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You could say that the 1937 conflagration of the Hindenburg came down to a simple case of bad skin.
by Debra Bulkeley, freelance writer
Hydrogen airships, called dirigibles, were proven modes of air travel before the Hindenburg disaster. The Hindenburg, made by the Zeppelin Company in Germany, was 800 feet long. Between 1936 and 1937, it made 17 trans-Atlantic flights. Its sister ship, the Graf Zeppelin, safely traveled more than one million miles and 650 flights without incident over a nine-year period.
On May 6, 1937, though, the Hindenburg burst into flames while landing in Lakehurst, NJ. In less than a minute, the airship was completely destroyed, and 35 people were dead.
How did the fire start?
Addison Bain, a former NASA scientist, studied the incident and has said that the fateful fire started in the airship’s flammable fabric covering, and not the hydrogen.
The Hindenburg used a gelatin-latex membrane to contain the hydrogen in the gas cells. The silver external appearance of the Hindenburg was due to a surface varnish of powdered aluminum in a paint formula that resembles the chemistry of modern solid booster rocket fuel. Highly flammable.
Here’s what Bain and others have concluded from their studies: The Hindenburg flew through a thunderstorm and picked up a static charge on its skin. When it was ready to land, the crew dropped mooring ropes. The mooring ropes, wet from the storm, provided a good electrical connection between the ground and the airship. Thus, the airship's frame became grounded. But the skin of the Hindenburg remained eletrostatically charged since the cords connecting the skin and frame were insulators. An electric potential, or voltage, was created between the skin and the grounded frame, starting the fire.
Lesson: Pay close attention to the materials you use.
by Debra Bulkeley, freelance writer
Hydrogen airships, called dirigibles, were proven modes of air travel before the Hindenburg disaster. The Hindenburg, made by the Zeppelin Company in Germany, was 800 feet long. Between 1936 and 1937, it made 17 trans-Atlantic flights. Its sister ship, the Graf Zeppelin, safely traveled more than one million miles and 650 flights without incident over a nine-year period.
On May 6, 1937, though, the Hindenburg burst into flames while landing in Lakehurst, NJ. In less than a minute, the airship was completely destroyed, and 35 people were dead.
How did the fire start?
Addison Bain, a former NASA scientist, studied the incident and has said that the fateful fire started in the airship’s flammable fabric covering, and not the hydrogen.
The Hindenburg used a gelatin-latex membrane to contain the hydrogen in the gas cells. The silver external appearance of the Hindenburg was due to a surface varnish of powdered aluminum in a paint formula that resembles the chemistry of modern solid booster rocket fuel. Highly flammable.
Here’s what Bain and others have concluded from their studies: The Hindenburg flew through a thunderstorm and picked up a static charge on its skin. When it was ready to land, the crew dropped mooring ropes. The mooring ropes, wet from the storm, provided a good electrical connection between the ground and the airship. Thus, the airship's frame became grounded. But the skin of the Hindenburg remained eletrostatically charged since the cords connecting the skin and frame were insulators. An electric potential, or voltage, was created between the skin and the grounded frame, starting the fire.
Lesson: Pay close attention to the materials you use.
