The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1937-05-13
Explosion Wrecks Giant German
Ship as It Almost Completes
Long Sea Voyage
INVESTIGATIONS STARTED

Her silvery bulk shattered by
terrific explosion, the German all
liner Hindenburg plunged in flames
at the United States naval air sta
ton at Lakehurst, N. j., Thursday
night, May 6.
The Hindenburg death list includ-
ed the names of II passengers and
% crew members. The mamoth ship
making it's first North Atlantic
crossing this year and its 21st since
it went into service in 1886, carried
SO passengers and crew of 81 when
it dropped to earth in flames.
Many of the dead were horribly
burned by the oil-fed flames. Mar
gerum reported others were dying
The injured were treated in hospit-
as near Lakehurst.
An explosion of the No. 2 gas cell
toward the stern of the ship was
named as the cause of the disaster
by State Aviation Commissioner
Gill Robb Wilson, who called the
blast strange" The highly-inflam-
mable hydrogen gas billowed into
fierce flames as the explosion plum
meted ship to the airfield. Ground
spectators said crew members in the
stern of the ship never had a
chance" to escape.
No Warning
The disaster struck without the
least warning. The ship had angled
her blunt nose toward the mooring
mast, the spider like landing lines
had been snaked down from her
belly and the ground crew had
grasped the ropes from the nose,
when the explosion roared out,
scattering ground crew and specta-
tors like frightened sheep.
The passengers, who were waving
gaily a minute before, from the OBJ
servation windows that slit the belly
of the dirigible, were so stunned
they could not describe later what
happened. Some jumped to the
sandy landing field along with
members of the crew. Others SEEM
ed to have been pitched from the
careening sky liner as it made it's
death plunge.
The heat drove back Would-be
rescuers, so it could not be determ-
ined for how many of the linden
burg made burning tomb. Fire de-
partments from nearby communities
converged on the field and soon had
streams of water playing on the
broken airliner. The flames still en-
veloped the outline of the ship, ap-
parently feding on the fuel oil sup
ply which the Hindenburg carried
for her Diesel motors.
Somewhere in the glowering furn-
ace were the two dogs, $40 pounds
of mail and the ton of baggage
which she had aboard.
Survivors Stunned
Those on the ship who survived
were so stunned by the unexpected
disaster they could not tell what
had happened. There was blind
ing flash" said one passenger, Her
bert O'Laughlin, of Chicago, "but
the people on the ground would
know more about it than we would
on the ship"
O'Laughlin related how he escap-
ed by leaping from the ship when
she plummeted close to the ground.
From his vantage point on the
ground an Associated Press photog-
rapher, Murray Becker, gave this
vivid eye-picture:
"The ship burst toward the tail
end, near the center. The tail went
down first and the nose seemed to
hang in the air.
ct ran toward the ship and saw it
enveloped in flame. In a fraction of
a second there was nothing left but
the skeleton.
81 saw man walking toward me,
assisted by two men. He had no
clothes on. I saw a woman on a
stretcher. There were screams from
men and women on the field"
The heat from the burning bag
was terrific, spectators on the
ground related.
Robert Seelig, a photographer
said:
"There was a noise that sounded
like bullets coming out of the gon-
doIas. I saw nobody jumping. I
heard everybody on the ground
screaming. The heat made my face
tighten up"
One witness standing almost di-
rectly under the ship said:
GAS she dropped her lines down.
there was a burst of flame and q
loud report which appeared to be
just aft of the port stern gondola
There as loud shout: Run for your
lives from the ground crew and the
second explosion came about sc
second later"
Ship Buckles
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