Hindenburg Disaster (1937): The End of the Airship Age

The Hindenburg disaster was the destruction by fire of the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg as it came in to land at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on the evening of 6 May 1937. The hydrogen-filled ship burned and fell in about half a minute, killing 36 people. Filmed, photographed and described on radio as it happened, the disaster brought the age of passenger airships to an end.

Background

Rigid airships, called zeppelins after the German inventor Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, had flown since the first Zeppelin flight of 1900. They were used to bomb Britain in the First World War, and in the 1920s and 1930s the Graf Zeppelin made them famous as long-distance passenger craft, under the leadership of Hugo Eckener.

The Hindenburg, built by the Luftschiffbau Zeppelin company at Friedrichshafen, first flew on 4 March 1936. At about 245 m (804 ft) long it was, with its later sister ship, the largest aircraft ever built. It carried passengers in comfort, with cabins, a dining room, a lounge and even a pressurised smoking room.

The ship had been designed to use helium, which does not burn. But the United States, the world’s main source of helium, restricted its export under a 1927 law, and relations with Nazi Germany made a change unlikely. The Hindenburg was therefore filled with about 200,000 cubic metres of highly flammable hydrogen. The Zeppelin company relied on careful procedures, and German airships had carried passengers for decades without a fatal fire.

The airship also served the Nazi regime as a propaganda symbol. Its tail fins carried large swastikas, and in 1936 it flew over German cities dropping leaflets before a referendum and appeared over the opening of the Berlin Olympic Games. Hugo Eckener, who disliked the regime, had lost much of his influence by then, and the airships were operated by a new firm, the Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei, backed by the state airline and the government.

A one-way ticket between Germany and the United States cost about 400 US dollars in 1936, several months’ wages for an average worker. Passengers were mostly wealthy travellers, business people and journalists, attracted by a crossing of around two and a half days in quiet comfort.

The final flight

In 1936 the Hindenburg completed ten round trips to the United States and several to Brazil. Its first North American flight of 1937 left Frankfurt on the evening of 3 May, with 36 passengers and 61 crew under the command of Captain Max Pruss. Ernst Lehmann, director of the airship operating company, travelled as an observer.

Headwinds slowed the crossing, and thunderstorms over Lakehurst delayed the landing. Shortly after 7 pm on 6 May the ship approached the mooring mast. It made sharp turns and released water ballast and trimmed its tail to level itself, and the ground crew took hold of the landing lines dropped from the bow.

The approach was routine in most respects, though the ship was running late and the crew was under pressure to land quickly, refuel and turn around for a full return flight to Europe. Rain had only just eased when the landing began, and the air was still unsettled.

The fire

At about 7:25 pm, witnesses saw flames near the top of the ship’s tail. Within seconds the fire raced forward through the hydrogen cells. The tail fell to the ground while the bow pointed upward, and in roughly 32 to 37 seconds the whole ship was a burning wreck on the field.

Many people survived by jumping from windows as the ship sank close to the ground or by escaping from the wreckage after it landed. Of the 97 people on board, 35 died: 13 passengers and 22 crew. A civilian member of the ground crew, Allen Hagaman, was also killed, bringing the total to 36. Ernst Lehmann died of his burns the next day; Captain Pruss survived with serious injuries.

The famous broadcast and images

Several newsreel crews and photographers were at Lakehurst to record what was expected to be a routine arrival. Their film and photographs showed the fire in shocking detail and were seen around the world within days.

Herbert Morrison, a reporter for radio station WLS in Chicago, was recording the landing with engineer Charles Nehlsen. His emotional description, including the line “Oh, the humanity!”, became one of the most famous recordings in broadcasting history. It was not live: it was aired the following day and later combined with newsreel film.

Causes

Both the US Department of Commerce and a German commission investigated. They concluded that hydrogen had most likely leaked near the tail, possibly from a damaged gas cell or valve, and been ignited by an electrostatic discharge. The ship had flown through stormy weather and become electrically charged, and the wet landing lines may have grounded parts of it.

Other theories have been proposed. Sabotage was suspected by some at the time, but no evidence was ever found. In the 1990s it was suggested that the doped fabric of the outer skin was itself highly flammable and drove the fire. Later studies have generally rejected the idea that the paint was the main cause, while accepting that the covering did burn. The hydrogen remains the main reason the fire spread so fast.

Myths and facts

• Myth: Everyone on board was killed. Fact: Nearly two-thirds of those aboard, 62 of 97, survived.
• Myth: Morrison’s report was broadcast live. Fact: It was recorded and aired the next day.
• Myth: The disaster was proven to be sabotage. Fact: No investigation found evidence of sabotage.

Consequences

Public confidence in airships collapsed. The Graf Zeppelin was withdrawn from service within weeks, and the Hindenburg’s sister ship, LZ 130 Graf Zeppelin II, never carried paying passengers. Both were scrapped in 1940. Meanwhile, long-range aeroplanes were improving quickly, and by the end of the decade flying boats were beginning transatlantic passenger services.

After the fire, the US Congress loosened its rules to allow helium exports for non-military airships, and Germany hoped to fill its next zeppelin with the safer gas. But after Germany annexed Austria in March 1938, the US Interior Secretary, Harold Ickes, refused to approve the sale, ending any hope of reviving the service.

The disaster was not the deadliest airship accident: the crash of the US Navy’s Akron in 1933 killed 73. But because it was seen by so many, it became the defining image of the airship’s end.

By the numbers

Timeline

• 4 March 1936: The Hindenburg makes its first flight at Friedrichshafen.
• May 1936: It begins regular flights to the United States.
• 3 May 1937: The ship leaves Frankfurt for Lakehurst.
• 6 May 1937, about 7:25 pm: Fire breaks out during landing; the ship is destroyed within about half a minute.
• 7 May 1937: Ernst Lehmann dies of his injuries.
• June 1937: The Graf Zeppelin is retired from passenger service.
• 1940: The remaining German zeppelins are scrapped.

Why it matters

The Hindenburg disaster ended nearly four decades of rigid airship development, from the first flights over Lake Constance through the Zeppelin raids on Britain to the luxury liners of the 1930s. It is also a landmark in media history: one of the first disasters captured so fully on film, photograph and sound recording, shaping how the world experiences catastrophe.