Sierra Hotel Blog
On May 6, 1937, the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire while attempting to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey, and was destroyed in under 40 seconds. Thirteen passengers, 22 crew, and one ground worker were killed. The disaster effectively ended the era of commercial airship travel.
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On April 28, 1937, a Pan American Boeing 314 Clipper completed the first commercial transpacific flight, arriving in Hong Kong from San Francisco. With private bunks, a dining room serving five-course meals on fine china, and white-coated stewards, the Clipper was the pinnacle of luxury air travel — until the war drafted the fleet into military service and newer, faster aircraft rendered it obsolete by 1951.
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On April 20, 1978, a Soviet Su-15 shot down Korean Air Lines Flight 902 near Murmansk after misidentifying the Boeing 707 as a USAF RC-135 spy plane. Hit by an R-60 missile, the crew managed an emergency landing on frozen Korpiyarvi Lake. All 107 passengers survived. The Soviet Union then invoiced South Korea $100,000 for caretaking expenses.
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On April 7, 1999, a KC-135R Stratotanker at Tinker AFB was catastrophically over-pressurized during a maintenance test after a technician missed a full extra revolution of the pressure gauge needle. The resulting blowout tore a 35-foot hole in the aft fuselage and dropped the tail section to the ground.
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On March 27, 1977, a KLM Boeing 747 took off without clearance and collided with a Pan Am 747 still on the runway at Tenerife. 583 people were killed in the deadliest accident in aviation history.
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