About Max Pruss
Max Pruss (13 September 1891 – 28 November 1960) was the captain of the Zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg on its last voyage and a surviving crew member of the disaster. == Biography == Max Pruss was born in 1891 in Sgonn, East Prussia (now Zgon, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland). He joined the German Navy in 1906 and completed airship training during World War I, serving as an elevatorman on the German Zeppelins. Pruss became part of the Hindenburg crew in 1936 on the third flight to Rio de Janeiro. During his career, he flew 171 times over the Atlantic. The final flight of the Hindenburg was May 3–6, 1937, and it was Pruss' first flight as commanding Captain of the "Hindenburg". According to Airships.net he was a member of the NSDAP. He died at age 69. == Hindenburg disaster == Pruss was commander of the airship during the Hindenburg disaster of 6 May 1937. This was his first time commanding a trip to Lakehurst. Pruss and several crew members rode the Hindenburg down to the ground as it burned, then ordered everybody out.
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