The airship "Hindenburg": history, technical characteristics and the collapse of the giant. Airship "Hindenburg"

Airship "Hindenburg"

On May 6, 1937, completing another transatlantic flight, while landing at the main aeronautical base of the US naval forces in Lakehurst, the Hindenburg filled with flammable hydrogen caught fire and crashed, as a result of which 35 of the 97 people on board died, as well as one ground crew member.

History of construction

The Hindenburg began its flights with passengers back in May 1936. He managed to fly to North (Lakehurst) and South (Rio de Janeiro) America. That same year, the Hindenburg made the fastest flight across the North Atlantic - in 43 hours. By May 1937, the Zeppelin had made 37 flights across Atlantic Ocean, delivering about 3,000 people to their destinations.

Traveling in the airship was very comfortable. In the hull of the airship there was a restaurant with a kitchen and a salon with a small, lightweight piano specially made for the airship. An observation platform was equipped at the bottom of the airship. . There were several restrictions. The first of these was weight, so showers were offered instead of bathtubs, and everything that was possible was made of aluminum, and the piano was also made of it. The second, and most important restriction is the ban on sources of open fire, which on the Hindenburg were literally a threat to life. Everyone on board, including passengers, was required to hand over matches, lighters and other devices that could cause a spark before boarding. Despite such strict restrictions, the Hindenburg was equipped with a special smoking room. The only electric lighter on board was located in the smoking area. To ensure fire safety, a slight excess pressure was constantly maintained in the room, which prevented hydrogen from penetrating into it, and entry into the room was possible through an airlock.

The crash of the Hindenburg

The Hindenburg took off on its last flight on the evening of May 3, 1937. There were 36 passengers on board, the cost of tickets for which was approximately four hundred dollars. The luggage compartments contained about 900 kg of suitcases, suitcases and other hand luggage. The captain of the ship, Max Pruss, a veteran of the First World War, took his place in the control gondola.

Having departed from Germany and crossed the Atlantic in 77 hours, on May 6, 1937, the Hindenburg appeared over Manhattan. Wanting to please the passengers and demonstrate the airship to the Americans, the captain of the ship brought the zeppelin almost close to the observation deck of the Empire State Building, where reporters and onlookers were already waiting for the aircraft.

After circling over the city, the airship headed towards the Lakehurst base, where it was supposed to land. However, there was a severe thunderstorm over the field, and the head of the base, the famous dirigible Charles Rosendahl, did not recommend Captain Pruss to land. The Zeppelin circled for some time, waiting for permission to land. Finally, the Hindenburg was given permission to land.

At 19:11 the airship dropped to 180 meters. American journalist Herbert Morrison reported from the ground about the arrival of the airship.

“The ropes have already been lowered and are being held by people on the field. The rear engines continue to fire and hold the ship back until... Oh my God, it burst into flames! It's horrible! The flames rose five hundred feet into the sky... It's a nightmare. This is a terrible nightmare. Everything is on fire... look, Scotty, look, Scotty, don't block me... Oh, God, this is terrible! Oh, God, move away, don’t block me. Please! Everything is on fire, and debris is falling on the mooring mast and people around... This is one of the worst disasters in the world!”

At 19:20 the airship was balanced, after which the mooring ropes were dropped from its bow. A bright flash flashed in the area of the 4th gas compartment. A moment later, a dazzling pillar of fire shot up into the sky. At seven o'clock in the evening the acrid black smoke made it as black as late at night. The fire quickly spread towards the bow, destroying the most beautiful aircraft in the world and threatening to kill the crew and passengers. Most of the passengers managed to jump to the ground.

Captain Pruss was not at a loss in the current situation and did everything to increase the people’s chances of salvation. The Hindenburg fell to the ground next to the mooring mast.

Of the 97 passengers and crew members, almost two thirds - 62 people - were saved. Moments later, part of the crew, led by aircraft captain Max Pruss, were pinned to the ground by the flaming debris of the burning hull. Severely burned, they still managed to get out from under the rubble. Ernst Lehmann, the head of the Zeppelin company, which produced the Hindenburg airship, died in this disaster. The ship's captain, Max Pruss, survived, but his face remained disfigured beyond recognition for the rest of his life.

In 1938, the Zeppelin company built another airship, the LZ 130, which was named “Graf Zeppelin” (the same name was given to the Hindenburg’s predecessor, the airship LZ 127 “Graf Zeppelin”). But he was not destined to accept passengers on board: in Germany, flights with passengers on airships filled with hydrogen were prohibited.

Versions of the crash

Notes

Literature

Dick H. and Robinson D. The golden age of the great passenger airships Graf Zeppelin and Hindenburg. - Washington, D.C. and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1985, ISBN 0-87474-364-8
Tittel L. LZ 129 "Hindenburg". - 4., überarb. Aufl., Zeppelin-Museum Friedrichshafen, 1997, ISBN 3-926162-55-4
Kleinheins P. Die großen Zeppeline. Die Geschichte des Luftschiffbaus. - 3., überarb. Aufl., Berlin Heidelberg New York, 2005, ISBN 3-540-21170-5

Links

Navy Lakehurst Historical Society
Airships.net: LZ-129 Hindenburg (English) (Retrieved April 12, 2009)
Bericht des deutschen Untersuchungsausschusses (1937) (German) (see also 2 diagrams from the report - at the bottom of this page)
Hindenburg Hydrogen Fire
Faces of the Hindenburg (English) (about the people aboard the Hindenburg on its final flight)
H. Busch: Funkausrüstung und Peilsystem des LZ 129 (German)
Seconds from disaster: The Hindenburg airship (video)

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When the huge airship freed itself from the cables holding it and began to rise smoothly into the evening sky, applause was heard below. The people accompanying him shouted “Hurray!” and for some time they ran after the retreating giant. Champagne flowed, a brass band thundered. In honor of the opening of the new aeronautics season and the first transatlantic flight of the Hindenburg airship in 1937 on the route Frankfurt - New York, musicians dressed in blue and yellow uniforms performed bravura marches and, at the end, the German national anthem. The music stopped only when the handsome aerial giant - the pride of the Nazi Reich - rose to a height of ninety meters and its huge wooden propellers, driven by four diesel engines, began to spin. But people did not leave for a long time, looking for its luminous lights in the dark sky.

So on the evening of the third of May 1937 in Frankfurt am Main they saw off the largest airship in the world, an amazing creation of human hands, named the Hindenburg in honor of the German Reich President. “The German miracle should surprise the New World,” all German newspapers wrote. “The air giant has conquered Europe, and will conquer America. The sky belongs to us!”

