Hood blimp returns to Beverly

Paul Leighton

June 27, 2007 12:29 am

— EVERLY | The blimp is back. Intact.
Nine months after crash-landing in the trees in Manchester-by-the-Sea, the Hood blimp flew over the North Shore for the first time yesterday en route to its temporary base at Beverly Airport.
The blimp will fly over Fenway Park for the first time this year on July 2, then will be on hand for the Fourth of July Boston Pops celebration, said LeeAnn Chandler, who manages the blimp's schedule.
Chandler said the 2,770-pound blimp suffered only a couple of finger-size punctures, some scratches on the gondola and minor damage to the landing gear in the crash.
After repairs at a hangar in Elizabeth City, N.C., the blimp was back in service June 15, flying to a women's professional golf tournament in Rochester, N.Y.
"It's all in working order," Chandler said. "Everything is double-checked and triple-checked and should be good to go."
The blimp has been flying over Red Sox games and other events in the Boston area for years as advertising for HP Hood, the dairy company based in Lynnfield. But the blimp received more publicity last year for its slow descent into the Manchester woods.
On Sept. 26, the blimp was forced to crash-land in the trees, about 40 feet above ground, behind Brookwood School near the Beverly-Manchester line. The pilot was not hurt but had to be lowered from the blimp in a harness by rescue workers, and the blimp was taken apart and removed from the thick woods in pieces.
A preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board said the blimp was damaged just before takeoff when a gust of wind lifted it in the air at Beverly Airport and dropped it back on the ground. The impact collapsed the wheel strut, a support structure for the blimp's landing gear.
The report said the pilot, Leigh Bradbury, did not fully check the blimp before he took off. Bradbury lost steering when the blimp's rudder pedals failed to work, forcing him to let the helium out of the balloon and settle the blimp atop the trees.
Chandler said Bradbury is back piloting the blimp this year.
"He did an excellent job last year maneuvering in such a way so there was very little damage," she said.
The blimp will be Newport, R.I., on Saturday for the Tall Ships Festival before returning to the area for the Red Sox game and the Fourth of July.
The airship is attended to by a 15-person crew at Beverly Airport. Chandler said the blimp is scheduled to work 15 Red Sox games and will be in the area through October.

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