The Hindenburg in Flames by Michael Burgan

The Hindenburg in Flames by Michael Burgan

Author:Michael Burgan [Michael Burgan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Capstone
Published: 2016-06-29T00:00:00+00:00


Sam Shere posed in front of the wreckage the day after the Hindenburg disaster. He held his Speed Graphic camera and wore his 35mm Leica around his neck.

Rescuers searched for survivors in the wreckage of the Hindenburg.

By midnight, the scene at Lakehurst had calmed somewhat. Survivors who needed medical attention were in nearby hospitals. The bodies of the dead lay in the station’s hangar, which normally housed dirigibles. A guard stood watch over what was left of the Hindenburg, to make sure no one disturbed it.

The final death count from the disaster was 36. All but one were among the 97 passengers and crew who had made the flight from Germany. The other victim was a member of the ground crew. Of the Hindenburg’s dead, 13 were passengers and 22 were crew members. The dead included Ernst Lehmann, a former captain of the Hindenburg.

On May 7, as news of the Hindenburg disaster spread around the world, workers began examining the wreckage. Little of the luggage on board survived the fire, and just 358 of the more than 17,000 pieces of mail were recovered. The workers also found a German pistol. When some newspaper reporters learned of this, they wondered whether a German crew member had killed himself rather than die in the fiery crash. But no one ever proved that that’s what had happened.

In Germany and elsewhere, people who had been convinced of the Hindenburg’s safety could not believe the news. One of them was Hugo Eckener of the Zeppelin Company. A reporter called Eckener in the middle of the night and told him what had happened at Lakehurst. “No, it isn’t possible,” the dirigible expert said. A call from someone in the German government in the morning confirmed the news. Eckener later wrote his wife, “I deeply regret that I was persuaded to allow the use of hydrogen when the Hindenburg, after all, had been designed for the use of helium.”



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