Hindenburg mystery solved after 76 years

The dream was a fleet of hydrogen-filled airships criss-crossing the globe, silvered hulls shining in the sunlight. And for a while the fantasy became reality, For the Hindenburg was the Concorde of its day – able to cross the Atlantic in about three days, twice as fast as going by sea.

n a documentary being broadcast on Channel 4 on Thursday, experts reveal the sequence of events that triggered the explosion. The airship had become charged with static as a result of an electrical storm. A broken wire or sticking gas valve leaked hydrogen into the ventilation shafts, and when ground crew members ran to take the landing ropes they effectively "earthed" the airship. The fire appeared on the tail of the airship, igniting the leaking hydrogen.

www.independent.co.uk...

reply to post by nighthawk1954


While I don't mind hearing more about the Hindenberg, I thought that a static electric discharge was already the commonly-accepted theory for the explosion.

They can make as many documentaries as they please.

In my books it was sabotage. But that's stuff for a thread itself.

reply to post by spaceg0at


That was Hue...morass.

It was shot down by a UFO, either that or it was obamas fault

reply to post by nighthawk1954


Even considering the technology of the era, I feel sure that there was adequate protection from static discharges.

The Germans... regardless of their politics at the day, were excellent engineers and very dedicated to safety protocols. That something like this could have happened runs in the same category with the odds of the Titanic bumping into an iceberg in the middle of the vast Atlantic.

Zap, spark, fire.

reply to post by avocadoshag


i read it as - static spark ignited the flamable " doping " of the envelope - and once the envelope was on fire - the hydrogen cells were just seconds away from ignition

i remember this from years ago too

Didn't Mythbusters already cover this? (cool episode,BTW)