The following is a partial list of airship accidents. It includes both rigid airships and blimps, which operated differently from one another. Not included on this list are airships shot down or otherwise lost to military action.
While over Paris, the gondola separates from the Bradsky's envelope, killing Baron Ottokar de Bradsky and his engineer Paul Morin.
2
0
30 November 1907
French 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.
0
0
23 May 1908
Morrell airship fell over Berkeley, California. All 16 on board survive, but some with serious injuries.
0
16
5 August 1908
Zeppelin LZ 4 catches fire near Echterdingen after it broke loose from mooring and was blown into some trees.
Zeppelin LZ 6 (Z III) burns in its hangar at Oos, Baden-Baden.
0
0
15 October 1910
American non-rigid airship America disappears without a trace off Nova Scotia after being abandoned by its crew.
0
0
23 February 1911
The Yamada-style No. 2 airship (Japanese: 山田式2号, romanized:Yamada-shiki 2-gō) developed by Yamada Isaburo[jp] was destroyed by strong winds while moored for repairs.[1]
0
0
4 May 1911
British Army's Morning Post is blown off course during descent. It crashed into trees and houses before bursting and seriously burning a French mechanic.
0
1
16 May 1911
Zeppelin LZ 8 Deutschland II is caught by a wind gust while being walked out of its hangar and damaged beyond repair after it smashes on the roof of the hangar.
0
0
24 September 1911
HMA No. 1, more commonly known as the Mayfly, is the first rigid airship to be built in the UK. It breaks in two due to strong winds while being removed from its shed in Barrow-in-Furness for ground trials.
0
0
28 June 1912
Zeppelin LZ 10 Schwaben burns at Düsseldorf after it breaks loose in strong winds while being put into its shed.
0
30–40
2 July 1912
Privately owned Goodyear-built airship Akron explodes on a transatlantic attempt off Atlantic City, New Jersey, killing all five, including its owner, Melvin Vaniman.
5
0
4 September 1912
Near Budapest, Hungary, a military airship was being prepared for an ascent and was being held down by more than 100soldiers, a heavy wind prevails and a sudden gust carries the airship away. It rises rapidly and all but three of the men release their grip on the rope. Those three hold on until exhaustion weakens their grip, causing them to fall to their deaths one by one.[citation needed]
Imperial Russian non-rigid airship Albatross crashes during a forced landing.
0
0
10 February 1915
Imperial Russian semi-rigid airship Giant, Russia's largest airship, bends in two and crashes near Gatchina during flight tests.
0
0
3 September 1915
Imperial German Navy L10 (Zeppelin LZ40) is destroyed by fire on 3September 1915 after being struck by lightning near Cuxhaven, killing 19crew members.
19
0
1 October 1915
Zeppelin LZ 11 Viktoria Luise breaks apart while being put in its hangar.
Imperial German Navy L18 (Zeppelin LZ52) burns out in shed fire at Tønder.
0
0
1 February 1916
Imperial German Navy L19 (Zeppelin LZ 54) comes down in the North Sea, off the coast of the Netherlands, after an air-raid on the United Kingdom. All 16crew survive the crash, but subsequently perish after the crew of a British fishing boat refuse to rescue them.
Imperial German Navy L20 (Zeppelin LZ 59) force-lands off Norway due to low fuel. Six crew jump overboard, leaving eight still on board. Relieved of weight, the airship rises and is blown northwest before its anchor catches a rock on a mountain. The shock of the sudden stop is so great that one of the gondolas falls off into the water, killing three. The airship rises again and continues flying until it slowly falls into the water off Jåsund and breaks in two. The remaining four crew jump before the airship hits the water. On 4 May the wreck is intentionally shot at by Norwegian soldiers and explodes.
3
12 May 1916
French airship CM-T-1 burns near Porto Torres, Sardinia while en route to Fréjus/St.Raphaël, France.
16 September 1916
Imperial German Navy L6 (Zeppelin LZ 31) burns during inflation in hangar at Fuhlsbüttel and is destroyed along with L9 (Zeppelin LZ36).
0
0
7 November 1916
Imperial German Army LZ90 (Zeppelin LZ60) disappears without a trace after breaking loose in a storm and blown out to sea.
0
0
28 December 1916
Imperial German Navy L24 (Zeppelin LZ69) crashes into a wall while being taken into its hangar at Tondern and burns out, along with L17 (Zeppelin LZ53).
