German airship Zeppelin LZ 129 'Hindenburg' burning upon its approach to Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937. U.S. Navy sailors, preparing to grab for tether lines on the ground, run for safety as they watch the airship fall to the ground with its rear half engulfed in flames. [Courtesy: Smithsonian Institution]
Key Takeaways:
The Hindenburg disaster on May 6, 1937, a fiery crash that killed 35 people, effectively ended the age of luxurious airship travel, with its cause still debated between static electricity and sabotage.
Despite its opulence, the Hindenburg was a Nazi propaganda tool and was forced to use highly flammable hydrogen due to a U.S. embargo on helium over military use concerns.
The U.S. Navy also developed rigid airships (e.g., Shenandoah, Akron, Macon) designed for helium, but their vulnerability to weather led to multiple crashes and the eventual suspension of the Navy's airship program.
On May 6, 1937, the age of airships—the ocean liners of the sky—came to a violent end with the destruction of the Hindenburg in Lakehurst, New Jersey.
Monday marks the 87th anniversary of the event. NBC reporter Herb Morrison was on location to cover what had become almost routine—the docking of the German airship for the newsreels.
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Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
