What happened to the Hindenburg airship tragedy?

Gorgeous crash In the last flight, due to the headwind flying over the Atlantic Ocean (over Newfoundland, Canada) and heavy rain, the "Hindenburg" was 12 hours late. It flew slowly over the east coast and descended in order to arrive in the evening, because this was the best time to land. However, it was still unable to land due to the storm. It hovered over the airport for more than an hour, waiting for the weather to clear. At 7:20 p.m., the airship dropped two landing lines and was preparing to land. At this time, the 972-foot-long (245-meter) and 110-ton airship suddenly caught fire 300 feet above the ground. Two explosions occurred at the tail of the airship. explode. There is a reason that as the Hindenburg passed through rain clouds, its body was filled with negative charges, and when the crew dropped the soaked ropes to the ground to prepare for parking, these ropes acted as grounding wires. When the airship's metal frame is charged by being grounded, the casing begins to heat up and the highly flammable paint begins to spontaneously ignite. People on the ground were helpless at that time. Within 10 seconds, most of the hull was on fire. 34 seconds later, the huge "Hindenburg" became a ball of fire on the ground. People watched helplessly as the 7 million cubic feet of The hydrogen bag was almost immediately engulfed in flames, and the burning skeleton fell to the ground and shattered. The "Hindenburg" burned in thick smoke. Through the brave efforts of navy personnel and flight attendants, many people were rescued. After everyone's hard rescue, 61 out of 97 people escaped death. This cannot but be said to be a miracle. A man gave his life to save others. Another flight attendant was killed by the wreckage of the crashed airship after luckily escaping the flames. Reporters present recorded this historic turn that changed the airship industry. The tragedy was filmed and broadcast live on radio. There were 22 cameras on the ground at the time that captured the thrilling moment of the Hindenburg's crash. This famous photo has also become one of the "Photographs That Shocked the World". At the same time, this incident also damaged Germany's national dignity. Radio journalist Herb Morrison famously commented: "Oh! This is one of the most terrible disasters in the world for all mankind and for all its passengers." Dramatic images of the Hindenburg engulfed in flames, It raised questions about the safety of the entire airship industry. At the time of the incident, the Zeppelin Company, which was already building another airship the same size as the Hindenburg, went bankrupt in 1940. The U.S. Navy's "lighter-than-air aircraft" program began in 1921 and ended in 1961. The Hindenburg crash - the cause of the crash. The Discovery Channel's "MythBusters" conducted experiments and came to a conclusion: the Hindenburg's fire crash was related to the thermite coating on its surface. , which is made of iron oxide and acetate fiber with moisture-proof function. This highly flammable mixture is almost equivalent to rocket fuel. As if to ensure it would ignite, the paint covering the acetate was hardened with aluminum powder, which is also a highly flammable substance. The hydrogen filling inside was the culprit of this crash. Another possibility analyzed in a program on the American Discovery Channel: Because the airship arrived late, the captain was in a hurry to land, and after missing the opportunity to lower it, he turned sharply, causing structural damage. A fixed steel cable broke and scratched the air bag, and hydrogen leaked out. , and then the accident occurred because static sparks ignited the hydrogen gas. It is said that Hugo Echuna, the designer of the Hindenburg, requested that the airship's "balloon" be inflated with helium, which is safer than hydrogen. However, helium is only produced in the United States, and the Americans were afraid that Germany might use it to make weapons. As a result, the leaked hydrogen eventually caused a catastrophe on the Hindenburg. To sum up, when the Hindenburg passed through rain clouds, its body was filled with negative charges. When the crew dropped the soaked ropes to the ground to prepare for parking, these ropes acted as grounding wires. When the metal frame of the airship is charged due to grounding, the casing begins to heat up, and the highly flammable paint begins to spontaneously ignite. This is the cause of the accident. Of course, it is also possible that the fixed steel cable breaks and scratches the air bag, causing the hydrogen to leak out, and then due to Static sparks ignite hydrogen gas. Of course, there are other theories. One of the pilots of the airship insisted that a time bomb was placed inside the "Hindenburg" Zeppelin, which was done by farmers in the woods around the airship pad in anger. activity. Hindenburg Air Disaster - Memorial Ceremony The Germans once believed that the blue sky in the future would be their stage, just as the British dominated the ocean in the past. The "Hindenburg" was the leader among airships, but it ended in tragedy. Every year at 19:25 on May 26, a memorial ceremony will be held at the Hindenburg Memorial Hall at Lakehurst Naval Air Station to commemorate the victims of the "Hindenburg" air disaster and all airship accidents in history. At the time, the incident was captured by 22 movie cameras and numerous photographers. Because everyone had already set up equipment and pointed it at the sky to take pictures of its successful landing, but they never expected to capture this shocking scene. Announcer Herb Morrison of Chicago's WLS radio station was broadcasting the arrival of the Hindenburg live, which was also the world's first live broadcast between both sides of the Atlantic. That famous broadcast recorded his voice: in just over ten seconds, it turned from excitement to panic, and finally to a painful whimper, which was also mixed with the terrified screams of the women around him, quickly spreading the horror of the scene to the world. worldwide.