The Zeppelin company, headed by Ernst Lehmann, was absolutely confident in the reliability of the Hindenburg, which was to lead a whole series of airships for transatlantic flights. “Colossal,” former fans of the Zeppelins, the huge airships of the First World War, said about it. These airships made a lot of noise in their time: the Germans used them for aerial bombing and aerial reconnaissance.

The Hindenburg was a significant departure from the airships of 1915, incorporating advances from the last two decades. The crew consisted of 55 people, 25 comfortable cabins were designed for fifty passengers. Cold and hot water. On board there was a first-class kitchen, restaurant, lounge and skyline views. Since the airship was lifted into the air by sixteen hydrogen tanks, which had maximum reliable power, everything on board was electrified for safety. No risk - everything is thought out to the last detail!

The Hindenburg began its flights with passengers back in May 1936. Without any incident, he managed to make flights to America and Rio de Janeiro. The impressions of the lucky people who flew on this airship were published in the press. All of them were replete with the most flattering epithets both addressed to the airship itself and to the well-trained crew, who coped with their duties perfectly.

The next flight also promised a lot of unforgettable impressions. The forty-two passengers on board the air giant had been discussing the upcoming flight for a long time and were anticipating the joy of soaring in the air, preparing to see the night world and the daylight, illuminated by the sun. The spectacle, as the crew members claimed, was unforgettable. Passengers hardly noticed the rise. Only the rapidly receding lights of the city and the shrinking figures of people indicated that the airship was rising into the heavenly heights. Ahead of them awaited no less amazing sights from a height of 150-300 meters - the cities of Europe, then the Atlantic Ocean, Boston and finally New York. In the captain's cabin, located in front of the gondola, the airship commander Max Proust, an experienced pilot, a veteran of the First World War, who had flown Zeppelins, took his place. His task was to control the airship, which (among other things) included maintaining the strictest horizontal flight of the airship. Even with the slightest tilt (just two degrees), bottles of expensive wines could fall off the tables, and preparing gourmet dishes in the kitchen became almost impossible.

In the main cabin was Ernst Lehmann, director of the Zeppelin Rederei company, which built airships in Germany and serviced them during transatlantic flights. The company was doing well; flight tickets were purchased and many flights were sold out a year in advance.

The Hindenburg departed Germany in triumph, crossed the Atlantic and appeared over New York on the third day of the flight. During this time there were no incidents, only when flying over the island of Newfoundland, the ship's captain reduced his altitude slightly. He wanted passengers to be able to admire the dazzling white icebergs. It was a breathtaking sight. No one has ever been able to see this icy and snow-covered island from a bird's eye view.

The Hindenburg arrived in New York on May 6th. The silver cigar descended and floated past the skyscrapers. The airship came so close to the Empire State Building that passengers could see photographers in its windows filming the giant flying past. Down on Broadway and the surrounding streets, crowds of people gathered, their heads raised, looking up. And despite all the hatred for the Nazi regime and the Fuhrer, people rejoiced, smiled and welcomed the miracle of German technology.

Having excited the residents of New York with his appearance, satisfying his own vanity, Captain Proust sent the Hindenburg to the landing site - in the suburb of Lakehurst. Here several hundred people were already waiting for their relatives and friends returning from Europe. A special mast was erected to moor the airship, but strong winds and a thunderstorm delayed the stop. It was too dangerous to cling to the metal mast while lightning flashed in the air. Due to bad weather, the airship circled over Lakehurst for more than an hour. Finally, having described a wide loop over the airfield and still struggling with the downpour, it headed for the mooring mast. The mooring ropes had already been dropped, and the Hindenburg was only some twenty meters from the ground. Among those who met were journalists and radio reporters. Reporter Herb Morrison was assigned to broadcast live for Chicago radio listeners about the Hindenburg meeting. He told what the airship looked like, what its dimensions were, his report was constantly accompanied by his own enthusiastic exclamations: “So, ladies and gentlemen, it is approaching the mast. Oh, what a majestic sight it is! How loudly the powerful engines rumble!”...

And suddenly something completely incredible happened. First, a dull explosion was heard, then a sheaf of flame appeared at the stern, which in a few seconds engulfed the entire airship. And soon the airship fell flat to the ground. This terrible tragedy happened so suddenly, so quickly that all the people gathered at the airfield were simply confused at first. Then panic arose, and the crowd began to scatter in confusion different sides. Flames burst out from the long hull of the airship with enormous force, and four minutes later the Hindenburg was already ablaze. Fire trucks and ambulances rushed howling towards the flaming giant. In these terrible moments, the airfield was a huge tangle of cars and people rushing in all directions. The chaos made rescue efforts very difficult; ambulances, doctors and paramedics had the greatest difficulty in making their way among the fleeing people.

In an intermittent voice, Morrison continued his report: “The airship exploded! Oh God, it’s burning! Move away! Please, away! This is terrible... This is one of the greatest disasters in history! The flames rise 150 meters into the sky...” . One of the passengers who survived the disaster, the acrobat O'Loughlin, later said: “We soared over the airfield and thought about anything but the possibility of misfortune. We were full of thoughts that in a few minutes we would be able to hug our loved ones... I entered my cabin - and suddenly a bright flash illuminated everything around. I looked out the window and saw the earth rushing towards the falling airship. Flames sparkled all around. It’s unlikely that I thought about anything in those moments - there was no time. I jumped - and just in time, because almost at the same instant the airship reached the ground, hitting it with a terrible roar. Someone ran up to me, and I was half unconscious with fear and could tell almost nothing about the disaster. But it was a nightmare!"

Of the 97 passengers and crew members, 62 people were saved - almost two thirds. Fortunately, most of the people were in the bow of the Hindenburg. They still couldn’t understand anything, but from the tilt of the airship’s hull and from the figures of people rushing about on the ground, they realized that something unexpected had happened. And then the passengers and crew showed a miracle of intelligence and desire to survive. One of the passengers, finding himself among the burning wreckage, managed to quickly bury himself in the soft wet sand, which completely covered the airfield for airships.

A water tank installed above one of the cabins burst. This dampened the fire for a moment, and the man splashed onto the ground with the contents of the tank. It was fortunate for many that when the airship fell, the doors opened on their own and the descent ladder fell out. Many people hastily jumped out along it.

