List of airship accidents


The following is a partial list of airship accidents.
DateIncidentDeathsInjured
12 June 1897Deutschland falls over Tempelhof Field in Berlin killing Friedrich Hermann Wölfert and his mechanic Robert Knabe.20
2 May 1902Semi-rigid airship Pax explodes over Paris, killing Augusto Severo and Georges Saché.20
13 October 1902While over Paris, the gondola separates from the Bradsky's envelope, killing Herlad de Bradsky and Paul Morin.20
30 November 1907French Army airship Patrie breaks loose from its mooring during a storm and is blown over the English Channel; after sightings in Wales and Ireland and a brief touchdown in Belfast, the airship was blown out over the Atlantic Ocean and is never seen again.00
23 May 1908Morrell airship falls over Berkeley, California. All 16 survive but some with serious injuries.016
5 August 1908Zeppelin LZ 4 catches fire near Echterdingen after it broke loose from mooring and was blown into some trees.00
25 September 1909French Army's La République crashes near Avrilly, Allier killing four.40
13 July 1910Airship Erbslöh explodes over Rhenish Prussia killing all five.50
15 October 1910American non-rigid airship America disappears without a trace off Nova Scotia after being abandoned by its crew.00
4 May 1911British Army's Morning Post is blown off course during descent. It crashes into trees and houses before bursting and seriously burning one French mechanic.01
24 September 1911HMA No. 1, more commonly known as the Mayfly, was the first rigid airship to be built in the UK. It broke in two due to strong winds while being removed from its shed in Barrow-in-Furness for ground trials.00
28 June 1912Zeppelin LZ 10 Schwaben burns at Düsseldorf after it broke loose in strong winds while being put into its shed.030-40
2 July 1912Privately owned Goodyear-built airship Akron explodes on transatlantic attempt off Atlantic City killing all five, including inventor Melvin Vaniman.50
4 September 1912Near Budapest, Hungary, a military airship was being prepared for an ascent and was being held down by more than 100 soldiers, a heavy wind prevailed and a sudden gust carries the airship away. It rises rapidly and all but three of the men released their grip on the rope. These held on until exhaustion weakened their grip, causing them to fall to their deaths one by one.30
9 September 1913Imperial German Navy L 1 crashes in a storm north of Heligoland. 14 drown, 6 survivors. First fatal Zeppelin accident.146
17 October 1913Imperial German Navy L 2 explodes in mid-air and crashes during a test flight. All 28 killed.280
20 June 1914Austro-Hungarian Army Militärluftschiff III, collides with an army Farman HF.20 over Fischamend. All seven on airship die along with the two in the biplane.90
3 September 1915Imperial German Navy L 10 is destroyed by fire on 3 September 1915 after being struck by lightning near Cuxhaven, killing 19 crew members.190
10 November 1915Imperial German Navy D.1 explodes after take-off over Seddin, killing all 20.200
17 November 1915Imperial German Navy L 18 burns out in shed fire at Tondern.
1 February 1916Imperial German Navy L 19 comes down in the North Sea, off the coast of the Netherlands, after an air-raid on the United Kingdom. All 16 crew survive the crash, but subsequently perish after the crew of a British fishing boat refuse to rescue them.160
21 February 1916In an experiment to launch a BE.2C fighter from under a SS-class non-rigid airship, Neville Usborne and another British officer are killed.20
12 May 1916French airship CM-T-1 is destroyed by fire near Porto Torres, Sardinia while en route to Fréjus/St Raphaël, France.
16 September 1916Imperial German Navy L 6 burns during inflation in hangar at Fuhlsbuttel and is destroyed along with L 9.
7 November 1916Imperial German Army LZ 90 disappears without a trace after breaking loose in a storm and blown out to sea.
28 December 1916Imperial German Navy L 24 crashes into a wall while being taken into its hangar at Tondern and burns out along with L 17.