0
0
20 October 1917
Imperial German Navy L45 (Zeppelin LZ85) performs a forced landing near Sisteron, France, due to fuel exhaustion; all 17crew were taken captive after the commander set the airship on fire.
0
0
20 October 1917
Imperial German Navy L50 (Zeppelin LZ 89) performs a forced landing near Dammartin-sur-Meuse, France due to fuel exhaustion; the control car is torn off in the crash, but the ship drifts over the Mediterranean with five crew on board where it apparently explodes. Remaining 16 crew taken captive as POWs.
5
0
12 December 1917
"North Sea"-class blimpN.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 10mi (16km) before they could be restarted. However, since both engines continue to be troublesome it is decided to make a "free balloon" landing; the airship is damaged beyond repair during the attempt.
0
0
13-14 December 1917
Coastal class airshipC.26 of the British Royal Naval Air Service was searching for C.27 which had run into difficulties off the British coast. During the search, the rear engine fails for unknown reasons and the airship begins to drift towards the Netherlands. Ballast and equipment were thrown overboard to maintain altitude over water. Three crew jump overboard when the airship gets stuck, but this reduced the weight and the airship took off again and the final crew member lets go and falls into a ditch near Sliedrecht. Unmanned and out of control, C.26 gets stuck again, later breaks loose and crashes onto a bakery in Eemnes.[4] Crew arrested and interned in Groningen until the end of the war.
0
1
5 January 1918
Ahlhorn hangars explode, destroying the LZ87 (L47), LZ94 (L46), LZ97 (L51), LZ105 (L58), and SL20. Fifteen killed, 134injured.[5]
15
134
7 April 1918
Imperial German Navy L59 (Zeppelin LZ104) explodes over Malta for reasons unknown, killing all 21crew.
21
0
14 May 1919
United States Navy blimp C-5A-4122 is blown out to sea over the Atlantic after it breaks loose from its moorings in a storm.
0
0
2 July 1919
United States Navy blimp C-8 explodes while landing at Camp Holabird, Maryland, injuring ~80adults and children who were watching it. Windows in homes a mile away are shattered by the blast.[6][7]
~80
15 July 1919
Royal NavyNorth Sea class airship N.S.11 burns over the North Sea off Norfolk, England, killing twelve.[8][9] In the early hours of 15July 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.[10]
12
0
21 July 1919
American airship Wingfoot Air Express catches fire over downtown Chicago, 2passengers, one crewmember and 10people on the ground die while 2parachute to safety.[11]
British R38, built for U.S.Navy and already carrying "ZR-2" markings, breaks in half and catches fire after suffering structural failure during high-speed trials over Hull. 44die, 5survivors.
44
31 August 1921
U.S. Navy airship D-6, A-5972, burns in its NAS Rockaway hangar, along with airships C-10 and H-1, and the kite balloon A-P.
21 February 1922
U.S. Army airship Roma (ex-Italian T34) hits power lines in Virginia and burns out following rudder failure, killing 34 of 45on board.
34
8
17 October 1922
U.S. Army's largest blimp, C-2 (A-4119), 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".[15] From 14 September to 23 September 1922,[16] the C-2 had made the first transcontinental airship flight, from Langley Field, Virginia, to Arcadia, California, under the command of Maj. H. A. Strauss.[17]
0
7
21 December 1923
French Navy's Dixmude (ex ZeppelinLZ114) explodes in mid-air over the Mediterranean near Sicily following an apparent lightning strike. All 50on board killed.[18]
52
0
10 October 1924
U.S. 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 1925
U.S. Navy USS Shenandoah (ZR1) is caught in a storm over Noble County, Ohio and breaks apart into several pieces. 14killed, 29survivors.[19]
Italian semi-rigid Italia crashes on return from successful trip to North Pole. 7killed, 1crash survivor dies from exposure; 8rescued, 6rescuers lost, including Roald Amundsen.
British experimental design R101 nosedives into the ground during rainstorm in France and burns out. 48killed, 6survivors.[19] The crash, the deadliest involving a civilian airship, ended development of British airships.
