"Oh The Humanity!"

Just before mooring at the field in New Jersey, the colossal German air ship caught fire and in an instant...came crashing down.

Facts:

1. The disaster happenned on 6 May 1937, at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, NJ. (Flight originated in Frankfurt, Germany).
2. There were 97 people on board; Fatalities included 13 passengers, 22 air crew, 1 ground crew.
3. Signaled the end of rigid air ship travel.

The story begins after taking off from Frankfurt Germany and traveling over 10,000 miles to the shores of America.

The reason for the Hindenberg's demise had gone unrealized for decades. Most people surmised that the ship was either struck by lightening or was sabotaged. Recently, however, new research has discovered that the true cause of the disaster was a combination of static electricity and a flammable pre-disposition.

The weather in Lakehurst, NJ on the cold morning in 1837 was not ideal for airship travel. Lightening had been sighted in the distance and the fact that the balloon was full of volatile hydrogen gas added a sense of urgency to the matter. Fearing a lightening strike, the captain considered an emergency landing. Unfortunately, he could not have known that the most imminent danger was, not the lightning or the hydrogen, but the shell of the balloon and an unseen product of the storm...static electricity.

The shell of the Hindenberg's balloon had been coated with an aluminum powder varnish type substance that closely mimicked the same chemical composition of rocket fuel; it's application left the material extremely dry and flammable. The introduction of static electricity on top of this supremely sensitive scenario was a one way ticket to disaster. All that was needed to set off the chain of events was a tiny spark.

Passengers heard a "boom" and then, peering down to the ground, the crowd and ground crew turned orange. It was obvious what was happenning. There was only seconds to react.

The shell was gone in an instant, the fire gaining intensityfrom the inevitably ignited hydrogen. Within one minute...the Hindenberg lay a morbid maze of twisted metal ablaze on the ground; it continued to burn for several hours.

Mercifully, 61 people did escape with their lives.

This event signaled the end of rigid air ship travel, the general public having lost confidence in its safety.

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Herbert Morrison provided the famous eyewitness account which was radio broadcast one day after the disaster. This emotional report is the origin of the phrase, "oh the humanity!"

There of course remains the stories behind the scenes that sometimes go unnoticed. Other theories suggest that the structural integrity of the ship was previously compromised and went unattended.