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German Zeppelin Hindenburg Disaster
May 6, 1937

According to http://americanhistory.about.com/od/hindenburg/a/hindenburg_3.htm, Addison Bain, a retired NASA engineer and hydrogen expert, asserts the Hindenburg disaster was caused by a spark that lit the highly combustible skin afire. The dirigible's skin was composed of highly flammable cellulose nitrate or cellulose acetate and coated with flecks of aluminum, a component of rocket fuel, to reflect sunlight.  This helped to keep the hydrogen from heating and expanding The hydrogen became the fuel for the fire but the cause.

The U.S. Navy led the investigation into the crash since the crash occured on Navy property, Lakehurst Naval Station. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) did conduct a limited investigation and released an almost 350-page document.  You can read it here.

The crash of the German airship Hindenburg in Lakehurst, New Jersey took the lives of 36 people. Herb Morrison was at the scene, recording a report for Chicago radio station WLS to use at later time, when the explosion and fire occurred. His report, recorded on large acetate discs, was not aired until the next day.  You can listen to Herb Morrison's account of the scene before, during, and after the explosion by clicking on the Windows Media or Real Media icons below.

Herb Morrison Recording Version 1:    Version 2:

There are apparently two versions of this audio. In version 1, Mr. Morrison promotes American Airlines prior to exiting the hanger to watch the landing.  When the explosion occurs, 2:02 minutes into the recording, he shouts "It burst into flames!  Get this Scotty! Get this Scotty!". In Version 2 there is no mention of American Airlines rather a description of the Hindenburg's interior and exterior.  At the explosion, 3:47 minutes into the recording, Mr. Morrision shouts "It burst into flames!  It burst into flames! And it's falling!  It's crashing!  Watch it!  Watch it (unintelligible)!  Get out of the way; get out of the way! Get this Scotty! Get this Scotty!".

There is also video of the explosion and crash of the Hindenburg dirigible.  Watch this 52 second video clip from a 1937 Pathe news reel:

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Below are a couple of video stills taken from a longer news reel with footage from the Hindeburg's maiden voyage over New York in 1936:

This 5:25 minute newsreel includes video of the crash but also scenes from the May 9, 1936 inaugural flight of the Hindenburg over New York City. Although the newsreel was originally silent, I have added much of Herb Morrison's audio account (version 2) to the video. As a result, the audio description does not always correspond to what the viewer is watching.

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Herb Morrison is commonly quoted as saying "Oh the humanity!". Did he actually say that?  If you listen carefully to the recording and to his statement immediately following "humanity", I don't think so.  I believe he actually said "All the humanity" Morrison's entire statement is likely "All the humanity! All the passengers speeding around it!".  This makes more sense than "Oh the humanity!  All the passengers speeding around it!".  Morrison does accent the first "all" more strongly than the second but I think it's "all", not "oh". Judge for yourself: