Army denies all claims for damage caused by runaway blimp

By

The Associated Press

A flight crew launches a U.S. Army’s Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Sensor System at the Utah Test and Training Range, Utah, Feb. 3, 2014. JLENS, who is contracted through Raytheon, uses aerostats to elevate sensors for long-range detection and tracking for superior land attack cruise missile defense. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Tiffany DeNault/Released)

The U.S. Army is denying 35 claims for more than $1.5 million in damage caused when a blimp broke loose in Maryland and came to rest in the Pennsylvania countryside in 2015.

Army Spokesman Dov Schwartz said in a statement Friday that the Army had determined that no government employees or agencies were responsible or negligent in the incident.

The decision was first reported by pennlive.com.

The unmanned surveillance blimp broke from its mooring at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland and floated over Pennsylvania for hours on Oct. 28, 2015, causing electrical outages as its tether hit power lines.

Schwartz says a defense contractor was responsible for the installation and maintenance of the tethering system on the blimp.