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More info on "blimp" vs. "zeppelin":

http://www.airships.net/dirigible

A zeppelin is a rigid airship manufactured by a particular company [...] A blimp (technically called a “pressure airship”) is a powered, steerable, lighter-than-air vehicle whose shape is maintained by the pressure of the gases within its envelope. A blimp has no rigid internal structure; if a blimp deflates, it loses its shape.

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Depending on the altitude on which a blimp deflates the loss of shape will be the least of its problems.

Yes, but it shares that property with a Zeppelin, therefore it is not a defining quality of a Blimp.

Zeppelins can't really deflate because there is not pressure difference between the inside and outside of the zeppelin. If there were to be a tear in the fabric, gases would simple start mixing and the buoyancy of the aircraft would start to decrease. I suspect this would cause a rapid decent (but I'm not sure if it would be lethal)

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