Disasters Hindenburg

The Hindenburg Disaster Titanic of the Sky. Vidicom Media Productions. Available online. URL http //www.vidicom-tv. com/tohiburg.htm. Accessed Dec. 17, 2006. 

Hydrogen mixed with oxygen triggers another notoriously explosive gas-phase reaction that most probably contributed to the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia as well as the Hindenburg disaster. Gas-phase explosions usually react via chain reactions the electron in a radical finds a mate, but in the process steals an electron from another pair, which creates at least one other radical and possibly more, if a bond is disrupted. 

Hydrogen researchers recognition that they were not alone reached a climax of sorts on May 6, 1972—the 35th anniversary of the Hindenburg disaster—with the creation of the informal H2indenburg Society, a group dedicated to the safe utilization of hydrogen as a fuel. Bill Escher, whose... 

FIGURE 6.2 The Hindenburg disaster. The Hindenburg, a German airship filled with hydrogen gas, was destroyed in a spectacular fire at Lakehurst,... 

Vidicom Media Productions. Titanic of the Sky The Hindenburg Disaster. Available online. URL www.vidicom-tv.com/tohiburg. htm. Accessed June 30, 2008. This Web site provides a comprehensive review of the Hindenburg tragedy with links to a slideshow and a video. 

However, it must be pointed out that the Hindenburg disaster resulted in the death of only 36 people, most from flaming diesel fuel from the engines and from jumping to the ground. The Hindenburg had made 54 flights, 36 of which were across the Atlantic. 

Figure 8.20 Icon of a myth. The Hindenburg disaster of 6th May, 1937 put an end to the airship as a means of transport, and it has also been a major public relations disaster for hydrogen, since this was the lifting gas used. The accident led to the widely held myth that hydrogen is a particularly dangerous substance. Although the accident was tragic for those involved, the number of casualties was 37, quite low for an aircraft crash. About 2/3 of those on board survived. Many of those who died were burnt by the diesel fuel for the propulsion system, and in any case the fire did not start with the hydrogen, but with the skin of the airship, which was made of a highly flammable compound (Bain and VanVorst, 1999).

---