An airship floated slowly by the Port of Oakland around 3 p.m. today, turning some heads.
It was probably Pathfinder 1, a rigid airship designed by LTA Research, a company started by Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
Pathfinder 1, which first flew two years ago and has been spotted occasionally over the Bay Area, is the largest aircraft in the world, according to LTA Research. Last year it drifted over the Golden Gate Bridge and has been seen in other places on test flights.
LTA Research says it’s developing a next generation of airships to “transform transportation for passengers and cargo.”
A spokesperson for the company confirmed to The Oaklandside that Pathfinder 1 is in flight today.
The ship is filled with helium, a less buoyant gas than hydrogen, but not flammable. Airships used to be more common, but they were mostly abandoned after the explosion and fire that consumed the Hindenberg and killed 36 people in 1937. The Hindenberg, like other airships of that era, was filled with hydrogen.
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Before joining The Oaklandside as News Editor, Darwin BondGraham was a freelance investigative reporter covering police and prosecutorial misconduct. He has reported on gun violence for The Guardian and was a staff writer for the East Bay Express. He holds a doctorate in sociology from UC Santa Barbara and was the co-recipient of the George Polk Award for local reporting in 2017. He is also the co-author of The Riders Come Out at Night, a book examining the Oakland Police Department’s history of corruption and reform.