Nation IN BRIEF : NEW YORK : Cause of Blimp’s Crash a Mystery

A deflated advertising blimp was removed from the roof and side of a midtown Manhattan apartment building, but investigators still didn’t know what tore a hole in its skin and forced it to crash land. “Basically, it’s a big balloon with a lot of holes in it,” said Ted Lopatkiewicz, spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board. The blimp’s two pilots were not seriously injured. The same blimp experienced trouble on May 28 near Santa Maria in Santa Barbara County. The crew landed safely after the rudder stopped working when a bearing failed. A spokesman for the airship’s builder, U.S.-Lighter Than Air of Tillamook, Ore., said the incidents were unrelated.