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FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
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nrsrnuohon or I _.! oounmrzanr BB4ERVATIOl~I;Ii'192_1. " . '_,- '- _' _92- , _ ' _
svuorsns on FACTS: tile: of the InveetigationABoard of the Department '
of Gonmerce relative to Hindenburg dieaeter failed
to reflect any information of value upon Irhich an
investigation by the Bureau might be reasonably war-
ranted in connection with any jaoeeible lahotage or
_ other Federal violatione within the investigative '
P jurisdiction or the Bureau. 1h-. South rumble, .11-.,
Solicitor, Departmentof Oonmerce, and Chairman of -
the Hindenburg Inveetigation Board, will requeet
the Bureau's further cooperation in the event ad--
ditional data obtained by him should Justify ouch
request.
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HIIAILS: . On June 1.1, 195'? Agent received inatruotione :1-"£111 r. EJI.
, i Tam of the Bureau to examine the files relative to this
cae in the office of Hr. South Trimble, Jr Solicitor, DepeIt1I1ant0f
commerce, with a view to extracting therefrom any data in which the Bu-
reau Iould be interested from the etandpoint of any indications of viola-
tions of any Federal Lew over which the Bureau has investigative jurie-
diction.
Accordingly, Agent interviewed IR. E, JR»,Room 5868, Department of Commerce Building, who state that between Hay
10th and lay 25th, 195'? the Department of Commerce Inveetigation Board,
of which he ie the Chairman, conducted daily oral hearings at the U. S.
Naval Air Btation at Lakehuret, Net Iereey, in connection with the dis-
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aster of the Gerlan Airship Windenburg", which occurred.on the after-
noon of lay 6, l937,_and that at his request tso representatives of -
the Federal Bureau or investigation, Inspector I. I. Oonnsllay, and 'Special Agent in Charge It B. Devereau{';attended_the hearings in thecapacity of observers./=ra ' Q; , as: . . '
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Hr. Trihle stated that the Inibptigatioh Board had received
numerous letters offering all sorts of suggestions and opinions as to
the probable cause of the disaster; that while a great number of let-
ters suggesting possible ssbotsae have already been given proper con»
sideretion by the Board, he felt that there might be some other infor-
mation in these letters Ihich could probably be handled with more there
oughness by the rederal Bureau of Investigation, than by the Investiga-
tion Board; that having this in mind, he furnished the Bureau with oer-
tain letters and other data, in order that the Bureau night render any
cooperation deemed advisable and appropriate by the Bureau in connection
Iith this subject matter»
Mr. Trimble furnished Agent with six sections of correspone
deuce, consisting principally of letters from passengers, eye witnesses,
and persons who claimed to have observed the flight of the Hindenburg,
and who have been interested enough to express their ideas, conclusions,
and opinions concerning the possible causes of the disaster. A review
of these letters and correspondence by agent indicates that about 30%
of them appear to place the responsibility tor the disaster upon me- g
chanical defects, 50% upon static discharges and other aerial causes,
and about 20% upon possible sabotage perpetrated by Jews and directed
against the Hitler regime in Germany. ~
Merely for reference, and not to be used in any tuttrer in-
vestigation of this subject matter, hr. Trimble invited Agent's atten-
tion to a strictly confidential memorandu dated Hay 29, 1937, prepared
by the German Technical Commission, at the request of the Investigation
Board of the Department of Commerce, on the subject of the possibilities
of sabotage in connection with the loss of the Hindenburgt
' In this memorandum the possibilities of sabotage by the use
or bombs installed in the ship and operated by clockwork, or effected
by barometric bellows, or possible sabotage by incendiary bullet fired
from the ground, are particularly mentioned. It is listed in this memo-
randum that such a bomb could have been installed in Frankfurt only by
a person having access to the remote parts of the ship, without being
noticed by the crew, and set to a probable time shortly after landing,
or to operate as soon as a certain barometric pressure would have been
reached; that the device could also have been installed by a passenger
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during the voyage, if he had gained access to the after part of the
ship nnaocopanied and unoticed; further, that an incendiary bul-
let could have been tired by e_silenoed gun from the proximity or
the ship, the flame caused by the bullet penetrating the gas cell
and resultins in explosion. _ ;,- t
A This memorandu concludes by stating that the German Come
mission proposes to be on the lookout during the salvaging or the
wreck for any apparatus which might indicate an act or sabotage. In
this connection, Hr. Trimhle informed Agent that the salvaging of
the wreckage is still in progress under the supervision of the navy
Department at the Havel Air Station at Lakshurst, but that so far no
indication of any bomb or fuse or bullet has been discovered.
The rirst section or the material turned over to Agent tor
examination contains carbon copies of correspondence, with notations
thereon indicating that on May 26, 1957 Hr. Trimble transmitted to
the Federal Bureau or Investigation rive letters received by the Board
in the course or the investigation or the Hindenburg disaster. A re-
view by Agent of these five letters, [4 letters and l postal tele-
gram!, indicates, however, that none of the information furnished
therein has any apparent value,msriting investigation by the Bureau»
Bureau file No. 62-48190 shows that photoststic copies of these papers
have been transmitted to the Newark Field Division, uner date of June
5, 1957, with a request that Captain C. E. Rosendahl, in charge or the
Naval air Station at Lakehurst, ew iersey, be interviewed as to what
inquiries, if any, he desired made in connection theresitht
The second section of the material furnished Agent by Mr.
Trimble, marked 'Hindenburg Letters", consists or letters or sugges-
tions as to the possible cause or the disaster and or statements from
some members or the ground crew concerning their observations upon
the landing or the Hindenhurg. There are two letters in this section
suggesting possible sabotage; one is dated May B7, 1937, from K. ItQéeck, 1850 Hittsnhouss Square, Fhiladelphia, Pennsiltania, addressed
to Commander Hugo Eokener, stating in substance that he is quite sure
he saw a flash from an airplane that flew over some minutes berore the
Hindenburg landing; that he cannot be certain about that flash, but
it so looked to him, and that a bu1let,shot from that plane into the
tail end of the ship might have caused the explosion.
Another letter, alleging a similar obserration, has been
found in Section 4, marked "Letters Left by Colonel Breithaupt of the
German Mission". This letter is dated may 12, 193? and is from Joseph
J-qhermoutz, 138 - West 62nd Street, New York City, addressed to the Ger-
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man Consulate, New York, stating that he observed the flight of the
Hindenburg over New York City and when he looked out of the window
of his place of employment, he saw an aircraft flying close by the
body of the stern of the Hindenburg, which loohed very strange to
him and to others nearby. It appears from letters and mamoranda pre-
pared by the Investigation Board that no importance has been attached
to letters or such character, as it halbsen quite definitely estab-
lished that there were no planes flying in'the air in the vicinity of
the Havel iir Station at least one-half-hour before the arrital of
the Hindenburg and during the landing maneuvers of this ship. -
The other letter, dated.l 25, l937, suggesting possiblesabotage, Ins from Dr. Nathaniel iizgaris, President of the Planet-
ar1ans', 18¢? - Iest 5th Street, rs. Angeles, Galifornia, wherein it
is opined that a woman agent of the Hazi governsnt might have placed
e time fuss which might have burst prematurely, causing the explosion.
There is another letter, in section 5, from the same writer, dated May
9, i957, wherein the suggestion is expressed that in vies of the fact
the Hindenburg was insured for $5,750,000.00, and that the Hitler
government was short of funds, it is possible that the disaster was
caused by a Hitler agent, acting on Hitler's orders.
Section 5, marked "Letters from Fassengersd, consists of
letters sent by passengers of the ill-fated Hindenburg in reply to
letters written to them by the Investigation Board, seeking any in-
formation in their possession which could shed light upon the causes
of the disaster. Hone of these letters suggested possible sabotage,
however. In this connection, Mr. Trimble called Agent's attention
to one or the letters dated Hay 29, 1937, written to the Investiga-tion Board by one Joaepryspaen, or aeo-16 Alameda avenue, Douglaston,
L. Is, telephone: Baysi e 9~l727, a passenger on the Hindenburg. Ir.
Trimhle informed agent that the Bureau had been requested by Gesnan=
der Bosendahl to institute an investigation of this man, who clahned
to be an acrobat, and who had access to the rear portion of the ship,
where his dogs had been kept, and that he, Mr. Trimble, understood
that the Bureau has been keeping surveillance of this individual in
an effort to find out something about him. The letter of Spaeh states,
in substance, that at the moment of the first explosion he was on the
window farthest up toward the nose of the ship, in the dining room,
taking e photograph of the ground crew, and that he jumped to the
ground, without seeing any flames; that his rife, standing on the
ground, was able to see the first flames shot out from the stern or
the ship.
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ing Joseph,8paeh, whose name is erroneously spa ch!, contains
a letter deted lay 2l,#l95?, rrom.the Special ngen in Charge of the
Newark Field Division, requesting that all atailable inrormatien be
obtained at the Passport Division, Btate Department, concerning an
application tor passport, or other information relative to this per-
son's recent trip to Germany. This letter mentions the fact that
Joseph Spaeh had access to the aft portion of the airship to tend
tso dogs which he owned and which were confined in the art freight
room; that inasmuch as Spaeh had access to the rear portion of the
ship, some suspicion attached itself to him, as at various times he
was in the stern of the ship unaccompanied.
This file contains a report made by Special Agent R. P-
Burruss, dated Hay 24, 1957, at Washington, De Cs, indicating that
the Passport Division, State Department, Internal Revenue Bureau,
Treasury Department, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service,
Department or Labor, have no record relative to Joseph Spaeh. In
view of the fact that Mr. Trimble advised agent that he has not as
yet been informed of any developments in this matter and further
that no subsequent information concerning this angle of the case is
reflected in the Washington Field Division file, or in the Bureau
file, this matter is called to the attention of the Office or Origin,
without setting out an undeveloped lead concerning it.
Section 4, marked "Letters Left by Colonel Breithaupt of
the German Hisllbn , consists of letters written originally in Ger-
man and translated into Englishs Ir. Trimble informed Agent that
Colonel Breithaupt Ins a member of the German Commission sent over
by the German government to work in cooperation with the Investiga-
tion Board or the Department of Commerce; that the originals of these
letters had been turned over to Mr. Trimble by Colonel Frederick
Yon Boetticher, Military attache of the German Embassy hers. Agent
carefully noted the contents of the letters, 12 in number, the
writers or practically all or them holding Jews or Nazi plotters"
responsible for the destruction of the Hindenburg, without, however,
furnishing any information whatsoever which would warrant an investi-
gation. This opinion see fully shared by-Ir. Trimble and Mr. Dennis
Inlligan, Chief er lnforoeent Division, Bueau of Air Commerce, with
whom Agent conferred relative to this matter.
Sections and 6, marked "Correspondence Miscellaneous! -
Group 5", contain nuerous letters from all parts of the countPY: fur"
nishing opinions as to the possible causes of the disaster and Offer-
ing suggestions for the improvement of future air travel, et cetera.
The writers of a number of these letters claimed they observed 8°mB
mechanical defects on the ship while flying over Bosti N9 Y°Tk and
Newark, basing their opinions on the "I told you so" theory. Others
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believed that static discharges caused the explosion; some believedan incendiary bullet fired from theuiroundg or a bomb Iith time fuse _
placed in the mail or freight, eau the iisester, and that Jewish"
Cmnmudste or Nazi plotters sere responhible for this fatal erash,'
However, not one of these letters suggesting possible sabotage con~
teined any reasonable basis upon which an investigation appears to
be advisable and practical, This opinion, too, has been shared by .
Hr, Trimble and Mr. Mulligan, at the time Agent discussed with them
the contents of the material turned over to him for examination-
On June 15, 1937, Hr» South Trimble, Ir. furnished Agent
Iith e confidential letter dated June B, 193?, addressed to the
Department of Commerce, by Captain Allan S. Farqnher, Acting Directoror Naval Intelligence, Us S, Navy, Ih9I;;§Z}£ is stated, in substance,
that information has been obtained from a enfidential informant to
the effect that two days prior to the l of the Hindenburg, this in-
formant Ias in Atlantic City, where, while sitting on a flight of
steps leading from the boardwalk to the beach, near the Steel Pier,
he overheard snatches of conversation between two men, who were unaware
or his presence; that these two men were well dressed, spoke English,
but when they became aware or the inrormant's proximity, they reverted
to the use or a foreign language, which sounded like either German or
Yiddish; that one of these men spoke of having recently come from
abroad on a cargo vessel that "landed at New York at 43'; that ta1k~
ing about the Hindenburg, one of the men said, This I111 be her last
trip"; *zverything,including the long range tracers, is in readiness;
Soon new Hitler will not drive anymore Jose out of Germany"; that
after noting inrorment'e presence, the tso non departed, but that
shortly therearter one returned, accosted the informant, asked Ihether
he had beerheerd their conversation, and when the informant replied
in the negative, he Isa told to let it go"-
Hr» Trimhle informed agent that the Iriter of the above nene
tioned letter has been requested by him to have this confidential ine _
formant call at Mr. Trimb1e's office for interview, and that he Iould
notify an agent of this office so that he may be present when this man
is being interrogated. u H _/' at
' Ir; Trimble informd Agent further that he had in his poe-
session certain information concerning an individual who has made
some fantastic accusations against some high Government officials, in-
volving narcotic and white slave traffic act violations, and that this
individual claims to be a decoder of secret codes used by the so-
called "Red Netsork"s Mr. Trimble stated that he transmitted this in-
rornetion to the Bureau on June ll, 195?, and that he will let the Bu-
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call at his otrice so that an Agent nught be present when Mrts
Trimble interrogates him in connection with his accusations. *-
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In connection Iith this matter, Mr. Trimble turnished Agent,
for reviewing purposes, the following correspondence:
! letter dated.May 15, 1956, rrom.Han¬!5;enitsch, 3545 -
82nd Street, Jackson Heights, New York, addressed o Joseph B, Ieaver,
Chief Inspector, Bureau or Hatigaticn and Steamboat Inspection,
Department or Commerce, Iashington, D. Cs, enclosing therewith a de-
coded message and key entitled "Secret Internationalist Codes Cper-
ated in New York Press", and purported to be operated by the "Red
Network". This letter states that information relative to the secret
codes operated in the New York Press had been furnished certain mew
bare or Congress and that: "The Codes appear to be operated by an in-
visible super-government and they are decidedly anti American". Agent
secured photostatic copies of the code diagram and of the letter of
transmittal, which are attached to the Bureau copies of this report,
one copy of which having been personally delivered to hr. E. A. Tanm
of the Bureau on June 16, 1957, for submission to the Technical Lab-
oratory, it it is so deemed advisable.
! Letter dated May 2e, 1956, from .1. n. Ieaver, Director,
to Hans Cmonitsch, acknowledging the receipt of the letter and en-
closure, and advising that the matter will receive the attention or
the Board or Inquiry which the Secretary or Commerce is about to ap-
point ror the purpose or investigating problems concerning labor con-
ditions
! Letter dated Hay '2, 1957, from mwomor, Harring-
ton Hotel, Iaehington, D. Ct, to the Secretary o Commerce, Iherein,
referring to the above correspondence, he stated, among other things,
For about tuo years an associate of mine, Hrs Hans Cmenitsch, an ex-
pert decoder, has vainly tried to bring to the attention of the pub-
lic and the Congress the fact that a secret subversive code is being
run in the press from day to day,trom article to article, in an al-
most unbroken continuity." It goes on to state that to date nothing
sees to have been done to save America from the terrible damage these
codes have been and are daily doing and they are perpetually being
flaunted in the very face of Congress in the every day Washington
press." Continuing, O'Connor refers to the investigation of the
Hindenburg disaster initiated by the Department of Commerce and states
"as I have Mrs Omsnitsch available and as he has decoded enough in-
formation indicating willfully planned sabotage I wish to go on rec-
ord as not only asking, but demanding that Mr. Qmenitsch be called
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immediately and be made demonstrate his findings."
- ~i t_ ! Iestsrn Union telegram, dated Hay ll, 1937, Washing-
ton, De Ce, from i'om_0' Connor, to South Trimble, Chairman, Hindem-
hurg Investigation Commission, Lakehurst, New Jersey, referring to
the absence of any acknowledgment of his previous letter and stat-
ing among other things: !'Party aveilablejiere ready to testify and
present positive evidence that crash Iai planned sabotage by a spe-
cific group and sas positively intended to bring about foreign_cme
plications deliberately precipitating iar-"
! Letter dated Hey 15, 195? from Dennis Mulligan, Heme
her, Investigation Board, Lakehurst, He! Jersey, to Tom O'Connor,
in care of Congressman E. E. Cox, House of Representatives, lashing-
ton, D. 0», acknowledging above letter and telegram and requesting
to have 0sConnor's associate transmit to the Board a statement show-
ing what information he has and in that respect it may be connected
with the Hindenhurg disaster. "
! Letter dated May 16, 1937, from O'Connor, to lire
Mulligan, stating in reply that he has "requested this party to com-
pile his data and he has agreed to start doing this immediately and
expects to have it in complete form for presentation just as soon
as compatible,"
'7! Letter of Hey 27, 1937, from Tom O'Connor, 109 -
Iest 49th Street; New York City, Telephone: Columbus 5-9299?, ad-
dressed to Mr. Dennis Mulligan, referring to the above letter, and
stating "I am advised by this party that he now has all data in
shape and is ready to present his complete findings to your com-
mittee, but on condition that an acceptable number of members of
the House and Senate be on hand." Continuing, O'Connor advised in
this letter that the findings which his associate Iill present to
the Investigation Board do not sell for any secrecy, since Congress
is already in the possession of full information regarding the se-
cret code through which the sabotage activities were directed and
information exchanged both prior to and after the crash.
. as previously stated, "Io Trimble advised that he will re-
quest the presence of an Agent of the Bureau when he interrogates
Omenitecht In this connection, Agent conveyed to Hr. Trimble s
message given him by Hr. E. 1. Tam of the Bureau, suggesting that
Ir. Trimhle contact Hr. Tannby phone prior to his interview with
Hans Omenitsch, Mr. Tamm intimating that the Bureau is quite famil-
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L-uknhurat, I. J. "M"
Dear lira '
- This -111 noknoulodgo your 1¢:m¥ of Juno 10, 19:-r
omlollng a latter dctod at In York, lhy 25, 193?, and aignnd
Iith the initillo, Q. 0. 0..
At this timn allow me to thank you for your considera-
tion in forwarding this letter to me for appropriate attention.
Yary truly your 1,
I.'s. nsvaaanux,
Spooial Agent in Ohm-go.
IBD :HL,% 92CC-Bureau
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lee 19. 1937.
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Time - 2:30 P. I. r
Re:OEindenburg.
I called SAC Devereaux at Lakewood, low Jersey, 669 and
informed him that the Director had authorized the investigation requested
by Commander Rosendahl concerning the personal history, background,
criminal tendencies, etc., of Jos ,__pssemer on the Hindenburg.
I told Devereaux he should point out to Commander Rosendahl that in the
event this person was a German citizen, naturally our investigation
would not disclose much information. Devereaux stated that Spach'e
passport reflected he was an American citizen.
Devereaux also stated that subsequent to his first call
to the Bureau, Commander Rosendahl had approached his concerning thewarning which has been mentioned in this mer. Devereattx states that
this warning was received by Captain Anton ittemn, who is thecommanding officer or the Craf and Captainihehmann, deceased, who nae
in command of the Hindenbur-g. Ir. Devereauzfstated that these two
were the only persons who knew exwthing about the supposed warning
and that they had imparted their information to no one other than
the German Ambassador. According to Ir. Devereamt, Hugofiickener had
suggested to Commander Rosendahl that Captain Witteman be interviewed
for the purpose of securing information concerning this warning and
Rosendshl has requested Devereaux to do this. I told Devereanx he
should take no action in this connection until the Director had an
opportunity to pass upon the request of Commander Rosendahl, after
which he would be advised if he was authorized to make the interview.
