Filmed as it happened; the ignition source is still argued
On 6 May 1937 the largest aircraft ever flown caught fire while mooring at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey, and burned to a skeleton in about half a minute. Thirty-five of the 97 aboard died, plus one man on the ground. Because newsreel cameras and a live radio reporter were waiting, it became one of the most filmed disasters in history and it ended passenger airships overnight. The exact ignition source is still argued: static discharge, a hydrogen leak, and the flammability of the skin doping have all been advanced. The mooring mast site is marked on the base.
Lakehurst, Ocean County, New Jersey
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