Pilot injured when blimp goes down near course

ERIN, Wis. — A small blimp crashed near the U.S. Open on Thursday, seriously injuring the pilot and grabbing the attention of fans and golfers as they watched the fiery, smoking craft fall from the sky into an open field.

Sheriff ’s officials said the pilot was the only one on board the blimp.

“I was teeing off and I looked up and saw it on fire, and I felt sick to my stomach,” Jamie Lovemark said after his opening round in one of golf ’s four majors. “I had the shakes. I felt terrible for the people inside. I didn’t know what was going on. It was a horrible sight.”

The blimp, operated by Florida-based AirSign, was being used for advertising as it floated above the tournament and had been airborne for several hours before it went down, authorities said. The Washington County Sheriff ’s Office said its initial investigation shows the blimp might have experienced mechanical problems.

A deputy at a security post reported seeing the aircraft on fire or smoking and rapidly descending about 11:15 a.m., authorities said. Rescue crews used utility vehicles to reach the crash site, about a half mile from the golf course.

Aerial video from a television news helicopter showed pieces of the flattened blimp on the field along with charred metal and grass. A handful of fans at the U.S. Open also posted video on Twitter of the craft’s descent.

Justin Maynard, a sales manager for AirSign, said the company’s operations team on the ground in Erin had no definitive information on the pilot’s condition, other than the pilot was expected to be OK.

“It was a horrific scene,” Lovemark said. “I’ve never seen a plane crash, blimp crash, anything like that. So it was pretty awful.”