CARDINGTON, United Kingdom (Aug. 18, 2011)—Goodyear's Spirit of Safety airship is flying again in the United Kingdom after being grounded in June while air safety officials investigated a fatal accident June 12 in Germany involving its partner airship, which caught fire and crashed, killing the pilot.
Goodyear leased the two airships from an independent company.
A Goodyear spokesman said, “The second European blimp (which we lease from Lightship Group) is participating in a series of flights to evaluate filming locations to be used in future tours.”
Local photographers in Cardington have snapped photos of the blimp flying again, and Goodyear reported that the blimp “flew back from Spain last month to the U.K.”
The airships were intended to promote a major European road safety initiative over the summer.
A month ago, Goodyear said its “Road Safety Tour continues, but it is too early to say whether blimps will be part of this. We will be able to answer this after the investigation in August.”
There is no mention of the development on the Goodyear blimp website.