Uploaded July 2020 | Updated September 2026, 5 days ago
The largest aircraft to ever fly, the Hindenburg was the ultimate expression of Germany's lighter-than-air Zeppelins. While the British and American airship programmes suffered disasters like the R 101 and the Akron crashes, Germany's Zeppelins had never suffered any loss of life in regular passenger service, and it seemed that Zeppelins would dominate the future of commercial aviation.
The spectacular fire that consumed the Hindenburg over Lakehurst, New Jersey, in May 1937 would also see the dream of airship commercial aviation go up in smoke, in circumstances that remain shrouded in mystery to this day.
The largest aircraft to ever fly, the Hindenburg was the ultimate expression of Germany's lighter-than-air Zeppelins. While the British and American airship programmes suffered disasters like the R 101 and the Akron crashes, Germany's Zeppelins had never suffered any loss of life in regular passenger service, and it seemed that Zeppelins would dominate the future of commercial aviation.
The spectacular fire that consumed the Hindenburg over Lakehurst, New Jersey, in May 1937 would also see the dream of airship commercial aviation go up in smoke, in circumstances that remain shrouded in mystery to this day.