Twelve crew members, led by Captain Max Proust, were pinned to the ground by the hot parts of the burning fuselage. Severely burned, they still got out from under the rubble. Max Proust was seriously wounded. Ernst Lehmann jumped out of the airship like a burning torch, but the next day he died in the hospital.

The airship steward, who escaped death, rushed into the fire and pulled out a metal box with money. When the box was later opened in the office of the Zeppelin company, it turned out that the German paper money in it had turned to ash.

The day after the disaster, a film was shown in one of the New York cinemas, filmed during the death of the Hindenburg by five cameramen. Filming began as soon as the airship approached the mooring mast, so the film captured the disaster from the very beginning. These frames, as well as numerous photographs, were later used by a commission that investigated the causes of the death of the “miracle of aeronautical technology.”

The film made an extremely difficult impression on the audience. Screams of horror were heard more than once in the hall, several women lost consciousness.

And correspondent Morrison ended his report with these words: “Oh God! Unhappy passengers... Ladies and gentlemen, I am unable to speak... There is a smoking pile in front of me... The earth is burning. I am trying to find at least some shelter... . I apologize, I need to pause: I lost my voice...".

The death of the Hindenburg made a most painful and depressing impression in Germany. All German newspapers devoted entire pages to the disaster. For a long time, according to the official version, the cause of the tragedy was considered to be the ignition of hydrogen. If instead of hydrogen the airship had been filled with helium, then such a disaster would not have happened. But the Germans could not use helium, since it was produced only in the States, and the Germans again could not buy it there for political and financial reasons. Moreover, the Americans themselves were not going to sell it to the fascist regime.

But in 1972, M. Mooney’s book “Hindenburg” was published, which completely refutes the official version. Its author, after a careful study of German and American archives, came to the conclusion that the airship exploded due to sabotage. One of the crew members, Eric Spely, became disillusioned with the Hitler regime and planted a phosphorus bomb. As a result of its explosion, a catastrophe occurred that shocked the whole world.

Apparently, scientific experts will continue to investigate the causes of the tragedy for a long time, but since then the Zeppelin airship-building company has closed forever. Since then, no more hydrogen-powered airships have been built. And in general, a giant like the Hindenburg was never built again. The tragedy frightened humanity for a long time.

The comfort provided to passengers on the Hindenburg was incomparable to what any airline in the history of aviation had ever been able to provide to passengers.

On deck “A” there were: dining room, 25 passengers. cabins for 2 people each, a tea room, a library, 2 walking galleries (one on each side) and a reception hall with stairs.

The interior design was carried out by the then famous professor of architecture Fritz August Breuhaus

The main difference from the premises on the Graf Zeppelin deck (apart from the natural layout) is the heating of the entire passenger deck by central water heating. Water from the cooling circuit of the airship's propulsion engines was used for this.
The dining room occupied a room 47 feet long and 13 feet wide. The walls were decorated with painted wallpaper by Professor Otto Arpke. They depicted scenes of Zeppelin flights to South America.
In the interior, Professor Fritz August Breuhaus applied another innovation - aluminum pipes were used as racks and furniture frames. The whole thing was covered in red velvet.

On the starboard side of the deck was a 34-foot-long living room. The walls were also decorated with paintings by Professor Otto Arpke, depicting the routes and ships of Ferdinand Magellan, Captain Cook, Vasco de Gama, and Christopher Columbus. Scenes of the transatlantic route LZ-126 (USS Los Angeles), the round-the-world flight of LZ-127 and drawings of the German ocean liners Bremen and Europa.

The furniture, in order to save weight, also had a tubular aluminum frame, but was already covered with brown fabric.

In the living room was the famous 356-string aluminum piano covered in pigskin. The Blüthner piano was transported to the North. America to the 1936 exhibition.

The piano was accompanied by Dr. Rudolf Blüthner-Haessler.

The famous aluminum piano, on which Franz Wagner himself gave several concerts on board the airship

Wagner played like classical music- Strauss and Schubert, as well as modern compositions. The concerts were broadcast live on the NBC network. This is how the Blue Danube waltz was performed to the accompaniment of Suzanne Wilkins.

Another smaller room is the “library”.

But such drawings decorated her.

The “promenade decks” running along each side had wide inclined windows for a better view of the passengers making the promenade.

ABOUT! These decks were trampled underfoot by the “greats of this world” and saw people like A. Hitler

G. Goering

Nelson Rockefeller

Clarence and Dorothy Hall

Boxer Max Schmeling

And also: Winthrop W. Aldrich, Karl Lindemann, Thomas McCarter, Juan T. Trippe, Eddie Rickenbacker, Frank Durand, Eugene L. Vidal, Admiral William H. Standley, Garland Fulton, Henry Ford, Walter P. Chrysler, Alfred P. Sloan Jr. and many more...

View from the promenade deck to the rocky islands of Spain.

Hindenburg was originally designed with 25 passenger cabins for 2 people each, located on deck “A”.
In 1937, an additional 9 cabins were installed on deck “B” for an additional 20 people.

The size of the cabins was not large, but quite comparable to the size of the compartments of railway cars.

The cabin walls were made of thin foam sheets. The cabins themselves were painted in one of three colors: blue, beige or neutral gray. Each cabin had 2 berths. One (lower) was permanent, the second (upper), as in modern compartment cars, could be folded when passengers were awake.

Each cabin had call buttons to be able to call a steward or flight attendant, a small table that folded into the wall, a light white plastic sink with hot and cold water taps, and a small wardrobe. Other carry-on luggage and dresses were stored in a drawer under the lower berth.
None of the cabins had toilets; men's and women's toilets were located on "B" deck below. There was also a single shower, which was quite weak. “No more than that from a bottle of seltzer water,” as Charles Rosendahl wrote.
Since the cabins were located in the center of the deck, they had no windows and passengers were deprived of the opportunity to enjoy views of the earth during the flight, as did the passengers of the Graf Zeppelin.
On the lower deck “B”, in addition to showers and toilets, there was a kitchen, a wardroom for sailors and a wardroom for officers (they rested and ate food separately from the passengers).

There was also a “smoking room” and cabins for the ship’s crew. There was also a cabin occupied by the chief steward, Heinrich Kubis.

Folding ladders descended from the lower deck for boarding and disembarking people.
In addition (as written above) in 1937, additional cabins for 20 people were installed on the lower deck.

As you can see in the drawing - opposite the toilets. This is no longer “business class”... but much better! The cabins were larger and had portholes. The installation of additional cabins occurred due to an incident. Since there was no possibility of filling the airship with helium, it was filled with hydrogen. Thanks to this, the lifting weight was able to increase. So - “There would be no happiness, but misfortune helped...”

