The Hindenburg disaster was a tragic event that had occurred in Manchester Township, New Jersey on May 6, 1937. The German passenger airship caught fire and was destroyed during its attempt to dock with its mooring mast at a Naval Air Station. The disaster killed 35 persons on the airship, and one member of the ground crew, but miraculously 62 of the 97 passengers and crew survived.
There were many opinions about what exactly sparked the explosion and what caused it to burn so quickly. Tension began between the United States and Germany as people believed the idea that a crewmember or passenger had sabotaged the airship, intentionally starting a fire. This was later disputed due to the fact that No evidence of sabotage was ever found, and no convincing theory of sabotaged has ever been advanced.
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The spark was most likely caused by a difference in electric potential between the airship and the surrounding air. It is said in the article “The Hindenburg Disaster” by Dan Grossman that “The airship was approximately 60 meters (about 200 feet) above the airfield in an electrically charged atmosphere, but the ship’s metal framework was grounded by its landing line; the difference in electric potential likely caused a spark to jump from the ship’s fabric covering (which had the ability to hold a charge) to the ship’s framework (which was grounded through the landing line).” This quote shows that the disaster was caused by the electrically charged