Goodyear donates lifeboat to Smithsonian

ERJ staff report (DS)

Suffield, Ohio -- The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is donating a lifeboat from its 1911 airship to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washngton DC.

The airship, named the Akron, was Goodyear's first airship envelope, designated serial number D-1. The Akron was lost at sea in 1912 during an attempted transatlantic crossing. The only significant piece to be recovered from the accident was the lifeboat, which has been held in storage by Goodyear since 1912.

“The National Air and Space Museum is delighted to add this survivor of the very first Goodyear airship to its collection of historic air and spacecraft,” said Tom Crouch, Senior Curator of Aeronautics, National Air and Space Museum. “It will have a place of honor in a section of the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center housing the Double Eagle II, the first balloon to fly the Atlantic, and the Concorde, which whisked travelers across the Atlantic at supersonic speeds.”

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Press release from Goodyear