292
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 1:
Line 1: − +
no edit summary
[[Image:Hindenburg.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The destruction of the Hindenburg.]]
[[Image:Hindenburg.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The destruction of the Hindenburg.]]
The '''Hindenburg''' was the largest [[aircraft]] ever to fly (along with a sister aircraft), having a length nearly as long as the [[Titanic]] and more than three times as long as a [[Boeing 747]]. The Hindenburg weighed a massive 242 tons. The Hindenburg was a Zeppelin design, an engineering masterpiece. It was designed to be filled with non-flammable [[helium]] rather than flammable [[hydrogen]] to make it lighter than air and capable of carrying passengers across the Atlantic Ocean.
The '''Hindenburg (LZ 129)''' was the largest [[aircraft]] ever to fly (along with a sister aircraft), having a length nearly as long as the [[Titanic]] and more than three times as long as a [[Boeing 747]]. The Hindenburg weighed a massive 242 tons. The Hindenburg was a Zeppelin design, an engineering masterpiece. It was designed to be filled with non-flammable [[helium]] rather than flammable [[hydrogen]] to make it lighter than air and capable of carrying passengers across the Atlantic Ocean.
But Congress passed a law prohibiting the sale of [[helium]] to Germany in the 1930s, and the Hindenburg was filled with the flammable [[hydrogen]] to make its flights to the [[United States]]. On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg caught fire while landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in [[Manchester]], [[New Jersey]]. About one third of those on board, 35 passengers, died not from the [[fire]] but by jumping to the ground the below. Those who stayed calm and rode the aircraft to its landing survived unharmed.
But Congress passed a law prohibiting the sale of [[helium]] to Germany in the 1930s, and the Hindenburg was filled with the flammable [[hydrogen]] to make its flights to the [[United States]]. On May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg caught fire while landing at Lakehurst Naval Air Station in [[Manchester]], [[New Jersey]]. About one third of those on board, 35 passengers, died not from the [[fire]] but by jumping to the ground the below. Those who stayed calm and rode the aircraft to its landing survived unharmed.