AN AUSTRALIAN blimp pilot has been hailed a hero after he saved three passengers by ordering them to jump from the burning airship only to then die himself.

Michael Nerandzic, from Balgownie in Wollongong, was attempting to land the A60 Goodyear airship at an airfield at Reichelsheim in Germany, when the blimp caught fire during descent. The 53-year-old and three journalists with him were returning from a local music festival.

It is understood the passengers smelt fuel and heard a loud whirring noise before the blimp caught fire.

Realising the airship was only moments away from disaster, Mr Nerandzic then made the heroic decision to put his own life on the line to save those of his passengers.

Hovering 2m above the ground he yelled for the three passengers to jump from the gondola to safety below.

That decision reduced the ballast weight of the airship which is believed to have caused it to shoot 50m into the air where it exploded with the burning wreckage falling to the ground. Mr Nerandzic was unable to escape and died in the wreckage.

Watch video of the blimp crash

Witnesses said they heard loud noises coming from the air before spotting a "fireball" moments before it crashed into a meadow near the airfield.

"We could hear the cries of the pilot as the fire surrounded him. It was terrible," one said.

A close friend and former colleague said Mr Nerandzic was a talented pilot with a deep passion for flying.

He said his decision to save his passengers first summed up the type of person he was.

"He has always put other people first. I don't even think he would have realised he was doing it - it would have just been instinct," the friend, who declined to be named, said last night. "He will be a real loss to our community."

The cause of the fire remained a mystery last night but Germany's Federal Office for Accident Investigation was investigating.

Originally published as Heroic Aussie pilot in airship tragedy