Recreating The Infamous Hindenburg Disaster | What Destroyed the Hindenburg? [4K] | Spark
The Hindenburg’s catastrophic landing on May 6th 1937 marked the end of the Golden Age of airship travel. Yet three quarters of a century later, there is still no clear answer about what went wrong. Out in the Texan desert, we build a full size model and recreate the blast to find out.
-
Few disasters have left such an impression on the world or had such an impact on a single industry. After 10 trips to the USA in 1936, the Hindenburg was due to complete a further 10 trips from Europe to the US for its second year of commercial service. She was also contracted with American Airlines to shuttle passengers from Lakehurst to Newark for connecting flights. On the day of the catastrophic landing, May 6th 1937, she was only half full ahead of what would have been a sold-out trip to take spectators from the US to Germany who were attending the coronation of King George VI.
The explosion and loss of life that day marked an abrupt end to the Golden Age of airship travel. The airship was the pride of Nazi Germany and burst into flames upon touching its mooring mast, in Lakehurst New Jersey. 35 passengers and crew members were killed, of 97 people aboard. Yet three quarters of a century later, there is still no clear answer as to how the incident occurred.
Due to the scale and volume of the Hindenberg - along with the intricacies of its design no one has ever able to provide a satisfactory explanation of how or why the disaster occurred, until now. We debate sabotage, mechanics, weather and even passengers themselves.
-
Subscribe to Spark for more amazing science, tech & engineering videos: goo.gl/LIrlur 🚀
Find us on:
Facebook: / sparkdocs
Instagram: / spark_channel
This documentary was produced in 2012.
Content licensed from Espresso to Little Dot Studios.
Any queries, please contact us at: owned-enquiries@littledotstudios.com
#Hindenburg #Airship #Zeppelin
It is such a shame, in a way, that the era of these giant airships has passed. They must have seemed such wonders back then.
It' s a shame they don't revive them. We can use much-safer helium for buoyancy. The only reason Germany used hydrogen is that the US would not sell them helium for security reasons.
@@harrietharlow9929 As far as I know, there have been several attempts to revive, also recently, but apparently not with success. My impression is that the materials have to be so incredibly light that they simply cannot make the airships strong enough. But maybe someday, with new materials, they can.
@@diedertspijkerboer That would be wonderful. The Zeppelin was a wonderful concept. I hope that one day something will be developed to allow a new generation of these to fly/
Ya and so much more comfortable to ride in, and more ecological!
Concorde + Zeppelins
I was just wondering about this actually.. Think about how crazy the early 1900s were, they had powered flight for a few decades then suddenly massive airships flying across the ocean and the birth of rocketry.. Incredible times.
It really was an amazing time. I still am finding discoveries that were made in in the early 1900s rather than later as I had originally thought.
@@harrietharlow9929 "There have been technologies that have been kept from you but in the future they will be released to you." -Avatar Meher Babas address to America, 1930's 💖🙏🌻
I always new of the Hindenburg, but didn't recall it happening on US soil. I didn't know they were flying overseas.
All of this led to Chewbacca mom
43:07-The last theory fits perfectly. It wasn't a massive explosion at first. Eyewitnesses on the ground reported seeing trickle of flames pouring up like a small campfire. Then the fire spread so fast the an entire gas bag exploded. That around the time where the cameras start rolling. It fits with the witnesses said they saw.
yes but it was rapid enough that many people didn't notice it until shortly before all hell broke loose. Gas cell 4 ignited first and was almost instantly followed by cells 1 to 9 and all known images show the stern completely engulfed in this manner. Passenger Joseph Spah actually filmed the initial fire reflecting off the landing field and while the footage is brief it shows just how intense the ignition was.
Okay, one problem. The spark that fell down the model of the ventilation shaft matched the descent rate of the torch being lowered. They may have accidentally goosed their own test. That being said, the St. Elmo's Fire theory matches the results extremely closely and does appear to be the most likely scenario.
