Introduction
The Hindenburg disaster is recorded in history as a spaceship that was involved in a crash marking the end of their use in air travel. This scientific design had marked one of the largest space travel aircraft. No such a large aircraft had been used for space travel before. This involved building a craft that was lighter than air and one that used hydrogen gas for propulsion. However, the crash of this aircraft created controversy including marking the end of their use in air travel. May, 1937 marked the day of the accident in which the Hindenburg aircraft arrived at the air station way behind schedule. The inevitable whether conditions caused this delay. This aircraft was forced to land under adverse conditions of rain and lightning which were against the recommendation of aircraft engineers and scientists.
However, these conditions were soon clearing up by the time the landing was taking place. The high speed of this craft prompted the crew to attempt landing at high speed. Following this landing attempt, observers reported a blue flame followed by the tail. This event was subsequently followed by a large flame causing a loud explosion before the plane crashed leading to the death of 36 people on board. Eye witnesses observed the tragic events in which some of the victims were burnt alive while some died as they attempted jumping from the craft. This accident later caused a lot of controversy surrounding the crash and the events that preceded it. Many theories were later to be advanced with investigations having varied findings on the true cause of the accident that claimed at least 36 lives. This was the subject of controversy leading to the stoppage of use of such aircrafts in air travel.
Thesis
The photo describes some of the events associated with the crash of the Hindenburg aircraft. This shows some of the events that were associated with the final events of the landing. It shows a flame at the tail while another flame engulfs the whole aircraft in what looks like an explosion as described in many articles. A number of observers and bystanders rush to the site that characterizes the picture of people dying from the accident. A few people were observed attempting to jump from the craft leading to their death. This marked one of the ugly events of air travel ever captured on camera. This photo is among the events characterized by controversy that came to surround this accident. Wide speculation later erupted with researchers and the media using this photo among others in their description of the events of this disaster.
The Hindenburg accident occurred in May, 1937 in New Jersey which subsequently led to the end of the use of these kind of design in air travel. This marked the end of use of zeppelins in air travel which had been a safe and efficient inventions of air travel for over three decades. The use of this kind of aircrafts recorded a passenger number of many thousands with air terminals recording up to twenty thousand flights. The striking thing is that the cause of this accident has yet to be determined but one fact that remains clear is that the disaster did not have anything to do with the covering of the craft. This was supported by the evidence that these kind of aircrafts had been used for many years without being destroyed by the volatile gas used for their propulsion.
Hindenburg was scheduled to fly on May 6th 1937 as recorded in its flight schedule. It was boarded by 61 crew members and 36 passengers on this particular flight. Trainees and crew members were also on board of this flight that would later end tragically. Hindenburg departed Frankfurt at late evening hours of 7.16 pm following Cologne before flying over Netherlands and advancing over the English Channel. It then headed towards the Atlantic a couple of minutes after 2.00 am the following day. It was later seen advancing over sky crappers of New York and reported to have accessed the Naval Air terminal at 4.15 p.m. However, the adverse weather conditions were a great concern to the crew of this craft especially the captain of this flight Max Pruss. This prompted the commanders of this craft from the air terminal to send a message that recommended the plane delays its landing. This was in a bid to allow the weather conditions to go back to normalcy. Later at 6.00 p.m. the commanders of this flight observed calm weather conditions that favored landing. They then relayed a message to the crew of this craft advising that it was then safe to make a landing. There was a recommendation for prompt landing.
The airship’s captain, Pruss then approached the landing from the Southwestern direction carefully observing the weather changes and ensuring the plane was stable while it landed. The landing ropes were then engaged while the plane was at an altitude of about 180 feet above the ground. Another crew member reported to have observed that the ship was becoming heavy at the rear prompting him to release hydrogen cells from the craft with the aim of maintaining buoyancy and keeping the craft level. These attempts however failed and the weight of the ship persisted at the tail. Amidst these interventions, the wind changed its direction forcing the captain of the ship to begin landing as was initially intended. The ship was to land against the wind as advised by the commanders on the ground. A couple of minutes after dropping the landing ropes an observer noticed what looked like a flame that appeared on the rear part of this craft. However, the point where the flames were first observed vary among witnesses with some claiming that the flame first appeared at the hull while others insist that the flames first appeared between the engine and the fin. There was later a flame that seemed to engulf the ship from the rare causing it to look like it was collapsing from this point. These events were followed by a subsequent explosion.
The main cause of the disaster is yet to be determined. An interview I conducted reveals that little information about the accident has been revealed to the public. The interviewee said that he heard about the disaster in elementary school and the only thing he could remember was that it involved a big dirigible, which exploded before landing, killing many people. Many researchers developed varied opinion on the actual cause of the disaster with some blaming the cause on a technical hitch with the ships mechanics. Others insist on the fuel as the cause leading to much speculation with no valid answer on the real cause of this tragedy. A few witnesses on board of this craft also reported to have observed the flames. The flames later advanced, engulfing the entire ship in close to a minute. This caused survival to be possible only with regard to where one was at the time of the landing. 62 members on board came out alive with some sustaining very serious injuries. The death toll was later to hit 36 with many unanswered questions regarding the exact cause of this disaster. This has led to many researchers and scientific explorers to search for answers to this very controversial event.
The tail of the craft shows a logo of the NAZI. A political outfit of Germany that had later emerged early in the 20th century that promoted the social Darwinian theory. This outfit was later to control Germany in the cold war as the NAZI party ascended to power and later led by radical leaders such as Adolf Hitler. Germany later developed sour relations with the United States leading to a lot of suspicion between the two nations.
This crash later marked the end of us of such airships for air travel. This was recorded as the worst airship disaster to be captured in pictures basing on the fact that there had been thousands of successful flights using these crafts for close to three decades. This was among the rare but deadly disasters that led to many inquiries over the cause of this tragedy that claimed close to 36 lives and in which many people sustained serious injuries. Relations between nations weakened due to suspicion that erupted following this disaster. An interview with a respondent revealed “I think it might have made the air craft industry be more cautious about new inventions and to worry more about safety. The fact that it was caught on film seemed very important and horrifying because people all over the world could see with their own eyes what happened.”
The photo was taken by one of the observers at the scene at the naval air terminal Media houses in the United States had assigned Herbert Morrison the reporting of the disaster. Morrison was the only news reporter that was at the scene when the accident occurred. Morrison is known in history due to this major event that marked a major turning point in air travel.
Works Cited
Dean, Nicholas. The Hindenburg Disaster and the End of the Airship Era. 2011. http://www.historytoday.com/dean-nicholas/hindenburg-disaster-and-end-airship-era. 07 December 2013.
ehistory.osu.edu. A Moment in Time Archives: The Crash of the Hindenburg - Part IV. 08 August 2002. http://ehistory.osu.edu/osu/archive/amit.cfm?transcript=2249. 07 December 2013.
Porter, Rusell B. Hindenburg Burns in Lakehurst Crash; 21 Known Dead, 12 Missing; 64 Escape. 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0506.html. 06 December 2013.
Price, C. E. Hindenburg Disaster With Sound (Herb Morrison, WLS Radio) (Standard 4:3). 01 March 2001. https://archive.org/details/SF145. 07 December 2013.
The Hindenburg Disaster Margee Stienecker. 05 December 2013.
theatlantic.com. 75 Years Since the Hindenburg Disaster. 8 May 2012. http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/05/76-years-since-the-hindenburg-disaster/100292/. 6 December 2013.
