Large white blimp spotted flying over San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A large, white blimp was spotted flying over San Francisco on Tuesday morning. The blimp, which was visible across the Bay in Oakland and on the west end of Alameda, was seen flying over the city just before 10 a.m.

KRON4.com has confirmed that the blimp was Pathfinder 1, a massive helium airship built by LTA Research, an aviation startup co-founded by Google cofounder Sergey Brin. According to a post on LTA’s LinkedIn page, the company recently renewed the Airworthiness Certificate (AWC) for the blimp, allowing it to fly around a larger geographic area.

“Today’s flight took us north to San Francisco — another step in demonstrating stable, controlled operations in the San Francisco Bay Area,” the company said on LinkedIn.

“This regulatory approval allows the team to conduct flights at greater distances while maintaining the rigorous safety protocols that define our testing program,” LTA said in a news release Tuesday.

Test flights like Tuesday’s are “designed to validate Pathfinder 1’s systems and performance under varied operational conditions,” the company said. Tuesday flight, which took the airship over the Golden Gate Bridge, marked “a memorable milestone and another step in our comprehensive evaluation of rigid airship technology,” the company added.

The massive Pathfinder 1, which has been described as “the world’s largest aircraft,” is bigger than the Goodyear blimp and is based at Moffett Federal Airfield in Mountain View. At 400 feet long, the Pathfinder 1 would be taller than the Statue of Liberty if stood on end.

As of shortly before 11 a.m., the blimp appeared to have exited the air space around San Francisco and was approaching the South Bay, according to flight tracking website, FlightAware.

LTA Research said Tuesday’s flight over the bridge, “provided valuable information about the airship’s performance in the unique wind patterns and maritime conditions characteristic of the Golde Gate Strait.”