From Newsgroup: sci.misc

From the -2the humanity-+ department:
Feed: Hackaday
Title: The Truth about the Hindenburg
Author: Al Williams
Date: Wed, 13 May 2026 05:00:13 +0000
Link: https://hackaday.com/2026/05/12/the-truth-about-the-hindenberg/
Podcast Download URL: https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/zep.png

[image 1 (link #1)]

The Hindenburg disaster recently marked its 89th anniversary, and [The
History Guy] marked the event with a video that dispels many of the
myths surrounding the airship[2]. Example: the disaster did not actually
occur on the airshiprCOs maiden voyage. That isnrCOt true. The ship was on
its 63rd voyage. However, it was the first flight of the 1937 season.

The giant ship burned because of the hydrogen gas inside, but the cause
of the fire remains debatable and was likely not solely due to hydrogen.
In fact, from a technical standpoint, the ship didnrCOt explode. It only burned.

Some of the myths are just from sloppy reporting or the tendency of
people to misunderstand things. Others are a blurring in the common consciousness of the Hindenburg and the Titanic.

It is easy to think of the necessity for safe engineering when you are building, say, a bomb or a spacecraft. But anything capable of wreaking
havoc requires careful design and testing. However, ships like the
Hindenburg had made many trips without incident. Sure, the Hindenburg
was a spectacle, but even the fatality rate was fairly low. Many of
those who died jumped to the ground rCo they might have survived if they
had waited a minute.

There are many myths around [Herb Morrison]rCOs famous rCLOh the humanity!rCY report. WerCOve noted before that it was played back at the wrong speed
for decades[3]. Airships have a stranger history than you might
imagine[4].

[iframe 1: Hindenburg Reconsidered (link #5)]

Links:
[1]: https://hackaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/zep.png?w=800 (image)
[2]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KxbATAhBiU (link)
[3]: https://hackaday.com/2018/08/07/recorded-programming-thanks-to-bing-crosby/ (link)
[4]: https://hackaday.com/2026/02/25/what-one-winged-squids-can-teach-the-airship-renaissance/ (link)
[5]: https://www.youtube.com/embed/2KxbATAhBiU?feature=oembed (iframe)

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