Naval Air Station Lakehurst was the site of The Hindenburg disaster in 1937. It was also the site of the Heli-Stat crash in 1986.

The Heli-Stat was an experimental aircraft developed for the U.S. Forestry Service. The purpose was to lift large amounts of wood from forests. The idea for the Heli-Stat was actually patented in 1961, but it took until the 80′s to get someone crazy enough to build it. Fortunately, that crazy entity was the Federal Government, so we all got to pitch in for this one.

The design has to be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen. 4 Helicopters strapped to the bottom of a giant helium blimp. Why anyone thought this thing would end up in anything besides disaster is beyond me. A slight breeze knocked the helicopter blades into the blimp, which caused a cascading disaster. Who knew spinning helicopter blades could poke a hole in a blimp?

Here’s a picture of the monstrosity. I actually found video of the crash here. Not the greatest quality, but you get the point.

Source: Discovery Channel and a Time Magazine article from 1986