Well, the “smoking room” deserves special mention. On the ship, filled to capacity with 7,000,000 cubic feet of explosive hydrogen (!), there was a room for smokers.

The next photo shows a double sealed vestibule at the entrance to the room. Like the room with electrical equipment, the “smoking room” had thick metal walls. Air was constantly pumped into the room to create excess pressure in it. This prevented hydrogen from getting inside the leaks.

In reality, such security measures were unnecessary. The “smoking room” was located at the very bottom, near the keel, and hydrogen, being much lighter than air, therefore always strives upward and could not get to deck “B” in any way. A fire (an open source of fire) would have been much more dangerous if it had arisen on the upper “A” deck, since the passenger cabins on the upper deck were located directly under cylinders with hydrogen and no less flammable “Blau-gas”.

A no less popular place on the ship in terms of attendance was the bar (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif), located nearby through a short corridor.

It was reigned by the bartender Max Schulz (whose secondary, but perhaps main function was to ensure that not a single passenger left the “smoking room with an unextinguished cigarette.” Max was very loved since the days of his service on the Hamburg-Amerika Line route, although he did not know such basic American cocktails as the Manhattan. The famous Maybach 12 cocktail was served on the Hindenburg (unfortunately lost to history for future generations).
During the drinking sessions of a certain Pauline Charteris, the “kirschwasser” cocktail was invented after all the gin for the martini had run out.
Subsequently, this cocktail became the “signature” cocktail for the airship.

And this is his “inventor”.

For those who want to repeat it, I’m posting the recipe (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

3 oz kirschwasser
A tad less than 1/2 oz dry vermouth
A splash of Grenadine
Lemon peel*

Well, the crew had to work...
On deck “B” there was a “radio room”.

In the radio room there was a 200-watt radio transmitter, capable of operating on both long and short waves. The transmitter was powered by batteries recharged from the ship's generator. The transmissions were carried out in telegraph mode (Morse code) and normal “voice” mode. To transmit on long waves from the airship, an antenna 120 meters long was lowered with a winch and also folded with an electric winch. For short waves, the antenna was shorter - 26 meters; it was pulled out and retracted manually. In addition, there was a permanent antenna 15 meters long along the hull, used only for “reception”.
In the event of a failure of the airship's electric generator, there was a separate electric generator launched from an exercise bike.

Cabins for rest of the crew and service personnel were located along the entire airship directly in its keel part - in the 14th, 11th and 5th sections, only the captain had a single cabin, the rest were located in multi-seat cockpits.

In addition, deck “B” had a cargo hold, where various cargoes were transported, as well as cars of wealthy passengers. Many traveled with their favorite “toys”.

In addition, a kitchen (for passengers and crew was prepared separately).

The officers' mess and the sailors' mess were also separate.

A “small” list of all Hindenburg flights:

1936 Flight Schedule

March 4: Friedrichshafen-Friedrichshafen (3hr6min) Test flight.
March 5: Friedrichshafen-Friedrichshafen (8hr) Test flight.
March 6: Friedrichshafen-Friedrichshafen (3hr14min) Test flight.
March 17-March 18: Friedrichshafen-Friedrichshafen (22hr45min) Test flight.
March 18-March 18: Friedrichshafen-Friedrichshafen (7hr49min)
March 23-March 23: Friedrichshafen-Löwental (6hr23min) Test flight.
March 26-March 26: Löwental-Löwental (3ht16min)
March 26-March 29: Löwental-Löwental (74hr4min) Propaganda flight in support of Hitler.
March 31-April 4: Löwental-Rio de Janeiro (100hr40min)
April 6-April 10: Rio de Janeiro-Löwental (103hr52min)
May 4-May 4: Löwental-Frankfurt (7hr32min)
May 6-May 9: Frankfurt-Lakehurst (61hr40min) First flight to North America.
May 12-May 14: Lakehurst-Frankfurt (49hr13min)
May 17-May 20: Frankfurt-Lakehurst (78hr57min)
May 21- May 23: Lakehurst-Frankfurt (48hr8min)
May 25-May 29: Frankfurt-Rio de Janeiro (85hr13min)
May 30-June 3: Rio de Janeiro-Frankfurt 93hr17min)
June 5-June 5: Frankfurt-Löwental (8hr19min)
June 16-June 16: Löwental-Löwental (9hr4min) Flight Krupp/Essen
June 18-June 18: Löwental-Frankfurt (3hr17min)
June 18-June 18: Frankfurt-Frankfurt (11hr) - PR campaign.
June 19-June 22: Frankfurt-Lakehurst (61hr30min)
June 24-June 26: Lakehurst-Frankfurt (61hr5min) Return of Max Schmelingwww.nytimes.com/2005/10/02/sports/others ports/02schmeling.htm
June 30-July 2: Frankfurt-Lakehurst (52hr49min)
July 4-July 6: Lakehurst-Frankfurt (45hr39min)
July 8-July 8: Frankfurt-Frankfurt (1hr26min)
July 8-July 8: Frankfurt-Frankfurt (1hr)
July 10-July 13: Frankfurt-Lakehurst (63hr27min)
July 15-July 17: Lakehurst-Frankfurt (60hr58min)
July 20-July 24: Frankfurt-Rio de Janeiro (85hr38min)
July 25-July 19: Rio de Janeiro-Frankfurt (96hr35min)
August 1-August 1: Frankfurt-Frankfurt (14hr) - Flight at the Olympic Games.
August 5-August 8: Frankfurt-Lakehurst (75hr56min)
August 10-August 11: Lakehurst-Frankfurt (43hr2min)
August 17-August 19: Frankfurt-Lakehurst (90hr10 min)
August 20-August 22: Lakehurst-Frankfurt (43hr49min)
August 27-August 30: Frankfurt-Rio de Janeiro (88hr34min)
September 4-September 8: Rio de Janeiro-Friedrichshafen (109hr55min)
September 14-September 14: Friedrichshafen-Friedrichshafen (10hr53min) Flight 1936 NSDRP.
September 16-September 16: Friedrichshafen-Frankfurt (3hr6min)
September 17-September 20: Frankfurt-Lakehurst (62hr54min)
September 22-September 24: Lakehurst-Frankfurt (55hr36min)
September 26-September 29: Frankfurt-Lakehurst (63hr14min)
October 1-October 3: Lakehurst-Frankfurt (58hr2min)
October 5-October 7: Frankfurt-Lakehurst (55hr35min)
October 9-October 9: Lakehurst-Lakehurst (10hr25min) - “Flight of the Millionaires”
October 10-October 12: Lakehurst-Frankfurt (52hr17min)
October 21-October 25: Frankfurt-Rio de Janeiro (111hr41min)
October29-October 30: Rio de Janeiro-Recife (21hr48min)
October 30-November 2: Recife-Frankfurt (85hr20min)
November 5-November 9: Frankfurt-Rio de Janeiro (97hr50min)
November 12-November 16: Rio de Janeiro-Frankfurt (105hr57min)
November 25-November 29: Frankfurt-Rio de Janeiro (94hr59min)
November 30-December 1: Rio de Janeiro-Rio de Janeiro (26hr37min)
December 3-December 4: Rio de Janeiro-Recife (22hr57min)
December 4-December 7: Recife-Frankfurt (83hr34min)

and for 1937.

