Wind sets sail blimp moored at Ohio State airport

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A 128-foot-long blimp docked at the Ohio State University airport broke free of its moorings in high winds early Sunday and drifted away, and it hasn’t yet been located.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says no one was aboard when strong winds lifted the blimp just after midnight Sunday at the Don Scott airfield in Columbus. The blimp then began drifting eastward.

Police spokesman Lt. Rudy Zupanc says the Federal Aviation Administration is trying to locate the blimp via radar, while its owners are trying to spot it from the ground. The university police department and the highway patrol are investigating. He says it’s too stormy to send aircraft after it.

The blimp is marked with a logo for Hangar 1 Vodka.

The blimp is on a tour of eastern and Midwest cities, according to the Hangar One Vodka website. The blimp is next due next in Detroit on Aug. 18. The distiller that produces Hangar One Vodka, St. George Spirits of Alameda, Calif., did immediately respond to phone calls early Sunday.

The public has been asked to notify law enforcement if the blimp is spotted.