Devereaux is proceeding with the investigation as to
Spam ,'_ " ; . '1
RespectfulJy,é72 IW{f";:'T :=11~ l~°. $9 . v * YD "4 "' L * o o o
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JOHN. EDGKR HOOVER
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Ushers! Bureau nri lnuzstigaiinu p
nitzh States Bspartnumt of Justice -Haslqingtnn, E. GI. , ~
May 19, 1937.
s.
Time - 1o=20 am. "" ,1 "
'mm.;:oagmLI1;92-I F013;?»-LE_ia This W -
Re: !Hindenburg.
SAC Devereaux telephoned me from Lakehurst and said that late last nighthe received a call from Gommandezihosendahl, who said that he wanted to
discuss certain matters with him ersonallywhich he could not explain
over the telephone. Mr. Devereaux went down to Lakehurst and contacted
Commander Hosendahl, who said that during the course of the testimony
which has been given in connection with this matter, it developed that
the fire probably originated in or about Motor No. 4 of the ship. The
testimony showed that the passengers were not allowed to frequent the
vicinity of the motor gondolas without being accompanied by an officer
or a member of the crew. However, the testimony showed that there was
on board this ship an acrobat by the name of Joseph Spach. This man had
two pet dogs which were placed in a compartment in the aft of the ship,
and he had a habit of going to see his dogs without being accompanied by
an officer or a member of the crew. The innuendo of the entire matter
is that this acrobat could have climbed out on the mtor gondola, removed
the cover on the exhaust pipe of the motor, and allowed the flames to
set fire to the fabric and explode the hydrogen. '
Commander Rosendahl wanted to know if the Bureau could conduct an investi-
gation of this man, with particular reference to his personal history,
his background, criminal tendencies, etc. This man was placed in the
hospital at Asbury Park, New Jersey due to injuries received at the time
of the incident, but he was discharged and left his forward.ng address
as Douglaston, Long Island.
I told Hr. Devereaux that this request would be submitted to the Director
for a decision, and we would let him know what to do about it.
_ ,. _. r-,'"!"Y ;_1:;§2Dpp-s;,;pi;5;iED gr p Respectfully,
0% _ P. E» FOXWORZIII.
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wM1 21 GOVT COLLECT
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DIQ,, , .FFTCP FEDERAL BUREAU 0? INVESTIGATION
"5 KEPT 0? JUSTICE
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Governlnt Heeervutia
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;Q_{_ "._r;f:Dear Sir: "'1-"-a1-"H 1151 1? , b - P? "'-.:;:4,,:1¢<@1.n_mBY_<v@¢~ri '" n
Baference la lede to your letter to the Bureau datedJune 10, 1937 covering the transmittal of the original planterc:st of the foorprint previously submitted in life size ph1ta-
gr;ph deuiqnntad as spacimen 01?.
Exuninemlon of the cut failed to disclose sufficientdetail to pemit an identification, but the word appearing on
the cant night. possibly be '8E0O!iD'. The Iord SECOND ll 80:0-tinea stamped on inferior or eeaond-grade eerchandiee. _
It en noted at the time the pleeter cult In receivedet the Technical Leboretoq, that it lad been broken during
transit to the Bureau.
The epeclnan submitted ea the original. of Q18 is beingrenrned to your office under eepnrate cover M Reileuy hqaresa.
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DEPARTMENT or Commence.
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
moron
' June 21, 1937.
r
r. John Edear Hoover, _ _
Director, Federal dnrean of Investigation,
Department of Justice,
'-fashigmn, Do Co
Dear Mr. Hoover:
. This will acknowledge receipt of your letter of June
16th, regardinn the findings of your bureau in its examina-
tion of the photograph and original negative purnortinn to
depict the0airshi1:riII1DHIl;%U'P.G approaching the mooring mast
at lakehurst prior to the explosion which caused its destruc-
131031.
J8 sincerely appreciate your cooperation in tuis and in
all other matters in which vou have rendered us valuable
assistance in our investigation of the HINDENBURG accident
and we hope that if at any time this Department can assist
you in any way you will not feil tn "R11 on He v w-. v--. -ii
Very truly yours,
» , fern?
,1 92 //- 1/ .4, , 'outh T1-Tnbila % /-'3'F§i'1'r'71a¬929 I ' I
Department of Commerce ,
Investigation Board. 1
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TH!Béig-EIORIGINATIDAT NEWARK, NEW JERSEY I FILE NO. 70-£596" _ ¢ lI:|Io|rrMA::;T . u mmrurnmnuuan irnuonron _ .||pIoIrlAb:lvI WHICH HIDEIashington, n. o. e-as-av 6-19-3? s LOEBL LL=es
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SYNOPSIS OF FACTS: Additional reviewed at the Depart-
ment oi but no information or/t U possible sabotage. _I mt or 92o'92 A0
X3 inter-
viewed; on toN ; the previously 1'u:r- " _ 1511 d. 3:-IT"f~.INFI{L I n 8 F%I:P§I§ §§M§?rI¬.§s:1s1r11 it W
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I Report of Special Agent Louie Loebl dated at
Washington, D. C.,.Tune 17, 195'?-
n.m.11s= Arggwsssmsrosj n, c.
On June 18, 1957, MR. SOUTH TRIMBIE, J'R., Solicitor,Chairman or the Hindenburg Investigating Board of the Department ofGomnsrce, inrormed Agent by telephone that he received from Gomanderc. nsfnosenaani or the Naval Air Station, Lakehurst, New Jersey, an" additional batch or letters relating to the Hindenburg disastermatter and that he desired to have the letters reviewed for anypossible evidence or sabotage suggested therein. Pursuant to thisrequest, Agent examined at the orrioe oi Mr. Trimble the additionalfile oi forty letters sent to Commander Rosendahl from various partsof the country offering suggestions as to the cause oi the loss st,_ the Hindenburg. The theories advanced by the writers or the majority' of the lette coincide practically with those expressed in the _
*lPII=I1I;*;uI~I'I'"' none-|-92|rnrrz||~|'m:n:llIA¢BS; Q; 141??/EM: 47 .Iuw24 Is; A
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II I IIUIIIIKIT IIIITIIII OFFICE
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letters previously reviewed: static electricity, St. Elmo's Fire a
phenomenon consisting of oolleeted statip discharges}, faulty frame f
work, or defective bonding in the stt section of the ship, electric
"charges generated by the thunder sto:m,'eto- . p,, s
There were five letters Buggesting possible sabotage
caused by either e tracer bullet fired from an airplane at the time
oi the landing or by an incendiary bullet fired from a silent rifle
from a car perked near the landing place. Everyone or these letters,
however, ere merely general expressions or opinions or conclusions
based upon theories or hatred toward Germany on the part of its
enemies both Jewish and Spanish.
Iith reference to the information furnished the
Hindenburg Investigating Board by the Naval Intelligence concerning
certain intormation emanating from a confidential informant, as
mentioned on Page 2 in reference report, Mr. Trimble stated that
Commander Keisker of the Naval Intelligence had called on him in
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Special Agent William S. McKinley of this officeinformed Agent that on Saturday afternoon, une 9 '7, at about4:45 P.I~£. shortly after Agent interviewe , while heat the Mf1o tsting
that a rd: @'l'as~ago
disaster to-e 5
1!11' l' that he I85because he Iaifaid that _thOB¥,_eocent, might have been sent by the Ge = - 1- to cfheok up Q lfonnoétion IHTFEE intprnlstion he had in his F
oonoerning the Hindenburg catastrophe. Agent McKinley"ted that the men who phoned expressed himself es being greatly
relieved by the iniormstion given him that the person who inter-
viewed him we really e. Department of Justice man.
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~ :.-___ ' alznzrul Bureau of lnueanganun"1
nitnh itatu Brpartment nf Juatire
'-feehington Field Division, Room 2266,
Weshinggton, D. C.
; ,. /
I¢CEI92iQR;_l§T_DIJI~5 FUR 192-E'1_,a . ArJune 2.5, 1937,
J
. > 0
RE: DESTRUCTION OF AIRSHIP "HINDENBIJRG";
92 _ G@921E1ne»F,1goBEs1:5'~!er;o;§ if
- / As __ - ~ - -- 3- - -- 92"- * " reporteo. verbally, Ar. bouth Tri-able, J'r., bolicitor,
~' Department of Commerce, phoned me at my home et 9:00 P.I»:,, June 25rd,
V end requested me to be present on J e 24th in his e onfer-92p 92 / ence which he bed arranged with l In-/ eemuch es no definite hour was s _ fez-en , .;"ee11
u available on -T ne 24th et a momens notice, but these men failed to
meantime, et your suggestion, I re an fileobtaining therefrom date concerning _G
ch I subsequently conveyed to fir. Trimb e or his infor-
Lir. Trtable hes just informed me by phone
ed him at 2:00 P.I.'I, today and informed him th
_ et e local hotel under en assumed name, bed hurriedly le
the city yesterday and returned to New York./
The attached memorandum, dated April 29, 1937, from 1.-Zr.Cw 11- Appel to Mr. Toleon, which was extracted from the Bureau file,
is returne herewith. '
ALL INFORMATION CONTAINEDHEREIH ij;3:3l.AS-SZFEED Z'w# ZJL
ogre»-1?-~ BM» M,-._ &° 1=;=q"L R6 bu , .:Pec el A¬8>*1.¢ l H-mm
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4-750 Rev. 4-17-85!
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FEDERAL BUREAU DF IIWESTIGITIDII
FDIPA DELETED PAGE INFORMATION SHEET
Page s! withheld entirely at this location in the le. One or more of the following statements, where
in-linn+Q¢-I Av-Jain I-I-in 4-I¢sl¢~.H¢92ninlun.-nut-u, Clipli-llll unn uiisvuiuuu
Deleted under exemption s! __. . with no segregable
material available for release to you.
lnfonnation pertained only to a third party with no reference to you or the subject of your request.
Information pertained only to a third party. Your name is listed in the title only.
Documents originated with another Government agency ies!. These documents were referred to that
agency ies! for review and direct response to you.
Pages contain information furnished by another Government agencyes!. You will be advised by the FBI as
to the releasabiiity of this information following our consultation with the other agency ies!.
Page e! withheld for the following reas0n s!:
For your information: _ y _ y _ _ _
The following number is to be used for reference regarding these pages:
. , 0- .'~ 92a;1.-»92e92.:92-:~ bl . _ . _ .
XXXXKXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
DELETED PAGE S! §
N0 DUPLICATION FEE X
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DEPARTMENT or COMMERCE
0FFl¢E OF THE BOLICITOR
wnsniueros
Q, July 1, 1957.0~> 92
,1.92 Q ,
O~
La!Honorable John Edgar Hoover,
Director, Federal Bureau or Investigation,
Department of Justice, "
Washington, D. C.
Dear Mr. Hoover:
I wish to acknowledge the receipt of and thank you
for your confidential report dated June 24, 1937, upon
Jose aph eh, a passenger on the last flight of the air-
E11 1 pv I1"euFu"92TBUhnG -
You ask to be advised whether the Board of Inquiry '
desires further investigation regarding Speeh. Dr. Eokener
and the members oi the German Commission seemed to be
especially interested in this passenger. They dwelt in
private upon the fact that he was the owner of a dog ken-
neled in the stern part of the ship and after a day or so
out of Frankfort apparently was permitted the liberty of
going to the after part er the ship without being accen-
panied by an Officer or members or the ship's crew. The
steward reported that Lir. Speeh had made the statement
that his dog was so attached to him that the animal would
not eat unless he were present at the time. It is my un-
derstanding that the German authorities are conducting a
close investigation or Spaeh and his activities abroad.
We are enclosing for your infomation a copy oi the
'|..;.|-....-_ .._-..|.. 4...-. 4-M.» T-.-.-_.-.4.-1...-..|.-In-. R-..-__A L.-- l!__ G-..n.-.92.. T.LBbb=J. Mb DU IIJJU LHVUUULSGHLUU UQLU Dy IILLQ $133110 J
have nothing further to offer at this time. I would sug-
gest that the investigation be held open __;*@_§_.@.=;__;_1;_____ ___ _H
order to see the reaction oi Mr. Spaeh. 'F e;»- 2 /9 0 - .5The willing esaR§6ié*QEEpt11§R%§EEr yaiireéir is your " M "
organization is greatly appreciated. ' V
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Douglaston, N. Y. ""
Bureau of air Commerce
Investigation Board
Naval Air Station
Iekehurst, N. J.
I
Dear sn-= '
In your communication or May 24, re - information regarding the
available facts, conditions and circumstances, relating to the
accident to the IZ Hindenburg, I would like to say, being that
I was a Passenger, that:
I was at the time of the first Explosion, o the window furthest
up toward the Nose of the ship, in the Diningroom, facing the
Hangar, taking a Photograph of the Groundcrew, With the sudden-
ness of the whole thing, there was no time for me to observe,
just where the whole thing was happening or where it started from,
from the way we were rising for a secod and from the reflection
of the explosion on the ground, I could imagine that we had gone
up in flames, I jumped out from a great height and when I landed
on the ground ran off without looking beck, thus at no time, did
I see any flames, nor do I have the slightest idea, nor could I
have, toward the solution of the accident.
My wife, who was standing on the ground, however was able to
see the first flames shoot out toward the stern of the Hindem-
burg with the rest following up in a few seconds.
This is all the information I can qive.
sincerely,
1~ned! Joseph Spaeh
Douglaston, Lona Island, N. Y.
I
..,_ PFEDERAL BUREAU J
0F g,_ INVESTIGATION 3
From: Laboratcr
Date 195
Mr. Nathan =' ___HMr. McClintock
Mr. Appel " ____Mr. MillerMr. Baughman é _____Mr. Parsons
Mr. Beach ____Mr. Pfafman_ Mr. Blackburn Mr. Pickering
Mr. Burgess Mn_ Mr.RennebergerMr. H.fM. Clegg Mr, Schilder - 0Mr. Clark ' " w__M . Q. TammMr. Ccnrad ____hief Clerk
Mr. Dingle Files
Mr. Donaldson ___ _Laboratory -
Mr. Engert
Mr. LovettStencgrapher
_MessengerMr. Major ___Mai1 RoomMr. McC rthy ____7Mr. '6Z»ééh1;4_____
92 h I - F '
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E. P. COFFEYPlease Handle
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Air Commerce Bulletin
''-_'_-_,I.~.
_
Issued Monthly by the Bureau of Air Commerce
_ ___f __ _, ,,
V0119 WASI-IINGTON, AUGUST 15, 1957 No. 2W *- -- 1 '7 "7 F- ' - '1 " -" '
t CONTENTS
Airway! lmprvtlnent projects announced by Advisory committee formed to assist in civilDcpa-rtlnent of Commerce. airway re:-atlun problems.M --=-~=-= -- =":.'::.::*:; 1.:r.:.:'t::a.l ""'=""~="='=*t . 5 . ,, . .gureau or iommerne Advisory Board hold:!!'!'t meetingGerman air line to make experimental i!i|-ht:
__ to United sum this summer.' uesignarion of medical examiners.Air lines employ Bil hostesses and 105 Airports, charts, and lights.
ltewardl. Licenses, approvals, and ratings.
Airways Improvement Projects Announced by
Department of Commerce
A program of airways construction
representing plans for expenditure of
about $5,000,000 of the $7,037,800 which
the Departments appropriation act for
the scal year 1938 authorizes for es-
tablishment of air-navigation aids has
ban announced by the Bureau oi Air
Commerce, Department of Commerce.
The act appropriates $3,037,800 for this
purpose for the scal year 1938 and
authorizes the Department to obligate
itself for an additional $2,000,000 prior
to July 1, 1938, plus a further $2,000.-
000 prior to July 1, 1939.
The Bureaus program is designed
primarily to improve the existing sys-
tem ot air-navigation aids by modem-
izing present aids and providing new
facilities to ll in gaps in the present
system.
An outstanding feature is adoption
for Bureau radio stations of simulta-
neous transmision of both voice and
radio range signals on the same tre-
quency, which has been made possible
by the Bureaus development work.
With simultaneous transmission the
radio range signals transmitted to keep
the pilot on his course are sent con-
tinuously. Voice broadcasts are made
from time to time on the same tre-
quency, with the range still in opera-
tion, and the pilot may listen to which-
T544-3'l'--~1erer form of transmission he requires
at the moment.
As it is necessary that range signals
and voice broadcasts be on the some
frequency, stations operating on the
older basis have to interrupt the range
signals to broadcast voice. Although
lhe intervals are brief, not exceeding
3 minutes, they may occur at times
when pilots urgently need radio range
guidance. Simultaneous transmission
does away with these interruptions.lService installation of ultra-high Ire-
quency transmitters, also developed by
the Bureau, to furnish a poitive indi-
cation of the location of radio range
stations is a major part of the pro-
! gram.
A further phase or
plan prov-ides for the
major radio stations now having the
loop type antennas, with vertical ra-
diator antennas which improve the
transmission of directional ignals to
airmen and also are necessary for sl-
multaneous transmission.
In addition, several intermediate
landing elds will be enlarged, im-
proved, or relocated. and lights on sec-
tions oi four airways will be relocated
in order to provide straight linethe improvement
equipment of all
COlIlI'BES_
19
aur-
20 la AIR oomaancn BULLE'1'IN
A list of projects so far approved
under the 1938 liscal year program fol-
lows:
Radio
New full powered siniuliaiieous
weather broadcast and radio range sta-
tions will be established at Browns-
ville, Tex; Delta, Utah; and Blooming-
ton, Ill.
Medium powered stations having
somewhat less coverage, but equipped
for simultaneous transmission of radio
range signals and voice communica-
tions from a ve-tower vertical raidi-
ator system, will be establishednit the
following places: '
Abilene. Tex.Anton Chico, N. Mex,
Baker, Oreg.Bakerseld, Calif.
Belirade, Mont.Che ails, Wash.Columbus. N. Mex.Cor us Christi, Tex.Dallas, Tex.
12<=!"*s'-.<1.<>l°-
UIIDOIS, JJIIRDO
Eugene, Orcg.Florence, . C.Great Falls Mont.Indio. Calif.Kin st if. g on, CalLansing, Mich.
Full-powered stations now equipped
with loop type antennas at the follow-
ing points will be converted into the
simultaneous transmission type with
vertical antennas
Alma. Ga.Atlanta, Ga.Boise. IdahoBurley, ldahoCharleston, S. C.Chattanooga, Tenn.
Chicago, Ill.Columbia. M0.
Columbus. _0hioDetroit, Mich.Elmira, N. Y.Gosnen. Ind.Indianapolis, Ind.Jacksonville, Fla.Malad, IdahoMeridian, Miss.Montague, Calif.Palmdale. Calif.
Parco, Wyo,Peoria, Ill.
Roseburg, Orecg. ura .Sacramento.
Savannah, Ga.
§mit_li §rove,_Kg.aoutn isenti, ind,Tonga, Fla.Tole 0, OhioWaynoka, Okla.We-ndover, Utah.Whitehall, Mont.
Miami, Fla.Mobile, Ala.La.PNew Orleans,North Platte, NPueblo, Colo.Raleigh, N. C.Richmond, Va.San Antonio. Tex.Greensboro, N. C.San Diego, Calif.Spartanburz. S. C.Spokane, Wash.Titusvllle, Fla.Washington, D. C.
The following stations will be re-
located :
Moran. Kans., to Chanute, Kano.Van Nags. CallI.. to Los Angeles, Calif.Mount haste, Calii., to Red Bluff, Calif.
C92J...&-f.__...- -J. '92.l'...II.92_.l Bran CIA-4-In-willDIHLIULIS uh lII.CLlLU1U, llu. [U1 l1l1ll92nl|
Oi-eg., and Seattle, Wash, will be
moved to new sites in the same
locality.
