Last of the Nazi Air Giants at Lakehurst

Take a step back into history by booking a party bus, charter bus, mini bus, school bus or tour bus with Bus Companies NJ and visit the site of one of the world’s greatest aircraft tragedies of its time
in Lakehurst, New Jersey, the site of one of the world’s then largest and most famous aircraft disasters of all time.

One of the first filmed air disasters in the 20th century is that of the Zepplin Hindenburg – the pride of the Nazi airship fleet, the biggest aircraft ever built at 804 feet long, filled with over seven million cubic feet of combustible hydrogen.

The visual spectacle of the burning air craft as it crashed to the ground in flames has become one of the most recognizable television footage of all time and has been etched in the minds of thousands who witnessed it, either live or on television. Tour bus visitors from all around the world loves to come to have a quick look so that they can connect with the event.

On May 6, 1937, as it was landing at a Navy base in Lakehurst, New Jersey, the nearest place to Manhattan that was big and empty enough to handle it burst into flames and crashed. Thirty-six people died and with them the popularity of zeppelins as transatlantic transit.

The site where the Hindenburg crashed is still part of an active Navy base and it sits still, big and empty, a windswept expanse of crumbled asphalt and occasional scrubby weeds. As somber as it is, charter bus tourists think of it forms a relevant part of NJ's aviation history, something that all of us can learn something from.

Charter bus visitors can have a tour of the crash site but need to be screened weeks in advance. The exact spot of the crash is marked by a metal wind-turned silhouette of the Hindenburg atop a pole, and an anchor-chain outline of the Zeppelin on the ground.

There’s a small museum located in the Airship Information Center that is packed with artifacts and memorabilia and a short walk away is the giant Hangar 1. The huge hangar once sheltered the Hindenburg and now encloses a life-size replica of the Hindenburg's control car (made for a 1975 Hollywood movie about the Hindenburg that starred George C. Scott) and a neon and metal blimp sign that once stood outside of the defunct Lakehurst Motel along with items salvaged from the wreck: a drinking cup, a fork with the Hindenburg logo, and a section of girder -- the largest piece of the doomed airship that survived.

There's simply too much to see but it is highly recommended for anyone making a bus charter mini bus trip to New Jersey so book your trip today with Bus Companies NJ to see what air travel could have become, if the Nazi’s had won or if the Hindenburg had never crashed.