Synopsis
“It's burst into flames! Get this, Charlie; get this, Charlie! It's fire... and it's crashing! It's crashing terrible! Oh, my! Get out of the way, please! It's burning and bursting into flames and the... and it's falling on the mooring mast. And all the folks agree that this is terrible; this is the worst of the worst catastrophes in the world…its flames... Crashing, oh! Four- or five-hundred feet into the sky and it...it's a terrific crash, ladies and gentlemen. It's smoke, and it's in flames now; and the frame is crashing to the ground, not quite to the mooring mast. Oh, the humanity!” – Herb Morrison’s broadcast of the Hindenburg disaster
Societies across the globe are incredibly thankful for all the modern devices and opportunities that have been developed over time, including the cars and planes that have allowed people to travel long distances in short times, but it is often easy to forget that all these advances came with a price. Car accidents and plane crashes leave the headlines almost as quickly as they enter them, in part because they’re recognized as the kind of things that occur with technological advances.
That was not the case, however, with the Hindenburg disaster. On May 6, 1937, the famous passenger zeppelin burst into flames while attempting to dock in New Jersey, and the horrific scenes were captured on film and broadcast over the radio. The Hindenburg was carrying nearly 100 people and was still hundreds of feet in the air when it caught fire, so the fact that only 35 people died between the fire and the airship plummeting to the ground was much lower than it could have been. Nonetheless, the fact that the world could see the incredible sight and hear Morrison’s notorious broadcast shortly after the disaster immediately heightened its importance, and the Hindenburg’s name is still instantly recognizable over 75 years later.
In retrospect, it seems unbelievable that anyone would fly in a zeppelin full of hydrogen, or that an airship so flammable actually had a room for smoking, and though the actual cause of the disaster is still debated, it all but put an end to the widespread use of similar airships for passenger travel. As a result, the disaster helped modernize flying and made it more reliant on airplanes.
Fire in the Sky: The History of the Hindenburg Disaster chronicles the events that led up to one of history’s most famous air disasters. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Hindenburg like never before, in no time at all.