00:00The German aircraft carrier Hindenburg was the largest aircraft ever built,
00:05whether in height, length or volume.
00:08And when we talk about gigantism,
00:10it should be noted that it was more than three times the length of a Boeing 747
00:15and was only 24 meters shorter than the Titanic.
00:18It had 25 cabins that could accommodate two passengers each,
00:22a restaurant and a bar,
00:24and a piano, all necessary for a long journey.
00:27Initially designed to be inflated with helium,
00:30it had to, due to American restrictions,
00:32be filled with highly flammable hydrogen.
00:35Between 1936 and 1937,
00:38it made 63 flights,
00:40including transatlantic crossings
00:42to the United States and South America.
00:45On May 6, 1937, at 7.25 p.m.,
00:49as it landed in New Jersey,
00:52the Hindenburg suddenly caught fire.
00:54In a few moments, it was completely engulfed by flames
00:58and began to fall vertiginously.
01:00A few seconds later, its tail crashed violently against the ground,
01:04while a huge herb of fire sprang out of its monumental bow.
01:08The remains of the control room continued to burn for several hours.
01:12This disaster caused the death of 35 of the 97 people on board.
01:17Among the survivors was Joseph Spee,
01:19a better known acrobat by the name of Bendova,
01:22who escaped death thanks to his extraordinary agility.
01:26During its first year of transatlantic service in 1936,
01:30the Hindenburg successfully made
01:3210 crossings between Germany and the United States,
01:35as well as 7 journeys between Germany and Brazil.
01:38It began the following season in March
01:40with a new trip to Brazil.
01:42On May 3 of that same year,
01:44it left Germany to undertake
01:46the first of the 10 return flights planned between Europe and the United States.
01:50The crossing of the Atlantic was carried out without major incidents,
01:53except for violent winds that slowed its progression.
01:56On board, only 36 passengers were present
01:59out of the 70 that the control room could accommodate,
02:02accompanied by 60 and a crew member.
02:05The control room was already accused of being late
02:07when it flew over Boston on the morning of May 6.
02:09It had to land in Lakehurst, in New Jersey.
02:12But the weather conditions caused new complications.
02:15Informed of the presence of thunderstorms,
02:17Captain Max Prusse opted for a detour above Manhattan.
02:20The immense snowstorm provoked the amazement of the New Yorkers,
02:23who rushed to admire it in the sky.
02:26At 6.22 p.m., the storms had dissipated
02:29and the Hindenburg returned to Lakehurst
02:32to proceed with the landing.
02:34However, with nearly 12 hours of delay,
02:36there was not enough time left to prepare the control room
02:39for its next trip to Europe.
02:42As a result,
02:43no curious embarkation was allowed during its stopover.
02:46Around 7 p.m., the aircraft was flying at 200 meters altitude
02:51and was about to perform a particular type of landing,
02:54called a flying mooring.
02:56This process consisted of releasing ropes from a great height
02:59in order to be gradually brought to the ground.
03:02If it required less personnel for the maneuver,
03:05it was, on the other hand, longer than a conventional landing.
03:08A few minutes later,
03:10a sudden change of wind forced the captain
03:12to correct the trajectory of the aircraft,
03:14which, however, struggled to find a perfect balance.
03:17At 7.21 p.m.,
03:19the Hindenburg reached an altitude of about 90 meters
03:22when the crew released the ropes in view of the landing.
03:26As the team on the ground seized it,
03:28a thin rain began to fall.
03:31Shortly after,
03:32some observers noticed strange undulations
03:34on the surface of the control envelope,
03:37as if the gas was escaping from its structure.
03:39Others reported the appearance of a bluish glow,
03:42possibly due to static electricity
03:44or to a rare phenomenon known as St Helm's fire.
03:47A few moments later,
03:49flames suddenly appeared at the top of the aircraft,
03:52near its rear section.
03:54Inside, a weak detonation was heard
03:57and the passengers in the front felt a shake.
04:00The officers first thought it was the break of a cable,
04:03but it soon became clear that a much more serious event was underway.
04:08The Hindenburg caught fire
04:10and the fire spread at lightning speed.
04:13Quickly, the rear part of the control envelope collapsed.
04:16Two tanks,
04:17probably containing water or fuel,
04:20exploded and were thrown out of the structure.
04:23While the rear was dislodging,
04:25the front bent violently.
04:27The scene was captured by the cameras of the journalists present,
04:30but no recording allowed to determine with certainty
04:33the moment when the fire broke out.
04:35Joseph Spee was one of the survivors of the accident,
04:38a professional acrobat and comedian from Vaudeville.
