The Hindenburg

Produced by Universal Pictures, released 1975, color 35mm negative, 2.35:1 screen ratio, stereo sound, 125 mins., Laserdisc released 1980 and 1991, DVD released 1998.

   
1975 film poster
   
1937 disaster

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The Hindenburg was destroyed by natural causes, not the saboteur portrayed in the film. An electrical spark from the thunderstorm at Lakehurst NJ ignited the hydogen gas inside the dirigible that had been painted with a new type of aircraft dope that conducted electricity when wet. According to J. Gordon Vaeth, "The German airship Hindenburg was the largest man-made object that had ever flown. It offered transoceanic travel that was quiet, effortless, and vibration-free. Its sheer size (nearly three football fields long and 135 feet in diameter at its widest point), the smoothness and stability of its flight, and its ocean-linerlike comfort made most passengers forget they were buoyed aloft by more than 7 million cubic feet of highly flammable hydrogen stored just above their heads in 16 gas cells. The few who did worry were reassured by the fact that in commercial flying dating back to before World War I, German zeppelins had never had a single passenger fatality. Specifically designed for the North Atlantic route, the Hindenburg was built in Friedrichshafen by the Luft-schiff-bau-Zeppelin Company and bore the dockyard number LZ-129. It was powered by four 1,100-horsepower Daimler-Benz diesel engines, each driving a four-bladed wooden propeller almost 20 feet in diameter. They pushed the 240-ton dirigible through the air at 74 m.p.h. at cruising speed and 84 m.p.h. at maximum speed. Flight time between its German terminal, today's Frankfurt jetport, and its American terminal, the U.S. Naval Air Station at Lakehurst, New Jersey, averaged 52 hours eastbound (because of headwinds) and 64.5 hours westbound. No other aircraft provided commercial service across the North Atlantic at the time. In 1936, the year it began service, the Hindenburg crossed the Atlantic 34 times carrying 2,798 people, including 10 round trips between Germany and North America. Passensengers liked its relatively fast speed and the plush accommodations built into its hull. These included a dining salon, a lounge, 25 double staterooms with running water, a bar, a smoking room (sealed and protected by an airlock), promenade decks with open windows, and a shower bath. In appointments, service, food, and drink, the Hindenburg was a flying luxury liner. The fare was $400 one way, $720 round trip (about $4,200 and $7,560 in today's currency). The LZ-129 set out from Frankfurt on the evening of May 3, 1937 to begin a new season of 18 scheduled round-trip flights across the North Atlantic. Its cabin space had been expanded to accommodate 70 instead of 50 passengers. . . the Hindenburg arrived over New York City at 3 p.m. EDT on May 6 and reached the vicinity of Lakehurst at 4 p.m., where a cold front was approaching from the west. At 6:12 p.m., Lakehurst radioed the Hindenburg that the thunderstorm over the station was moving off to the north and conditions would soon be suitable for landing. The airship turned and headed for the station, flying through increasingly heavy rain. At 7:08 p.m., after the Germans were advised that conditions had definitely improved and they should land as soon as possible, the dirigible emerged from the rain clouds at 650 feet and roared over the station from the southwest at full cruising speed. It overflew the field, then made a sweeping turn to the left to reapproach from the west. A ground crew of 92 Navy men and 138 civilians was drawn up to receive it. The Hindenburg came to a halt at an altitude of about 180 feet, hovering overhead like an enormous cloud. At 7:21, the starboard handling line was dropped from the bow, followed by the port line. As the ground crew worked to couple the starboard line, the dirigible's outer cover began to flutter. Waves could be seen rippling the skin on the top port side near or over gas cell 5, about two-thirds of the way toward the stern. . . at 7:25 p.m. a small bright flame burst forth from the top of the hull near where the fluttering had been observed, just forward of the leading edge of the vertical fin over cells 4 and 5, and a reddish glow became visible inside the ship. Almost immediately, this was followed by a burst of flaming hydrogen between the equator and the top of the ship on the port side. For perhaps 15 seconds the fire burned its way forward 60 to 100 feet along the dirigible's back. Then there was a muffled explosion and the rear half of the Hindenburg was instantly enveloped in a hydrogen fire. The great ship fell tail-first onto the sandy New Jersey soil, telescoping and breaking up, while its nose, still briefly airborne, pointed skyward and shot out flames "as from a blowtorch." Within seconds the whole ship lay on the ground, its cotton cover burning away, its framework collapsing. The interval between the first flame and the impact of the main body with the ground was 32 seconds. The ensuing inferno killed 13 passengers, 22 crewmen, and 1 civilian ground handler. Many other crewmen and passengers suffered serious injuries. Of the 97 people on board, 62 survived." (quote from J. G. Spaeth)

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revised 7/1/06 by Steven Schoenherr at the University of San Diego | Filmnotes