The medium-powered stations having
loop antennas at lliartii-is Creek, Pa.,
and Fontana, Ca1if., will be replaced by
new stations at Allentown. Fa, and
Riverside, Calif., respectively, and
equipped with vertical antennas and
the simultaneous transmission feature
for voice communication and radio
range. Medium-powered loop antenna
stations at Camden, N. J.; Erie, Pa.;Idaho Falls, Idaho; Syracuse, N. ¥.;
and Tucuincai-i, N. Men; will also be
converted to the simultaneous type.
New medium-powered stations of tlie
loop antenna type will be established
cit: '
Acoaiiia, N. Hex. Golva, N. Dak.Charlotte N. C. Santa Ana, Calif.Custer, limit. Tintic, Utah
At the following sites will be located
ilow-powered radio localizers transmit-
ting directive signals from loop an-
tennas, which serve as localizing
guides for airmen within a radius of
approximately 15 miles:
Austin, Tex. lit. Shasta. Calif.Chesterfield. Tenn. Needles, Calif.Dilln, Mont. Pocatello, Irahn.Galveston, Tex. Rochester Y.Grand mpia. llich. sigmgaeiii, lll.G1-antiiville, Utah. S mpede Pass,Joliet. Ill. Wash.
Laramie, Wye. Tyler, Tex.Macon. Ga. Utica, N. Y.liizrmon Mesa, Nev. _ Vern Beach, Fla. __
Radio ranges now located at Arch-
bold, Ohio, Butte, 192_1ont., Cherokee,
Wyo., Milford, Utah, and Tacoma.
Wash., will be converted to radio lo-
calizers of low power.
Nondirectlve marker stations which
serve to mark one particular point will
be converted to low powered directive
markers at A:-dmore, Okla, Lafayette,
Ind., Livermore, Calif., McCool, Ind.,
and Morse, Ill.
A fth tower and radio telephone
broadcast equipment will be installed
at the following vertical antenna sta-
tions not now equipped for simulta-
neous voice transmission, and simul-
taneous operation will be provided:
Burlington, Iowa. Rockford. Ill.Canadian, Tex. Rodeo, N. Mex.Daggett. Callt. Texarkana, Ark,Des Moises. Iowa. Tucson. Avis.Milwaukee, Wis. Wink. Tex.
Ultra high-treouency markers for
airways traic control use will be es-
tablished as follows:
Chicago Des Plnines!, Ill., Lansing,
Ii1., Newhall Pass, Calif., Oceanside,
Callf., Sandberg, Calif., Sandla Moun-
tain Alhuquerque!. N. Mex., Santa Fe
Springs, Callf., Sheridan, 111., and three
will be constructed in the vicinity of
Newark, N. J. _
The medium powered radio range
station now at Bucksiown, Pa., will be
relocated to Somerset, Pa., and recon-
structed with a vertical tower antenna
system. A station of the same type
will be constructed at Mai-tinsburg, Pa.,
and a low powered range will be estab-
lished at Pittsburgh. Pa., for service as
an airport localizer. This work will
be a joint undertaking of the State of
Pennsylvania and the Bureau of Air
- l
AIR GOMIME
Conlmerce, according to present ar-
rangements.
All stations with vertical antennas.
both new and old, are to be provided
with simultaneous equipment ._ and
stand-by radio range transmitters tor
emergency use in case of a break-down.
stand-by power, and positive cone of
silence markers which give the airman
a positive signal, either by turning on
a light on his instrument board or by
aural signal in his headphones, as he
passes over the tation.
Field and lighting improvement prol-
ects, in some cases, call for the es b-lishment of entirely new tacillaes,
while others call for improvement, re-
location, or discontinuance, These
projects will be amended ti-om time to
time and others added to the list as the
program progresses. Specic items
now planned are:
New intermediate landing elds at
East Liverpool, Ohio, and Marshall,
Mo.; enlargement of elds at Advance,
lllo., Arehhold, Ghio, Chesiereld,
Tenn., Pittseld. Mass, and Saugus,
Calif. Enlarge or relocate: Livermore,
Calif., and Wendover, Utah; improve
or relocate: Kylertown, Pa.; il'lJpI'0i'B:
Oceanside, Ca1if.; relocate: Columbia-
92-ille, N. Y.; discontinue: Higginsrille,
Mo.
Beacons between Dana and Laramie,
W3-o., on the Salt Lake~0maha B.irW:l_92'
will be relocated to provide a straight-
line course. A new eld will be estab-
lished near McFadden, W3-0., and those
at Dana and Medicine Bow will be dis-
continued.
On the Gods-Needles, Calit'., section
of the Los Angeles-Amarillo airway the
intermediate landing eld now at Goffs
will he discontinued and a new one es- BULLETIN 21
tnblished at Needles. One beacon on
this section will also be relocated.
Field and lighting facilities on the
Las Vegas. Nev.-Milford, Utah, section
of the Los Angeies-Salt Lake airway
will be relocated to fa straight-line
course.
The intermediate landing eld at
Baker, Caiiih, on the same airway will
be discontinued and replaced by a new
eld between Baker and Riggs.
l Ali facilities between Pasco and
Spokane, Wash., will be discontinued
with the exception of intermediatelanding elds for day use at Connell
and Sprague, Wash.
Field and lighting facilities will be
relocated to a straight-line course be-
tween Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. Pa.,
and beacons between McConnellsburg
and Harrisburg, Pa., will be discon-
tinued. Field and lights between
Washington. D. 0., and Pittsburgh,
1 Pa., will also be relocated to a straight-
line course. These two projects, ac-
cording to present arrangements, will
be performed in conjunction with the
State of Pennsylvania.
. Teletypewriter Circuits
Besides accomplishing the construc-
tion work enumerated above, the
Bureau will augment the service to air-
,men on the Federal System by arrang-
ing for about 7,500 miles of te1etype-
writer circuits for transmission oi
weather information. These include
the following circuits:
Seattle-Vancouver. Fortworth-Houston.Seattle-Fargo, N. Atlanta-FortWo1'1h.
Dak. Detroit-Grand Bap-Fort Worth-Burbank ids.St. Louis-Tulsa. NewarkBul!ialo,
St. Louis-New 0r- Wnshington- N a s h-leans. ville.Great Falls. Mont: WRhlngfO-ClDClll-Salt k - La e City nati., Lvos Angeles. Atlanta-Jacksonville.
Report of Airship Hindenburg Accident Investigation
Contents
Part I.-Introduction. Part II.-'1he airship-Continued.Schedule.
Ownership
Certicate
Crew.
Passengers.Goods carried.Ground crew and facilities.Flight across the Atlantic.Part II.'Ihe airship,Deilzn and construction.1936 record.Digiension. capacities, other characteris-cs.Controls.Gas shafts.and operation. ] Eropulslon.of sirorthiness. Propellers.
Electrical power plant and installations.Ropes and cables.Ba last arrangements.Radio equipment.
Lifting gas.Bonding.Part III.--The landing maneuver.
Meteorological conditions.General.Local.
Fommunications. radio.
..-.5.;_ _ ___ -5, -'9
22 "" am ooamnnca BULLETIN 1
Part III.--The landing mancuverCon.Altitude! at landing.Electric installations.Rudder.Part lV.'.lhe iire.
Ground log. ,Description of landing.Incidents tetcre the ..re.Fiuttering ot outer cover.Strain on port trail rope.Sensations within the ship.Appearance of tire.Part V.The combustible mixture and itsignition.
Sabotage.Accidental causes. '
Presence oi combustible mixture oi hr-dr n and air. 989Accumulation through dliiusion orosmosis.Failure of valve mechanism.Decreased ventilation. _ -Entry of piece of propeller.Fracture or hull wire.Maijor structural failure.Ignit on of _the mixture.Iuecnanlcai.
Chemical.
Thermodynamic.Electrical.Spark in gas fullness or pressure in-dicator.
Resonance e.'ectHigh-frequency in-ductance.
Eleacti-ostat_icsI__
Bi-ulsl;:.§iJiii:hli1i:"ge or St. El.m0s Fire.Conclusion.Appendix I.--Crew iist.
II.Passenger list.III.Track of Hindenburo over
Lakehurat, May 6, 1937.with notes on maneu-VETS.
IV.-Anemogrcph. thernicgraph,and microbaroéraph tracesmade at Lak urst, May6. 1937.
In an order dated May 7, 1937, made
by the Secretary of Commerce pur-
suant to the Air Commerce Act of 1926,
as amended, relating to the investiga-
tion of accidents in civil air naviga-
tion in the United States, South
Trimble, Jr., solicitor. Maj. R. W.
Schroeder, Assistant Director oi! the
Bureau of Air Commerce. and Denis
Mulligan, chief, Regulation and En-
forcement Division ot the Bureau of
Air Commerce, all oi the Department
of Commerce, were designated to in-
vestigate the facts, conditions and cir-
cumstances or the accident involving
the airship Hindenb-urn, which occur-
red on May 6. 1937, at the naval air
station, Lalsehurst. J., and to make
a report thereon.
Commander C. E. Roaendahl. United
sfts NKTF. Col. C. do F. Chandler,
United States Army, Col. Ruch B. Lin-
coln, United States Army, Col. Harold
E. Hartney, technical adviser to the
Umted States Senate Committee on
Commerce, Hon. Gill Robb Wilson. di-
rector of aeronautics for the State of
New Jersey, and Hon. Grover Loening,
aeronautical adviser to the United
States Maritime Commision, were des-
ignated as technical advisers. Gen.-it.Friedrich 92ui| lioetticher. German mili-
tury attache, was selected by the _Ger-
man Ambassador at the invitation oi
the Secretary oi! Commerce. as an ob-
server at the investigation.
n than f nl-H1 dnv nf fhn Imago-vl .,.. ...., -o...... ...., ,.. ...... ..- ..ngs,
the members or the German Commis-
-sion appointed to investigate the acci-
dent, including Dr. Hugo Eckener,
Lt. Col. Joachim Breithaupt, Prof.
Guenther Bock, Prot. Dr. Max D1eck-
mann, Director Dr. Ludwig Duerr, and
Sta Euginmr Friedrich Hoffman, ap-
peared and thereafter acted as oi»
servers and testted as witnesses.
The United States Navy Board of In-
quiry was represented throughout the
hearing by an observer.
When the accident occurred, an
aeronautical inter of the Depart-
ment oi! Commerce was present. Be
fore midnight of the same day, other
representatives of the Department
reached the scene oi! the accident
After a preliminary inspection had
been made, public hearings were held,
from Iuiay 10 to Iiiay 28, in the main
hangar at the naval air station, Lake-
hurst, N. J., in Asbury Park, N. J., and
in New York City. -
In addition to that provided by the
Department's representatives. assist-
ance was received from the United
States Navy Department, Bureau of
Investigation, Department oi Justice,
Weather Bureau, Department of Agri-
culture, National Bureau of Standards,
Department of Commerce, New York
City Police Department, and the Bu-
reau oi! Explosives. Aviation com-
panies, newspapermen, nevvsreel rep-
resentatives. and photographers. many
of whom were eye witnesses to the
event, and others, furnished valuable
information.
Part I.-Introduction
[No'ra.Ali times reported herein. un-
less otherwise indicated. are eastern
standard time E. S. T.!]
The airship Himienburg was de-
strayed by re at 8:25 p. m., S. T..
May 6, 1937. at the naval air station,
Lakehurst, N. J.
Schedule
The airship was completing its rst
scheduled demonstration isht for the
1937 season, between Frankfurt, Ger-
many. and Lakehurst. It had departed
from Frankfurt about 8:15 p. m..
G. M. T.. Monday, May 3, and was duo
at Lakehurst on the morning of
Thursday, May 6. It was due out of
W WA A _ _ q-F. I _ _ _ __M____ _____ W ,_ .... t............¢...~_..~-
or ,_
' -' -pp . .._.n.. __ __ 7.4 .._.._..--
Lakehnrst at 10 p. m.. E. 8. I. that
night. Because of unfavorable winds
encountered en route, its arrival at
Lakehurst was deferred until 6 p. m-,
Thursday evening, and departure was
to be postponed until midnight or later
in order to reservice and prepare for
the return voyage.
Ownership and Oyaraas
The ship was owned and operated by
the Dentsche Zeppelin Beederei,
G. rn. h. H., of Berlin, W. S, under den
Linden, Germany. The ight. which
was to have been one of a series to he
made into United States territoryninr
ing 1937, was authorized by a- provi-
sional air navigation permit from the
Secretary of Commerce, and a revo-
cable permit issued by the Secretary of
the Navy to the American Zeppelin
Transport, Inc., of 354 Fourth Avenue,
New York City, as general United
tates agent of the Deutsche Zeppelin
Beederci, G. m. b. H., for the use of
the landing ileld and facilities at the
naval air station at Lakehurst.
Certicate oi Airworthiness
In March 1937 the German Governmentrenewed the airworthiness certication ofthe aircraft, reporting that all of its safetydc-vices had been inspected and found satis-
factory.Crew
According to the crew list see ailependixI} furnished by the American gpelin'.irans|lort. Inca. the personnel on oard.including oicers, numbered 61. of whom 22died as a result of the accident.
Passengers
The passenger list {see appendix II!. like-wise furnished. shows that 36 persons be-rides the crew were on hoard. or these, 13died as a result of the accident. Other as-st-nccrs and members of the crew sustaiiaed
serious injuries.
Goods Carried
Total weight of the freight carried who325 pounds. The frelht was stowed in thr-maln freight compartment at frame 125: 2dogs were kenneed at frame 92. and 3it-kages were stowed in the control car.all was carried in a compartment ontop of the control car. Of the freisht andmail only s few pieces of mall were re-covered.
Ground Crew and Facilities
The ground personnel consisted of 92naval personnel and 139 civilians. Prac-tical], all of the ground crew had previousexperience in Ian lug alrships. One mem-ber of the ground crew died as a result ofburns received during the accident.
Flight Across the Ailaniic
Across the Atlantic from Germany to theUnited States, the ight had been unevent-
ful, save for retarding winds which werenot unusually turbulent. The route trav-~ 92
l
am oo1ltus....n smmarm ~ 23
ct-sod by the ship on this side of the oceanwas from Nova Bcotia. via Boston. Provi-dence, Loruhlsllurd Bound New York. andthence to kehurst. After passlni! overLakehurst the rst time. it proceeded tocruise along the coast for a iew hours beforeretracing its course from Tuckerton. N. .l..
to the naval air station.
Part ILThe Airship
'- ' Design and Construction
The airship was placed in service earlyin 1936. It bore builder's number LZ 129
and had been constructed by the LuitSchiifbau Zeppelin of Friedrichahafen. G91-msny, an nrsnlsntion which had previously
built us Zeppelin-type alrships. Brieydescribed, this type of design provides for uframework of duralumln meta Bil-tiers withtension wires. There is division by framewit-inga of the body into different compart-ments. into which the gas bugs are pacedto receive the lifting gas; s eel wa kwayto. take certain loads; a framework with anouter cover of fabric to give form. and en-gine cars ltlilpeniiritl from the frame outsideihe ship. The Hiadcnhnrg was a Zeppelin-type airship. having an axial corridor con-structed longitodinally through the center
of the hull.
HIS Record
During its 0 months of operation in I930.this airs sin had made more than 55 ights;
own 2.764 hours, crnicd 191,583 mil»-s.crossed the ocean 34 times. carried 2,793passengers and more than 377,000 pounds ofmail and freight. all without mishap.
Dimension Capacities, Other Characteristics
Its length was about 803.8 fect: height.147 feet; maximum diameter. 135 feet:lineness ratio lllcnzth over diameter!. houi0; total gas volume. 7.063.000 cubic feet:normal vo umc. 6.710.000 cuhic icct. Wcighlof ship with necessary equipment and fuelwas 430.950 pounds; mnximum fuel capac-
ity, 143.650 pounds; total pay load. 41,990gonads, and total lift under standard con-itions! was 472.940 pounds. its rarcllcruising speed was about '75 statuie milesper nour; its nlaiirnum speed was slislltvover B4 miles oer hour. Passenger spacewas entirely within the hull.
Controls
The control system was the conventionalZeppelin-type control. with two l1iCid¢lB act-ing as a unit for horizontal contrl. and twoelevators actlnf likewise for vertical control.Emergency c cvator and rudder-controlwheels were Installed in the stern _of theship. An electrical gyroscoplc dc-vlce at-tac ed to the forward rudder WI-N391 P1'°-
vided automatic steering.
Outer Cover
The enter cover consisted of cotton fabricon certain parts of the frame; on others.
linen, depending upon stresses to whichit was exposed. The exterior surface ofsuch fabric was treated with several matsof cellon and a mixture containing aluminumpowder. As protection against ultravioletrays. the inner surface of the fabric on theupper: part of the ship was coated with redpa n
Gas Cells
In each of the 16 compartments of theship was a gas cell containing the liftinggas, hydrogen. The middle cells were sep-arate, whereas the two bow and the two
n_.__.__....-..__..._....._a.. .. . .. -1» .-.....-..,_..._a-~, .
24 In AIR 00MMl'JltGE BULLETIN
stern cells were lntercommunlcnting. Thegs cell mierial consisted ct a lm placedtween two layers oi iabric. Nettinga wereprovlded to prevent all sharp edszcs fromdamaging the gas cells. It was stated thatthe amount or gas leakage through rbh-Ktabric aprgroxlmated s mllirnum illusiongate ot a at 1 liter per square meter pcr 24ours.
its Valves
Fourteen automatic and an equal numberior manusllg operated or maneuvering valveswere alxe to the cells. A sinlzle mallowvering valve was silixed to cells numbered1 and 2 and cells 15 and 18. Gas could bereleased from the cells by manual operationof the valve controls located in the controlcar and hooked up with the valves lay aseries or wires and pulleys. This Alas oneunder the supervision or the captain or thewatch oliicer in charge. The automatic oremergency valves were provided to reducethe pressure oi the gas in -the cells undercertain circumstances. The cells were num-bered from stern to bow, from 1 to 16. Themaneuvering valves of cells nos. 3, 4, 5, 6,T. 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, and 14 were connectedto a master wheel in the control car whichoperated all of them as a unit and theresso were independent controls for the se -arate inaneuvcrinlg valves so that the gas Bithem could be reessed as desired.
Cell Fullness or Pressure Indicator
Electrically actuated gas fullness or pres-sure units were connected to the gas cellsto indicate visually by sensitive meters inthe control car the pressure and hence thlrelative fullness ot the gas in the cells.These units were located in the ship's axialcorridor, or walkway. The accuracy or sen-sitivity oi this system was not denitelyestablished. An sgpreciahle amount or gasmight have been a e to escape before suchescape would show on the vsual indicatorunless that indicator was kept under closeobservation. According to Vitness HugoEckener a cell could lose at least 200 toB00 cubic meters of gas before the indicatorwould show such a loss. Such an amountis only a very small proportion of a cell'scontent.
Gas Shafts
Between every two cells a gas shaft wasprovided into which gas could be valveddirectly from the cc ls. The shafts ex-tended vertically from the lower walkwaythrough the at al walkway to the top ofthe ship for ventilation purpose. On thetop they came in contact w tb the outsideair under the protection of specially de-signed gas hoods or ventilators.
Propulsion
Four Daimler Benz Diesel engines, typeLOF-6, each having a maximum rating of1,100 horsepower, were used to propel theairship. They were contained in four out-side engine cars, or iondolas, and were sus-Eended laterally on t e ship's hull by struts.ngine-room telegraphs provided communi-cation between the contro room and the in-dividual engine cars. The fuel used by theengines was a Diesel oil.
