Burbank man one of two killed in blimp accident

Irma Lemus

BURBANK -- A Burbank man and a female co-worker who died while

repairing a blimp in a hangar at the San Bernardino International Airport

probably succumbed to asphyxiation, San Bernardino City Fire officials

said.

Levon Sanamyan, 35, and Marina Pasternak, 32, of Los Angeles, were

repairing a smaller balloon inside the blimp Thursday when they were

overcome, said Kevinn Whitaker, a spokesman for the San Bernardino Fire

Department.

Although no official cause of death has been released, Whitaker said

it appeared Sanamyan and Pasternak were asphyxiated when a helium leak

forced oxygen out of the chamber where they working.

When rescue crews arrived at the hangar at about 5:50 p.m., Sanamyan

and Pasternak were unconscious lying next to each other, Whitaker said.

“Workers outside the balloon said they didn’t hear anything for about

10 minutes and as they went to check they saw feet hanging out of an

opening,” Whitaker said.

One of the workers used a knife to tear into the blimp and pulled

Sanamyan and Pasternak out, he said. They were taken to Loma Linda

University Medical Center where both were pronounced dead an hour later,

Whitaker said.

Sanamyan and Pasternak worked for Worldwide Aeros Corp. of Chatsworth.

They were helping build a $2.5-million, 145-foot-long and 40-foot-wide

four-seat blimp for Airship USA of Las Vegas, Whitaker said.

San Bernardino authorities and the department of Occupational Safety

and Health Administration are investigating the accident for possible

health code violations, he said.

A woman who answered the phone at Aeros said the company had no

comment on the accident.