HINDENBURG ZEPPELIN DISASTER

On May 6, 1937, a German airship called the Hindenburg was making a scheduled landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey, when it exploded into flames. Herbert Morrison’s eyewitness radio report from the landing field has since become etched into the public memory.

Thirty-six people were killed in the disaster. Up until then, zeppelins had an impeccable safety record. But the incident shattered public confidence in giant, passenger-carrying rigid airships, and marked the end of an era.