20 October 1917Imperial German Navy L 45 performs a forced landing near Sisteron, France due to fuel exhaustion; all 17 crew were taken captive after the commander set the airship on fire.00
12 December 1917"North Sea"-class blimp N.S.5 sets off for RNAS East Fortune, but both engines fail within sight of her destination, and she drifts with the wind for about before they can be restarted. However, since both engines continue to be troublesome it is decided to make a "free balloon" landing, but the ship is damaged beyond repair during the attempt.
5 January 1918Ahlhorn hangars explode destroying the LZ 87, LZ 94, LZ 97, LZ 105, and SL20. Fifteen killed, 134 injured.15134
7 April 1918Imperial German Navy L 59 explodes over Malta for reasons unknown, killing all 21 crew.210
2 July 1919US Navy blimp C-8 explodes while landing at Camp Holabird, Maryland, injuring ~80 adults and children who were watching it. Windows in homes a mile away are shattered by the blast.80+
15 July 1919Royal Navy North Sea class airship N.S.11 burns over the North Sea off Norfolk, England, killing twelve. In the early hours of 15 July on what was officially supposed to be a mine-hunting patrol, she was seen to fly beneath a long "greasy black cloud" off Cley next the Sea on the Norfolk coast and a massive explosion was heard shortly after. A vivid glare lasted for a few minutes as the burning airship descended, and finally plunged into the sea after a second explosion. There were no survivors, and the findings of the official Court of Enquiry were inconclusive, but amongst other possibilities it was thought that a lightning strike may have caused the explosion.120
21 July 1919American airship Wingfoot Air Express catches fire over downtown Chicago, 2 passengers, one crewmember and 10 people on the ground die while 2 parachute to safety.1328
19 June 1920US Navy Goodyear airship D-1, A4450, burns at the Goodyear Wingfoot Lake Airship Base, Suffield Township, Portage County, Ohio.
6 February 1921Soviet military airship Krasnaya Zvezda crashes.
7 July 1921US Navy airship C-3 burns at Naval Air Station Hampton Roads, Norfolk, Virginia
23 August 1921British R38. Built for US Navy and already carrying "ZR-2" markings, it breaks in half and catches fire after suffering structural failure during high-speed trials over Hull. 44 die, 5 survivors.44
31 August 1921US Navy airship D-6, A5972, burns in hangar fire at NAS Rockaway along with airships C-10 and H-1 and kite balloon A-P.
21 February 1922US Army airship Roma hits power lines in Virginia and catches fire following rudder failure, killing 34 of 45 on board.348
17 October 1922U.S. Army's largest blimp, C-2, catches fire shortly after being removed from its hangar at Brooks Field, San Antonio, Texas for a flight. Seven of eight crew aboard are injured, mostly in jumping from the craft. This accident was made the occasion for official announcement by the Army and the Navy that the use of hydrogen would be abandoned "as speedily as possible." On 14 September 1922, the C-2 had made the first transcontinental airship flight, from Langley Field, Virginia, to Foss Field, California, under the command of Maj. H. A. Strauss.7
21 December 1923French Navy's Dixmude explodes in mid-air over the Mediterranean near Sicily following an apparent lightning strike. All 50 aboard killed.500
10 October 1924US Army blimp TC-2 explodes over Newport News when a bomb it was carrying detonates. Two of the crew of five were killed.2
3 September 1925US Navy USS Shenandoah is caught in a storm over Noble County, Ohio and breaks apart into several pieces. 14 killed, 29 survivors.14
25 May 1928Italian semi-rigid Italia crashes on return from successful trip to North Pole. 7 killed, 1 crash survivor died from exposure, 8 rescued, 6 rescuers lost including Roald Amundsen.8
5 October 1930British experimental design R101 nosedives into the ground during rainstorm in France and catches fire. 48 killed, 6 survivors. The crash, the deadliest involving a civilian airship, ended development of British airships.48
11 May 1932During an abortive landing, the USS Akron floats upward at Camp Kearny, California with four members of the mooring crew; one lets go at 15 feet and suffers a broken arm, two fall to their deaths, the fourth is able to hold on to his line and is pulled aboard the airship an hour later.21
4 April 1933USS Akron crashes at sea off the coast of New Jersey in severe storm. With 73 dead - many drowned - and 3 survivors, this is the deadliest airship accident.733
4 April 1933US Navy airship J-3 A7382 crashes at sea off New Jersey coast with two crew killed while looking for USS Akron survivors.2
16 August 1934Soviet SSSR-V7 Chelyushinets burns in its hangar at Dolgoprudny along with SSSR-V4 Komsomolskaya Pravda and SSSR-V5 after lightning struck the hangar.