The Hindenburg was landing during a thunderstorm and winds were shifting regularly. While making his final approach the winds shifted again and the pilot executed a sudden correction using the rudder. This many maneuver created a very large stress on the airframe which snapped an internal stay cable. The high tension cable then whipped one of the internal gas bags causing a large tear. From this point two things were observed from the ground. First witnesses noticed a flutter of the skin of the craft right in front of the tail, that indicated hydrogen gas was escaping and mixing with the atmosphere resulting in an explosive mixture. Second, the witnesses noticed the back of the ship was getting heavy and the back of the ship began to sink. The pilot immediately noticed the and took corrective action, by dumping water from the rear trim tank and moving his crew forward to keep the ship level. These ships carry a large amount of static electricity which gets grounded when the ropes are dropped. This created the spark for the source of the ignition. And the rest is history. The cause of the disaster, rushing the landing under time pressure and poor airmanship by the pilot. Mystery solved. Thank You!
Well I’m not even gonna bother with the video anymore
Wow, you were there.?That's totally amazing. I ,by the way was on the titanic. It wasn't fun. Oh no siree, Jim Bob. But... I'm here to tell any tale you prefer.
I saw a video years ago discerning this very scenario. It makes sense.
Well explained👍👍👌
My grandfather's dad was there at the lake Hurst naval air station and he said that he could see what looked like bubbles appearing in the side and top near the top tail fin and he noticed she was slanting backwards and that's when she exploded
Amazing video, keep it up bros!!!
If you read an account of the landing procedure I think you will see the ground command setup destruction. The signal station was not working and they gave the Hindenburg the wrong approach information. At the very last minute they switched the wind direction 180 degrees forcing the airship to make a sharp 90 degree turn. The crew of the airship knew better than to make a sharp turn however the owners were at the controls and simply turned the ship. This broke the frame just in front of the tail fins. Numerous witnesses saw the ship had lost its shape on final approach with the exterior skin distorted and not tight. Just after the structure failure the gas bags at the same location caught fire.
The mystery has been solved
Joseph, can you cite anything about the time reference between the aircrew reporting the stern of the airship sinking out of trim and dumping ballast to re-level for landing and the sharp correction into the wind for landing? If the turn preceded the first notation of the ship becoming stern heavy, likely due to loss of lift from an aft gas bag leak, this would support your theory being a primary cause of the incident, likely lit off by a spark, which may have been contributed to by the airframe segment breaking away and breaking it's electrical bonding and causing sparks between frame segments and/or skin segments at different charges from the flight, either with or without earth grounding.
@@Bear-cm1vl I owned the book Hinnenburg and read the detailed account of the landing possibly ten years ago. Once the ship is on final approach the time passage is very short. As presented in the book the sharp turn occurred just before the ground crew could see the exterior skin loosen. Of course the fire broke out shortly after the ground crew got close to the ship. If the ship was not directed to destruction by ground command why was the signal mast turned off?
Another theory is that the flammable dope applied to the fabric cover was the primary accelerant. The investigators might have built a helium filled mockup covered by the same doped fabric to test this hypothesis. For if it were true, the use of helium might have made no difference and The Hindenburg was originally to be filled with helium. Chances are both hydrogen and fabric dope contributed to the fire.
My real name is Michael McCluskey. We still have a few airships in operation. They use helium a nonflammable gas instead of hydrogen
Yes. However most Semi Rigid's or Blimp's around today are only 192'-254' long. Nothing flying around that's 785-804.8' long today.
About ten years ago, I was an intern at the Institute of Energy Process Engineering and Fuel Technology where I heard about flame suppression filters. These filters are required for vents of fuel tanks ending the fuel up burning. Further I know, modern planes are required to have electrode wicks for the discharge of lightnings. The Hindenburg did have both the wicks and the filters installed, IMO her captain could have managed to moore her fairly safely and have the hydrogen bags repaired.
Wow the first test was really close to the real crash good job guys
Meanwhile, Adam Savage and the rest of the former Mythbusters team goes "What are we? chopped liver?"
My grandma was invited by her sister, who’s husband, Ben May worked in the tower, to come watch the Hindenburg land that day. She always said it was electricity ⚡️ Hydrogen NOT the most stable fuel ⛽️
But helium is quite stable--think of the Goodyear blimp. The Germans would have preferred to use helium but the US refused to sell them helium for security reasons.
So your great uncle ?
@@harrietharlow9929 So Ben May was one of the 5 or 6 men on top of the Tripod Mooring Mast? He must have felt the heat being 75' above the ground. I know Bull Tobin was on top of the Mast yelling orders to the ground crew.
This was a great documentary and experiment. Unfortunately I now have that damn "St Elmo's Fire" song stuck in my head now....
