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George's Hindenburg site

Hindenburg pics


Hindenburg Quiz
Click here to hear the Hindenburg crash radio broadcasts

RECOUNT
The Hindenburg disaster occurred on May 6th, 1937. The German airship was coming in to land at the naval airstation at Lakehurst, New Jersey after a flight from Germany. She was the most modern way to cross the Atlantic. Hundreds of people were there to watch. She was an amazing sight – 3 football fields long, travelling at 140 km/hr and filled with 7,000,000 cubic litres of hydrogen. She was luxurious with cabins, a dining room, lounges, statesrooms, a fireproof smoking room, a library and a dance floor. Gigantic swastikas were painted on her fins. She still holds the record as the largest aircraft ever to fly. She was a disaster waiting to happen because she was filled with a highly flammable gas (hydrogen). She was not meant to be filled with hydrogen at all, but the Americans refused to supply them with the stable gas helium because in World War 1 the Germans had used the airships as weapons of war.

A size comparison of the Hindenburg with a 747
and the Titanic. The Titanic is only 78 feet longer
than the Hindenburg at 882 feet long

On May 4th, the Hindenburg left Frankfurt with 97 people on board, 36 of them were passengers.

She had made many trips before, but this was going to be the last of her life. After a slight delay due to stormy weather, the Hindenburg approached to make her landing at Lakehurst. The mooring lines were thrown down to secure the great airship. She remained motionless in the sky. Excited passengers waved at their friends and families below. Suddenly a blue flame (probably St Elmo’s fire – a form of static electricity) shot along the Hindenburg’s tail. The massive airship caught on fire with her outer skin burning like paper. After a few seconds the flames covered the whole ship with gas cell after gas cell burning fiercely. Passengers and crew could see the flames licking up the sides of the ship. Within 30 seconds the gas cells had all burnt. Without hydrogen gas to lift it, the ship’s weight went from nothing to 222 tonnes and crashed to the ground in a metal heap.

3 crew members in the bow escaped by clinging to the wreck until it hit the ground. 19 crew members in the control cabin escaped, some jumped others ran from the wreckage. A 14 year old kitchen hand survived because he was drenched with water from the burst ballast tanks. The fire killed 36 people, including 13 passengers, 22 crew and the Captain who died later from terrible burns. After this disaster, airships were no longer used to carry passengers.

Investigators searched through the wreckage for clues but could not find any hard evidence. Most people thought it was due to leaking hydrogen gas but surviving crew members swore this wasn’t true. Today there are several theories why this terrible disaster happened. Here are 3.
1: Sabotage. A bomb was planted on board – no strong evidence to support this.
2: Hydrogen gas. A hydrogen gas leak has long taken the blame for the disaster. Following 2 years of laboratory tests, a NASA fuel expert came up with this startling conclusion – hydrogen did not start the fire!! The very bright colour of the flames was not like a hydrogen fire – hydrogen makes no visible flame.
3: The fabric covering. Experiments were done on the fabric that covered the giant airship in the NASA lab. Even after nearly 6 decades the skin has been found to be highly explosive when set alight.
CONCLUSION: I think the 3rd theory is correct. The skin initially ignited due to the St Elmo’s fire or lightening and then the hydrogen gas ignited. The bright flame was the fabric burning. This disaster was man made.


REFLECTION
1. If I found myself in this situation, time would be vital. How I would act would depend on where I was. If I was in the bow, I would hold on to it like the other survivors. If I was near water, I would drench myself and jump, otherwise I’d take my chances and just jump.
2. To prevent this happening again I would use helium gas because it’s non flammable. I would choose a fabric for the covering that was fireproof so even if it was struck by lightening or St Elmo’s fire it would not ignite.
3. Under each seat would be a parachute made out of non flammable fabric which would help you land safely when you jump.

Hindenburg Quiz

Name:
EMail:




1. Where did the Hindenburg crash?
New York
New Jersey
Frankfurt


2. List in size form biggest to smallest.
747,Hindenburg,Titanic
Titanic,747,Hindenburg
Titanic,Hindenburg,747


3. What gas did the Hindenburg use?
Hydrogen
Helium
Carbon dioxide


4. What date did the disaster happen?
4th May
7th May
6th May


5. How old was the kitchen hand who was drenched in water?
15
16
14



Bibliography:
1. Shadow in the Clouds by Douglas Botting
2. Flying Machines – Collins Eye Witness Guides
Internet:
1.
http://www.ttcorp.com/nha/advocate/ad22zepp.htm

2.
http://www.ciderpresspottery.com/ZLA/greatzeps/german/Hindenburg.html

3.
http://www.nlhs.com/hindenburg.htm

4.
http://njtimes.rutgers.edu/crash.htm

5.
http://www.esdjournal.com/articles/disaster.htm

6.
http://engineer.ea.ucla.edu/releases/blimp.htm

7.
http://ntas.mahwah.k12.nj.us/hs/EXPLTECH/DISASTER/HINDENBE/index.htm