12 February 1935USS Macon crashes off coast of Point Sur, Monterey, California after crosswinds break an already damaged section. 2 dead, 81 survivors.2
24 October 1935Soviet SSSR-V7 bis hits power lines near the Finnish border and catches fire, one crew member dies while the rest manage to escape.1
6 May 1937German LZ 129 Hindenburg catches fire while landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey. 35 dead, 1 on ground killed, 62 survivors.36
6 February 1938Soviet SSSR-V6 OSOAVIAKhIM crashes into a mountain some 300 km south of Murmansk while on a practice flight for an arctic rescue mission. 13 killed, 6 survivors.133
6 August 1938Soviet SSSR-V10 crashes near Beskudnikovo killing all seven crew.70
8 June 1942U.S. Navy blimps G-1 and L-2 collide in mid-air, killing twelve including five civilian scientists.120
16 August 1942Designated Flight 101. The two experienced crew of the U.S. Navy blimp L-8 disappeared without explanation during the flight giving it the name "The Ghost Blimp." The blimp drifted inland from its Pacific patrol route, striking the ground and leaving its depth charge armament on the beach. It then lifted off and drifted further inland and crashed on a downtown street in Daly City, California. The gondola door had been latched open, and the safety bar which was normally used to block the doorway was no longer in place. Two of the three life jackets on board were missing, but these would have been worn by the two crew during flight, as regulations required. A year after their disappearance the pilots were officially declared dead.20
19 April 1944U.S. Navy airship K-133, of Airship Patrol Squadron 22, operating out of NAS Houma, Louisiana, crashes in the Gulf of Mexico after flying into a thunderstorm while on a patrol mission, 12 of 13 crew die; the sole survivor is recovered after spending 21 hours in the water.121
21 April 1944The southeast door of blimp hangar at NAS Houma, Louisiana, was chained open due to a fault. A gust of wind carried three K-class blimps, all of ZP-22, out into the night. K-56 travels 4.5 miles before it crashes into trees. K-57 catches fire 4 miles from the air station. K-62 is blown into high-tension power lines a quarter-mile away and burns. K-56 is salvaged, repaired at Goodyear at Akron, Ohio and returned to service.-
16 May 1944Training accident at Lakehurst, New Jersey kills ten of eleven crewmen of K-5 as it crashes into the number one hangar.10
2 July 1944U.S. Navy blimp K-14 crashes off Maine, killing six of the ten crewmen. Her loss has been attributed to accident or machine gun fire from a U-boat.64
7 July 1944U.S. Navy blimp K-53 crashes into the Caribbean, killing one of her crew of ten.1
17 October 1944U.S. Navy blimp K-111 crashes on Santa Catalina Island, California, killing seven of her ten crewmen.7
5 November 1944U.S. Navy blimp K-34 crashes off the coast of the State of Georgia, killing two of eleven crewmen.2
3 May 1945A Navy blimp's fuel tanks explodes over Santa Ana, California killing eight of nine.8
29 January 1947Soviet airship Pobeda hits power lines and crashes killing all three on board.30
14 May 1959US Navy ZPG-2 crashes into hangar roof during a dense fog at Lakehurst, New Jersey killing one and injuring 17.117
6 July 1960US Navy N class blimp ZPG-3W crashes into the sea off New Jersey. 18 of the 21 crew were killed.18
8 October 1980The 170-foot EA-1 Jordache blimp, N5499A, leased by Jordache Enterprises Co., crashes at Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst, New Jersey on its maiden flight. With an 0815 hrs. launch, and a flightplan to Teterboro Airport and thence to a Manhattan photo shoot, the airship, weighed down with gold and burgundy paint, reached 600 feet altitude before beginning an unplanned right descending turn, with pilot James Buza, 40, making a "controlled descent" into a garbage dump, impaling the blimp on a pine tree, coming down just a quarter-mile from the site of the Hindenburg's 1937 demise. Buza, the only crewmember, was unhurt. According to the NTSB report, the cause was poor design. The pilot also had zero hours experience in the type.00