1937 Flight Schedule
March 11-March 11: Frankfurt-Frankfurt (6hr17min)
March 11- March 11: Frankfurt-Frankfurt (1hr14min)
March 16-March 20: Frankfurt-Rio de Janeiro (88hr48min)
March 23-March 26: Rio de Janeiro-Frankfurt (97hr8min)
April 27-April 27: Frankfurt-Frankfurt (6hr59min) [
April 27-April 27: Frankfurt-Frankfurt (2hr23min)
May 3-May 6: Frankfurt-Lakehurst (77hr8min)… last one.

And these are flight routes.

Officials from the German Air Force viewed the Hindenburg as a “vessel with a closed cockpit,” which partly determined their attitude towards piloting the vessel.

The airship is sensitive to weather conditions, and especially to thunderstorms. Therefore, the crew was instructed to fly the airship below the level of the clouds, so they could observe and assess the threatening clouds before entering them. In Hugo Eckener's 1919 instructions for zeppelin flying (the most basic manual for the Hindenburg team), Eckener wrote: “The basic principle when encountering thunderclouds is: if possible, avoid those clouds!”

If you can’t go “through” a thundercloud, then you can use it! Taking into account the “Coriolis rotation” (all hurricanes in the northern hemisphere “spin” clockwise), the crew of the ship used the winds blowing around the thunderstorm in order to bypass it. A tailwind helped not only increase the speed of the ship, but also save fuel. At the same time, the airship seemed to “flow around” the thunderstorm, like a sliver circling around a whirlpool.

Thunderstorms presented 2 main dangers:
1. Mechanical destruction of the airship structure due to wind loads. The US military airship Shenandoah was destroyed by the wind shortly before the start of operation of the Hindenburg.
2. Ignition of hydrogen by an electric discharge during a lightning strike directly into the airship cylinder.

Another danger is the uncontrolled rise of the airship by updrafts. In this case, the ship is forced to release hydrogen for descent, which is unacceptable during electrical discharges surrounding the airship in a thundercloud. In Hugo Ekener’s “manual” one of the main points for ensuring flight safety is: “never use the hydrogen release valve...”

There were no other instructions for airship flights for the Hindenburg or Graf Zeppelin. They were not produced either by the companies that built the airships - Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei (DZR), or by Air Force officials. There was not even a special school that trained personnel (officers, sailors and servants). All training took place directly from the “teacher” to the “student”.

Obviously, the flight manual was only in the process of being written when the Hindenburg airship tragedy occurred.
Thus, in a memo dated August 23, 1936, American naval official Garland Fulton described a conversation with Ernst Lehmann about crew recruitment and training: “The new airship manual, which is now being prepared by the Germans, is not yet complete. Captain Lehmann hopes for its completion next winter. Meanwhile, the old manual prepared in 1918 by Dr. Ekener (“Brief Overviews and Practical Hints for Piloting Zeppelins”) is still good example German doctrines and methods... There is no “special school” as such...”
In reality, such leadership was not really needed by the Hindenburg crew. Many crew members served on airships for decades (some began flying zeppelins during the First World War, and even before 1914). The emphasis in training new team members was on transferring practical skills directly during the training process.
The Hindenburg itself was essentially a “laboratory”, an experimental ship on which methods of piloting aircraft of this class were tested. If in the future there had been a planned expansion of the airship fleet, then they would have flown according to the instructions developed at Hindenburg.

DZR did have a “Team Manual,” but it only briefly mentions operational issues (eg job descriptions for ascent and landing, a list of destination stations and a description of the duties and rest and work hours of the various crew members). Much of the Crew Handbook discusses issues such as: crew seniority, detailed description uniforms, privileges ( high-ranking officials got cabin number 100, having their uniforms made by a tailor of their choice). And also certain rules and instructions like: “On the use of latrines and toilets. Everyone should do their best to be neat and clean.”

During the flight, every day, Hindenburg employees received 4 " weather maps”, compiled according to the readings of land and sea weather stations. The report was broadcast by radio station Seewarte from Hamburg and the American radio station NAA "United States Weather Bureau".

2 maps were large-scale, including the earth's surface from the coast of the USA to the borders of the USSR. 2 maps included only the transatlantic route. Each new officer's watch began with the study of the latest "weather map".

Flight on the Hindenburg was not like flying in a hot air balloon and it was not piloted like an airplane or balloon, but like an ocean-going ship. The airship constantly maintained contact with ground-based radio stations, airplanes and ships sailing along its course.

By the way, the main navigation tool was... a telescope, directed not up, but down (!) to the surface of the earth. The telescope with Carl Zeiss optics passed right through the “control cabin.” its eyepiece was on the navigator’s table, and the outer lens was drawn parallel lines. This device was called a “drift indicator”. Thanks to it, the speed relative to the surface was calculated and the drift of the vessel was measured in crosswinds. At night, measurements were taken in the light of a spotlight. If natural conditions were not allowed to see the “risks” on the lens, then they used a “V”-shaped wire frame.

The ship's personnel (officers and sailors of the crew) lived according to a standard schedule: 4 hours - watch, 4 hours - rest, 4 hours - “reserve”. Certain members of the team, whose activities were associated with heavy loads (the helm station, mechanics, personnel inspecting the ship for breakdowns or leaks of cylinders), “stood watch” for 2 hours during the day and 3 hours at night, when it was calmer.

For example, one American naval observer noted that when an engine was shut down mid-flight, the captain did not ask the technicians to explain the cause of the failure, content simply with the engineer's estimate of how long the engine would take to repair.