48
11 May 1932
During an abortive landing, the USS Akron floats upward at Camp Kearny, California with four members of the mooring crew; one let go at 15feet and suffered a broken arm, two fell to their deaths, the fourth was able to hold on to his line and was pulled aboard the airship an hour later.[20]
2
1
4 April 1933
USS Akron crashes at sea off the coast of New Jersey in severe storm. With 73dead - many drowned - and 3survivors, this remains the deadliest airship accident.[20]
73
3
4 April 1933
United States Navy airship J-3A-7382 crashes at sea off New Jersey coast with two crew killed while looking for USS Akron survivors.[20]
Soviet semi-rigid airship SSSR-V7bis[ru] hits power lines near the Finnish border and catches fire; one crew member dies while the rest manage to escape.
Soviet SSSR-V6 OSOAVIAKhIM crashes into a mountain some 300km south of Murmansk while on a practice flight for an arctic rescue mission. 13killed, 6survivors. The crash deals a severe blow to the Soviet airship program, and it is eventually terminated in 1940.
13
3
6 August 1938
Soviet USSR-B10 is ordered to leave its parking spot at Dolgoprudny to make room for USSR-B8 arriving for scheduled hydrogen replacement and USSR-B10 is hurriedly sent on a flight. The day was sunny and hot; hydrogen in the envelope heated up and expanded. The gas valves, which were supposed to release the excess gas, do not work and the envelope ruptures at 250m (820ft). The airship rapidly loses altitude; shutting off the engines and jettisoning ballast does nothing to stop the descent and the airship crashes, killing all seven crew.
7
0
8 June 1942
U.S. Navy blimps G-1 and L-2 collide in mid-air, killing twelve, including five civilian scientists.
12
0
16 August 1942
Designated Flight101. The two experienced crew of the U.S.Navy blimp L-8 disappear without explanation during the flight, giving it the name "The Ghost Blimp". The blimp drifts inland from its Pacific patrol route, striking the ground and leaving its depth charge armament on the beach. It then lifts off and drifts further inland and crashes 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.[21]
2
0
19 April 1944
U.S.Navy airship K-133, of Airship Patrol Squadron 22 (ZP-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 13crew die; the sole survivor is recovered after spending 21hours in the water.[22]
12
1
21 April 1944
The southeast door of blimp hangar at NAS Houma, Louisiana, is chained open due to a fault. A gust of wind carries three K-class blimps (all of ZP-22) out into the night. K-56 travels 4.5 miles[clarification needed] before it crashes into trees. K-57 caught fire 4 miles[clarification needed] 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.[22][23]
16 May 1944
Training accident at Lakehurst, New Jersey kills ten of eleven crewmen of K-5 as it crashed into the number one hangar.
10
2 July 1944
U.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.
6
4
7 July 1944
U.S. Navy blimp K-53 crashes into the Caribbean, killing one of her crew of ten.
U.S.Navy blimp K-34 crashes off the coast of the State of Georgia, killing two of eleven crewmen.
2
3 May 1945
A Navy blimp's fuel tanks explode over Santa Ana, California killing eight of the crew of nine.
8
29 January 1947
While flying at low altitude, Soviet airship Pobeda[ru] hits power lines. The wires wrap around the propellers, jamming them. Ballast is dropped, but the airship rises so rapidly that the relief valves cannot keep up. Eventually the envelope ruptures and the airship crashes, killing the three crew.
3
0
1947
Soviet airship SSSR-V12 is blown onto a gate and burns while flying into the boathouse at Dolgoprudny. Some metal structures are used in the construction of SSSR-V12bis Patriot.
0
0
14 May 1959
U.S.Navy ZPG-2 crashes into hangar roof during a dense fog at Lakehurst, New Jersey killing one and injuring 17.
1
17
6 July 1960
U.S.Navy N-class blimp ZPG-3W crashes into the sea off New Jersey. 18 of the 21crew were killed.
18
8 October 1980
The 170foot Jordache EA-1 blimp, N5499A, leased by Jordache Enterprises Co., crashes at Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst, New Jersey on its maiden flight. Launched at 085h and with a flight plan to Teterboro Airport and thence to a Manhattan photo shoot, the airship, weighed down with gold and burgundy paint, reached 600feet 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.[24] According to the NTSB report, the cause was poor design. The pilot also had zero hours experience in the type.