Propellers
The four-bladed propellers attached toeach engine were o wood and 19 feet 9inches in diameter. The blades were ar-mored with brass sheathing about 1% llltllee-in width, on the leading edge, from aboutthe 43-inch radius to the tip of the blade.The sheathing was bonded to the ship'sstructure through the engine. Tests weremade with the prototype: oi lllu propellersused on the ship. They were to.-sled to luntln50 percent in excess of the thrust -t0Wllle'l|ll"! Dl'°P9lI8rs would [be subjected at take-oil,Wlllth Willi three {mes 21-oaivr than thethrust which would be imposed at cruisingspeed. They also smccssfully wllhstood thob nclt it-sis. Thefl were limlicd lo 1,-IUIJrevolutions per rn uute in forward rotationand 1,120 revolutions per minulr: in reverserotation. These revolutions were below theuttering speeds oi the blades.
Electrical Power Plant and Installations
The electrical power plant of the shipconsisted of two 50-horsepower Diesel-drivengenerators with switehboards and distribu-tion system. These generators were inde-gendent oi the outside propelling englnr-s.he electric generators and principal mem-bers ot the stem were located amldshipson the port de oi the keel. Current wasgenerated tor purposes of lighting, cooking,radio, and steering. There were two cir-cuits, one of 220 volts, the other or 2-i volts.The ship's electric wiring was oi copper andwas installed in accordance with the ricldregulations for-erning the German MiningSocieties. he lead to the stern light,which was on s 220-volt circuit, using a.very heavy cable tgrotected by a special iusc,extended from e electrical Eower plantalong the lower walkway and t ence to thelight. No electric wiring extended abovethe equator except in the extreme nose orthe ship.
Ropes and Cables
The main moorin steel cable was xedto the tig or nose en ot the ship. The portand star oard bow trail ropes were attachedto the ship at frame 2-i~i_.5, These trailropes were about 413 ieet ill length. It iunderstood that in landing the ship, it wasthe practice to approach the ground mastfrom leeward and drop the Wire cable andthe two trail ropes. The main cable wasthen coupled to a mooring mast cable lead-ing through the top oi the must. By meansor a winch, the cable was then reeled in,pullinglthe mooring cone on the ship's noseinto t e correspondlng cup on top of themast. The trail raapes were coupled toground ropes and le out to the sides tokeep the ship headed into the wind andtoward the mast and to prevent it fromoverriding the mast structure. In thestern, at frame 47, an after mooring cablewas in ractlce let out through a metal [airlead. Kt frame ti2, a port and starboardspider was let out at lan ing. Besides those
enumerated, the ship was providecl withother mooring or landing tackle, for suchuse as circumstances warranted.
Ballast Arrangements
Water was generally used for ballast.The emergency ballast was contained infabric containers, four oi which, of 500kilograms of water, were suspended in thebow and an equal number in the stern.To the right and left of the lowcr vvalkwzlywere suspended a number of other ballasttanks, some of 2,500 liters each and othersof 2,000 liters each. The ballast tankscould be emptied partially or totally by theelevator men by means of control wiresconnected to a ballast stand in the controlroom, Several of the fuel tanks could alsobe used for ballast purposes.
Radio Equipment
The radio room was located above theafter end oi the control car. Its equipmentprovided for two-Way radio telephone and
__§F-Q1-f,!lrEI,II,..
i _1 I
gilt-graph communications. it included aort-wave and a long-wave transmitter,each with 200-watt antenna capacity; twoall-wave receivers and two direction aders.~The frequency of the short wave trans-,
lnitter was 41604.0 17500 kilocyclcs. Thetrequcn oi the long wave transmitter was120 to alt! liilocycles. The frequency rangeof the receivers was 12 to 20000 kilocycles.Power for the transmitters was obtained
from a 220-volt direct current supply gen-erated by the ship's electric ower plant.The receivers obtained their ligh voltagefrom batteries. and power for the r lamentswas obtained through a series resistor Iron:the 24-volt ships generator. For the shortwave transmitter, there was a trailing an-tenna ot 26 meters length. For the oug-
wave transmitter, a trailing antenna ofabout 90 meters length was uzd. Thesetrailing antennas were located , Tectly] be-low the transmitters and ran througr anaperture in the keel of the ship. herewas a xed antenna extending from thecontrol car about 15 meters toward thestern. The xed antenna was used onlyfor receiving purposes. In addition to thisequipment, there was located in the bow anemergency transmitter and receiver, cur-rent for which was obtained from a cen~erator driven by cpedal power. This emer-gsucy set employs a trailing antenna aboutmeters in length.
Lifting Gan
The ship was inated with hydrogen.According to the evidence adduced, thisgas has the following characteristics: It iscolorless, odorless, and tends to diffuse inall directions. The only way that hytlfgencould be detected by smell would be due tothe presence of impurities as a result oithe process by which it was produced, orcontamintion from ome source such asrubberized fabric. Hydrogen, for liftingpurposes, has a denity of approximately .1pounds per 1,000 cubic feet, depending onthe temperature and p1'ess1|I'e. Its it tingpower is the difference between the densityof air and its own density. The density.of air is about 75 pounds per 1000 cubicfeet. Assurnini pure hydrogen, its liltingpower would t erotore be about 70 poundsper 1,000 cubic feet. An opinion was ad-vanced that the general order of pressure ofthe gas within the cells of the ship wassomewhere between half an inch and 1 inchof water pressure. It was stated that the
density of hydrogen corresponds to air at atemperature of 5,000 F. and that the
chimney eilect of its escape through the gasshafts of the ship was so very great thatthere was no possibility of its movin,-.-.glgwnmthe shafts into the lower parts one s .PThe ammable limits of a mixture of.hydrogen and air are probably between:4.5 percent and B2 percent of hydrogen.Other exgeritnents have shown varianceslrom 8-9. percent to 68 percent. The tem-perature ot which chemical activity be-tween hydrogen and oxygen takes place isbetween 50 ° to 557 C. This temper-
ature range is dependent upon the amountof hydrogen present. The range of ac-tivity oi combustion will be from the lowerlimit of 4.5 percent at which there will
probably be an invisible union without evi-dence of ame. A combustible mixture
would be more hazardous in an atmosphericcondition of 08 percent relative bumirlity,and temperature 60° F. than in dry air,with relatively low humidity, since dry,hydro-oxygen is more dicult to ignite and i:its ignition temperature is higher. In an 1explosion the dame propagates in all dlrcc-ltions in the combustible rance between15 to 45 percent of hydrogen. Thesei- ' am oomnnnon BULLETIN } 25
gures were arrived at Q!perllrlcn1.n1ly withglass or metallic BpPl1.1l1f-Us which did nothave eilect upon tie combustion f9lI:|]l|~l-aturea. Catalytic metals havirég adsorptionproperties would-be likely to a ect the com-bustion at lower temperatures. Filllsill-ddnrujamin would not be expected tn have
material catalytic effect upon hydrogen.
Bonding
The whole metallic structure oi the craftwas bonded.
Part III.-The Landing Maneuver
llcteorological Conditions
With 1'1'HI>cct to ihe meteorological cun-tliiiulls in which the landing was l:0lid1.l .'lvLl,11 summary oi! the general wcalher is gi92'|.'1ias well as the local conditions prevailingat Lakchurst at the time of the accident.
GENERAL
130 a. m.. E. 3. T. Unit:-d States9292't-zuilicr l5u1't-all map oi the vicinity, in-cluding the nuriheuntcrn tier oi States,shows a tii.~:tui'ba11t'e ow-r t'en1|'a] New
York and i|o1'tllvnsiet'li 1'1-nn>;y|92':1nlu, witha cold front exiemling from this center
southwestward lo West Virginia. This frontseparated neutralized polar uir to the eastof the cold [rout whlc had become wnrnn-rand more moist and nenlralizcd :ul1le-|' airto the west of the front. The warmer andmore moist mass of air t092t'1|'ll 1ht- !92li¢|dl<-
Atlantic States southeastern New York, andoDllillPill New England.The cold front advanced eastward duringthe day from central lennsyi92'anin at urote of 12 to 15 miles per hour, pa.~:.~;ingLakellurst shortly after 3:30 um. Tin-rewas not quite suicient sur ace ht-B.lll|;.','during the early afternoon to set on? n
thunderstorm at Lalrehurst, and it was notuntil the front passed and some slight lin-ing oi the air mass occurred that a thunder-storm began. The records of the naval airstaiion show that the thunderstorm begunat 3:40 p. in. and ended at 4:45 p. n1.Telegraphic reports indicate, the thunder-storms in and to the west 0! New Jersey
were not severe; nor were they of a well-doned squall character. Between 12 p. m.and 1:30 p. m. E. S. 'I., these storms ex-tended in a definite belt over the region of
Harrisburg, Pa., northeastward to BearMountain, N. Y., and New Hackensnnir, N, Y.Between 1: 30 and 2140 p. Ill. none was ro-ported. Between 2: 40 and 3:40 m.. am-dcn and Fort Monmouth, N. 1., on y. reportedthunderstorms. Between 3:30 and 4:30p. m.. Lakehurst. Mitchel Field, N. Y.. andl~]o_vd Bennett Field, N. Y., reported them.Between 4:40 and 5:40 p. in. none wasreported; and between 5 : 40 and 6 : 40 p. 111.,Floyd Bennett only reported one-. Snm~marized. the thunderstorms in eastern NewJersey were oi a local character and notsevere.The New York Weather Bnrcml oilicvThe 7 :
bulletin issued at 1=2o p. m., M.-1; 6, fol-lows:
"1800 G. C. T. lliodcrnto wind shift Williincreasing and lowering clouds po.~=>=il=l|-thnadersiiowers New York and 92-iciniiy ex-gected in middle or late aftornooll Stopew York Scattered cuinllius and srnzilicumulo nimbns appi-onclling from 9292't'.~t~risibilit excellent surface wind south 12milcsgaromets=t- 29.68 falling stcudily-temperature 06."
LOG-AL
With the passage of the front at Luke-hurst, the wind shifted to the northwestwith gusts up to 20 knots, and was ac-
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26 to am oomsencs nULLs'rm
companietl by slight increase in barometricpressure, decrease in temperature, heavyshowers and several thundershower. Thenthere followed a rapid decrease in the veloc-ity of the wind and its direction becamevariable. The wind-at Lskehurst at 8:10 ,p. m. went into the southeast and remainedthere tor about 45 minutes, shitting again,and than it became mostly southerly. Thefront, after passing about 3:80 p. m.E. B. '13.. apparently slowed down to a rateof agpnrximately 1 miles an hour and wasin t e vicinity of Atlantic City. N. J., at8 p. m., its direction beinf north northeast-loutliwest, clearing rapid; after 8 p. In.During the afternoon cumuio nilnhus andcumulus clouds developed locally and withthe iaproach o! the trout there apgeured awell e ned mild siluail line in I e wesi.which moved aiowy over Laitehuizre andapparently became stationary beta n ifand the short line until about 5:.8 m.,when it continued eastward. Several envyshowers occurred between 5 and 8 p. in-.with acclnpnyinii thunder. isibility wasreduced during t ese showers.- At 0:12p. in. the thunderstorm then over the eldwas moving north and it was believed thatbg the time the ship arrived at the stationt e storm would have moved away fromthe station. The ship at this time was ouioi sight because oi ow visibility and theceiling, in the direction from whch it wasexpected to npproach, was not more thilii500 to 600 feet.Conditions at the time of the approachwere: Ceiling between 2,000 to 3,000 feet;clouds 0.7 stratus very light rainfall;sky showed signs oi clearing to the westward; barometric pressure 29.72; temper-ature 60° F.; relative illlrniditv 98; sur acewind light, variable and sliiiting and atthe precise moment of the beginning of theland ng was southeast 1 knot. It was ex-pected that the surface wind dircctionwould go into the west or perhaps thenorthwest. Reports from Trenton andCamden, N. J., indicated that the windwas westerly and that at Camden it wasabout 18 knots just previous to the landingoi the ship. ind at top of the weathertower on the eld was west 6 knots. Theapproach level of the ship was about 200fret above the ground. The top of thetower is 186 feet above sea leve groundelevation at plnce or landing was about 90feet above sea level!. The inversion condi-tion was 60 nt the lower level, 59° at thesecond. and 57 at the third level. beingtemperature rendincs at various levels fromthe top to the bottom of the weather tower.As the ship was approaching the lsndincarea, occasional lightning was visible fromthe distant south and southwest. but nonewas observed over the eld at this time.When the headwsv oi the ship was stoillled.s pronounced shift of wind was felt on topof the mooring mast. from southerly tosoutheast or south-southeast. This windwas colder than the previous wind had been.
Coramlmicationa, Radio
Resular reports from the ship were re-c'~ived as scheduled at the naval air station.Lalrehurst. At one stage in the latter pariof the ight the static was bad bllt it didnot prevent communications between theshin and ground stations. ishortly beforearrival at Lakehurst. direct communicationwas maintained by the ship with the navalllir station.
At 1:55 p. m., eastern standard time, thestatlon received a message from the com-mander of the ship stating that he would de-part from Lakehurst as soon as pO.=Sibieafter arrival. At 4 : 42 m. the commanderor the station radioed t c ship: "Conditionsstill unsettled recommend delay landing un-
_,_ _.__.._.._.__ ..__ .__.....___,..,_.. . ---til furthcr word from station advise youri.iI.' lilUlI92" A1 4:52 p. m., the couinmnderof the ship l'c[lliI't]: "We will wait till youreport that landing conditions are in-tier."At 5:12 p. m. the commander of the slu-lloll advised the ship: Conditions nowconsidered suitable for landing ground crewis ready &%iod thunder-slur-in m'0i' stationceiling 2, feet visibility 5 miles to west-ward surface temperature 00 surfllcc windwest-southwest 8 knots gusts in 20 knotssurface pressure 29.68. At 5:2: p. m.station commander radioed ship: "Recom-mend landing now." At 6 p. m. Stationtransmitted to ship: fvercust moderaterain diminishing lightning in west ceiling2,000 feet improving visibility surfacewind west-southwest 4 knots gusts Until-r10 knots surface temperature 01 pressure29.70." At 0:08 p. I11. siuiion conirunntlcrsent last message: Conditions dD|liti'gYimproved recommend earliest possible Ian -ing." This was acitnowiedfed by the ship.. Prior to the accident ai of the shi strailing antennas had been reeled in. t?hish-frequency transmissions were helm:conducted when the trail ropes were droppt-dtrorn the hip. Both transmitters wereturned to ihe "oil" position at that timeand remained so thereafter. The ra-iio dy-namotors had also been shut oil. The lastmessage transmitted over the s-hips radiowas s ortly after the landing station signalhad been sounded, about 15 minutes l.e-tore the re. It was sent on the long-v92":u'etransmitter to Lakehurst at 6:10 p. m.,E. S. T. During the landing, watch 92'.-r|.=lrept on the long-wave receiver. No landingreport was transmitted from the ship toGermany while it was over the eld at Lake-hurst. One of the shigs radiomen statedthat atmospheric distur nces had been eu-countered during the afternoon oi May ti,hut that such condition improved towardevening and continued to ilnprovc duringthe ist 30 minutes of the icht. No dir-dculty was experienced during that periodin sending or receiving either on the shortor long-wave transmitters or receivers.Witness Herbert Dowe, ship radio operatorstated that he was on watch and actuallylistening to the radio until the re startedand that he did not notice any interferencewhich could have been caused h improperbonding or shielding and that He did iiotreceive any interference such as might livebeen transmitted by local station.There was no oral communication betweenPersons in the ship and on the ground dur-n the maneuver.file sequence of actions in brillgintz theship up to the landing point is in part r_e-vealed pictorioliy b_v the track of the shipover Lake-burst, drawn on mop of the navalair station, with notes on the maneuver h,vwitness H. W. Bauer see appendix ill!.Among other data the map pl'01'illPs informa-tion respecting successive altitudes, speed,operation of engines, release of ballast, andvalving or gas.
Operation of Engines
About 10 minutes before dropping the bowtrail ropes. the engines were 1"llilnil1;_r fullcruising speed ahead; ship's speed about33 meters per second approximately 73miles Der hour]. The altitude of the ship.according to its altimeter, was then about180 meters 90 feet!. About S to 9minutes prior to the release or the ropesall engines were ldled ahead; ultitnrie 150meters 92 feet!! ship's speed fallinc oilto 15 meters per second approximately 33miles per hour!. Then. in fairly rapidorder the aft:-r gngines were idied nsternand then put full asiern to reduce the speedto 12 to 13 meters per second npnrox-Iimsteiy 2? miles per hour; atter which all
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"'"<,~= ¢..-- 1 .-_l
92u I
up AIR OOMME.
eiilgines were idled asiern; altitude at thisti e was 120 meters t3ll:i iret!. About 2minutes prior to dropping the bow trailropes all engines were put full astern fora period oi about 1 minute _to stop the ship -after which the forward ennines were idh-llahead and the after engines were idiedastern. When the trail ropes had beendropped the forward engines were gran ashort burst ahead: then idied shes
Release If Ballast
Starting st a goint about three-quartersof a mile from t e hudlng point 300 kilo-grams iihl pounds! of water ballast wasrapped from allast hag at frame 7'7. Thenin rapid order, from the lame frame, atabout intervals of 1,000 feet, ballast wasdropped twice again, the second time, B00kilograms 61 pounds!, the third, 500 tild-frams 1,100 pounds!. Thwriease of.100 kioirams ,420 poun of vfnterballnst too place within a period pi!'2 toB minutes before the trail ropes were
dropped. _
Vslririg of Gas
According to witness H. W. Bsuer's
sketch, gas was valved on the wheel for 15seconds approximately 10 minutes beforedroppiné the bow trail ropes; ship gamed-ing a mil cruising speed. A ut Hminutes prior to dropp 11$ of rtapes, gas incells 11 to 18, iirst live orwar cells. wasvalved for 15 seconds; shi then proceedingat 15 meters per second ailllroxhnately 3
miles per hour!. Approximately 4 to 6minutes before dropping the ropes, has incells 11 to 16, was agzain valved for 15soronds; speed of ship 2 to 13 meters persecond approximately 27 miles per hour!.About 2 minutes prior to dropping nf ropes.izas in cells 11 to 16 was valved for 5seconds.
Crew as Ballast
According to the elev."-tor man who hadtaken over the elevator helm in the landingapproach. the ship was still slightly toil
lienvy after dropping water and vaivingans. i0nseq92lent_v six men of the crew weresent forward to the how in order to equalizethe weitrhls. lie was unable to account forthe tail heaviness of the ship after theballast had been dropped.
Tail Beaviness
The shiP was weighed of! to the westof the lied and was found s little light.
There followed the trimming operations thathave been described in the preceding para-
graphs. There is evidence to show thatthe tnil of the ship was heavy during thernuneuver. Witness Albert Sammt. second
in command oi the ship, accounted for thiscondition by saying that it was due to theconsumption of fuel: that it gave him no
concern because it was very little. Therewas diversity of opinion advanced regard-ing this condition of the ship. WitnessesH. W. Bauer and C. E. Rosendahl consid-ered it to be normal. The latter stated
that the ship's tail heaviness had beenlogically accounted for, under the circum-stances in which it landed in a iinht windwith little air ow on the tall surfaces andconsequently little aerodynamic lift, 120pounds midway from the tail of the shipwould he felt by the elevator man and benoticed by those in the control car who werewstchinz the inclinometer for that verythink: that the condition did not exist fromthe time of the dropping of the bow trail
ropes during the 4 minutes intervening be-fore ilie re broke out.
