LZ-129 Hindenburg

The Hindenburg, along with its sister ship the LZ-130 Graf Zeppelin II, were the largest aircraft ever built.

The Hindenburg is best known for the spectacular fire that destroyed the ship on May 7, 1936 in Lakehurst, NJ. Two-thirds of those on board survived the fire.

The ship was built by the Zeppelin company and flew across the Atlantic Ocean several times during 1935.

It was originally designed to use non-flammable Helium as its lifting gas. However, due to an embargo from the United States of America (which had a near monopoly on Helium supplies at the time) flammable Hydrogen was used instead.

The fire is believed to have started due to a build-up of static electricity.

In recent years, a myth was put forward that the aircraft was covered in flammable paint. However several subsequent studies have disproved this so-called "Incendiary Paint Theory".

The destruction of the Hindenburg is generally taken as the end of the "Golden Age of Airships."