The Hindenburg disaster, 80 years on: a 'perfect storm of

circumstances'
The huge airship had circled three times around the Empire State Building. It was on
its way to land in New Jersey. From her home in southern Pennsylvania, Libby Magness
Weisberg watched the Hindenburg glide by. Then the zeppelin turned. Its tail swung into view.
On it, stark and black, were swastikas.

Not long after, on 6 May 1937, as it was coming in to moor at the naval base at
Lakehurst, New Jersey, the Hindenburg caught fire and crashed. Of the 97 people on board, 62
miraculously escaped the burning wreckage. But 22 crew members, 13 passengers and one
worker on the ground were killed. After the disaster, President Franklin Roosevelt and King
George sent telegrams of condolence to Hitler.

Eighty years on, as the spectacular crash is remembered with ceremonies and in
retellings, its precise cause remains unknown. What is certain is that it could have been
avoided, or at least minimized, if not for a “perfect storm” of unfortunate events and errors.

The Hindenburg crash was the first major transport disaster captured on film, in
dramatic footage ever since paired with recorded commentary by a radio reporter who reacted
in horror to the shocking scene before him. Few people directly connected to the disaster are
still alive. The lone remaining survivor from the airship itself, Werner Doehner, is now an 88-
year-old resident of Colorado.

The Hindenburg was about 200ft off the ground when it combusted – not “exploded”,
as some have since described it. It burned from tail to nose in just 34 seconds but as it collapsed
to Earth, Doehner’s mother threw him and his 10-year-old brother from the craft. All three
survived.

Speculation about sabotage was rife, as this archive news report from the Guardian
shows. There had been reports of bomb threats to the transatlantic passenger airship program,
the pride of Nazi Germany.

Investigations, however, concluded that a spark of static electricity had most likely
ignited leaking hydrogen as, in Zitarosa’s words, “they brought the ship in for landing under
thunderstorm conditions”.

It is most widely believed that the leak came from one of the ship’s rear gas containers.
What caused the leak is not known. Zitarosa surmised that a broken length of wiring or other
piece of hardware somehow ripped the container, which was made of a tough cotton fabric
with a film of early latex-type material.

Other factors may have contributed. The Hindenburg was 12 hours late to Lakehurst,
having been delayed by strong headwinds across the north Atlantic before spending several
hours flying around the area, waiting for storms to clear.

Zeppelins normally took two and a half days to reach the US from Germany, moving
twice as fast as an ocean liner. Although the Hindenburg had taken three days, it had plenty of
diesel fuel left. It could have flown further.
 But passengers, among them dignitaries heading for England and the coronation of
King George VI, were waiting. The airship was due to turn around in record time.

Its pilots attempted a so-called high landing, in which ropes were tossed to the ground
from around 200ft, for ground crew to pull the giant craft down and secure it to a mooring
mast.

This would be quicker than a more usual low landing, by which the airship approached
long and low until it touched the ground and could be dragged to the mooring mast. A low
approach carried less risk, but took more men on the ground and more time.

Either way, it was known to be extremely dangerous to land in thundery weather.

Ground crew members were soaked and there was electricity in the air.

In a flash, the craft was shooting flames for hundreds of feet, its burning skeleton
collapsing.

If the Hindenburg had caught fire after a low landing, many more would probably have
escaped with their lives. The fire may also have been avoided completely, because the forward
motion of the airship, as opposed to hovering, would have given the leaking hydrogen more
chance of being flushed away through louvered vents.

Despite the US maintaining a monopoly on commercial supplies of helium, an inert gas

that would make airship travel much safer, news reports after the crash suggested that a bullish
Germany was going to keep the zeppelin program going. In reality, thanks to the advent of the
passenger plane, the airship business was already sliding towards obsolescence.

Zeppelins never landed at Lakehurst again. Before long, American dirigibles were
taking off from there instead, searching for German submarines.