"Stubby" wrote in message
...
George Patterson wrote:

Jay Honeck wrote:


From the TV footage, it's hard to tell whether they were trying to come
down, or whether a down-draft drove them down, but they hit hard and the
crew was trapped inside the wreckage, briefly.


Witnesses said the aircraft came down tail first. Apparently they were
trying to climb.

Not clear. My understanding is the attitude of an airship is set by
small "ballonettes" with the gas bag. These are controlled by levers on
the ceiling of the pilot's area. It is not necessary to point the ship up
in order to climb because climbing is accomplished by dumping balast,
water or sand.

I don't believe they dump anything anymore. The ballonettes are inflated
with outisde air to make the overall bag heavier for descent (air heavier
than helium), or deflated of regular-air to make the overall bag lighter for
ascent.


In fact the fans (engines) are used for steering, not for lift because
there are no wings.


Perhaps partially true, but the control surfaces at the tail do include
"elevators" whose purpose is to control the attitude when in forward flight,
and "rudder" to control "steering".

For that reason, a multi-engine certificate is not required for the pilot.

My guess is they got into a microburst. This is an intense downdraft
following a thunderstorm. All aircraft should avoid flying near
thunderstorms.

The most likely scenario.... and which would explain full forward thrust
with "up" elevator to try to climb through it.