Long before Hindenburg Research, the United State-based firm that has accused the Adani Group of fraud, the original and more famous Hindenburg was the German Zeppelin air-ship that exploded in the air while attempting to land. Pathé newsreel footage (video above) shows how the airship, LZ 129 Hindenburg, hovering over the landing ground of the Lakehurst naval air station in New Jersey, USA before it burst into flames.

The Hindenburg disaster, which took place on May 6, 1937, affected the first transatlantic passenger flight of the year to the United States from Germany. As numerous people along with journalists and photographers gathered around to film its landing, the disaster ended up being well-documented with significant amounts of video footage from newsreels, photographs, and even a radio journalist’s recorded audio report.

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The accident resulted in 36 fatalities. Of the 36 passengers and 61 crew members aboard, 13 passengers and 22 crew members died, as well as one member of the ground staff. The tragedy also led to the sudden end to the era of passenger-carrying air-ships – giant lighter-than-air aircraft propelled upwards by a gas less dense than the surrounding air, like hydrogen or helium.

The day after the Hindenburg disaster, another zeppelin air-ship landed safely in Germany after flying from Brazil. However, this was the last such flight.

Designed and manufactured by the Zeppelin Company, the Hindenburg class aircraft were hydrogen-filled, passenger-carrying rigid airships, built in Germany in the 1930s. They were named for Paul von Hindenburg, a field marshal who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became the country’s president in 1925.