Historical Context & Disaster Overview

• May 6, 1937: Hindenburg airship disaster at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, New Jersey
• First major aviation disaster captured on film
• Airship over 4x length of 747, reduced to twisted metal in mere seconds
• 97 passengers trapped beneath inferno
• Major blow to Nazi Germany's engineering reputation
• Hindenburg was "pride and joy" of Nazi Germany

Initial Investigation & Sabotage Theory

• FBI opened case file immediately suspecting sabotage
• 1937 anti-Nazi sentiment high in U.S.
• Attack on Nazi flagship seemed plausible
• Investigation drew blank - no concrete evidence
• Only hearsay and speculation supported sabotage theory
• Precise cause remained mystery for 60 years

Traditional Hydrogen Theory

• Widely held belief: hydrogen leak sparked conflagration
• Hindenburg contained enough hydrogen to fill Madison Square Garden 7x over
• 1930s Zeppelin design: explosive gas protected inside airtight skin
• Fire requires: fuel, oxygen, ignition source
• Eyewitness reports: hydrogen leaking during landing
• Zeppelin listing, witness saw cover fluttering as if gas rising
• Prevailing theory: hydrogen gas cell ignited causing chain reaction

NASA Scientist's Investigation

• Addison Bain: NASA rocket scientist and hydrogen expert
• Headed hydrogen program at NASA for Apollo missions
• Re-examined original Hindenburg investigation reports
• Challenged hydrogen theory based on combustion science

Bain's Hydrogen Theory Debunking

• Hydrogen won't ignite unless mixed with exact right amount of oxygen
• Virtually impossible to happen by chance
• Hydrogen too rich to ignite without proper air mixture
• Theory of right combination occurring at same time "so far out there that theory falls apart"

Fire Speed Analysis

• Fire spread at 49 feet per second
• Speed indicated something in outer covering highly flammable
• Outer skin held key to mystery
• Something else burning very rapidly around airship

Fabric Analysis Discovery

• Bain acquired fragment of Hindenburg skin
• Lab tested: compatibility, makeup, electrostatic properties
• Fabric doped with chemical combination:
  • Aluminum powder
  • Iron oxide
  • Butyl acetate chemicals
• Chemical cocktail resembled thermite (later used for jet engines)
• "Nazis basically painted Hindenburg in rocket fuel"

Electrostatic Spark Theory

• Smallest electrostatic spark would set off chain reaction
• Flame spread rapidly, heated hydrogen causing cell explosion
• Coating resembled rocket fuel compound

High Mooring Fatal Mistake

• U.S. Navy insisted on 200-foot "high mooring"
• Normal procedure: 50-foot conductive wire to ground discharges static electricity
• At 200 feet: charge buildup "way in excess" of 50-foot level
• Hindenburg hovering too high to shed deadly static
• Maneuver increased chances of stray spark

Criticisms of Bain's Theory

• Photos colorized, impossible to determine actual colors
• Many other hydrogen airships burned during WWII without outer coating igniting
• Conspiracy theorists suspicious of U.S. Navy's 200-foot mooring insistence
• Not everyone convinced by NASA scientist's conclusions

Conclusion

• Despite decades of analysis, mystery may never be solved
• Enduring mystery in aviation history remains unsolved