Imagine what it would've been like if the wreckage is currently still sitting where it fell, they decided to leave it there, possibly even a building was carefully constructed around it
Let’s put people inside a giant ballon full of hydrogen and electrical connections and try to fly it. That idea checks out…
Yeah not the best idea they us helium these days....not as much lift but safety first ;)
Let's put a bunch of people in a thin metal tube with wings filled with farts and jet fuel and try to fly it, that idea checks out too!
@@Chris-hd3yc A1 is not combusible to a naked flame....its very much like diesel and need compression heat.
Germany had trade embargos placed against it and so couldn't get helium
Germany had been flying hydrogen-filled airships since 1900 and this was the first time it happened to a passenger-carrying airship. The other times were during WW1 when the allies were firing incendiary bullets at them.
Yipeee the video works now, thank you
Surprised that there were any survivors at all.
Only one-third of the people on-board died, a much better rate than when a jet aeroplane crashes.
5:38 The LAST great air crash mystery? You know Malaysia 370 wasn't even ten years ago, right?
And Iran Air Flight 655 was 26 years before that. Right?
all i missed in the first test explosion was the huge jet of flame from the nose cone. turns out it was created by the empty space along her central catwalk that ran the length of the ship...all that hydrogenated air becoming a tunnel of fire. btw, Joe Späh pronounced his name "Spay," not "Spa." Herb Morrison broadcast after the crash that he had spoken to a survivor whose name sounded like "Spay."
As a boy I lived near Lakehurst Naval Air station. I saw the exact spot where the Hindenburg exploded. But I also saw Naval blimps on a daily basis. More than once I saw blimps caught in turbulent air and nearly crash into the ground. Lighter than air passenger travel was foolhardy then and is foolhardy today. In retrospect the Hindenburg disaster likely saved lives in the long run. Let us never build those dangerous and essentially uncontrollable things again. Even filled with helium they are unsuited to risk civilian lives in.
Actually, due to Mythbusters and some other show that found a letter from one of the Hindenburg maintenance guys that confirms, we know what happened. It shouldn't have been possible, because they always covered the outer surface with a flame retardant substance. However. The substance has the same ingredients as thermite. Thermite is a substance that burns so hot it can burn through a car. All the way through. Thermite hadn't been invented yet, when the disaster happened, explaining why the original investigation didn't figure it out. As per the letter, the 2 maintenance guys made undocumented changes to the mixture of the flame retardant substance. They accidentally mixed a substance similar to thermite, and coated the entire Hindenburg with it. Then a frayed wire caused a spark.
Great documentary
The most neglected root cause of the speed of the firey tragic result is the nitrate based paint. Thanks for covering this...
"They will build replicas of the Hindenburg" [shows a small silver ballon] Size, rigid framework structures, operating system, weight, etc none of them even close to call as replica.
I agree. The test replicas were a joke. I think they were the 'hook' the producer used to get the money for the show.
My uncle shot it down when he was 10. He always believed that he did it because he and a friend were duck hunting in the field next to where it happened. He was having fun and took a shot at it. He watched it crash and ran.
The mystery was solved
Wow mystery solved
Nuh uh, my uncle Tony was responsible. Quit lying
Fbi talking we'll need a name of your uncle
They used to regularly inspect the Hindenburg for bullet holes because people were always taking pot-shots at it. That's the 2nd amendment for ya.
Thermite doesn’t make a lot of sense… on that level, a lot of the metal frame would’ve had melting spots. The frame was essentially intact besides low temperature burns and the destruction from hitting the ground. Surprised this was even a theory at all 🤨
The Nazis were quite popular in America in the 30s. Just ask Want Disney, Henry Ford and MANY others in Amerika. Just like today.
No, they were popular with only a few, a small minority!
@@mellie4174 yeah, the “few” MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE OF AMERICAS RECENT HISTORY”
@@mellie4174 More like unpopular with a small minority namely Jews and Winston Churchill. They could see what was really happening in Nazi Germany.
@@suhhdewd509 not true also chill bro
Don't you mean WALT DISNEY? Want isn't a name. It's an emotion. Wherever did you get the idea that WANT Disney is a name? SHEESH go back to school, or at least look it up online. 😁😁
As well u didn't specify if u compromised the rear gas bags b4 the spark test
yes i thought that, escaping hydrogen built up inside would probably cause a explosion like they were looking for.....
