THE HINDENBURG:

DRAMATIC AIR DISASTER

STORY CHAPTER LINKS
1. STORY PREFACE
2. THE GREAT ZEPPELINS
3. THE HINDENBURG
4. HINDENBURG TRANSPORT FLIGHTS
5. THE HINDENBURG DISASTER
6. WHAT HAPPENED?
7. WHAT CAUSED IT?
8. USED AND RECOMMENDED SOURCES

PREFACE

Commander Rosendahl saw...a small
burst of flame on the top of the ship...

FBI Report
"Destruction of Airship Hindenburg"

As the great airship hovered above its landing spot at New Jersey’s Lakehurst Naval Station, thunderstorms still rumbled in the atmosphere. It had been a stormy May 6th day.

Making its first trip of the 1937 season, the Hindenburg carried 97 people. Her crew expected to return to Frankfurt in a few days. The Zeppelin would be fully loaded with American passengers planning to attend the coronation of George VI.

But those passengers would need to find another way to London. Within 34 seconds after Commander Rosendahl saw the small burst of flame, the great rigid airship was completely destroyed in an unbelievable fire.

Miraculously, 62 people survived.

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Author: Carole D. Bos, J.D.