ineffective in controlling the movement.
The pilot decided to execute a takeoff. However, being fully loaded, the airship was slow to respond despite the pilot's application of full power, full left rudder, and full up elevator control inputs. The landing gear hit the barbed wire chain link airport fence, and then the airship settled on to a one-story building. The ground crew released the ballast and moved the airship back to the airfield. A second thermal or wind gust pushed the airship in to the next building over. The crew deflated the entire envelope and removed it off the building.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N154ZP
- Reported as
- American Blimp A-1-50
- Category
- Blimp
- Serial number
- SN104
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-B1G6, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Lightship America Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- KVGT · North Las Vegas, NV
- Destination
- KLGB · Long Beach, CA
- Airport
- KVGT · North Las Vegas
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 36
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2
- Flight hours
- 5,149 total · 100 in this make and model · 70 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 280° at 6 knots
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- KVGT
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.