The Hindenburg Burns at Lakehurst

On the evening of May 6, 1937, the German rigid airship LZ 129 Hindenburg arrived at Naval Air Station Lakehurst in New Jersey at the end of its first passenger flight of the year to the United States. Running behind schedule after its flight from Frankfurt, the hydrogen-filled dirigible hovered several hundred feet above the field during its mooring approach. As the crew dropped lines to the ground handlers below, a sudden fire erupted near the stern and swept through the vessel in less than a minute, bringing the flaming framework down before a gathering of journalists, spectators, and newsreel crews.

The landing had been delayed for most of the day. The airship had been due in the early afternoon, but persistent rainstorms held it off until the weather improved. Around 7:00 p.m., the Hindenburg began its final approach for a high landing, known as a flying moor, in which the ship dropped its ropes from altitude and was then winched down to the mooring mast. As it approached the mast, the airship made a sharp turn to face into the shifting wind, and its engines were run astern to slow it. The mooring lines had been dropped, and one was attached to a ground winch, when fire broke out at about 7:25 p.m.