T5443TBULLETIN » 27
To other witnesses the ship appearedBM?! in the stern; among them tuessesBenjamin May. in charge on top oi! themooring mast, and W. A. Buckley, assistantmooring oiiiccr. Witnesses lingo Eckenerindicated, according to his information, thatwhile the ship may have remained in satis-factols trim from the time the trail ropes1 were rogped until it burned such interval zmskatslort pct:-lad of tifuei l-le ldlidhnot n a a y rogen ea wou ave been so large that in such a relatively shorttim! it could have been noticed. He men-tions the testimony of witness H. W. Bauer,
relating to the trimming operations inwhich a GTE short time before the accidentsix men ha been ordered forward. From-"this he infers that short] before the shipreached the landing positlon it Wls neces-sary to trim ship by putting weight for-Wilrli. and that the eevator mun couldhardly have noticed anything during thisinterval because the ship had no more tor-wurd speed. He further stated that carefulcalculation showed that the trimminc mo-ment ellected h these operations amountedto,at least 1'0¥000 to 80.000 meter kilo-
grams 06 391 to li'lS,9iJ3 foot-pounds! oitrimminf elfect; when this eifect is com-ggred w th the trimming moment that couldobtained serodynsm cnily at full cruis-= lug speed by the use of the elevator controls
ltgl the dell l!.IrB512l1!*lo02 ml iggggg lm: . lo ams , o . .' oo-lpougdsj, then it hetmme clear to him that. the ship was very badly out of trim.Witness liickener also testied that wit-nesses iu the control car had reported that
the out-of-trim condition originated approxi-mately one-half hour beiore Ellethlilndirtig maneuver a er oing t roug e runclouds; that the ship became tail heavy byrnnning through heavy rain because theweight of the ruin is greater in its effect onthe horizontal ns, which are behind the
center of ératvitg. 1There ishnlsm anoltlhcr appnreu e ec o ranu on es . atis the tail would seem E0 be lileilvl; to theelevator man while the ship was running
tbrgugh ratln, because it futomrilticailythas 1: 911 EDD] 0 DOSE UP SD02 t E COD Pl. Oaerodnntnlc pressure lnovvs aft. This ef-fect, ovvever, disappears very rapidly afterfussing through rain and in the resent1 nstnuce must have disappeared uicllly because the ship as a whole was llght. Thuship, 10 minutes after gas.-=ing throughheavy rain clouds, should are nsain beenin Rood trim. In the opinion of witness
Eckener, however, it appeared so tail-heavythat it became necessary to apply! a trim-ming effect of some 70,000 meter iloarams£506,391 foot-pounds}. Furthermore, he in-dlcnted that f the ship bad been as tail-heavg» before it proceeded throueh the rainclou s, it would not have been operatedwithout the release of ballast. As no tes-timony was given that ballast had been
dropped before the ship moved into the;l'-din clouds, witness Eckener believed thatsome unusual condition in the ship michthave developed tprior to the ship's lundlniz.With regard o the amount oi rain thatthe ship had been exposed to during thelanding maneuver, there appears to be somedierence of opinion. Witness Sammt stated
that there was a little rain as the shipcrossed the eld at the beginning oi the
maneuver, not heavy enough to weight theship down as much as 500 kilograms .100pounds! : that was the only rain experiencedduring the last 2 hours of the ight becausethey had avoided the rain carried in theweather front. As the ship took a final bear-ing on the eld it made a wide turn into,qu et weather, returning to the field in this
;condition. Accrdlhr: to him, the front hadlpossed and the weather was favorable for
landing. The sky was overcast but without
. . .. . .. . _~ .e.- _---.e..» e----W -~--~»--~---------- - »------- ---- - -~ ~-- ---A--~--To '----ow--- -
-
- I w 1 ' It
28 '5' am OOMM1inI..~L auuams J
disturbances or squalls. Witness NelsonMorris, a passenger, stated that a very lightrain ft-ll exactly as the lllllp came over theeld the last time, but tmti that time therehad been no rain. Witness Anton Witte-
manii, who had commanded the irship.Ga-of Zeppelin statedthat when the Hinduis-burg nppronclied tor its landing maneuverand as it passed through the front, theweather conditions as seen from the shipwere entirely favorable; the thunderstormhad dpassed into ordinary rain. The ship en-term somewhat heavy rain which becamemuch lighter when closing in on the station.At the approach there were no cumulusclouds: there was a clear-cut stratus layerfrom which light rain was tsliin . WitnessIi. W. Bauer, second watch ogher of the.ship. said that about 20 minutes beiore thelanding approach the ship passed through aheavy rain and through stratus clou s con-taining rain before making the a roach.It did not pass near any lghtnlng.
Altitude: at Landing
When the ship was brought to a stop overthe landing point, its altitude was about130 feet above the ground. It rose to about200 feet when the how port landing rope-,checked its further upward rise. Tliereafter,it descended to about 135 to 150 feet whenthe accident happened.
Electric Installations
iliccording to Witness Philipp Lens. chielelectrician of the ship, no fuses blew nor didany circuit breakers operate just prior tothe re. The several circuits of the shipwere intact. the interior ship lights and thenavigation lights were burn ng as usual.
Rudder
Two witnesses testied that the top andbottom rudder did not appear to be workingin unison when the ship came over the eld.From other testimony it appears that therudders were functioning normally.
Part IV.The Fire
Ground L08
was the practice at the naval air sta-to maintain a log of events in connec-with the landing of the Hindrnbiirg.log of its last landing reveals that theapproach of the Slllil n landing maneu-was sighted at 6: 5 p. m.. . S. T..May 6, approximately over the omcersquarters on the station. At 6:21 p. m.. thehow trail ropes were dropped, on a bearingoi 30° from the mooring mast, _rst, thestarboard rope, followed immediately bythe port rope. Ship was rst observedafire at 6 : 20 p. m.Ittiori
tion
The
rst
V81
Description of Landing
The landing made on this occasion hasbeen describe as a high landing or yingmooring, a method o landing which isoccasionally employed. Some chualied wit-nesses stated that it was norms _v,- conductedin every respect. Among these were Wit-nesses Rose-ndahl and A. . Heineu. Othersindicated that the approach seemed hur-ried; that the sh? made what seemed tobe a fairlv short urn and approached themooring circle fairly rapidly. Based uponthe statements of other witnesses, WitnessEckener expressed the view that the shipmust have proceeded in a sharp turn toapproach for its landing. Witness Sainmtsaid the turns were normal.Incidents Before the Fire - '
Before the lire broke out. the ship wasbeing held by the bow port trail rope whit-iihad been conga-d to the port yaw line andI strain had n taken on this rope aroundthe nigerhead oi the'|rrountl winch. Thebow starboard trail rope had not been cou-pled to the ground lino, hut was being han-dled by the stiirboarrl bow landing party.At- no time during the approach did thoegg: come closer to the mooring mast than1 feet. The main bow cable of the shipat this time had been let out about 5-u feet,but neither ll nor any of the cables orropes in the stern hnd reached tho groundbefore the llre ltartetl. After the trailropes in the bow had been dropped, the shipno longer had any forward speed. It hr-canto move up and nstern and also to swingslowly to starboard. Then a light gust wasfelt from port.
Flattering oi Outer Cover
Witness R. II. Ward, in charge of the
port bow landing party, a couple or secondsbefore the re. had his attention attracted
by a noticeable uttering of the outer coveron the top port side between ti-nines 62 and7?, which includes ell no. 5. No smoke or
other disturbance accompanied the utterwhen he rst saw it. It was a wave ino-tion. In his opinion the motion of thesurface was not due to the slip stream oi-resonance eifect of the propeller. It wasentirely too high from the propeller. It ap-peared to him to be more Ike an actionof gas inside pushing tug. as if gas wits es-cap ng. He apparently ad seen this actionoccur in other aircraft. The snip had noperceptible forward motion the time heobserved the tlutter; its engines were idlingin forward rotation. The fabric had notopened up when he rst made the observa-ton. The utter was followed by a ballof ame agproxirnately 10 feet or so indiameter; t en came an explosion. On adiagram this witness indicated that the rstalppearance of re was near the top oft e shin and above the point where he sawth_e utter. Vth respect to this testimony.witness Eclrener said that a leak in a gascell, permitting the escaipe oi 40 to 50 cubicmeters of gas per secon , would be sumclentto cause a utter in the outer cover whichcould be observed as reported. but probablywould not be enough to draw the attention
of those in the control ear to a loss ofbuoyancy aft. Witness_R. W. Antrim, whowas on ton of the mooring must, also statedbe saw that the fabric behind the after portengine was very loose and uttering. It ex-tended rearward and upward from the afterpliill engine to a quarter of the way to theto .
Strain on Port Trail Rope
The drift of the ship to starboard, ae-cordlng to the mooring olcer, witness T_92'-ler, was nally checked by means or theport trail rope. This rope was hauled uptaut on the winch. The starboard trail
rope was being handled by the inaiipowerof the starboard bow party. '1tnt's< A1-bert stoeer, one of the ship's cooks,who was looking down from ii window inthe ship, stated that he "saw how the
landing crew came running up. and howthey loosened the knot _of that rope andfastened it to the lower lines on the ground.Then I saw bow the ropes took tensionand at the moment I fet a very strongdetonation of the ship, vibration of theship. * ' I did not notice anv ex-
plosion. I only noticed that vibration Iwas speaking about before." He thoughtthe ship was striking the mooring mast.
AIR OOMM-
Witness H. W. Bauer stied that after thelanding; rope had been fastened, he wentfrom its position to the port window inthe contro car and observed the tension-ing of the landing ropes. At the time ofthat observation, there was a strong shockin the control car and his rst assumptionwas that the landing rope had broken.Witness Ila: Babel, ships third ollcer.stllird that he observed the how trail runesbeing dropped; that the port trail ropebecome rather tight. lie saw the endsoi the ropes w ich were tied to etherwhirl around and tizhten. ImmedgiutelyQfter this landing rope had become tight.an explosion was heard and the destruc-tion of the ship occurred. He describedthe vibration that was felt in the controlcar as an extraordinary one. WitnessDowe. ship radioman. testied that whilewatching one oi? the lllnriin ropes beinghandled by the ground crew ldfd suddenlywas some tearing in the ship. a metallictearing. A passenger reported. ilndfhenas that rope was getting taut, I, earda detonation ' ' '." ..~
Sensations Within the Ship
In describing their nervous reactions atthe beginning of the accident, some of thePersons with n the ship, in addition to suchdescriptions as are provided in the preced-ing paragraph. siiiioke. in eilect. as follows;Witness Seven-in leinWhen the ship wasalmost standing still. it save a sudden jolt.Witness Xavier Mater-First he heard det-onation: then he noticed the vibration,the shock. and tell on his back. WitnessHeinrich KubisFirst heard or felt an ex-plosion approximately at the same time thatthe shin tool: a sharp inclination. WitnessLena-The sound that he heard he thoughtmight have been a. landing ro e breaking.Witness Claus Hinkelhein-The gerk and thesound oi the detonation and the sight ofthe re or the reection of re were nlisimultaneous. Witness Kurt Bauer!92n-ticed a cracking shock which originated inthe real. lfitness Vi'lttemann--l92'hen heheard dull detonation. thud. his rst irlcawas that rope had parted. Witness WalterZiPlllerSsw how the port landing ro cwas hauler! tizht: shortly thereafter heheard a dull thud or detonation and a hea92'_vshocl: went through the ship. Witness KurtSci1oenherrIt was a strong shock he 5e1|R9 [nfier hearing a rather dull detonation.Witness SammtHis rst intimation thatsomething was out nf order was a heavypush. about the Sallie shock as if the shiphad been gushed to the side and the landingrope had roken. Neither prior to nor afterthe push did he hear n muled explosion.He did not associate the push with anythingthat miaht have occurred in the after partof the hip.
Appearance of Fire
Numerous expert and lay witnesses on theeld testied as to where they rst ob-served the re on the ship. There was greatdiversity in this testimony tor reasons thatare very apparent. Among the most im-portant of these reasons were the extremerapidity with which the re spread. the dif-ferent positions of the Witnesses with re-spect to the hip. the size of the ship. morethan one-sixth of a mile in length. and anover-all height equivalent to a 12-storybuilding. and the tact that at the time ofthe re it was still daylight. it is es-timated thrii the interval between the rstglimpse of mne and the impact of the mainbody of the ship with the ground was 32seconds. The great majority oi the groundwitnesses who testified as to the rst ap-.- BULLETIN 29
were looking at the port
weighing the oral evidenceand transcribing to a master diagram thenumerous diagrams on which the groundwitnesses indicated their rst observationsoi. re, we conclude that the rst opename, produced by the burning of the ship'shydfoibllt appeared on the top ot the shipforward of he entering edge of the Vcrliciiln over oclh 4 and 5. The rst open ami-that was seen at that place was followedafter a veg brief interval by a burst ofaming hfy rogen between the equator andthe top o the ship. The lire spread in alldirections. moving progrcssively forward athigh velocity wit a succession of mild ex-plosions. As the stern quarter became en-veloped. the ship lost buoyancy and crackedat about one-quarter of the distance fromthe rear end. The forward part asumed abow-up attitude. the rear appearing to re-main evel. At the same time the ship wassettling to the ground at a moderate rateof descent. Whereas. there was a denitedetonation after ame was rst observedon the ship. we believe that the phenomenonwas initially a rapid burning or combus-tion--not an explosion. From the observa-tions made. it BpP."|lI8 that there was aquantity of free iydroaen present in theatter part of the ship when the reoriginated.
A brief résumé of the observations madewithin the stern of the ship shows thatwitness Helmut Lsu, who was standingon the ladder Ieadiua up to the lower cat-walk from the lower vertical u and was
looking up facing the port side of the u.heard above him a mutiied detonation andsaw from the starboard side. down insidethe gas cell. a bright reection on the frontbulkhead of cell no. 4. He saw no reat rst. but a bright reection through andinside the cell. The cell suddcnlr disap-peared because of the heat. Then cells 3 and5 caught re. This witness said he didnot see the center of the origin of there, but it must have been farther up sincehe saw the reection of rc through thr-cell wail material. It was the some typeof explosion that one hears when using skitchen gas range. when r=t lighting theame or turning it off. Witncss Lau [iii]not smell any hydrogen at the time hemade these observations. Witness ll:-msFreumi was letting out the after mooringcable at frame -i7 and had let out a fewmeters of it when he heard a muffled deto-nation. Fire was simultaneous with the ex-plosion. He was surrounded by re im-mediately. Witncss Rudolph Sauter. whowas stationed in the keel of the lower verticaltin. rst heard a dull detonation. then soure in ccll no. 4. a big fire, which he i ]fl.|il-ed as a hrdrogen re. None of tin-sowitnesses in the stern of the ship felt 1111.1unusual vibration or heard any breakingof structures prior to the detonation orthe sight of re or reection of fire. Noneof the other members or the crew orpassenzers on board the shin observed rcor reection of tire until after feeling anunusual vibration or shock or hearing thedetonation.
Part V.--The Combustible Mixture and
Its Ignitionpearnnce of reside of the ship.After carefu iy
Having retraced the course of events andthe circumstances surrounding the accident,we come to the question. why did the reoccur? As yet, with the tcw exceptionsto be noted, no more has been providedthan a hypothetical approach to the answer.We have weighed the several theories thathave been advanced.
- r~
30 """' am OOMMERUE
Bsbohse, 1 P9881"! to the scavenging oi gas was that
The possibility that the cause is to blexplained bypremediated or willful act has
i§§§"?=n§1'§=e§° ugdginttglo cq.s.sb:ihuc%etio::§
P" i"*-:*:.@':s seen '.':.:..i* *=* noen a u e e c ra .and the I31-opping ofin igniting compositlolhugon the sh p from an a rpiane: the secondc seidcationinternal-including the plac-es use has -can MBill CG. 0 9, TB B IIO Gm!!!
to indicate that sabotage produced thegrim result. .-
Accldentsl Csases
In a consideration of mdentg causes.two factors must be foun - _ geth . Theremust be present u! s combustible mix-
ture of hydrogen and ozy en oi! the air:and bf suicient heat to lgnite such mix-_tore. n the analysis or t e evidence themixture and its ignition are treatedseparately.
PRESENCE OF COHBUBTIBT-E MIXTURE OF
HYDROGEN AND AIR
Accumulation Through Diilnsion or Osmosis
While it is conceded that the fabric ofwhich the cells were made is slightly per-meable to the diiiusion oi the containedhgdrogen, it is not our opinion that thisc aracteristic of the cell walls, under the
circumstances prevailing. would account fora combutlble accumulation of gas and airwithin the ship; the normal rate of seep-age being. as was indicated under descrip-tion of the cells. about 1 liter per squaremeter per 24 hours.
FAILURE OF VALVE IIICHANIBLI
According to the testimony, only onevalve taiiure had occurred on the ship.This happened when the ship was new; as aconsequence. certain changes bad been madein the construction oi the mechanism. Inany event. the failure noted occurred toan automatic or pressure relief valve which
would not have been functioning at thetime of this accirlent. However, becausethe valves were mechanical devices, it waspossible that there might have been a defector failure in them, but no testimony ap-pears to show that thi possibility was aikely one.
DECBEASKD vasrinariozr
Another query regarding the presence oi!such mixture presented itseli. Could ithave been due to the reduced scavenging oithe gas by the ship's ventilation systemduring the last minutes oi the crafts ex-istence when its speed eventually had beenreduced to a lull stop. combined with thelast valving operation, about 6 minutes be~fore the re? This theory seems imlrobilhlebecause of what was said about t e eici-ency of the ventilation system and becauseor the fact that the chimney effect createdby the 6-knot wind that was blowing at thes ips elevation during the last 4 minutesprior to the re should have evacuatedgt-actically all of the gas from the shafts.he forward speed of the ship, reported tohave been from 15 to 20 knots per hour,
when the last vaivlng operation was per-
formed, should have been ample, it wasstated, to have cleared the gas rapidly fromthe ship. A further argument made withBULLETIN _
immediately afier the last reporred Yillvilgthe lhfgfs cmiincs were backed down -hard,and t at lls deceleration should have
tended to move the gas in the ship inwardthe bow and out through the forward gasahas.
In considering the production of ouchmixture by the rupture oi s cell or cells,iilaere are st least several avenues to ex-pore.
IHTBY OI PIICI OI PROFILE-IR
Oil! 01' those milbt he laid to the fail-ure of a propeller and the throwing oi oneoi its fraglm-nis through the adjacent portof the hull into a cell. To this possib liiythere was devoted an extensive £Xll.lIlillii-
tion by experts oi our stall and those orother agencies. The condition oi the pro-peller oi engine car no. 2 attracted ourattention. Witness F. W. Caldwell. oneof this country's foremost propeller ex-perts. was quite certain that the gropellcrof the after port engine did not renk inight but was shattered at the time thecar struck the Igrouod. He said that ihercwas no indicat on of the separation of the-
sheathing tron: the blades except as the re-sult of shattering on impact. WitnessDeutsche, machinist in the after port en-gine car, indicated that the propeller ofis car was still rotating when it struckihe ground; that he did not feel any un-usun vibration of the engine before thecrash.
raacrnan or HULL wlan
_One other signicant possibility must bediscussed uhile the ueation of cell ruptureis being examined. t was suggested that.willie in ight, a tension wire might haveripped a hoe in a cell and thus permitteda quantitg of Pas to escape. Coualed tothis poasi ility s the testimony of KneesR. H. Ward, diglested briey in the state-ment of facts, t at he saw a uttering inthe outer cover above the equator betweenframes 62 and 77 and believed that thisuttering was caused b gas escaping intothe space between the agjo ning celi and theouter cover. A shear wire in one oi thepanels at the glace from which the lls wasescaping coul have snapped wh e theship was turning during the landing ma-neuver. Witness Echener stated that such
turns generate high stress in the after partof the ship, especially in the center sec-tion close to the stab llsipi ns which arebraced by shear wires. e gas thus ac-cumulated between the cells and the outercover must have been I1 rich mixture. Suchla mixture, enclosed in a space between theouter cover and the gas cells, would, itignited, burn with relatively slow speed un-tl glas in greater volume was released bythe urning through of the cell walls. Wit-ness Bo-sendahl recalled that in the earlyyears of operation with naval aircraft, shearwires had broken with varying eifect, caus-ing no serious damage, however.
