On May 6, 1937, the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire during the docking maneuver at the mooring mast of Naval Air Station Lakehurst, New Jersey. The hydrogen-filled airship burned completely in less than one minute and crashed to the ground. The photograph documents the immediate phase of the fire, in which the stern of the airship had already struck the ground while flames engulfed the hull. Of the 97 people on board, 36 lost their lives; the disaster marked the end of commercial passenger airship service.