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Hindenberg Disaster

In 1937, at 7:25 pm, the dirigible The Hindenburg burned while landing at the naval air station at Lakehurst, N.J. On board were 6l crew and 36 passengers. The landing approach seemed normal, when suddenly a tongue of flame appeared near the stern. Fire spread rapidly through the 7 million cubic feet of hydrogen that filled the balloon. Within a few seconds the Zeppelin exploded in a huge ball of fire. The ship fell tail first with flames shooting out the nose. It crashed into the ground 32 seconds after the flame was first spotted; 36 people died. Captain Ernst Lehmann survived the crash but died the next day. He muttered "I can't understand it," The cause remains the subject of debate even today.


The golden age of the great passenger airships: Graf Zeppelin & Hindenburg  by Harold Dick and Douglas Robinson

Zeppelin!: Germany and the airship, 1900-1939  by Guillaume de Syon

When giants roamed the sky: Karl Arnstein and the rise of airships from Zeppelin to Goodyear  by A. Dale Topping and Eric Brothers