The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn. In 1993, descendant companies of Luftschiffsbau-Zeppelin founded Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH, which built the Zeppelin NT (“New Technology”), a smaller (75-metre, or 250-foot) helium-filled airship that in 2001 began to offer short sightseeing trips over Lake Constance and other locations. The Zeppelin airship works were destroyed by Allied bombing during World War II, and building of the huge rigid airships was never resumed. On May 6, 1937, while landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, the hydrogen-inflated craft burst into flames and was completely destroyed, with a loss of 36 lives. In 1936 this airship carried a total of 1,002 passengers on 10 scheduled round trips between Germany and the United States. The Hindenburg, 245 metres (804 feet) long, was powered by four 1,100-horsepower diesel engines, giving it a maximum speed of 135 km (84 miles) per hour. In 1929 the craft covered about 34,600 km (21,500 miles) in a world flight that was completed in an elapsed time of approximately 21 days. The Graf Zeppelin inaugurated transatlantic flight service, and by the time of its decommissioning in 1937 had made 590 flights, including 144 ocean crossings, and had flown more than 1.6 million km (1 million miles). Of many subsequent zeppelins, the two most famous were the Graf Zeppelin, completed in September 1928, and the giant Hindenburg, first flown in 1936. Witness the explosion of the Hindenburg airship and listen to witnesses and survivor recount the horrific disaster See all videos for this article
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