So the “navigation department”, operating independently from the captain, with the help of 3 officers as well as the elevatorman and rudderman, could independently carry out the procedure for taking off and landing the ship (not to mention the flight and changing the route). The captain carried out only “general leadership”, without delving into the “trifles”.

Several United States naval officials who flew as observers on the Hindenburg described a landing procedure that was very different from that performed aboard American naval airships, in which the commander actively controlled the landing.

Lieutenant J.D. Reppy, who has been on four of the Hindenburg's transatlantic flights, wrote:
“I must note the excellent work of the team. Only three officers managed the landing procedure. One of the officers controlled the operation of the engines, using his own judgment to maintain the speed relative to the ground, operating or stopping the propellers. The second officer, guided by his own judgment, controlled the ballast discharge and the hydrogen release control valves. The third controlled the rudders of the airship and brought the ship to land...
The captain occupied only the position of an observer and sometimes made remarks if he did not like something in the landing procedure...”

Captain Ernst Lehmann (center), Captain Heinrich Bauer (right), Watch Officer Knut Eckener.

Thursday, May 6, 1937, 6:25 p.m. The airship "Hindenburg" (LZ 129 "Hindenburg"), having traveled thousands of kilometers over the Atlantic, appeared over the outskirts of New York. The airship lands at Lakehurst Naval Station in New Jersey.

Captain Pruss was not at a loss in the current situation and did everything to increase the people’s chances of salvation. The Hindenburg fell to the ground next to the mooring mast.

The German passenger airship LZ 129 "Hindenburg" was built in 1936 and became the largest airship ever created at that time. However, in terms of volume it was slightly inferior to the last classic Zeppelin LZ 130, which was built in 1938. The passenger airship received its name in honor of the Reich President of Germany Paul von Hindenburg. This airship entered aeronautics forever, but for a rather sad reason.

On May 6, 1937, while landing at the main aeronautical base of the US Navy, Leyhurst, the airship caught fire in the air and crashed, killing 35 people out of 97 on board, as well as 1 person on the ground crew. Although this disaster was not the largest in the history of airship construction, the death of this particular aircraft received the greatest resonance and also led to the emergence of various versions and assumptions.

Airship "Hindenburg"

The Hindenburg was the embodiment of the triumph of German technology and the scientific thought of this country. At one time, after the National Socialists came to power in Germany, Hugo Eckner, who was a partner of Count Zeppelin and the father of the world's first airline, managed to convince Hitler that the construction and operation of airships unprecedented in power and size could raise the prestige of the Third Reich. Adolf Hitler supported this idea, ordering the allocation of funds for the construction of twin airships “Hindenburg” and “Graf Zeppelin II”. And this could be just the beginning. If the implementation of the first stage of this grandiose airship-building program had been successful, it was planned to begin the construction of even more magnificent passenger and military airships.

At that moment, when the huge airship was freed from the cables holding it and began to smoothly go into the evening sky, loud applause was heard from the ground. People accompanying the Hindenburg shouted “Hurray!”, and some even ran after the retreating airship. A brass band thundered on the ground and champagne flowed. The airship, which departed on the route Frankfurt - New York, opened a new season of aeronautics and made the first transatlantic flight in 1937. Therefore, on the ground, musicians dressed in blue and yellow uniforms played German marches, and at the end they sang the national anthem. The music stopped only when the Hindenburg, the pride of the Third Reich, rose to a height of 900 meters, at which its huge wooden propellers began to move. At the same time, people did not leave for a long time, continuing to follow its luminous lights in the dark sky.

So on the evening of May 3, 1937, in Frankfurt am Main, the world’s largest airship was seen off (as it turned out on its last voyage). In those days, almost all German newspapers wrote about a giant who had already conquered Europe and was about to conquer America. Three days later, on May 6, 1937, thousands of New Yorkers witnessed a majestic and rare spectacle - the arrival of the Hindenburg airship from Germany. This was the 11th transatlantic flight made by this aircraft, and the first flight in 1937.

A huge silver cigar-shaped airship floated silently in the skies of New York. Serenity and calm reigned on board; music was playing on the second deck of the airship, and several couples were dancing. In the first class cabin, the ship's passengers played cards. Children sat at the slightly open portholes, under the strict supervision of stewards, looking from the air at Manhattan passing below.

The journey from the old world to the new “Hindenburg”, developing a speed of 135 km/h in the sky, took 3 days. During this time, no serious incidents were recorded on board. Only when flying over the island of Newfoundland did the captain of the Hindenburg order to descend so that the passengers of the airship could admire the icebergs floating below from above.

Construction of the Hindenburg (LZ-129) began in 1934. Then he was called “the proud angel of the new Germany.” It was larger in size than all existing airships of those years: length 248 meters, diameter 41.2 meters, 4 powerful Daimler diesel engines were installed on the airship (total power 4200 hp), the maximum flight range was 14 thousand km.

The most comfortable conditions for passengers were created on the airship. On board there was a special 15-meter observation deck, a restaurant with a stage and a piano, a large reading room, and a smoking lounge. Food was prepared in a kitchen with installed electrical equipment. Each of his cabins had a toilet, a bathroom, cold and hot water. Of course, everywhere on the airship there were portraits of Field Marshal Hindenburg. After the Fuhrer, to whom Hindenburg had shortly before transferred power, personally visited the airship, his portraits also appeared on the ship.

When creating his airship, Hugo Eckner intended to use inert helium to fill it. This gas has less lifting force compared to hydrogen, but it is non-explosive. The engineer had to increase the volume of the future airship to a truly fantastic size - 190 thousand cubic meters. Being filled with helium, the Hindenburg became almost invulnerable. Even in the event of a direct hit, a maximum of 2 gas cylinders out of 15 would explode. Moreover, according to the designers’ calculations, the Hindenburg could be in the air even with 6-7 punctured cylinders.

However, the calculations remained calculations because politics intervened in the matter. At that time, the only natural helium deposit was located in the state of Texas. In turn, the Americans looked at rapidly developing Germany with fear and flatly refused to sell helium to the Nazis. The US Congress even passed a special resolution on this issue.

For this reason, the designer of the German air giant had to use flammable hydrogen to fill the Zepellin cylinders, taking all possible safety measures that can be considered unprecedented. The most modern fire extinguishing system at that time was installed on the captain's bridge, in the corridors, cargo compartments, passenger cabins and other rooms of the airship. The entire crew was given a special uniform made of antistatic material. The Zeppelin workshops produced shoes with special cork soles. When boarding the airship, passengers handed over matches, candles, lighters and even flashlights. For smoking passengers, a separate cabin was equipped in the form of a sealed box with tightly closed windows, which was equipped with a powerful ventilation system. The carrier company, at its own expense, offered everyone a wide selection of expensive cigars.

