Hindenburg disaster. May 6, 1937. As the zeppelin Hindenburg was approaching landing at Naval Air Station Lakehurst, a fire detonated one of the aft hydrogen cells, thereby rupturing neighbouring cells and causing the airship to fall to the ground aft-first. The inferno then travelled towards the stern, bursting and igniting the remaining cells. Despite 4 news stations recording the disaster on film and surviving eyewitness testimonies from crew and people on the ground, the cause of the initial fire was never conclusively determined.