Great Park's giant balloon is temporarily grounded
Sept. 29, 2015 Updated 6:27 p.m.
BY SARAH de CRESCENZO / STAFF WRITER
IRVINE ? The giant helium balloon that carries passengers as high as 400 feet above the Great Park has been temporarily grounded.
A routine inspection on Sept. 10 revealed that a panel in the balloon?s envelope ? that?s the orange part ? had deteriorated under exposure to the sun?s rays, officials said Tuesday.
?This is a normal occurrence due to the age of the envelope,? city spokesman Craig Reem said.
The balloon, which last flew Sept. 6, is grounded until it gets a fresh envelope. During a routine daily inspection Sept. 10, the damaged panel was discovered. The inflated orb was grounded and patched, but a subsquent inspection showed the patch wouldn?t hold.
Aeromobile, the company that manufactured the balloon, sent inspectors on Sept. 23 and confirmed the ride was unsafe for passengers.
Earlier this year, as the balloon equipment neared the end of its six-year lifetime, Irvine set aside about $700,000 to replace the envelope and other equipment, which had been installed in 2010. Aeromobile is in the process of fabricating a new envelope.
The balloon, an iconic symbol of the Great Park since it was installed in 2007, will remain aground but inflated until the new equipment is ready. On Tuesday, it was decked out as a jack-o-lantern in anticipation of Halloween.
Officials said the new envelope should be in place by the end of the year.
Contact the writer: 714-796-2221 or sdecrescenzo@ocregister.com
Sept. 29, 2015 Updated 6:27 p.m.
BY SARAH de CRESCENZO / STAFF WRITER
IRVINE ? The giant helium balloon that carries passengers as high as 400 feet above the Great Park has been temporarily grounded.
A routine inspection on Sept. 10 revealed that a panel in the balloon?s envelope ? that?s the orange part ? had deteriorated under exposure to the sun?s rays, officials said Tuesday.
?This is a normal occurrence due to the age of the envelope,? city spokesman Craig Reem said.
The balloon, which last flew Sept. 6, is grounded until it gets a fresh envelope. During a routine daily inspection Sept. 10, the damaged panel was discovered. The inflated orb was grounded and patched, but a subsquent inspection showed the patch wouldn?t hold.
Aeromobile, the company that manufactured the balloon, sent inspectors on Sept. 23 and confirmed the ride was unsafe for passengers.
Earlier this year, as the balloon equipment neared the end of its six-year lifetime, Irvine set aside about $700,000 to replace the envelope and other equipment, which had been installed in 2010. Aeromobile is in the process of fabricating a new envelope.
The balloon, an iconic symbol of the Great Park since it was installed in 2007, will remain aground but inflated until the new equipment is ready. On Tuesday, it was decked out as a jack-o-lantern in anticipation of Halloween.
Officials said the new envelope should be in place by the end of the year.
Contact the writer: 714-796-2221 or sdecrescenzo@ocregister.com
