What Caused The Hindenburg Crash

During the early 20th century building airships became very popular, and Germany quickly became the most developed and impressive builders of this type of lighter-than-air innovation. A German businessman, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin was one of the leading inventors who build many experimental dirigibles. The Hindenburg was one of Zeppelin and Ludwig Dürr’s most successful airship. By 1936, the Hindenburg had concluded ten very successful trips which made it very popular and well known. Therefore, when the Hindenburg crashed it came as a shock and brought on various questions regarding the cause of the crash. For instance, what caused the Hindenburg to catch fire? Or why did the fire spread so fast? Shortly after questions about the crash, theories started to arise as well, especially from people who didn’t want to take the blame for it. In my opinion, the crash was not caused because of the fact that it was painted with rocket fuel or thermite, or that the outer covering was highly flammable, …show more content…
Thermite can be created from a mixture of aluminum powder and iron oxide, which were both used on the ship, the myth sounds very believable. Regardless of how believable and true it sounds, it’s just another myth because for thermite to be created the components actually have to mixed which they weren’t. Not only that, there is a certain ratio of aluminum powder and iron oxide that needs to be mixed for thermite to be created which asks for more iron oxide than aluminum powder. Therefore, thermite could not have been created since more aluminum powder was used then iron oxide. However, “If the Hindenburg had really been painted with thermite, it could never have left the ground in the first place,” (Grossman 1). So Mr. Bain how would you explain the ten successful trips the Hindenburg had made before it caught