1 July 1986The experimental Helistat 97-34J, utilizing the envelope of a retired US Navy ZPG-2W N class blimp, crashes at Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst in Lakehurst, New Jersey during a test flight, killing one.10
4 July 1993US LTA 138S airship Bigfoot, which bore the Pizza Hut logo, crashes on top of buildings in Manhattan. The cause included inadequate FAA standards according to the NTSB report.02
23 May 1994WDL-1B airship is attempting to land in Giessen, Germany when it was lifted by a sudden wind gust. Ten of the ground crew attempt to hold it down but eight let go of the ropes. The remaining two fall to their deaths.20
11 September 1994Airship International blimp bearing the Gulf Oil logo crash lands on a house at Farmingdale, Long Island having lost gas pressure. It was on its way to cover the U.S. Open. No injuries but power was lost in the neighborhood.00
May 1995The Goodyear blimp GZ-20 Eagle, tail number N10A, suffers a deflationary incident when the blimp struck the ground near the Carson, California, mooring site while unmanned. This blimp was repaired and rechristened as the Eagle N2A. No injuries were reported.00
1 July 1998Icarus Aircraft Inc. / American Blimp Corporation ABC-A-60, N760AB, encounters a severe downdraft on positioning flight from Williamsport, Pennsylvania to Youngstown, Ohio, and was substantially damaged when it impacted trees at 1105 hrs. during uncontrolled descent ~eight miles NW of Piper Memorial, near Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. After being blown from treetop to treetop for about ten minutes, gondola settled in a tree about 40 feet in the air and the two pilots exited uninjured and climbed down the tree. Some fifteen minutes later the airship was blown another 900 feet before coming to rest.00
28 October 1999The Goodyear blimp GZ-22 "Spirit of Akron", N4A, crashes in Suffield Township, Ohio, when it suddenly enters an uncontrolled left turn and began descending. The pilot and technician on board received only minor injuries when the blimp impacted with trees. The NTSB reported the probable cause as being improperly hardened metal splines on the control actuators shearing and causing loss of control.01
16 June 2005A model GZ-20 Goodyear blimp named Stars and Stripes, crashes shortly after takeoff in Coral Springs, Florida. No one is injured. Bad weather may have been a factor in the incident.00
26 September 2006The Hood blimp, an American Blimp Corporation A-60, crashes into a wooded area of Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. The airship left Beverly Municipal Airport at about 1215 hrs. Shortly after, the pilot started to have problems and he tried to land on Singing Beach, but instead got caught in some trees near Brookwood Road. The pilot was not injured.00
14 June 2011A Goodyear Blimp operated by The Lightship Group in Reichelsheim, Germany catches fire and crashed, resulting in the death of Michael Nerandzic, an experienced pilot whose last-minute actions saves the lives of his three passengers.1
14 August 2011The Hangar-1 blimp operated by The Lightship Group breaks free of its mooring in Worthington, Ohio, and crash lands in a yard. No injuries.00
4 May 2012An Israeli spy blimp crashes when a crop duster strikes the blimp's side.
28 October 2015An experimental United States military defense airship becomes untethered in Maryland, and drifts 100 miles north before crashing in Anthony Township, Pennsylvania.
24 August 2016The Hybrid Air Vehicles HAV 304 Airlander 10 suffers cockpit damage, but no injuries, and drags a mooring rope through power lines near the airfield, as a result of an anomalously steep approach and landing on its second test flight at Cardington Airfield in Bedfordshire, England.-