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What Happened When the Head Engineer of the Hindenburg Placed Profits over Safety
How this infamous disaster helped end the airship era and how needless deaths could have been avoided
In 1937, the LZ 129 Hindenburg, the largest airship of its kind, erupted into flames as it attempted to dock its mooring mast, which resulted in 36 deaths. The disaster occurred when an electric spark ignited the outer casing of the airship due to buildup of static electricity. The Hindenburg was full of hydrogen, which is notoriously flammable, and the ship was engulfed in seconds. This particular incident marked the end of the airship era, and subsequently, hydrogen became globally banned in air travel.
In 1929, the Zeppelin Company first proposed an 800 foot airship, which was capable of crossing the Atlantic and carrying dozens of passengers and tons in cargo per trip. It was called the LZ 129 Hindenburg. It was planned to contain 5 million cubic feet of hydrogen to carry the ship, but after the infamous British airship called the R101 crashed, killing 48 people onboard, Hugo Eckener, the ship’s creator and head engineer, decided that the ship would fly using helium. Unlike hydrogen, helium is not flammable, and therefore, this accident would be impossible to occur if he used the right gas. Since helium is heavier than hydrogen, Eckener had to increase the size of the ship.
