"The ill-fated dirigible was the mightiest airship ever built, larger than the British R-34, which flew across the Atlantic in 1919... [The Z-R2 measured] 700 feet, just 150 feet longer than the height of the Washington Monument. As fully equipped almost as an ocean liner, she was the Titanic of the air, and met a Titanic's fate. There were quarters for officers and for crew, a radio set with sending apparatus of about 1500 miles, wireless telephone and an electrical control system throughout the dirigible itself....Men with parachutes in hand were burned to death before they could work clear of the tangled and falling rigging." Five members of her crew survived the accident.
The the fatality figures of this primary source article contrast greatly with those listed on Wikipedia, however the article lists in some detail additional airship accidents that took place during that same period.
Click here to read additional primary source articles about dirigibles and zeppelins.
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