One disaster ended the airship era in 34 seconds.
On 6 May 1937, the airship "Hindenburg" caught fire while landing at Lakehurst, New Jersey, and burned in about half a minute. Of 97 people on board, 35 died, plus one member of the ground crew. The ship was filled with hydrogen because the USA would not sell helium to Germany. Newsreel footage and a radio report made the disaster known worldwide.
Useful: A technology rarely dies of statistics; usually it dies of a single filmed moment.
Source: en.wikipedia.org