Modern Mysteries

What caused the Hindenburg to catch fire ?

By T.K. Randall
May 23, 2017 ·  7 comments

The inferno was unstoppable. Image Credit: Nationaal Archief @ Flickr Commons One of the 20th century's most infamous disasters, the destruction of the Hindenburg - a large German passenger airship - occurred following its arrival at Naval Air Station Lakehurst in Manchester Township, New Jersey in May 1937.

The huge hydrogen-filled airship was carrying 97 passengers at the time of which 37 lost their lives when the vessel inexplicably burst in to flames and crashed to the ground, bringing with it any remaining confidence in airship travel in general.

Although it is obvious that the gas inside the ship provided the fuel for the blaze, the exact reason why the airship went up in flames in the first place has remained a topic of debate for decades.

One of the most popular theories suggests that the fire started when the buildup of static electricity on the airship's exterior came in to contact with a special type of 'dope' ( a mix of iron oxide and aluminum-impregnated cellulose ) that had been painted all over the canvas.It wouldn't have taken much of a fire to set the hydrogen inside burning and for the blaze to consume the whole ship.

A second theory, which also takes in to account the flammable exterior of the Hindenburg, suggests that a steering cable at the back may have come loose and started to flail around, creating sparks which could have easily set off the fire.

Whatever the case though, the disaster proved so catastrophic for the airship industry that it was abandoned entirely soon afterwards, paving the way for the airplane.

The Hindenburg's sister ship, the Graf Zepplin 2, was the last great rigid airship of its day.

It flew 30 flights between 1938 and 1939 before eventually being scrapped in 1940.

Source: Smithsonian Magazine | Comments (7)

Tags: Hindenburg, Airship