IA-TUB 8'IEUl'.'.iUR.lL| l"AlLUl1Il
Consideration has been given to the pos-sibility that a mailer structural failure inthe stern of the a ip caused the hydrogento be liberated by rupturlniz I1 cell Ind
forcefully breaking an electric lead or
rnetal part. thus producing a spark. Thefire broke out when the Fort trail rope.whlch held the ship to be ground. be-
came taut. It was reported by some per-sons that at. or about, the time they oh-ggrved thg re they IJEBPI1 8 tiriiklllgsound trom the stern of the ship. An ex-
FF
1AIR GOMMEBCE auuarm 31
alnlnation of the wreckage disclosed thatthe rivets. by which the after end or theas-ial corridor was connected. through atitling to the hull. had [lulled out: that allof the radial wires tn the small framenearest the stern had broken in tension:that only a few of the small tabs oi metalfrom the peri hery of the frame. whichhad been pulled oi! the hight i'ol'l.'nctl wherethe radia wires hooked on to the frame.were tound on the ground below where theframe struck. The shearing or the rivetsand the condition oi the wire and theirame might he explained by the force withwhich the rear end bit the ground; or blthe torsional or other stresses which thetail snitered in its last momenta in the air.It has also been pointed out tbat the shipwas stressed for greater loads than the tén-aional strength o the bow rone andthat the rope bad not pa Ful'ther-more it was observed tbs. the eye throuhwhich the trail rope was attached to t eship and the longitudinal member to whichthe eye was amxed. were intact after theaccident. The four members oi! the crewin the stern of the ship testlcd that theydid not bear or see any such structuralfailure prior to the lire.
IGXIHDN OF THE HIXTUBE
Many of the theoretic aspects of the ig-nition of the combustible mixture weredealt with at great length bry a number ofexperts. Only a summary 0 this phase ofthe investigation is related in this report.
MECHANICAL
If there had been enough beat generatedbl the friction of wires or other membersof the ship coming forcibly into contactwith each other. due to structural failure orbreaking. a autiicientlr hot spark might hlvebeen produced to set oi! such mixture.There is tnsniilcient evidence to sustain aconclusion based upon this theory.
CHEMICAL
as has been stared. there are metalswhich have a catalytic eifect upon n mix-ture of hydrogen and air and would ma-terially lower its ordinary ignition temper-ature. but it does not appear that anv suchmetal was in that port of the ship were thelire was rst observed.Under the title of chemical possibilitiesthere has also been suggested that 3 amemight have been produced by spontaneouscombustion. The evidence is inadequate tosupport this theory.
THERMODINAHIC
In the examination of thermodynamic poa-aibilities much time at the outset of the in-vestigation wos given to the possibility ofsuch mixture being ignited by the sparksrrom the engine exhausts. It was suggestedthat sparks or larger Dlrticles oi carbonthrown out from the Diesel enirlnes mighthave been carried into the opening; in helows! Dart of the hull or have been blownover the exterior or the stern and the-rehave ignited sucb mixture. While the cir-culation of the exhaust gases, set up by thedirection of rotation of the propel era {netbefore the accident the aftcr engines id ingin reverse and the forward enzines iriiincshe-_ad! was different from that producedWhile under way, it was maintained by theGerman experts that this clrtillmstance;would not result in sparks or carbon par-ticles reachlng the interior of the hull. and.furthermore. that the sparks would not havebeen able to ignite such mixture on thetop of the ship at least 165 feet trDuerr testiiled that very extensive aggl-ments respecting this possibility had nconducted by the builders and the resultshad been reassuring. when the engines are:ielive1-his 11522" to thorpowert the clnpera ill! e I on ore 1 en-.'i1§i'n g ethggst B 680° ttol 5310' C. . e llerareo eexaus sower..The engines ordinarily develop B00 to $50horsepower. At this output the ten1psru-tare oi the exhaust gases is 450° to 480"back of the cglinder. with a mixture of air,suclted in. t e temperature is reduced to280° to 250' C. Visible sparks have a tem-perature over 500' C. but lose their heat92 rapidiiy as they are impelled through the air.i Ha this been the cause of the ignition.it is believed that it would have come intoplay betore the elapse oi the 4-minute in-terval between the dropping ot the trailro$s and the accident.bat the beat of the exhaust gases causedthe havoc ls also improbable. Ii. ignitionha_d happened at the exhaust it would havebeen necessary that the temperature or theband oi air between the outlets and theglance of the rst ame would have had to about 507° C. According to witnessDuerr. the temperature at the exhaust nut-lets was much lower than 507° C. withthe Etmienhur and the Gr-or Zeppelin, nodiilctuelties hado been experienced from thisqua r.
IILETBI CAL
Under the classication of electricalsource oi ignition several were considered.A combustible mixture of air and hydrogencould have been ignited by the overheatingoi wires carrying current within the ship.e. F, by a short circuit. Barring the possi-bil ty previously alluded to. of a substantialfailure in the stern structure of the shin.which might have produced a sudden break-ing of such wires in the aft end of the ablfi.it is thought to have been only remoteypossible that the mixture was tired" ngegct or failure of the ship's electr calng.According to witness Lenz. who was sta-tioned in t e electrical power plant at thetime of the accident and had most of theship's electric indicators. fuses, and cir-cult breaker under observation. the vari-ous circuits were functioning normally Justprior to the conagratlon. No fuse blewor circuit-breakers operated at that time. Itwas also observed that the cable carryingthe current to the stern light was verysturdy and was installed so as to Provideplenty oi slack to compcnsate for expansionand contraction of the frame or the ship.
SPARK IN GAS FULLNESS OR PRESSUREINDICLTOR
A theory introduced by witness Heineuwas that the muse of the re was due tothe ignition of such mixture in one oi thegas fullness or pressure electric meter ac-tuating units fixed to the axial corridor inthe vicinity of cells nos. 4 and 5. He be-lieved that a small pocket of gas accu-mulated in the folds or riders of the cellssurrounding the corridor and found its wayinto the inner recesses 0! the meter andwas there ignited by an electric spark: thatthe re thus created traveled up along theradial wires to the space between the cellsand the outer cover igniting the free hydro-gen collected along the loncitudlnais at thetop of the ship on the inner surface of theouter cover: that the relatively slow burn-ing oi such free hydrogen would accountfor the peculiar manifestations of illumina-tion described by certain Witnesses: thatthe lire in the second sequence than de- . . HWBV 0l'l'lthe after exhaust outlets. Witness Ludwig atroyed gas cell no. 4. as seen by witnessLau.
M___ ._ .....w....--~~-v --'- -Iww
r . M
32 l
With regard to the presence ofegus inone of the meters it was cstitnnt thatin 1 hour the seepage in the axiul corridorwould have amounted to one-Iort_lcth of 1percent or the volume or the corridor; thateven in the motionless condition oi theship, the corridor would have been wcll
ventilated due to the chimney effect createdby a wind of 8 knots blowiop over thegas shafts; that the ventilat on in thecorridor would have prevented pockets ofhydrogen from forming because the aircurrent through the corridor was not lami-nated but was made up oi whirls andeddies. However, if it could be shown thatIt rent occurred in a cell below the axialcorridor, then it is possible that some irechyd1'0§el'l might have found its ways intoone o the meters.
In regard to the ignition of lurch mix-ture within a gas pressure. pr fullnessmeter the following is quoted Iron: a reportoi the Bureau 0 Standards. relating toexhibit 74, one oi the meters taken romthe ship:
"It is evidently intended for measuringand giving a remote indication ot smallgas pressures by electrical means. The gaspressure acts on a diaphragm in opposlt onto s. helical spring. A plunger attached tothe diaphragm carries a coil of wire whichhas a resistance oi 100 ohms. Two rollers,connected in parallel, make contact with thrsides of the coll. Two exible I1ilECtl0nsrun to the ends oi! the coil. The changein the relative reistances oi the two partsof the circuit between the contact rollersand the ends can cause suitable electrical
indicating instruments in the control cabinto indicate the position of the coil anddiaphragm and hence the pressure.
"all electrical parts are enclosed in acylindrical metal box. The only openingsinto this box are ! the bole, 10 nttu indiameter at the top through which theoperating rod passes with a clearance ofnot over 0.05 mm and 1 the opening atthe bottom which is completely lled bythe 3-conductor cable covered with metallic
braid! which connects to the rest oi thecircuit. The conical housing surroundingthe metal box is well ventilated.
The device seems to be excellentlv de-signed and constructed from the standpointof safety, and there appears no way bywhich it could with any reasonable proba-btlltv have caused a tire."An overheating of the device by shortcircuit seems impossible. A short circuitexternal to the device would impose on itonly the fall voltage 4 volts! of the cir-cuit and produce a rate of heat dissipation ofless than 6 watts. A short circut insidethe device would not draw more th-n theI rnilliampere xed by the external instru-ments. A simultaneous short circuit bothinside and out would blow a fuse. if onewas present, before a dangerous tempera-ture was reached. Good practice requiressuch fuses on all circuits. and one wasprobably used.
The normal operation of the device shouldproduce no sparks. Deterioration of thecontact rollers or of the coil or a breakingof a wire inside the metal box micllt pro-duce a spark inside. It seems impossiblethat hydrogen should he present inside asit could get there only by diffusion downthe narrow clearance between the operat-int? rod and its guide tube. 50 mm long. Aspark could be produced outside the ho:ontlf by the breaking of the 3-conductorca o.
"This cable is strengthened by the metallicbraid and runs in R tn-on-cred location alone
the structural member. It could not be-determined whether or not the cable wasdenitely anchored to the member, norAIR COMMERCE BULLETIN J
whether the metallic braid was Ori¥iI1'Hliyclamitcd to the mt-iul bolt, because 0 Lithiu-age n the re." ' '
In the light of all the nvnllnltlemvldt-nr-con this point We bcllcvc lltttt the pose-i|li|il_voi igniting such mixture by the int-ans justdescribed was very slight.
IEIOIAICI IF'F'Y'5CTiIIIG I'll]-J4,|l'l-INCY' INDUCTANCB
An attempt was mmlo in discover if the
ignition oi such mixture could have bet-niliid T-0 spark elllissiun due 10 rt-sunttncueffect upon metal parts of the ship's in-terior caused by received radio waves ofhiglh frequency.here was on the ilcld at Lnkehnrst. nlocalizer beam rsnlio transmitter of lowpower. maintained by an airline company,the on-course portion of which was sosituated as to puss through the spare ot~<-t|-nied by the shin at th-- time it ttmk ilrt-..1 This transmitter was at that time about 1,>»-on
feet irom the ship. Its power output was15 watts; its frequency 278 kilocyclcs. Titotua.t...'.".-'n eld strength authorized for thistype of station is 1,500 microvults permeter at I mile. which represent.-t iiitventcn-thousandths oi! 1 volt per meter tncns~urect at 1 mile on the on-course portion of
the range which. incidentally. is the areaof weakest radiated power. The strengthof this eld is so low that it has been com-gttred to the power of a y. So far as coulddetermined. this locallzer was the onlytransmitter that was operating at Lake-burst at the time in question. It is notbelieved that other hlglt-frequency stations.at some distance from the eld, could havebnd inductive eect upon the airship.Witness Dleckttmnn. of the German Com-mission, stated that ll? and his colleaguesbad been p.irticul.url_v interested in the pos-sibility of ignition through high-frequencyradio induction. especial; after hearingthe testimony oi! Witness reund who wasengaged in nayinc out a length of the sterncnhle at frame 47 when the accident tookplace; that this pnrt of the cable mighthave received impulses and thus electriratlenergy would have been conveyed into theinside or the ship. However, it appear;tbnt if such result was to occur due lu in-ductive eect. a transmitter relatively closeto the ship] and or consirlerable powerwould have ad to be operating at the timeof the event. These conditions were notpresent.
Resonance eilfect due to high-frequenqvgeneration within the ship was impossiblebecause all the ship's transmitters l-ad l-.censhut down before the appearance of re.Furthermore. the strip was carefully shieldedagainst resonance eects generated frontthin. Witness J. B. Whitehead put nostock in this possiltiiity because of thesmall amount of energy that could have
been involved. Furthermore. once inside theship in the form of oscillations in thestructure no damatro could bnve been done.because the structure itself was so lsrtresnd so complex that there was no possi-bility of a small nnmunt of energv settingthe whole ship in oscillation and that oscil-lation in separate parts, which perhapscontained high resistance, would he short-circuited by other parts of the shin. Inview or the facts and the expert testimonvelven on this Possibility. it may be saidthat in such nductnnce there was onlythe retnotest chance that it was responsiblefor the elusive spark.
Ell-BCI'RDS'IATICS
Under this designation oi electrical pos-slhiiitios there is now to be considered n
grun distinguishable from current elec-
AIR oonunacn BULLETIN 33
tricltv and known as electrostatics. in thisfroup, there is rst mentioned a possibil-I3 due to the nature of the materials
unployed. _In the older type oi ceii fabric, contain-ing a rubberized e ement it was apparentlypossiole to create a static spark by tearingthe fabric. The cell fahr c used in theHindenbusa, as far as we could learn, didnot inclu e material possessing this char-
acteristic. Since virtually all of the cellswere consumed by the re, no test could liemade oi the cell fabric. . ,The two bungee: in the stern oi the shipconnected to the horizontal members of thetail, contained some rubber, but as Ii-ir aswe know the bungees had not been damageduntil after the re had broken ant,
Before proceeding further with the sub-ject of electrostatics, it is to be remarkedthat an airship as a body ls regarded ascarrying an electric charge, the nature andextent of which depend upon the circum-stances. In motion it may accumulate achurge either through friction with the airor gerhaps by means of charged water dropsauc as may be found in clouds or mist.It may accumulate a charge of either posi-tive or negative sign. Thunder clouds maycarry» a positive or a nefaiive sifn. Ac-cord ug to the evidence n this nstuncc.the sh p is assumed to have carried a posi-tive charge on its outer surface, which is a.semiconductor. This phenomenon is due tothe tact that an airshiip in ight is withinthe atmosphere which s electried. A fewoi the more interesting features of thisphenomenon are; that t e earth ordinarilys charged ncgativelly; that in the atmos-Dhere there is an eectrical eld measuredin volts per meter potential gradient!which in tine weather amounts to 00 voltsper meter, becoming higher as the weathergrows more disturbed; that the tendencys for an E g.li'i]ll9tiOlJ current to pass fromthe atmosp ere to the fround; thit thi-electrical conductivity o the atmosphereis greater when the atmosphere is humid.
Other facts and assumptions are that thetotal outer surface of the ship has a uniformpotential: that the electrostatic effects onthe outside of the ship are selparute andapart from those on the inslic: that iinumber of conditions tend to equalize thepotential of the ship with the siirroaindingatmosphere; among these is the dissipationcreated by the exhaust gases and by themovement of propellers, the eilses oi thelattcr being rnetallicnliy connected with thiship's structure; that the landing ropeswould serve as conductors of the shipscharge and equalize the potential of theship with that of the ground. When theship is held by the landing ropes tlic elec-trostatic picture is such that the surfaceof the ship after a brief interval. so tospeak, becomes a piece of the ground ee-vated into the atmosphere.The potential ditlerences measured ver-tically to the earth are called the potentialgradient. This gradient is higher over thoseareas of the ship where the edges or pointsproject into the atmosphere. especially overhe bow and stern of the ship. It may heincreased in the presence oi charged clouds.The principal protection against an elec-trostatic dischiirize which might serve toignite an inammable mixture in or aboutthe shlp is the bonding of the ship. Brl r
such bonding is the connecting up of themany parts of the ship so that electricallyit becomes one complete metallic whole. Apossible test of the state of this bondingcould have been made by detecting throuu-1the radio receivers the characteristic noiseassociated with interference created by lin-perfect iionding. in the present instance,s had been noted. the receiving system ofhe shig did not give indication that anyiniury ad 0001-ll'l'tt} to the ship's bondingl-ll or to the accident.
We have also considered the possibilitythat due to a discharge between parts or
the ship having dicterent potentials a sparkmight have been created. Whethcr sucha discharge occurred we cannot say. Ac-cordigf to the testimony. ihe ship wasbond in keeping with the best nownpractice.There was one iixture oi the ship inthis respect that received morethan pass-lni; not cethe unbonded electric wires atthe stern electric latng of the airship.Witness Dieckniann in icated that there
might have been a static charge producedby this tail light wiring at the light bulbs nce the wiring within it was the only partof the ship w ich did not have the samePotential as the 1'8l.'ll.lIlll&B surface oi! tileship, a very small di erence, however.9292 hetber such a sniali electrostatic capacityas tlie lamp terminal would have been able
T0 Produce a spark is highly questionable.Another reason to regard it as improbableis that no one reported having seen theorigin of the lire at the extreme rear endot the ship.
BALL LIGHTNING
A reading of the record reveals thatsome space s given to another manifesta-
tion of electrostatic discharge; namely, tothe possibility that ball lightning mighthave accounted for the ignition of themixture.Ball lightning is supposed to be one oi!the peculiar species oi iglitning dischargesthat have been observed trom time totime. One of its features is that like a
drop of oil on water it spreads and splitsinto segments, some of vi-liicii segmentscontinue for a distance along oiijccis onwhich thcv alight.Although some authorities have dis-claimed the exltence of ball lightning, wehave considered the idea for what it niigliibe worth. It does not very well explainthe slow burning ihat some of the wirncsse.-described as having taken plncv at the llE~ginning of the action. Moreover, thet eorg as applied in the present instancewool appear to have little substance sinceno one testiiled to having observed anyform of llchtning.For the some reason any o.ht-r claimniarle on the ground of lightning as ncause would also seem to fail, because noneof the witnesses who tcstied stated that
they observed any lightning ashes in theuinily of the ship or heard an accom-pnnyiug clap of thunder at the time ofthe accident.
BRUSH DISCHARGE, OR 5'1. EL.92I0"S FIRE
In order to develop the next possibilityto be considered, viz. ignition due to brushdischarge, or St. Elmo's re, a few addi-tional remarks arc necessary upon thesubject of electrostatics and the conditionsthat actually prevailed at the time andplace oi the accident.It will be recalled that the bow poritrail ropes rst made contact with the ex-
trcmelv wet ground, 4 minuies before there. when they left the ship they rip-pcared to be quite dry as dust was observe-llto ii,i' from them as they descended. These
ropes were made of hemp. The atniosphereat the time and place of landing was humidand the ship had absorbed moisture. iiwas. therefore. reasonable to suppose thatin the interval the ropes continued 1n_ ah-sorb moisture and their conductive qualitiesincreased. Therefore, their contact with theground under the circumstances would dis-
_ _ I V _ I _________W__W_n_V__M>_ Mb Y_H_m W ______ ___ __ _ _ ,_ , _ _,.. ,. ,'_,....,_.,_,.,...__......
