Bucket list fulfilled: Mother, son ride above LA skies on iconic Goodyear Blimp with KPRC 2′s Zach Lashway

Conditions have been dry and clear, perfect for taking a flight aboard the iconic Goodyear Airship Wingfoot One in Carson, California.

Super Bowl 56 could be the hottest Super Bowl on record, as the National Weather Service posted a heat advisory through Sunday evening.

The weather has been hot, with temperatures in the mid to upper 80s and lower 90s on the days leading up to Super Bowl.

Photographer Wladimir Moquete and I were invited to take a ride in Goodyear Wingfoot One. I’m petrified of heights, but decided this was once in a lifetime opportunity, so I went along for the ride.

When we arrived, I spotted Michael Craig and his mother Nida Desimone. The two were stopping by the Goodyear Airship Base in Carson for decades.

“We were planning to watch the Goodyear blimp,” Desimone said, “(And then) We met Zach and Wlad.”

I was very nervous when we arrived at the airbase, but he introduced himself to Nida and Michael and Nida shared with him a story, a very touching story.

“So Michael was diagnosed with Autism when he was born,” she said. “When he was 2-years-old, we were sitting in a restaurant and there was a phone book, for some reason Michael just flipped to the Goodyear page, and then he started getting fascinated with Goodyear and the Goodyear blimp.” 

Desimone added the iconic blue, yellow and gray bubble in the sky meant the world to Michael. The family stops by the base when they can to watch the airship take off, land and the safety video passengers must watch before boarding.

“We noticed there would be a reaction, a flicker in his eyes, anything Goodyear related.”  she said.

Throughout all the years of the family stopping by the airbase, Michael was never a passenger on the blimp, until today, because of an unexpected, impromptu conversation I had with Goodyear after learning about his story.

I spoke with Guthrie Melchiade, a Goodyear Broadcast Technician, who was touched by our “heartwarming and rewarding” story.  

“He just mentioned this morning when we arrived, ‘this is on my bucket list, mom!’” Desimone said, “And I didn’t know he even understood the concept of bucket list, until he mentioned it this morning and then, you came along and made it happened for him, it was like destiny, thank you!” 

Together the four of us boarded Wingfoot One, one of only three Goodyear airships in the country.

“This is the first of our modern fleet.  It’s a Zeppelin NT,” said William Bayliss, Goodyear Chief Pilot of Wingfoot One.

Taylor Dean is Assistant Chief Pilot and currently the only female pilot in the fleet of airships.

“We are longer than most 747s, Airbus a380s, 250 feet long, this is roughly 2.5-million birthday balloons above us, this helps us lift, and we invented areal coverage in 1955, we were the first to do it in Pasadena, California, Rose Parade, Rose Bowl, it’s what we’re known for,” Dean said.

“The way I explain it to people is kind of like floating in a bubble.  It’s kind of loke flying an airplane, helicopter and a boat at the same time.  It’s the safest form of air travel in the history of air travel.  It’s very smooth, it’s very quiet.” said Bayliss.

At a cruising altitude of 1500 feet, with the windows open, the passengers took in all of LA , in a way, only a few can. 

Michael’s bucket list was fulfilled, and I overcame his fear of heights...for now.

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