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Rescuers carry a coffin at the airfield in Reichelsheim, central Germany, early Monday June 13, 2011. AP Photo/dapd/Mario Vedder

German authorities investigate fatal blimp crash

The pilot of a blimp died on Sunday after an apparent sudden loss of weight caused the ship to shoot into the air, where it burst into flames. The two passengers on board leapt to safety.

THE PILOT OF a Goodyear blimp screamed “I crashed the airship” before it burst into flames, a passenger who leapt to safety says.

Photographer Joachim Storch told media that the blimp — The Spirit of Safety — missed its designated landing spot at Reichelsheim airfield in central Germany on Sunday evening, causing its engine to slam into the ground.

The pilot yelled “We had an accident!” followed by “I crashed the airship!” as the smell of fire crept through the blimp, Storch told the DAPD news agency on Monday.

Storch and two other passengers, a man and woman from a TV crew, leapt 2 metres to safety.

The sudden loss of weight caused the ship to shoot into the air, where it burst into flames, killing the pilot who remained in the cabin.

Germany’s aviation investigator said Tuesday it will need weeks to complete an investigation into the cause of the crash.

“We are conducting interviews with witnesses, gathering evidence from the site and analyzing images of the accident,” said Klaus Himmler, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation. “We are conducting a widespread investigation.”

The bureau’s findings are not expected to be reported for another four to eight weeks, he added.

Goodyear, which had commissioned the blimp as part of a road safety advertising campaign, said in a statement Tuesday that it was halting the initiative and would leave its second airship in Europe grounded.

“Our thoughts and sympathies are with the family and relatives of the pilot,” the company said in a statement.

The United States tire company said it has used blimps for more than 85 years and never previously experienced any fatalities.

- AP

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    Mute Qwerty
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    Sep 8th 2015, 9:29 AM

    If they allowed customers to download content at very slow speeds so they would be able to play it offline later, then people in rural areas would subscribe in their droves. Big opportunity there.

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    Mute Saul Goodman
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    Sep 8th 2015, 9:59 AM

    That’s the difference between Netflix and a Torrent

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    Mute Sean Gallagher
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    Sep 8th 2015, 9:27 AM

    “We don’t need to change our service, the entire infrastructure for net access needs to change” exceptionally short sited view from a company who pride themselves on being forward thinking. Nevermind the fact that the ability to take things offline is practically an industry requirement, it’s incredibly simple to just cache the content for a period without needing to offer the user the choice. Bad move.

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    Mute ESY
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    Sep 9th 2015, 4:28 PM

    Do you remember that episode of The Simpsons where Skinner is looking for Bart after he bunked off and he goes to the “abandoned 4H Club”? “Am I so out of touch? No. It’s the children who are wrong.”

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    Mute Sunshine on a rainy
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    Sep 8th 2015, 9:39 AM

    Sky go extra is great for off line activity. Download in a wifi area, watch at your own leisure while commuting or seat.

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    Mute Sean Gallagher
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    Sep 8th 2015, 11:17 AM

    Exactly,

    And do you feel confused by that option?

    This comment from Netflix makes no sense.

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    Mute Max Maxwell
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    Sep 8th 2015, 10:10 AM

    Pirate Bay tbh lads.

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    Mute Grigori Rasputin
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    Sep 8th 2015, 10:03 AM

    The issue is that any time you allow content to be downloaded, you increase the risk of the files being copied and shared. Even if you load it up with DRM, chances are it will be cracked or circumvented at some point.

    Netflix are using the excuse of consumer confusion to control the supply of their content, and by extension, their revenue stream. They’re in the dominant market position, so they have to. Amazon, being a smaller player (backed by a much bigger company) trying to catch up, can afford to take the risk – even just for the publicity boost.

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    Mute Max Maxwell
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    Sep 8th 2015, 10:20 AM

    There’s no risk, Grigori. The worst case scenario already happens everytime a new show is put up on Netflix. It wasn’t even a day after the most recent series of Orange is The New Black went up on Netflix that it was also up on TPB, KAT or whatever other popular torrent sites you like, in HD quality, with the intros cut.

    All Netflix are doing here is harming their less tech savvy customers. There’s culchies and people in rural America and developing nations out there who have internet connections hitting 1mbps at a push, they can’t stream Netflix but they could download from it. I’m still baffled that Netflix ever took off to be honest. Torrenting is so much better.

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    Mute Sean Gallagher
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    Sep 8th 2015, 11:15 AM

    Grigori,

    That’s preventing a problem that already exists, with a method that doesn’t work.

    Makes zero sense.

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    Mute SCO Electrical
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    Sep 8th 2015, 7:02 PM

    Sure recording onto the Sky+ box is doing the same thing but very few bother their balls to convert the filetype and upload it to tinterweb

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    Mute SCO Electrical
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    Sep 8th 2015, 10:08 AM

    The Movie HD App let’s you download and watch later. http://moviehdapp.com/

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    Mute Rock Stoneballs
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    Sep 8th 2015, 12:21 PM

    Yeah and it being illegal and liable for shutdown at any time is a great selling point. Good lad.

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    Mute AN other
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    Sep 8th 2015, 12:48 PM

    If I recall correctly there was one released that required you to have a Netflix account to download the Netflix content

    The US courts declared that it was against the Netflix terms of service but not illegal because you were merely watching what you paid for

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    Mute SCO Electrical
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    Sep 8th 2015, 6:59 PM

    It’s been working well for the last few months.

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    Mute Range Rover P38
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    Sep 8th 2015, 7:59 PM

    Maybe they can beat piracy by selling us content that’s invisible. Then you won’t know if it’s worth copying or not, but you’ll just have to use your imagination a bit more.

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    Mute Rock Stoneballs
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    Sep 8th 2015, 12:22 PM

    The real reason is obvious, it converts Netflix . You download the media to watch offline, there’s nothing stopping you then uploading the files to your favourite torrent site.

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    Mute Sean Gallagher
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    Sep 8th 2015, 2:29 PM

    That’s really not the case.

    You can already capture streamed media, so they aren’t preventing anything that isn’t already possible by not allowing downloading of content.

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