Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- An airship sponsored by Total SA, which was designed to measure the thickness of the Artic Ocean ice cap, crashed near an airport in southern France early this morning.

Gusts of wind lifted the Russian-made dirigible 30 meters above the tarmac of the Fayance-Tourette airport, near Grasse, and pushed it into a hanger. It then crashed into a nearby house, French explorer Jean-Louis Etienne said in a statement. There were no injuries.

Etienne was leading the Total-backed expedition to the Artic Ocean. The project was scheduled for April. Under the plan, the airship was to measure ice thickness over 10,000 kilometers (6,215 miles), according to Etienne's web site.

The 55-meter-long (180 feet) airship, a Russian Au30, was built by RosAeroSystems in Moscow for the project.

To contact the reporters on this story: Tara Patel in Paris at tpatel2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 22, 2008 07:10 EST