My question would be, why did no other zeppelin explode because of its ventilation system?
They didn't have gas leaks, in the middle of a thunderstorm, while sparking near the vent itself. This was a concoction of everything that could go wrong and did go wrong, with the Hindenburg's construction, and scale, and the flight conditions
these scientists: finally we can solve a decades old aviation disaster me: finally i can update my death star explosion theories
Must have been an excellent view while dining and drinking!
Second question?? Who paid for all of this
Don't worry. It wasn't your tax money.
One of the props diced a bird and sent bits flying in every direction at the speed of a bullet....
I think it was fire. Fire destroyed the Hindenburg
Boomshakalaka
Seems like a combination of low humidity with a thunderstorm in the area to which lightning might have added to the ignition of the hydrogen.
the thermite redaction doesn't start like that, you need to get it hotter
Except that the theory put forth stated that a spark ignited the skin. It would not have been a hot burn, because it was only a spark.
I think they didnt want the public to have airships. Also the famous audio "oh the humanity" was recorded a day after. Airships were common with no issues
I think it’s static spark from when the ropes hit the ground
How old were these grounds crew guys at the time of the disaster? 12? This happened nearly 100 years ago!
Many people live to 100 and beyond.most of the air crew would have been around 17,18,19 at this time.
Is it 2037 already? Where DOES the time go!
Between 18-40.
It was 85 years ago, 17 + 85 = 102. Yeah, they'd be pretty old but it's not impossible.
This really scared people away from Airship travel, and what it was the gas they used was flamable, hydrogen, and Helium is hard to come by, and still is, so they held it back, knowing then Germany was getting ready to go to war in the future, and we did not want to help them along, as it was, so, all them people died for that. Sad but true, whatever started the fire still is a mystery, but it could've been static electrity, or a flash of lightening, but once those gas bags of hydrogen got going, the end was near!
…and there’s no storm clouds direct and immediately above, so if it would’ve been a shock from the clouds, it would’ve been visible.
No captions?
"The FBI"? INVESTIGATED" are you kidding me.
Good job guys! 75 years, and now we know!
Unless it is peer reviewed and reproduced no we do not know. This is just a TV show genius. Their results mean nothing without publication.
I never thought for a second it was a bomb but after viewing this video and considering the politics at the time the bomb would be my bet but I wonder if the passengers were supposed to exist first that's a bigger mystery than what caused the explosion to me
The St. Elmo's fire experiment looks. the most convincing of all. Very much like the film footage
The theory behind a bomb is that the Hindenburg was supposed to land/dock at 6am but because of the weather they came back at 6pm and finally approached the mooring mast at about 7pm. The landing times were either 6am or 6pm so that they wouldn't have to keep a large ground crew waiting around. The bomb exploded when the Hindenburg was expected to be empty after landing and off-loading her passengers, mail & freight at 6am. The departure time probably would've been the next day.
People are starving and we want recreate ( repeatedly, at great cost) a disaster from a million years ago. Its just too sad.
People are also dying of obesity.🍞🥯🥞🧇🥩🍔🍔🍔🍟🍟🍕🌭🍩🍩🎂🍺🍬🍫
@Diane aspin Here's an idea: you (and lots of other people) solve world hunger while others can still do something else.
Graf zeppelin 2 was the biggest to every fly…
It is unlikely you will be able to get ONE V-16 Benz DB 602 and ONE I internal gas bag of 5000 cubic metres in order to replicate this. Let alone a full mockup.
Used as spyship over 🇬🇧. Me Dad saw it playing its game over the Mersey area, in the way back then....
No no..that was the LZ-130 Graf Zeppelin II. Flew from 1938-1939. Two Spitfires flew around it for a bit before seeing it off.
@@dabking94.19 No, only the Hindenburg flew over civilian grounds in the UK, many think it was used for espionage but the same goes for its flights to North America, every country was doing it. As for LZ130, it only flew off the coast and was never intercepted by spitfires but by an Avro Anson and Miles Magister. The Spitfire story was based on the account of one of the german crewmen Ernst Breuning which may have been misremembered and romanticized as a result.
mystery solved.. zepplins r back on the menu
so they saw the St Elmo's fire during the daytime?
If the cloud cover provided enough darkness it could be been seen.
It was about 7pm with thunder clouds all around.
