The Washington times., 1937-05-07
INQUIRY OPENS
INTOCAUSE OF
DISASTER
Continued from Page p

"dAlkNA ~ 81 bNNEA AAANS
the ship, too.
People were crying all around
me. 1 had to half carry a woman
into a cab. She had been at the
field, apparently waiting for
someone who was aboard the
ship.
ut was a terrible sight. shall
never forget it,"
R. H. King. a luggage carrier
for the Zeppelin company related
this story:
II was moving out to the ship
to be ready as soon as the pas
Sengers began to diSembark. 1
was mortified to see flames sud-
denly leap from the stern.
DRAGGED OUT BODIES
Il started to run forward, but
the explosions drove me back.
"As the dirigible crashed ran
up and began pulling out people.
They were terribly burned.
'"The passenger gondOla was
crushed right beneath the ship
when it fell.
Il helped drag out IL bodies.
Most of the victims had their
clothes completely burned off.
THE most terrible sight Of
all was a woman racing in a
death-like haze. She had been
thrown clear of the ship and
blinded by the explosion. As l
approached she collapsed. Some
one helped me carry her body
into the hangar"
1t was expected that Fred Fagg
jr., chief of the air commerce
bureau. will be in charge of the
probe into the crash.
Ship Total Loss
In a formal statement, Rosen.
dahl said:
"The airShip Hindenburg is a
= total loss from hydrogen fire
originating at or near the stern
of the ship and in the ship dur
ing the landing operation about
6:25 p. m. (E.S.TD. The land
ing was being conducted in the
normal manner. The ships
manila trial ropes had been
dropped to the ground from an
altitude Of about 200 feet and
there connected to correspond
ing ground ropes used in landing
the ship.
about four minutes after the
ropes had been dropped, q fire
appeared in the after part of
the ship and worked progress
Sive1y forward. The ship settled
to the ground tail first, and was
practically completely ablaze for
the entire length by the time the
ground was reached. 1t is i'm
possible at this time to as
SembIe the various stories in
connection with the rescueS of
the personnel of the linden
burg, but it is apparent that
there were Seveal notable cases
of rescue work by persons within
the ship and without"
BURNS SEVERAL HOURS
Rosendahl reported further that
the fire burned for several hours
and finally was extinguiShed with
water and chemical extinguishers.
He said that out of the total of
81 persons on board 81 escaped
alive. According to such checkups
as had been made, seven persons
are still unaccounted for.
Included among the survivors,
he said, were A members of the
crew of 81 and 20 passengers out
Of a total Of So. Twentysix
bodies were recovered, nine still
unidentified. He continued:
although trained naval air
ship personnel searched the
wreckage completely upon sui.
ficient cooling Of the structure,
no additional bodies were re-
covered.
"Of the three airship captains
aboard, Captain Lehman and
Captain PruSs escaped with bad
burns. Captain Wittemann
miraculOusly escaped without
the slightest injury, as did a
considerable number of the
crew. Medical assistance was
quickly available from many
sources, and those injured who
could not be accommodated at
the dispenSary at tits station
were taken to nearby hospitals"
Air Base Closed
Revealing that the air base
would be closed to all visitors
so that the wreckage of the
dirigible can be kept intact, Com
mander RoSendahl said that
while an Investigation logically
will follow" he could not say al
this time what form of investi
cation will take place, but it is
expected that decisions will be
reached by Government agencies
having such jurisdiction some
time today"
Two theories were generally
advanced today as the probable
cause of the disaster. One sup
position was that static cleo
tricity at the time Git wa.
drizzling) became so heavy tina
when the mooring lines weru
dropped and touched the dam
ground sufficiently heav,
charge Of electricity was ger
Grated to ignite the highly in
flamable hydrogen gas used b.
the Hindenburg.
The other superstition was tina
q backfire from one Of the engine
which had been reversed just be
fore tina fire iooifad thu Iovdrooey