January 30, 2002 vol. 1, no. 1

In today’s state of today’s heightened awareness, it’s comforting to think that aboard that big blimp over the stadium, a security officer is communicating with command centers on the ground.

Unfortunately, that’s just wishful thinking.

Flight restrictions over stadiums since Sept. 11 have kept airships away from their familiar role over big cities – and away from areas where they can provide direct support to law enforcement.

Although today’s threats differ from World War II, when the government deployed 150 blimps for convoy escort and coastal patrol, modern airships can play a surprisingly effective role in the national security arsenal.

Better yet, they can do so at little or no cost to the government.

As agencies come to grips with the meaning of homeland defense, they’ll find that airships "can fill a huge hole in the surveillance area by providing real-time, high-resolution data on demand," says Stephen Huett, program manager for an airship project at the Naval Air Warfare Center. "They can offer continuous surveillance over areas of interest such as harbors, borders and pipelines."

Hovering on station, the airships’ high-intensity 300-to-1-zoom TV cameras can deliver panoramic skyline shots -- or keep an eye on human, vehicular and maritime traffic.

In recent months, the four principal commercial operators in the U.S. have offered seats to law enforcement officers on every flight.

Airship Management Services offered the Office of Homeland Security and other agencies a ship for a one-week feasibility study.

Virgin Lightship offered Gov. Gray Davis two airships following terrorist threats against California bridges. "We made the offer, but no single authority could make the decision how to use us," said Lightship’s Jim Dexter.

The "Black Sunday" image of a hijacked blimp crashing into a stadium reappears before every Super Bowl, says Tom Riley, former head of airship operations for Goodyear, who quickly adds: "It’s the aircraft least likely that a terrorist will get hold of, but the most likely to be useful for surveillance."

Under constant field scrutiny, blimps require about 16 people to launch; piloting skills are handed down from one airshipman to another, and licensing requires hundreds of hours of specialized training. No fly-by-night hijacking schools here.

Agencies from the Secret Service to local police have employed blimps for force management.

The Atlanta Police found that operating an airship for 14 straight days during the 1996 Olympic Games, "enhanced situational awareness," said former deputy police chief Jon Gordon.

The Secret Service protected President Clinton during the World Cup Soccer match in Chicago in 1999, and President Reagan during the Statue of Liberty centennial in New York in 1986, both times in Airship Management blimps.

Los Angeles police informally work with visiting blimp crews during special events.

Overseas, the U.K, France, Japan and other nations similarly augment their forces.

After Sept. 11, when general aviation was grounded (blimps were grounded longer than other aircraft) operators obtained temporary waivers (vetted through the National Security Council), mandating that they carry law enforcement personnel.

Now operators and regulators must work toward permanent interagency data-sharing solutions.

Thinking of airships as assets instead of liabilities will produce a mutually beneficial solution for sports fans, television networks, advertisers, and for law enforcement personnel.

And with President Bush encouraging a return to normalcy, notes George Spyrou, president of Airship Management, "What’s more normal than a big friendly blimp over a stadium?"

Although personal security and travel rules have changed, we can begin to restore a semblance of normalcy by getting those big friendly blimps back in the skies and working to protect us.

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Armstrong, a freelance writer and author, is past president of The Lighter-Than-Air Society and a lifelong advocate for airships. He has been a commercial balloon pilot for 27 years.