04:41His family, originally from Strasbourg,
04:43had emigrated to Long Island when he was a child.
04:46When the disaster occurred,
04:48he was sitting in the restaurant lounge on board.
04:51Realizing that he had not a second to lose,
04:53he broke the window with his camera,
04:55which he held ready to immortalize the landing.
04:58He then bent over the opening
05:00and clung firmly to the edge.
05:02Once the control envelope was close enough to the ground,
05:05about 6 meters,
05:06he released his grip and jumped.
05:08Thanks to his experience,
05:10he knew how to cushion his fall by keeping his feet under him.
05:13Although he was injured in the ankle,
05:15he survived the flames and the fall.
05:18He began to crawl to get away from the fire
05:20until a sailor hoisted him on his shoulder
05:22and took him to a safe place
05:24where his family was waiting for him.
05:27Subsequently,
05:28some members of the Hindenburg crew
05:30accused Joseph Spey of sabotage.
05:32They had noticed
05:34that he went alone to the back of the control envelope
05:36several times to feed his dog,
05:38Ula, despite the prohibitions.
05:40He had even been reprimanded on this subject
05:42by the chief inspector.
05:44The place where the animal was confined
05:46was near the origin point of the fire.
05:48From then on,
05:49some assumed that Spey
05:51could have taken advantage of his visits
05:53to hide an explosive device there.
05:55In addition,
05:56several stewards reported
05:58that they had seen him fuming
06:00against the delay of landing.
06:02However,
06:03having been separated from his family for months,
06:05he was probably eager to go home.
06:07When he learned of the suspicions
06:09weighing on him,
06:10the acrobat was so stunned
06:12that he almost fell off the ladder
06:14on which he had climbed to clean his bones.
06:16In the end,
06:17no evidence allowed to detail
06:19his involvement in the disaster.
06:21His family doctor then advised him
06:23to put on ice skates
06:25to recover his strength more quickly.
06:27Once recovered,
06:28he began a brilliant career
06:30as an artistic skater.
06:32To this day,
06:33the exact origin of the fire
06:35and the explosion of the Hindenburg
06:37remains uncertain.
06:38The most probable hypothesis
06:39is that a discharge of atmospheric electricity
06:41ignited the hydrogen-filled compartments.
06:44Despite the tragedy,
06:45the Zeppelins continued their flight
06:47for some more time
06:48before being definitively abandoned.
06:50At the end of the 1930s,
06:51airplanes had become a much more secure means of transport
06:54than dirigibles.
06:56The latter,
06:57with their reduced speed,
06:58their vulnerability to bad weather
07:00and gas supply difficulties,
07:02became totally obsolete.
07:05The Hindenburg accident
07:06had a considerable impact
07:07on the future of aviation,
07:09highlighting the importance
07:10of using much less flammable materials.
07:13Researchers then developed
07:15new textiles
07:16and self-extinguishing insulating fumes.
07:19In addition,
07:20hydrogen,
07:21too dangerous,
07:22was definitively abandoned
07:23for the benefit of helium,
07:24much safer.
07:25In order to quickly master
07:26any fire departure,
07:28engineers developed
07:30fire detection
07:31and extinguishing systems.
07:33They also improved
07:34emergency exits
07:35and various safety devices,
07:37including light beacons on the ground
07:39and evacuation slides,
07:41in conformity with
07:42a new emergency protocol,
07:44the 90-second evacuation rule.
07:47This rule required
07:48that the aircraft
07:49were not designed
07:50to allow
07:51all passengers
07:52and crew
07:53to evacuate
07:54in less than a minute
07:55and a half
07:56in critical situations.
07:58In addition,
07:59from this period on,
08:00crew formation
08:01became mandatory.
08:03They had to learn
08:04the basics
08:05of fighting fire
08:07and prepare
08:08for any possible
08:09flight crisis.
08:11Finally,
08:12in 1958,
08:13the US Federal Aviation Administration
08:15was created.
08:17From then on,
08:18rigorous risk assessment procedures
08:20were put in place
08:21to ensure
08:22that the aircraft
08:23followed strict standards
08:24before being allowed
08:25to transport passengers.
08:27At the same time,
08:28the use of flight recorders,
08:30called black boxes,
08:32was generalized
08:33to facilitate
08:34the analysis of accidents
08:35and to draw
08:36the necessary lessons.
08:37Finally,
08:38the regulations
08:39on the transport
08:40of dangerous materials,
08:41such as flammable liquids
08:43and gases,
08:44were reinforced.
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