42:52 looks most like hidenburg
this reaction 39:31
The Hindenburg was designed to be filled with helium, but because of U.S. export restrictions on helium, it was filled with hydrogen. In essence, the U.S. was responsible for the accident.
The graphics of 24:11 and 26:35 cannot be correct, because in reality the potential is exactly the opposite! More precisely, it is incorrect to show that the earth as a whole is negatively charged and the sky is positively charged. In fact, the atmosphere as a whole is electrically neutral, but there are regional differences in the charge distribution. Near the earth's surface there is a negative charge created by the exchange of electrons between the earth's surface and the atmosphere, while a positive charge forms higher up in the atmosphere. This distribution of charges can lead to lightning discharges and other electromagnetic phenomena.🤓
whats up
Not much, How about you
One day, we'll get a Call of Duty: World War II Black ops mission in which we boimb the Hindenburg.
I'd buy that
I’d download that DLC pack for sure.
If they added the tube that goes to the front, then... oh shoot the German police is after me
The title of the video is an oxymoron. Zeppelins were not blimps. Zeppelins were rigid airships while blimps are non-rigid ones.
The title does not use the word Blimp.
@@kiwitrainguy Not anymore. It Did when I wrote my comment.
@@TheUglyGnome Oh, I understand now. Thanks for that.
Yeah, but you're using the Ukraine flag for your picture so everything you believe is rooted in nonsense.
@@macethorns1168 Слава Україні!
They would have installed a black box in it atleast..
Black boxes weren't invented until the early 1950s and even then they were not widely used at first.
✌
I really like that the one of the causes of the disaster is already written in the title of the video
11.30 "The nazis were unpopular in europe and around the world." . . . this is of course completely untrue in 1937, borne out by so many world statesmen visiting germany to, as Lloyd George stated, "... to view first hand the economic marvel that was germany ..." So much tired propaganda spewed out in this documentary, otherwise very interesting. 💖🙏🌻
Like any extremists they were polarising, some people loved then while others hated them.
the whole thing was solved back in the day by hugo eckner.
I like this 💡 idea! RIDING SLOW HIGH IN THE SKY
It was me. I wanted a cigarette.
What a waste of time and resources. Computer data and computer models should suffice for this experiment..
it was a bomb or a gun shot
Wow. No imagination.
it would never have even happened , and we'd be using Zeppelins today had the Germans had access to Helium
I was hoping to find this comment. You're absolutely right. The USA put an embargo on American helium sales to Germany.
@@oipbhakeld exactly my friend , exactly , the Germans were well aware of the dangers of using hydrogen and the Zeppelin was never intended to use hydrogen , but helium , and as you said the U.S. did indeed put an embargo on the sale of helium to Germany , and I believe Germany at the time had no facilities to produce it's own helium gas . The Hindenberg , or another Zeppelin could well have been the 'Amerika Bomber' Hitler was looking for being well able to make a round trip to the USA and back to Germany .
Spark caused it
why not do like a simulation
They destroyed Airship bec. they want Airplanes to replace it and also planes use a lot of fuel. Greedy humans!
Back then: Oh, the humanity! Today: Holy fuck!
And like everyone died
No, only a third of those onboard died.
Sabatage to keepus human out & away from Antarctica.
Because the Earth is flat, right? 😆😂🌍🌎🌏🌐
Anyone notice Bob Buchanan at 12:37 has a wrinkle above his right eye that looks like a swastika?
.......they forgot to paint the two giant Nazi symbols on the replica......because they were on the Original Hindenburg.....
mythbusters did this 20 years ago
Lmfao, “ex nasa scientist” wonder how he had info on the Hindenburg…. Paperclips or something
The Hindenburg caught fire, there you go, fire destroyed it
It must be your bright spark that set it off.
"Scientists"
Zeppelins are and have basically always been a dumb idea.
Ohhh yes, whys that now we can fill them with inert gas?? lol
🇺🇳30:51
I lit a cigarette 🚬 Sorry it was me My bad 🤷♂️
The Nazies were very popular across the world.
and still are too
This was a terror attack🙏
Everyone gangsta until the hindenburg blows up
Waste of time. A hundred hydrogen balloons caught fire. Get on with life.
🤦🏻♀️👍🏻🖕🏻
Why no mention of the fuel use for propulsion as cause for the disaster?