U.S.LTA138S airship Bigfoot, which bore the Pizza Hut logo, crashed on top of buildings in Manhattan. The cause included inadequate FAA standards according to the NTSB report.[25][26]
0
2
23 May 1994
WDL-1B airship was attempting to land in Giessen, Germany, when it is 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 fell to their deaths.[27]
2
0
11 September 1994
An Airship International blimp bearing the Gulf Oil logo crashes on a house at Farmingdale, Long Island, having lost gas pressure. It was on its way to cover the U.S. Open tennis championship. There were no injuries, but power was lost in the neighborhood.[28][29]
0
0
May 1995
The Goodyear Blimp type GZ-20 "Eagle", tail number N10A, suffers a deflationary incident when the blimp struck the ground near its Carson, California, mooring site, while unmanned. No injuries were reported. This blimp was repaired and re-registered with tail number N2A.
0
0
1 July 1998
Icarus Aircraft Inc. / American Blimp Corporation ABC-A-60, tail number N760AB, encounters a severe downdraft on positioning flight from Williamsport, Pennsylvania to Youngstown, Ohio, and is substantially damaged when it hits trees at 1105h during uncontrolled descent ~eight miles (~13km) NW of Piper Memorial, near Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. After being blown from treetop to treetop for about ten minutes, gondola settles in a tree about 40feet (12m) in the air and the two pilots exited uninjured and climbed down the tree. Some fifteen minutes later the airship was blown another 900feet (275m) before coming to rest.[30]
0
0
28 October 1999
The Goodyear Blimp type GZ-22 "Spirit of Akron", tail number N4A, crashes in Suffield Township, Portage County, Ohio, when it suddenly enters an uncontrolled left turn and begins descending. The pilot and technician on board receive only minor injuries when the blimp impacts with trees. The NTSB reported the probable cause as being improperly hardened metal splines on the control actuators shearing and causing loss of control.[31]
0
1
16 June 2005
The Goodyear Blimp type GZ-20 "Stars and Stripes", tail number N1A, crashes shortly after takeoff in Coral Springs, Florida. No one was injured. Bad weather may have been a factor in the incident.
0
0
26 September 2006
The 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 12:15hrs. Shortly after, the pilot starts to have problems and he tries to land on Singing Beach, but instead gets caught in some trees near Brookwood Road. The pilot was not injured.
The Hangar-1 blimp operated by The Lightship Group breaks free of its mooring in Worthington, Ohio, and crash lands in a yard. No injuries.[33]
0
0
4 May 2012
An Israeli spy blimp crashes when a crop duster strikes the blimp's side.[34]
28 October 2015
An experimental United States military defense airship becomes untethered in Maryland, and drifts 100miles north before crashing in Anthony Township, Pennsylvania.
A thermal airship crashes near Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin after some of its fabric envelopes tear away mid-flight. Advertising PedFed Credit Union, the airship was flying by the 2017 U.S. Open golf championship when it began deflating rapidly.[36] The pilot suffered from compressed vertebrae in his lower back and third degree burns on his neck, arms, a thigh, and 75% of his back.[37]
0
1
25 September 2024
An Airship do Brasil ADB-3-3 crashed over building in Osasco, Brazil, while performing an advertisement flight for the football club São Paulo FC. The airship was substantially damaged and the 2 occupants on board were injured.[38]
↑ O'Brien, Ellen; Benedict, Lyle (June 2001). 1919, July21: Dirigible (Balloon) Crash. Deaths, Disturbances, Disasters and Disorders in Chicago (Municipal Reference Collection) (Report). Chicago, IL: Chicago Public Library. Archived from the original on 13 December 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
↑ Swanborough, Gordon, and Bowers, Peter M., "United States Navy Aircraft since 1911", Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, Maryland, 1976, Library of Congress card number 90-60097, ISBN0-87021-792-5, pages 573–574.
↑ Roseberry, C. R., "The Challenging Skies – The Colorful Story of Aviation's Most Exciting Years, 1919–1939", Doubleday & Co., Inc., Garden City, New York, 1966, Library of Congress card number 66-20929, page 347.
↑ "C-2 Successful in Long Journey", Miami Herald, 24 September 1922, p. 1
1 2 Secretary of State of Air (March 1931). Report of the R.101 Inquiry(PDF) (Report). London: His Majesty's Stationery Office. p.7. Archived from the original(PDF) on 15 March 2012.
1 2 Shettle, M.L. (1997). United States Naval Air Stations of World WarII: Western states. Vol.II. Bowersville, GA: Schaertel Publishing Co. p.99. ISBN0-9643388-1-5. LCCN96-070565.
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