Disaster recovery

Seventy years on, airships are finally emerging from the shadow of the Hindenburg disaster.The JHL-40, which will be developed and built by Boeing, combines a neutrally-buoyant semi-rigid helium envelope with four Chinook helicopter rotors. The inert gas provides enough lift to support the aircraft, leaving the rotors to lift cargo - 40t at a time - and propel it at up to 70 knots (130km/h) over its range of 320km.