Nearly three-quarters of a century has passed, but people still remember this thrilling moment in their minds. This disaster is a human tragedy and has seriously damaged Germany's national dignity. Because in the 1920s, airships used to be a symbol of power. It means that in the future people will be able to control the sky effortlessly. In the 1930s, due to the success of airships, the Germans once believed that the sky would be their stage in the future, just like the British dominated the oceans in the past. The Hindenburg was the best of the airships, yet it failed miserably. More than half a century has passed, but people still remember this picture and this thrilling moment in their minds. From this we can also see the unique charm of photography that transforms moments into eternity. Hindenburg air crash - still a mystery Hindenburg air crash personnel For the pilot of the "Hindenburg" Zeppelin airship, such a tragic air crash occurred, he inevitably became one of the responsible persons , but he put the blame on the hidden saboteurs. He insisted that a time bomb was planted inside the "Hindenburg" Zeppelin. Regarding the theory that there were potential saboteurs, Max Pruss, the commander of the Hindenburg Zeppelin at the time, later recalled that he remembered that he had indeed spotted a very "suspicious figure" among the passengers. Later, It is possible that the passenger transport commander inadvertently triggered an explosive device planted by this man. Faced with the claims of "time bombs" and "explosives," Captain Albert Sumter, the operator in charge of the landing direction at the time, had another story. He said that the burning of the Hindenburg Zeppelin was related to The so-called "time bomb" has nothing to do with "explosives", and they insist that the airship was burned due to oncoming fire. According to Captain Albert Sumter, the shooting of the Zeppelin was carried out in a rage by farmers in the woods surrounding the airship pad. According to him, due to being frightened by the Zeppelin airship, the poultry in the chicken farms around the airship pad "all went crazy", so that they often did not lay eggs for many days in a row. When the farmers couldn't bear it, they used air guns to point at the airship. Fire was fired. In short, the burning incident of the "Hindenburg" has always been puzzling, leaving many questions that are still puzzling to this day. For example, why was the Hindenburg Zeppelin delayed by more than ten hours when it suddenly appeared over New York? Why did it then change course south and try to land at Lakehorst? History has left a mark on people. There was a lot of confusion, but no matter what the reason was, the Zeppelin "Hindenburg" sailed to the Lakehorst ground station after all. At that time, the ground station was transmitting weather forecasts and repeatedly reminded the "Hindenburg" to be more careful. . The burning of the "Hindenburg" was a major tragedy in the history of human aviation. It ended the history of airships as manned tools for intercontinental flights.

The burning of the "Hindenburg" airship was later recorded in aviation history as a catastrophic "technical accident". However, to this day, many dissenters have always believed that the burning accident was still a disaster. "Mystery", they have various political or technical questions...