Hindenburg disaster (nonfiction)

The stern of the Hindenburg begins to fall, with the mooring mast in the foreground.

The Hindenburg disaster occurred on May 6, 1937, as the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at Naval Air Station Lakehurst in Manchester Township, New Jersey, United States.

Of the 97 people on board (36 passengers and 61 crewmen), there were 35 fatalities (13 passengers and 22 crewmen). One worker on the ground was also killed, raising the final death toll to 36.

The disaster was the subject of spectacular newsreel coverage, photographs, and Herbert Morrison's recorded radio eyewitness reports from the landing field, which were broadcast the next day. A variety of hypotheses have been put forward for both the cause of ignition and the initial fuel for the ensuing fire.

The incident shattered public confidence in the giant, passenger-carrying rigid airship and marked the abrupt end of the airship era.

In the News

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  1938: Alice Beta Paragliding published. Many experts believe that the illustration depicts Beta infiltrating Egon Rhodomunde's hunting lodge, allegedly searching for evidence of Rhodomunde's involvement with the Hindenburg disaster.

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  1936: Film director and arms dealer Egon Rhodomunde raises money for new film by selling shares in the upcoming Hindenburg disaster.

Fiction cross-reference

• Cheating the Big Bang

Nonfiction cross-reference

• Airship (nonfiction)

External links:

• Hindenburg disaster @ Wikipedia

Attribution:

By Sam Shere - Zeppelin-ramp de Hindenburg / Hindenburg zeppelin disaster, No restrictions, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19329337