1 Dies as Blimp Burns at Hindenburg Site

An experimental 343-foot airship made from a blimp and parts of four helicopters caught fire and crashed Tuesday on a test flight at a naval center here, killing one of five crew members aboard.

The aircraft, known as the Heli-Stat, crashed at 7 p.m. at the Naval Air Engineering Center, three-quarters of a mile from where the Hindenburg disaster occurred 49 years ago, Nick Grand, public information officer at the center, said.

The four surviving crew members and one firefighter on the ground suffered minor injuries.

One of the helicopters malfunctioned when the Heli-Stat was about 40 feet off the ground, and it lost power, Grand said.

The Heli-Stat, designed to be used for timber harvesting in remote areas, was being built for the U.S. Forest Service by Piasecki Aircraft Corp. of Sharon Hill, Pa. A congressional report in 1982 questioned its practical applications, said its costs could top $40 million and cited structural problems with the aircraft.

Chuck Peterson, who witnessed the crash, said the ship appeared to have just taken off when it burst into flames.

“It just burst right in the air. I couldn’t believe it. Flames flew,” said Peterson, a Navy petty officer stationed at the center.

“The next thing I knew, there was fire trucks and ambulances running out there,” said Peterson, who was about 200 yards from the aircraft. “There was black smoke flying off it. I saw pieces of it on fire, flying all over.”

It was near the crash site that the German dirigible Hindenburg caught fire and burned in May, 1937, killing 36 people.

The 10-story Heli-Stat was designed by Frank N. Piasecki, a helicopter pioneer who began to assemble it in 1979 in Lakehurst. It was rolled out in March, 1985, for fueling and testing and its air bag was filled with helium for a public demonstration.

The crew was identified as Burnell Stutesman, 58, Davenport, Fla., the command master pilot; co-pilot Louis Prost, 54, of Wilmington, Del., who was flying with Stutesman in one helicopter; Kenneth Reusser, 60, of Arlington, Va.; and Mike Stock, 39, West Lafayette, Ind., all employees of Piasecki Aircraft. The injured firefighter was identified as James Quinn, 34, of Manahawkin.

The dead crew member, Gary Oleshfski of Bordentown, was flying alone in one copter, Grand said. Oleshfski turned 39 Tuesday.