The Hindenburg has often been referred to as "The Titanic of the Air." It was the largest airship ever built, being over 800 feet long from its nose to tail fins. It carried over 2,656 people from Germany to New York and Rio de Janeiro in the sixteen trips it made across the Atlantic. Previous airships used hydrogen, but the designers of the Hindenburg decided on helium for safety, as helium did not burn. However, helium does not provide as much lift as hydrogen, and the Hindenburg was designed with extra room for the gas. Helium was never obtained for the Hindenburg, as America had a monopoly on the gas and was afraid that Hitler would use the gas for military purposes. As the ship was landing on its first trip across the Atlantic for the season, at the Naval Base of Lakehurst, it burst into flames. First the tail caught on fire, and the hydrogen gas bag then burst into flames. It burnt within 37 seconds, with 62 of its 97 passengers managing to escape from the fireball. There are many theories as to how the Hindenburg caught on fire, but regardless of why it exploded, the incident ended the era of the zeppelin passenger lines. The advent of the jet engine and the memory of the Hindenburg ended any future that the lighter-than-air vehicles may have had.