~34he
charge the static accumulated on the ship.Laboraioiiy ti-sis were made by the NationalBureau o Bllhdiirds or the electrical con-ductivity, at various humidities. of I sec-ti 1' h bo it ll t dterminc, ono te wpor ra rope, o ewhether the static discharge accumulatedby the airship was or was not dischargedwhen such rope made contact with heground. Under the varying conditions em-ployed in the tests. it-was found that the?
airship would be 90 percent discharged in aperiod of from 0.8 second to 170 secondsatter such rope came in contact with the
ground.with respect to the potential gradient ex-isting in t e atmosphere in which the shipwas standing, witnes F. W. Reichslderfer.nsval aeroloflst, indicated that conditionswere favor-ab e to a sleep potential gradientdue to the existence of a hunder-storm con-dition. Witness Eckener also believed thata high potential gradient existed at "19time an place o the accidi» t. He ap-rently based his opinion * the -io-]-:win5: That a thunderstorm ti. t bldlriustpasse over the station; that tho envyrain had become n light drizzle, thus re-ducing the potential gradient _materiallyand t at from his information the appear-anee of the sky showed a light stratus ceil-ing. He proceeded to any t at i! one Citroe-ly examined the current registrations ofwinds. temperatures, and pressures thenone might recognize that the rst thunderfront must have had a smaller, lighter onefoiiowin it, that the wind turned back tothe soufbeast. Winds oi the higher alti-tude remained westerly. The rometercurve showed a slight falling off of Preh-sure and relatlvelg the temperature startedto rise again. T at is, after the tempera-ture had been brought down ncppreciably,by the breaking in of the col air, thetemperature remained constant for one-halfhour before the landing maneuver to oneone»half hour after the landing maneuver.started to de- Then the temperature again _ _ _ _slowly turned cline rapidly and the windbuck to the northwest.This, according to the witness, the sensi-tive instruments show, and that if this wasnot noticed at the eld it was quite naturalbecause attention was tocused on the land-tug maneuver and on the handling of thesh p. For registrations made by the sen-aitive instruments, referred to by witnessEckener, see appendix 47 containing graphsmade at the naval air station, Lakenurst,
N. J., May 6, 1937, including anemograph,thermograph and micro-harograph traees
correct within 5 minutes.!He stated confidently that there was a
small tail-end to the rst thunderstorm thatpassed by, which most likely created a
steeper_potentia_1 gradient _than_ would oth-erwise be expected. whether tnia strongergradient could have generated suicient po-tential between the airship and the airmasses above the ship so that an etléilllwtion of the gradient took place eit er bySt. Elmo's re, or by a spark, he was un-able to decide.That the ignition was not eected by sucha static equs ization spark immediately afterthe landing lines had been dropped wasbecause the£ then were dry, hence poor con-ductors. '1 cg slowly became damp in thelight drizzle hat was falling, and in suchcondition their conductivity became greater.Therefore. he believed that the potentialbetween the ship and the ground was slowlyequalized and afterward the potentialgradient between the ship and the overly-ing air space was sucicnt to generate
these static sparks.Witness Whitehead, in commenting uponthese views respecting the potential gradi-92* no oomunac lu_1.1.n'rm 3
em. aid that ii s secondary storm waspresent in suilicient intensity to muse aspark of lightning or any character that itwould have been visible or audible. At anyrule it would be reasonable to sup usethat probably because of the precedingthunderstorm the potential Jradient at thetime and place of the scci ent was lume-whnt greater than normal. .Witness I. A. L. Dartach. aerologlet atthe naval air station. appeared to ave asomewhat diiilerent opinion. He stated thatpgevioue to the llndlng there lllll beensvy showers which could have Produceda strong potential dicnt but whe her thatstil-I ex sted at tgtime of the accidentwhen onlg a light rain was falling with Justthe clou s above, he could not denitely
wear. He did not believe that the potentialggarlient then existing was dangerous to1 e ship but he had no way of verifyinghis view. In answer to the question, "Alterthe thunderstorm had dlblggiwlted. llld lilowind and rain had decrea , were there anysigns or indication ot a new small depres-sion or squall?" Witness Dartach said thatthe onl! indication they had had was thetemporary shift from southeast to southwest
with the alightabqut one-hundredth inch-rlse in Pressure. However, no distinctiveclouds o precipitation occurred with this
change.Brush discharge ordinarily is seen onlyafter dark. It is manifested Particularlyfrom I|1iI.l'E points or projections oi digmaterial o ject that is chug: to a an -clently. high electrostatic Bo tial so thatthe c arge dissipates. T e eifect is pro-duced hy Particles of the mate-rial substanceor by ion nation oi the gases of the atmos-phere froln impacts or stress. The ignitionof a combustib e mixture of gases in such adischarge is due to transformation oi ki-netic energy into heat from impacts oi ions
or particles. The brush discharge appearseither reddish or bluish depending upon the
electrical sign of the chars-Durlng the course of the gublic hearings.the %uestion oi whether a rush dischargewoul produce aumcient heat to ignite aninammable hydrogen air mixture, wasdwelt upon to a considerable extent. Since
that time, further experiments have beenmade in the high-voltage laboratorg oi theNational Bureau ot Standards an it has
been found possible to ignite hydrogen by abrush discharge by using somewhat moreintense discharges than those previouslytried with a somewhat slower velocity 01'the gas passing the needle point.
In this consideration of the possibility ofbrush discharge it is to be noted that nowitness testied that a visible indication oiit Wdegirescni. This, however, may beaccount tor by the tact that darkness hadnot yet fallen at the time of the accident.Wtness Whitehead was oi the o inionthat the continuous presence 0! brush dis-charge, suicient to cause the ignition, wouldrequ re a greater current intensity thancould have been possible through a dry rcgae.Another argument against the brush ls-chaiage theory advance by Witness White-hea was that there was much evidence thatthe rst sign oi re was through the trans-lucent skin at the point well away tronsthe tip of the n.Witness Dieckmann in elaborating on thisphenonemon stated that a one-hun rcdth or
one-thousandth part oi! a watt, perhaps less.was all that would be necessary to ignite amixture oi air and hydroehi that t wasdiicult for him to believe that brush dis-charge was responsible tor the ignition ; thatnone oi the witnesses testied to its pres-ence. He remarked u n the testimony asto the presence of glgwing reections oi
66 ~._, am common
In XIOKB
Xnver Mal:-r. chief cook.'Ri|'hnrd Huelier.Alfred Bloc-i'lh92r.
Alfred Groezinger.Fritz Flnkns.Werner Franz, nut-as boy.9 -
om-:I::u'r:n
Capt. Anion Witlonmnn.
Appendix ll
Passengers on board the airship
Himienlmrg on its departure from
Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, on May
3, 1937, were as follows:
Adult, Gertrude, Berlin, Germany.Adult, Leonhard. Berlin, Germany.Anders, Ernst Rudolf, Dresden, Gel-..many.Belin, Peter, Washington, D. C. I'Brink, Birger. ,Clemens, Carl Otto, Bonn, Gernurny.'Doelmer, Hermann, Mexico City, Mex-CE
I
100. _
°Doehner, Irene, Mexico City, Mexico.>92BULLETIN J
Matilda, mm.-0 cm-, 11.1-
Do .-, Waller, Maxim City Maxi:-o.Doehner Werner M . . _ vxlcn CH3. HEMP!!'lllII, Cnriia. France.Douglas, Edward, New York. 'lCr<lmnnr|, I-nu,
Ernst, Elm, Ilnmhurn, Gr-r:m1n_v. IErnst, Otto .. Illamhurg, Gr-rumny.'Feibuacl:, Moritz, Lincoln, Nohr. .Grant. George, I41n:l4|:'g, Eneimui. lll9ll1I'nnt.nII|III. Budoi von.
llerschf--Id, George, B1-omen, Germnn_92;Hinkolhein. Clnua.Kleeman, Marie.
'Kn0echer Erich, 71¢-ulenrodn, ir=r1nrm_1-Lcuehtenhern. William, New York.Mangone. Philip.Mather, Margaret.Morris, Nelaon.0Laughlin Herbert.Osbun, Clifford, Chicano. n. A.'1-annes, Emma. New York.'Pannea, John, New York.Reichoid. Otto, Vienna, Austria.Spaeh, Joseph.Stoeclle, Emil.
Vinhoit. Hans, Copenhagen, Denmark.Witt, Hans.
indicates those who died in accident.
_*__ _ _ ___ H ,_ ..W_,,___.,..-.__...__...... __ - . -.--.--7,-----.-»---------F
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@' LIB OOMMET
re which had moved from the stern tor-ward but stated that such references to re§9Cl.1I?t:l; were peculiarly indenite andI1. nnce01' related interest to brush discharge wasthe ogainion oi witness Earle that in an at-mosp ere oi hixh humidity. static elvctriciiycould be attracted to the top points oi theship when the ship's mooring rages cameinto contact with the ground an cient tomuse a spark tohup ncrntm the mixture ofhydrogen and air, aging that such would.be possible ii the a in was in relativelyslow motion, while gas was being valved.placing a layer oi ins between the ship amlthe amp atmosp ere. The concen ratedatmosphere between the cloud and the shipwould reduce resistance to permit aparlrinsand it the potential oi the ship was thesame as that of the 121-onud there would*bea possibility of spark an across: that it iseasier to spark through hydrogen thanthrough air. ..The meteorological records and relateddata 0! the lnvestisation were mtple avail-§able to Dr. W. J. Humphrvs oi_ e UnitedStates Weather Bureau. e has concludedafter making a study of such material that. a brush discharge, or several of them, Yer?well might have occurred on the ahip after.not before. the landing rages came intocontact with the ground: t at this hrushdischarge would have continued for someitime: that it would have been invisible be-inc in davlight!; that such a rlischarselikely would have ignited any adequategrich stream oi leaking hydrogen that reachit: and that from t e point oi ignition theame would have shot back to the leak.there quick] would have burnt a largeropening sndy set goins: a conagration of
great violence and rapidity."
Conclusion
The cause oi the accident was the lgnl-tion of a mixture of free hydrogen and air.Based upon the evidence. a leair at or inthe vicinity of cells 4 and 5 caused a com-bustilsle mixture of hydrogen and air toform in the upper stern part of the shipin considcrahle quantity: the rst appear-ance oi! an glen ame was on the top ofthe ship an a relatively short dlstnucrforward of the upper vertical u. Thotheory that a brush discharze ignited such
mixture appears most probable.
Respectfully submitted,
SOUTH Txrarnm, .13., .
Solicitor.
R. W. Scnaomna,
Asst. Director, Bureau
of Air Gommercc.
Dn.92'1s ]92I['LL1GAN,
Chief. Regulation and
Eilforrorlront Ditrisiou,
Bureau of Air Commerce.
Approved :
DANIEL C. Roam,
Secretory of Commerce.
Appendix I
Oicers and crew on board the air-
ship Hindenhurg on its departure from
Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, on Ma!..q~ J 35 BULLETIN
WATCH OFFICERS
Libcrt Burnmt.Heinrich Bauer.
Wxlitcr Ziegler.
NAVIGNIOBS
Mg; Zabel.Frans Hernoit. IChristian Nielsen.
Kurt Bauer.
I-M110 DI!-ICERS
Willy Speck, chief radio operator.Herbert Dowe.Frans Eichelmann.
Egon Schvreiknrd.
IFGINEQI NO OFF] CERS
Rudolf Bauter, chief engineer.Eune Bchaeuhle.WI elm Dimmler.
IZEVATOBMEN
LndwigH1leiber.
Ernst uchel.Eduard Boetills.
HIILIISMEN
Alfred Bernhard.Helmut Lau.
Kurt Schoenherr.
ELECTRICIANS
Philip Lena, chief electrician.Joseph Leihrecht.Ernst Schlapp.
HDCHANICS
Walter Bahnholzer.Eugen Bentcle.Rudy Biallns.August Dcutshlc.J0l1Il_V lloerein.Adolf Fischer.Albert Hnlderried.Richard Kollmer.Robert Maser.Alois Reisar-her.Theodor Bitter.Raphael Scbnedler.Willy Scheef.Joseph S-:-hrcihmueller.Wilhelm Stceh.Alfred Stoerkle.German Zettel.
BIGGEBS
Ludwig Knorr, chief riggcr.Hans Freund.Erich Spehi.
B'1E9292' A EDS
Heinrich Kuhis.Wilhelm Balla.Fritz Deeg.Ma: Henneherg.Severin Klein.
Eugen Nunnenmadlet.Max Schuize.
Frau Imhoi! stewardess3. 1937, were BS IOHOWSI i Dr. Ruediger, ship's doctor,
Capt. Ernst Lehrnann.Capt. Max Pruss, commanding. Indicates those who died in accident.
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tions inimical to unrestrained ights,
the importance oi certain types oi
ight operations transcend the impor-
tance of other types of ight operations.
lt also must weigh the needs of any
one type oi ying as balanced against
the needs of other types of ying and
assist the Bureau of Air Commerce in
determining under what conditions and
to what extent the Bureau must begin
to apply and enforce restrictions in the
use of the civil airways. '
It is believed that this committee,
representing as it does the several
phases of military aviation. private op-
erator, the scheduled ai - line o rator,the communication or*iizati<:p113, and
the regulatory body of the. Bureau of
Air Commerce itselr, as well as com-
munication agencies, will furnish n-
complete, well-rounded picture at the
immediate needs of the dlerent types
or ying now properly making use of
the aids to air navigation tarnished
and operated by the Bureau of Air
Commerce.
The committee, which is composed of
the following members, held its rst
meeting on July 7: Capt. J. E. Webb
representing the National Aeronautic
Association!, Chas. A. Massom, secre-
tary. State Aviation Commission of
Maryland; Paul Goldsborough, presi-
dcnt,_ Aeronautical Radio, Inc.; Oom-
manuer 0. B. Hardison, United States
Navy, Navy Department; David L.
Behncke, president, Air Line Pilots As-
sociation; Lt. G. H. Bower-man, Avia-
tion Division, United States Coast
Guard; Maj. A. W. Marriner, Army Air
Corps; S. S. Keuvvorthy representing
American Municipal Association! ;
Fowler W. Barker, secretary, Air
Transport Association of America.
At the rst meeting the committee
members were presented with an initial
list of subjects to be studied and after
general discussion, it was agreed that
each member be assigned one or more
of the problems with which he is ta-
miliar. After determining facts sur-
rounding such problems, the members
were to submit complete data to the
committee tor general discussion and
agreement. The subject and assign-
ments follow:
Btudy of present airway tratllc controlsystem in all phases oi procedure, and recom-mendations for improvement.1. Designation 0 Bmdri and secondaryairwa{_s. Air Line ilots ssociatioo: Air-wazy radlc Control.!. Reduction in airway width. [War D9.partmcnt ; Navy Department.!3. Restriction of number of airports and
bad weather operations near major terminals. National Association of State Aviation Odi-
cials; Airway Traic Control.!4. Procedure to be followed in setting
111.1 Sufi!!! I-Ereemclits by various scrviccs,l;I'0upa, or an-us. Not assigned; ior generaldl scusslon.!
5- Llttenillg of airport control 'tow -ropt-rotors. Amm'iL'un Municipal Associ-ation.! _, -
ti. D_l92'lsi0l'l of authority lwlwvcn airwaylraic control station and airport control
towers. American Municipal Association;National Association oi! State Aviation Util-ems; Air Transport Association ot America.!'1. Priority in clearing ililghts of variousclasl service! into airport. on cr conditions of
landing sequent-e_ assignments. NationalAeronautic Association.!3. Closing of airways or airports to vari-ous typea of traic according to weather. National Aeronautic Association; American
Municipal Association.!9. Penalties to be invoked for violatinguirwif traic control regulations. Ameri-can unicipal Association.!
iii. Civil air regulations up. o0Alrtraac control, including adoption or con-solidated intcrline saterg agreement provi-sions to t all ying. _.u:-ecu or Air Com-
meme.!11. urisdiction of airway traic control
in authorizing clearance for military intell-tional instrument ights nlonqor across air-ways. War Department; avy Depart-meat.!12. System of coordination of all mili-tary tratc into other traic at all times.
War Department; Navy Department.!13. Discussion as to necessity tor ightplans for all itinerant ight movementsalong or across airways un er all weathercon tlons including the requirements orradio dx reports with the establishment of
communication facilities. Navy Depart-ment; Narlonal Aeronautic Association.!14. Two-thousand-toot tree zone or sub-stitute ior aircraft without two-way radio.
Navy Department; National AeronauticAssociation; Air Transport Association.!15. Discussion as to the necessity or theestablishment of a dispatching agency forthe Purpose 01' exercising ight control au-thor ty over all other t an air line move-
ments. National Aeronautic Association.!16. Establishment ot maximum altitudezones for the entire country measured abovethe terrain. allowing contact ight at analtitude under the specied maximum alti-tude. Such ight plan to be merely termed"contact." How far below cloud base and
with what visibility day or night! Na-tional Aeronautic Association.!
17. Discussion as to steps necessary to
expedite communication in forwarding in-Iormation required lag airway tramc con-trol. such as dispatc es and ship reports. Aeronautical Radio, Inc.; War Depart-
ment.!18. Discussion as to advisability of air-
way tratdc control managers taking up ir-regularities aud violations oi airway traiccontrol procedures directly with local super-
vising aeronautical inspector, immediatelyupon their occurrence. Not assigned, for
genera] discussion.!19. Plan for handling tramc beyondcapacity of one airgort on a civil airwayb rerouting or hol ing at point of origin. l ational Aeronautic Association: AirTransport Association.!20. Direction communication eéaaansioushould foll092t'-radio? ground? ar De-Bartmcnt; Navy Department: Aeronauticaladio, Inc.!
21. Should any oi the following fre-quencies he changed or discontinued for
itinerants?--3105, G210, 3120 kilocycles.
___ _. I V W _ A A _ _ ___ _____~_________ ____i¬___ _ ____ _____ _ __ __ ,_ _ _,__m,__,_,_,_____,_,,__,'_....._,_...,.,.__,__ ..
Bureau of Air Commerce Ad
sory B o a r d Holds Firs
Meeting
As a medium through which the Bu-
reau of Air Commerce can obtain the
viewpoints and counse1_o£ other Fed-
eral agencies having to do with acro-
nautics and of national organizations
representing the aeronautics industry,
the Department of Commerce has es-
tablished a Bureau oi Air Commerce
Advisory Board. The rst meeting,
held on August 6, was a luncheon at
the Willard Hotel in Washington.
Monthly meetings are planned with
ecrctary oi Commerce Daniel C.
Roper, Assistant Secretary of Com-
merce J. Monroe Johnson, and the
members of the Bureau's own Policy
Board representing the Departuient.
The Policy Board consists of Director
oi! Air Commerce Fred D. Fagg, .Ir.,
the Assistant Director, the Technical
Assistant to the Director and the
ehiefs of the Bureau's seven divisions.
These meetings will he devoted to con-
sideration oi important national aero-
nautical problems and the formulation
of notional policies with respect there-
to.
The members of the Bureau Advi-
sory Board are:
Hon. R. Walton Moore, counsellor. De-partment ot State.Hon. Stephen B. Gibbons, Assistant ec-retary, Treasury Department.___Gen. Oscar Weatover, Chiet oi Air Corps,
war Department.Hon, Harllee Branch, Second AssistantPostmaster General, Post Olce Deipartment.Admiral Arthur B. Cook, Chie , Bureauof Aeronautics, Navy Department.Hon. Willis R. Gregg. Chief, WeatherBureau, Department of Agriculture.Hon Carroll Miller, cha rman, InterstateCommerce Commission.Dr. George W. Lewis, Director of Aero-nautic Besearch, National Advisory Com-
mitiee for Aeronautics.Hon. Corrington Gill, Assistant Admin-istrator, Works Progress Administration.hear Admiral Emory S. Land, member,United States Maritime Commission.
Hon. Gill Robb Wilson, president, Na-Eignai Association of State Aviation Oi-
'"1'~i$3. Charles F. Hornet, president, Na-tional Aeronautic Association.Hon. Andrew Joyner, Jr., president,American Municipal ssociation.Hon. Leighton W. Rogers. president,Aeronautical Chamber oi! ommerce.Hon. 92i'|n. A. Schrmder, chairman, Com-mittee on Aeronautical Law, American BarAssociation.Dr. W. W. Arrasmlth, president, Avia-
tion Commission, American Legion.Col. Robert G. Elbert, chairman, BusinessAdvisor Council.Mr. genres E. Hoskina, chairman, Avia-tion Committee, Actuarial Society of Amer-ica.Col. Edgar S. Gorrell. president, Air"lrn'mar92m'i' Association of America. ----_..,.r..... ____------V-_ .._ _7----WAIR commence BULLETIN J 39
--Air Lines Employ 286 Hostesses and 105 Stewards
i There are 286 young women em-
ployed as hostesses, and 105 mcn em-
ployed as stewards on AmcrlcI1I'l-0per-
ated air lines, according to the mostrecent reports from the lines to the
Bureau of Air Commerce, Department
of Commerce. Seven domestic air
tines chapter hostesses. One domestic
line and two" lines extending to foreign
countries ploy stewards.