The solution to the disaster

Despite all these measures, a disaster on board could not be avoided. Having flown thousands of kilometers over the Atlantic, on May 6, 1937, while landing at Lakehurst Naval Base in New Jersey, an unexpected explosion occurred on board the airship, which led to the death of 35 passengers and crew members out of 97 on board, another 1 base employee died on the ground under the wreckage of a collapsed airship.

76 years after dozens of people died in a fire and the active operation of passenger airships was suspended, American scientists have established the real cause of the Hindenburg disaster. According to The Independent, the theory, which was previously considered as one of the versions, was confirmed experimentally.

A group of scientists from the Southwest Research Institute from the city of San Antonio, located in Texas, came to the conclusion that the fire on board the Hindenburg, which soon after this tragedy began to be called the “Nazi Titanic,” was caused by static electricity, which arose as a result of the influence between a thunderstorm and the outer shell of the airship and its frame. At the same time, for an unknown reason, a gas leak occurred on board the airship, most likely due to damage to one of the hydrogen cylinders. The gas then entered the ventilation shafts.

During the grounding of the airship's landing ropes, a spark arose due to a potential difference between the frame and parts of the outer shell, and the air-hydrogen mixture on board the Hindenburg ignited. Before this, German and American scientists had already put forward a version of a hydrogen leak, while there were disagreements about what exactly could lead to its ignition. In order to confirm the effectiveness of their theory, American scientists constructed and burned a number of models of mini-airships up to 24 meters long. At the same time, the length of the Hindenburg itself reached 248 meters. According to aeronautical engineer Jem Standsfield, the spark was formed precisely under conditions of static electricity. First, the aft part of the airship caught fire, after which the fire quickly spread throughout its entire area; experts were able to demonstrate this during experiments.

As The Daily Mail notes, scientists, in the course of their experimental experiments, wanted to debunk one of the most popular theories that the super-airship built in Germany was destroyed by the explosion of a time bomb. It was assumed that it could have been placed at the bottom of one of the hydrogen cylinders by Eric Spehl, an anti-fascist technician. According to this version, the explosion should have happened after landing, when passengers left the aircraft. But the Hindenburg had to make an “extra” circle due to a thunderstorm, and the bomb’s clock mechanism went off ahead of time, supporters of this theory explained. In any case, Eric Spehl himself died in that disaster.

Sources of information:
-http://www.newsru.com/world/04mar2013/hindenburg.html
-http://www.darkgrot.ru/cult/momento-mori/aviakatastrofi-/article/2431
-http://wordweb.ru/sto_kat/66.htm
-http://ru.wikipedia.org

On May 6, 1937, one of the most famous disasters in the history of aeronautics. Luxurious german airship The Hindenburg burned out while landing in the United States. This wreck became one of the most resonant in history - on a par with the death of the Titanic. The cause of the fire on board still remains a mystery. Moving forward different versions, ranging from an accidental spark to a terrorist attack.

The birth of the Hindenburg

Construction began in Germany in 1931. This was the heyday of the airship era. These aeronautics were considered at that time the most promising type of transport for long-distance flights. Although ships were still the most popular means of transport on transatlantic routes, airships threatened to displace them due to their speed. A flight on an airship took much less time. Airplanes were generally not competitors to airships due to the fact that they had too little carrying capacity, limited flight radius and unreliability.

True, airships also had one very vulnerable spot. They used hydrogen, a highly flammable gas, as the carrier gas. Therefore, any insignificant spark could cause a fire, which literally destroyed the ship in a few seconds. Therefore, from the very beginning, the designers of the Hindenburg designed it to use helium, a more expensive but much safer gas. However, there was one problem - helium production was developed in sufficient quantities only in the USA. And in America, helium was considered a strategic military commodity (airships were actively used for military purposes), and the Americans were not eager to share it with the rest of the world. Therefore, a legislative embargo was imposed on the export of helium.

One of the world's most famous balloonists, Hugo Eckener (he made the first flight around the world in history), personally came to America to persuade legislators to lift the ban on the sale of helium. However, the Nazis soon came to power in Germany and it became obvious that now the Americans would definitely not abandon their embargo. Right on the fly, changes had to be made to the design of the airship to take into account the use of cheaper and more dangerous hydrogen.

Construction of the airship took five years. But the result exceeded all expectations. It was the world's largest aeronautical apparatus. The airship reached 245 meters in length and reached a speed of 135 kilometers per hour. And the gondola where the passengers were could satisfy even the most demanding traveler. The famous German designer Fritz Brauhaus was responsible for the creation of passenger cabins and public spaces, who set an ambitious goal: to make passengers spend most of their time in public spaces rather than in cabins.

On two decks there was a restaurant, rest rooms, work rooms, walking galleries, a dance hall, and a library. There was even a grand piano, made entirely of aluminum to save weight. For the same purpose, we had to abandon the baths, replacing them with showers. Nevertheless, even in this form, the Hindenburg surpassed any passenger aircraft even in the 21st century in terms of comfort.

On the second deck, in addition to the crew dining room, there was a single smoking room. Smoking in other rooms and even simple storage of matches was strictly prohibited; passengers handed over all flammable items before boarding.

At the construction stage, the airship did not yet have a name, only a registration number - LZ129. It made its first test flight in March 1936 and even then did not yet have a name. Berlin was set to host the Olympic Games in a few weeks, so a new airship took off with the emblem of the five Olympic rings. It was only after the second voyage that he finally received the name Hindenburg. In honor of the recently deceased President of Germany, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg.

A few days later, the airship finally made its first official flight. The ship's passengers were journalists from popular German newspapers, who were supposed to glorify the miracle of technology throughout the country.

Pride of Germany

At the end of March 1936, the Hindenburg made its first commercial flight to Rio de Janeiro. Of course, you had to pay for comfort and time savings. Therefore, not every representative of even the middle class could afford airship tickets. The average price of a ticket for a transatlantic flight in those days was $400, which is approximately $7,000 in today's dollars.

On the first nine-day flight to Brazil and back, problems arose with the engines, but everything ended well. The airship successfully returned to Germany as the pride of German airship construction. Few airships then in existence in the world were suitable for regular transatlantic flights, and the Hindenburg seemed to open a new chapter in aeronautics.

Of course, Nazi leaders could not miss the opportunity to use the ship's popularity in propaganda. The airship took part in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Berlin, as well as in some other popular international competitions.

Among the passengers of the airship one could easily see movie stars, famous athletes, politicians, the richest businessmen, aristocrats and similar audiences. The very arrival of the Hindenburg turned into an event, journalists came to the landing site of the airship, radio reports were made, in a word, every flight of the airship caused a stir.

Oh humanity!

Hindenburg", which became his last. There were 61 passengers and 36 crew members on board. The ship was controlled by the most experienced airship pilot Max Pruss, who had more than 170 transatlantic flights under his belt. The flight took place as usual, no emergency situations did not arise. The only incident that forced a change to the original plan was the appearance of a thunderstorm front, which delayed the landing of the airship at Lakehurst Air Force Base for several hours. Pruss was forced to take the airship aside for several hours.

On the evening of May 6, the airship began landing. During the descent, the landing ropes were released, after which a fire suddenly broke out in the tail section of the airship. The fire spread with incredible speed, and within a few seconds the shell of the airship was engulfed in flames. All this happened in front of many people who came to watch the arrival of the airship. This was the first transatlantic flight of the season from Europe to the US, so there were many journalists on site. In addition, there was video filming and a radio report, from which the whole world learned about the tragedy live. The broadcast was hosted by Herbert Morrison, and his desperate and crying cry on air: “Oh, humanity!” made this report one of the most famous in the history of radio, and the phrase itself in the Western world began to be associated with this tragedy.

A little over 30 seconds after the fire started, the remains of the Hindenburg crashed to the ground. Although the airship disaster was one of the most resonant in the history of mankind, the number of victims of the crash was actually not as significant as one might think. 2/3 of the people on board were saved. 36 people died.

Most of the dead were crew members - 22 people. Among the passengers, 13 people died. Another victim was an airfield employee, on whom burning fragments of the airship fell. The bias towards the crew is due to the fact that its members were mainly in the bow, performing necessary actions for landing. It was there that the strongest fire raged and there were minimal chances of escape. Some passengers received minor burns that were not life-threatening. Some were even so lucky that they did not receive any injuries.

Versions of death

The death of the Hindenburg became the main topic for the world's leading newspapers for a long time. The media voiced versions that were more incredible than each other. For example, some newspapers seriously suspected that the airship was shot down by a nearby farmer who had allegedly repeatedly complained about the noise caused by the flights.

Hugo Eckener, awakened by reporters informing him of the death of the airship, initially put forward the theory of sabotage, saying that perhaps someone had fired at the airship. However, after thinking it over thoroughly, he abandoned this version and further insisted on an accidental spark. Versions were also put forward about a lightning strike or an explosion of one of the engines, but they did not enjoy serious support.

Two investigations tried to establish the reasons for the death of the airship. The first was carried out by the Americans, the second by the Germans. Ultimately, both sides abandoned the sabotage version and accepted the accidental spark version as official. Shortly before landing on the ship, a hydrogen leak occurred from one of the cylinders. After the landing ropes were dropped to the ground, a random spark broke out due to a potential difference. Which in turn was caused by passage through a thunderstorm front and the design features of the airship (the aluminum frame was separated from the shell by poorly conductive materials, so after the ropes were dropped, the shell was less grounded than the frame).

Hindenburg" Pruss, who miraculously survived the disaster. However, none of them believed that the terrorist could be among the crew members, so they suspected one of the passengers, the acrobat Joseph Spa.

Spa was virtually undamaged in the disaster. At the moment of the fire, he broke the window and hung down, holding on to his hands. As a result of the fire, the rear part of the airship sharply went down and approached the ground at a distance of only a few meters (the nose, on the contrary, lifted up), and at that moment Spa jumped to the ground. Crew members recalled that he behaved quite strangely, wandered around the entire ship, looked very agitated and preoccupied, and someone even heard that he was telling anti-fascist jokes to other passengers. Additionally, Spa's acrobatic skills made him suitable for the task. The FBI even conducted a background check on the passenger, but ultimately found no clue that he might have been involved in the crash.

In addition, nothing remotely resembling an explosive device was found at the scene of the accident. Therefore, even Germany, despite the assurances of the crew, did not put forward the version of sabotage.

But after the war, the version about the death of the airship as a result of a terrorist attack began to gain popularity again. Several researchers, based on indirect facts, have put forward a version of the involvement of one of the crew members, Eric Shpel, who died that day, in the disaster.

Spehl did not support the Nazi regime, and his girlfriend was even a convinced communist. Being a crew member, he knew everything weak points the ship, had access to compartments where passengers could not get, knew all the secluded places in order to hide an explosive device. Perhaps he intended to destroy the airship as a symbol of Nazi power (the tail of the Hindenburg was decorated with a large swastika, and the airship itself was actively used in propaganda). But Shpel did not plan for the deaths of people. The bomb was supposed to explode at a time when no one was on board. But due to an unexpected delay of several hours in transit, the explosion occurred while everyone was on board. And Shpel himself, for some reason, was unable to change the timer on the “infernal machine.” However, even the supporters of the hypothesis themselves emphasize that it is based on large quantities assumptions and indirect hints.

Nevertheless, the version of sabotage (not on the part of Shpel, but in general) was adhered to by almost the entire crew of the airship, including the captain. In addition, the commander of the air units of the Lakehurst airfield (where the tragedy occurred), Rosendahl, was a supporter of this version. Eckener, who initially also claimed sabotage, later supported the official version.

The end of a wonderful era

The death of the Hindenburg, which occurred almost live, shocked the whole world. The Germans deliberately increased interest in the airship with various PR campaigns, so the Hindenburg was very well known in the world and its crash was almost comparable to the death of the Titanic in its resonance. Ultimately, the death of the aeronautic vessel led to the end of the era of airships, on which many hopes were pinned between the two world wars. The death of the ship, publicized in the media, led to a sharp outflow of passengers. Few people now wanted to travel by such an expensive and at the same time unsafe mode of transport. In addition, Germany, which was one of the world leaders in the field of airship construction, banned passenger flights on airships after this disaster.

Two and a half years after the death of the Hindenburg, World War II began, which led to an almost complete cessation of international travel. During the war years, technology in aviation made such a giant leap that had not been made in the previous twenty years. By the end of the war, airplanes were already clearly superior to airships in any characteristics (except for comfort). Even safer devices that ran on helium could no longer compete with jet aircraft. The age of luxurious aeronautical ships is finally a thing of the past.