In October 1936 there were 270 host-
esses, all on domestic lines. Thcrc was
I male steward on a domestic air line
-at that time and there were 41 stew-
ards on foreign extensions.
The air lines which have hostesses
on their airplanes include American
Airlines. Brani? Airways, Grand Can-
yon Airlines, National Airlines Sys-
tem, Transcontinental & Western Air,
United Air Lines, and Western Air Ex-
ipress. Eastern Air Lines employs 43
stewards and Pan American Airways,
operating to Latin America and across
the Pacic, has 51 stewards; Pan
American Grace, 11 stewards.
The Bureau of Air Commerce has no
jurisdiction over hostesses and stew-
ards, as it does with respect to quali-
cations of pilots and dispatchers, and
airworthiness of equipment, hut docs
request the lines to include in their rc-
ports the number of hostesses and
stewards employed.
Advisory Committee Formed to
Assist in Civil Airway Opera-
. tion Problems
An Airways Operation Advisory Com-
mittee has been organized under the
sponsorship of the Bureau of Air Com-
merce tor the purpose oi securing the
best thoughts of ight sections of the
various aviation interests throughout
the United States, looking toward a
long-time planning program for the
operation oi the civil airways of this
country.
The various aviation groups con-
cerned were asked to designate repre-
sentatives on the committee in order
that problems peculiar to each oi them
,would be given consideration in the
, nal recommendations made to the Sec-
retary of Commerce for guidance in the
issuance oi necessary instructions to
those operating, as well as using the
civil airways and the facilities thereon.
As an illustration of problems before
the committee. it must consider
whether. or not, under certain condi-
-. J-' -w ...
-an - » i. v . i VMM ..........a_. .. .....____,,_...._._.,.,,e..._,i__e,
ff
-~. .1_>..
42 -- Am communes aonnnrm -./
Dr. Merrill W. Hollinlnrorth? 1506North Main street, Santa Ana, Call .
Dr. Samuel B. Bnndnll, 84 WalnutAvenue, Santa Cruz. Calif.
Dr. Victor W. llari, 113 North OregonBtrcet, It-eka, Calif.The following-named physicians are
no longer conducting examinations tor
the Bureau of Air Commerce:
Dr. Dwight H. Trowbridge, 51-., Fresno,Cuiit,_ C'_@Q!IlE _E- HBWIT. 391% lllllll Qllftl, Dr: Joseph G. Zimmerman, Traverse City,Lieu-r aruui, iowa. Mich,Dr. S. Senior Sack, 96 East Fifty-ioui-tn] Dr. Illf Chlldrey, .lr., Bochelter. Minn.treet, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Airports, Charts, and Lights
Airports of Entry
Temporary Airports of Entry
Redeaignated I
The following temporary -airports
of entry have been redesignated forfhll nnrvinrl nf 1 Unnr: 1..-u. nu vu ua. a ;-can
Name onn-port 1§;"fn;;§'
Bualo Marine Airport, Bualo,N.Y ____________________________ .. July 29,192?Bault Ste. Marie Airport. Sault Ste.
Marie, Mich ..................... .. Aug. 4,1037
Airport of Entry Designated Without
Time Limit
Rouse: Point, N. Y.-The
Point seaplane base has been desig-
nated an airport of entry without time
limit, eectire July 14, I937.
Number of Airports and Land-
ing Fields in the United
States as of Aug. 1, 1937
Municipal airports ................. .-.. .... _. 750Commercial a|.rgorta......_____ _____ _._. ____ .- 443Department oi ommeree intermediate elds. 258Army airdromes__._......__.___,__.__.. ____ __ BlNaval air stations including Marine and
__ Coast Guard!,,-.---__-..--._--....-.....-_ 27uhwggeraieu neicis.._......___.-______...___ 46Mark auxiliary iieIde._________-___.___..___ wePrivate elds _______________________________ __ 75Fields for miscellaneous Government activ-ities ...................................... __ 28
Total ................................. .. 2,354Airport; Ind landing lields having any night
liliging equlipmentzun|cipa_ _.._._-....-. ............ .. 261Commercial...._...._...-...-............ 93Intermediate...._..-.....--...-.. . 2&0Army._._.__....._._-...-.-. .. _ .. .-_
Navy.__-._...-................--__ .....itgxte.-___-..---__._----..._..-.. .. ...--
. Prime.:..'II§IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Total ................................. JFK
Department of Commerce Aero-
nautical Charts
The following aeronautical eharts are
now available tor distribution:
Dubuque revised as of June 1937!.El Peso revised as of July I937!.Savannah revised as of June 1937!.
Copies may be obtained from the of-
ce of the Director, Coast and Geodetic
Surrey, 'WiiSi1ingt0n,D. C., at n cost of
40 cents each for single copies. A dis-
count on aeronautical charts and books
will be allowed only on orders amount-
ing to a gross value of $10 or more.
The discount on such orders which
may be assorted! will be 33% percent.
Private Aeronautical Lights
Los Angeles, Calif.-The directional
projector of the beacon near Monte-
bello has been returned to normal op-
eration, pointing toward Alhambra Air-
port instead of Eastside Airport as
heretofore.
Mason, Ohio.The Crosley Radio
Corporation red revolving beacon not
burning until further notice.
Licenses, Approvals, and Ratings
Summary
Pilot licenses, active. ...................... __
Scheduled air transport pilot ratings, actit-0..St d t li act! __u en _oen.eee. ve._-.__--..-.--...__.-.Glider pilot licenses, actlve......____-.-..-.___Aircraft licenses, active .................... __ 7,97!
Aircraft unlicensed, active._-..-..-.._.-_...-- 1,110Glider lice active 32 naea, _-_____,_-__--_-.____._Glider unlicensed, eotive._. .-_______.---._._ 327Bt dent glider pilot permits ti _._ . _-_.._. 135 Approved-type oerti t issued for air lanes- 649Mgchanim licenses, ectlve_.'_::_.Y?__._-..__.. a, 131 Approved-type certi?tt:= isuecl ior glilders. - 4Parachute rlgger licensee, active.----_-.--.. 375Approved-type certicates issued for engines. l7D
.1 .92
'92-- AIR CON" KRCE BULLETIN
.-92
l Ra;'y Department; Aeronautical IL
nc.
22. Should the above be replaced at I0'l'nr'
denite date by ultra-high frequencies {ortransmlesion irom aircraft? Navy Dc-partmcnt; Aeronautical Radio, Inc.!
23. Should the whole aircraft system oito-oW8J communication be l'9Wlin|Jld forusing ultra-high or aorne high frequenciesby I-ones an al aircraft with n a zone andperhaps the ground ataiiona in the nann-aone would be on the same channel? Navy
Department: Aeronautical Radio, Inc.!24. Should PX reporting and iilgit Finnsbe combined into a common P orm?
Navy Department: Coast Guard.!
25_ Does the Weather Bureau need addi-tional personnel. and at what stations: howmany additional men at auch stations ,to
expedite information, particularly discus-sions before ights? {Not assigned, for
general discussion.! _Domestic Air Transport Lines
Carry 110,842 Passengers in
June 1937
The 20 scheduled air lines operating
in Continelliul United States in June
1931 carried 110,842 passengers, and
ew 5,811,404 miles and 4Z,2i,2"i'i!
passenger-miles, according to reports
to the Bureau oi Air Commerce, Dc-
ptirtment oi Commerce.
The Ham carried 650.709 pounds of
express and ew 377,223,090 express-
pound-miles during the month.
Comparisons with April and May of
this year and with June 1936 are shown
in the tollowing:
A April 1037 May 193? June I937 June iiiii
Companies operating_._....___.--_...__. ......... _.Companies reporting.--_--._...--..-...-__-_-.._..Passengers carriod.___........_..._.__..___..-._..__
givrw PC1111 1 WILD.-."--..,..____-__.__-.Miles own ....... _.___...,____..._,,______________
Passenger-miles own.._._._..-..._.-___---_-..-...Pamenger-sear.-miles own.____...-_.____--._..-._.PercentI.1sedseats....__--..-._-.-_....___...-__._
20 21an 21
110. B42 97, 453sso, mo 701,142344,433, -ms
5.e1o,eoo40,252,35159,094. H9as. ll
German Air Line To Make Ex-
perimental Flights to United
States This Summer
Secretary of Commerce Roper made
the following announcement at his
weekly press conference on July 7:
The German air line, Deutsche
Lufthansa, A. G., will conduct a se-
ries 0i' experimental ights across the
Atlantic by way of the Azores. be~
ginning with a ight from Frankfort.
Germany, August 14.
Secretary Roper announced that the
Department of Commerce has given its
permission for eight round-trip ights
with heavier-than-air craft which the
company plans to make during the
summer of 1937.
Col. J. M. Johnson, Assistant Secre-
tary oi Commerce, stated that 5 sec-
ond ight from Germany will com-
mence August 28, and the rst return
ight will begin August 31. The base
in this country will be at Port Wash-
ington, Long Island. In 1936, we
Deutsche Lufthansa conducted tour
trial ights to the United States in two
heavienthan-air craft.
The eight trips this summer will be
made in tour-engine seaplancs, eachof which carries a crew or four. No
passengers or goods will be carried.
Two catapult ships will be used as
ocean bases. one stationed near the
Azores and the other near the Amer-
ican coast The ships also will be
equipped with meteorological stations
and radio.
Designation of Medical
Examiners
During the month of June 1937 the
following physicians were oiiicialiy:
authorized to act as Bureau of Air
Commerce medical examiners in the
cities specied.
A.iubomn.Dr. Wallace B. Sargent, 313%Montgomclg Avenue, Sheffield.U0liforniu.- r. Dwight H. Trowbridge. Jr._T15 T. W. Patterson Building. Fresno.limneeota.--Dr. William R. Lovelace, MayoClinic. Rochester..lfoniuna.-Dr. Earl M. Farr, 221 Hart-Albin Building, Billings.Tc:ras.Dr. Sam S. Terupiin, United StatesNational Bank Building, Galveston.
11""!-r0mfng.Dr. Robert Y. Batteries, 10 Os-borne Building, Iiiawllns.
T h e following-named physicians
changed their addresses during the
month their new addresses being asI follows:
O
Approved-type osrtlut-as llluad [or propellersA1;E?Jv-':_d-type oortlncotoo issued ior para-
Approved-typo oortlontes issued for aircraftcomponent: and ooonsorios.--......---.----Lsltsrs of approval ISIIM1 ior airglanas_-.-...lattuooi approval issued ior all ers_______.__Lzlitorl oi approval lnnod lor domestic an-nss ............................ .------.---Engines having mlihrstlon rating- -.-.. .-....Letters oi approval lmuod ior propeilors_-,._.Lotta: oiopprovol lined lot pnnlo0n.s__-----Latin: of approval lnued tor skis .......... -.Lotta: oi approval inuod ior foreign en:i.ne|_.Repair stat one approved. active.....-........Schools approved, active ........ -._---.-._---
Ground instructors licensed, _l._ctive_.._-___.__Flying instrllctcrl ratings, aouva__--....___.-.
New Approved-Type Certi-cates ,_ -505
57
Hana
Approved-type certicates certi-
cate numbers snd dates in parentheses!
have been issued the following:
1-TBPLANE5
Waco, UPF--I and VPF7, 8-place openland biplane. Engine, Continental WBTOKor K1 SDUPF-7! or Continental WGTOM orM1 {IL F-T!. 12, B5-3?.! Listed aspendin in Jul 15, 1937.Douglas, D'1¥S-A, 31-place closed landmon1[:}p.ane. Engines, 2 P 8: W 1w1u WaspBB3 s at 900 I1. p. or 2 P Q W Twin WaspBBG's at 900 h. p. 47, 6-30-37.!Waco, UKS7 and VKS7 5-place closedland hi lane. Engine, Continental WGTOI-i01' K1 i]UKS'T! or Continental W670l92I or
M1 VKS-7!. B48, 6-8-37.!Beechcratr, D11'S, 5-place closed land bi-plane. Englue, P A: W Wasp Jr. SB.
49. 7-16-37-!
ENGINES
Kinner SC-T, 7-cyl, radial air cooled, 3501;. _p. at i,9_p_9 r. p._ m. at l5,000it. altitude.i115, oa-1:.! L|Iii¬ as penning in July15 1037.wright, lljouble Row Cyclone GR-2600A2,14-cyl. radial air cooled3:1 reduction§ears, 1,200 h. p. at 2100 r. m. at 5.700t. pressure altitude. 7 . B-10-37.!Liste as pending in July 15, 1937.Allison, V1'l'10C-l, 12-cyl. vee liquidcooied2 : 1 reduction gears, 1.000 h. p. at2,800 r. p. m. at sea level. 77, 7- "
Waterman-Studebaker, B-1, 6-cyl.liquid cooled, 90 h. at 1,800 r. p,sea level. 78, 'l' 5-37.!Pratt Q Whitney, Twin Wasp Jr. SB14-cyl. radial air cooled. 750 h. p. at 2§.T m. at 9,600 It. altitude. 79, 7-
PBOPEI-LIBS
Maynard Di Cesare, DC4001, steel, 9
gtbgoin. diameter, &%16.1stab1e %tch,¬?£¬ p., , r. . m. . . se aspendin lg Ma 15.1937. !Curtfss seeds blade aluminum 1110;, 12ft. to 10 ft. B in. diameter, contro lablepg:-:l;1*
85 h. p., 1,445 r. p. m. 92, I--' -s am GOMMEh-Ad aunnsrm J 43
Everel, I-88-A, birch with fabric orstainless steel tipping. 6 ft. 4 in. diameter,automatic pitch, 40 la. p., 2,575 r. p. m.93, T-19-37.!
Hartsel, 410B, birch or onartered oak with brass or stainless lteél tgping, 6 it. 0 in.
1 diameter, §__i't. 3 in. pit: ,_gg h. p.,_,2.25ur. p. m. one, 1--26-67.! ouopenoI1-lg.
Letters of Approval
Numbers and dates in parentheses!
LIEPI.-|92l'¬E
Vultee, V1A Special, 8-pllace closed landmono £!la!ne. Engine, Wrigt Cyclone SR1820 ", 850 I1. p. -539, 7-5-37.!
GLIDEB
- Sport-Flugzeughatil, Hutter I-I-17, 1-place
open _land monoplane isaiiplanel. 2-6,7-26-37.!
; Change in List of Approved
1 Schools
Chsngie name oi! Roosevelt AviationSchool, nc.. Roosevelt Field, Mineola, LongIsland, Y. to Roosevelt Field, 1nc., Avia-tion School fivlvlsion.
, Repair Stations I s s u e d Ap-prgved Repair Station Certi-
ca es
blew York State Aviation Repair Station,~525 John Street, Utica, N. Y., ggprovecl July,6, 1937, for repair oi weld steel tube,strnctnre, wooden stmcture, fabric coverinwood-covered wings, fuselages and controsurfaces, and box and laminated spars, steelittin and a bl . gs, S5811] Y
Pennsylvania-Central Airlines Corpora-,tion, Allegheny Countv Aligaort Pittsburgh,92Pa., approved July 15, 19 '3', for repair orwelded steel tube structure, wooden struc-ture exc1udinE box and laminated sparswood-covered uselages, wings and controlsurfaces, fabric covering, steel ttings,aluminum alloy structure, aluminum alloyttings, assembly, aluminum alloy propellerblades and/or steel hubs, engines, and in-struments.
Changes in List of Approved
Repair Stations
Delete Atlanta Air Services, CandlerField, Atlanta, Ga.Commercial Aircraft Co., Inc., PortlandAirport Portland, 0:-eg., delete for repairlo! welded steel tube structure, e:clu..lngi ttings, and steel ttings.Inter City Airlines, nc., Boston Munici-pal Airport, East Boston, Mass., add for re-pair oi aluminum alloy structure, aluminum1 allcay ttings, aluminum alloy propellerbla es and/or steel hubs, wooden propellers,l eiéies. and instruments.l lete Pacic Aircraft Resair Co., Los
Angeles Airport, Inglewood, ,alif.
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Published with the approval of the Director of the Budget
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_ INDEXEQ "
J3/o :> - 4/9 /§s;'i»>§ X
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Director
Nathan
Tolson
Quinn .
Clegg
Foxworth
Brandt1 _ 19:57
____F11eB Sect1on
__*_Personne1 F1168
____Ch1ef Clerk's Offlce
____Ident1f1cat1on D1v1s1on
__ _Techn1ca1 Laboratory
____lleohan1ca1 Sectxon
SUPERVISORS..._________
Mr Drayton PennlngtonChambers Mr Leckae Ranstad
Chi manp M; McDade BosonCollier Mr MoInt1ra Spear
Corne us Mr Mertz
_r Ward Send F11e
Mr Parsons___ ____Ca11 me regardlng th1sMrs Morton Correct
glee Coe Note and Return133 Conlon S rch, serlallze and route____Typ1sta - 5724 enographers - 5730VFTL 1>::" ? I'll O ;
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, Mr. PEBAL BUREAU OF INVESTIG b
|
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Director
Nathan
Tolson
Quinn-
Clegg
Foxworth
Brandt
Chipman
Collier
Drayton
____Miss Gandy
Mrs. Fisher
____Mrs. Morton
__k_Mr. Ward
__Mr. Parsons
____Miss Conlon3
F
--- __ __ 1&5? .
Files Section
_ ____Personne1 Files
____Chief Clerk's Office
_H__Identification Division
____Technica1 Laboratory
" Mechanical Section
su1=ERy'I sons
Mr . -Lawler
Chambers ____&f. Leckie
___;Mr. McDade
_;__Mr. Mclntire ____
Mr. Pennington ____Mr
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____Send File
____Call me regarding this
____C0rrect
*___Note and Return
____Search, serialize and route
____Typists - 5257 ____Stenographers - 5750Eanstad
Rosen
Spear
Vogel
Wyly
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121121-al Bureau of Investigation
nite?! tatre Brpartment of lactic:
936 Rlynond-Commrce Building,
Wk, HO JG 4 I
1'Jp,]|J llovenber. 29, 1937
TD-15 ~
4.
1'
Director, "
Federal Bureau oi Investigation,
walhigtdn, De Ce .
o
RE: nasmucrxon or _._l_msn11? "nnmmmuna"
_ i _ oovmlgmm RFESEQYAQION §lTTER_ no
DOB! $11;
A review of this file reveal: there in no in»-
veetigation to be conducted. at this time and that the investigation
conducted by the other interested gonrnmntalz genoiee including
that oi Conmander 0- Ebflloeendehl of the U. Se llevul Air Station
at Lalcehurat, New Jersey, ie dormnt. m l '
It ie noted that there are numerous nemorande
included in the file oi this division, which contain -nrioue de-
taile of the inveetigetion conducted at Lakehuret, H. J. Same have
not been included in a report. The information contained in these
memo:-ande ie of a miscellaneous nature and ie not believed to be of
informative velue to the Bureau. Therefore, eane in not being
included in a report, ae it would neceeeitete considerable clerical
worke
Unleee instructions are received to the contrary
from the Bureau, this caee ie being considered closed»
_, Very truly yours,
r92" "'-'=92T Anal?-"-"?-fi! _;h;92e.F-TL! 4 '1*-FL 1'?7§;_§?I-Y "Y't~i.?I'="73 WJ / L? ,W q-'9292| t _ '_ To Jo MEGAN;
Specie]. Agent in Charge
ce- Washington Field -_... V --» -.- - _ - ,,,_ ._. _._-.--~
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luau-1:, In Jornq.
ln: IESTZHBEIOI O! AIRSHIP
'IIID!3BH' -
dove:-slant Rosnwatim latter.
Dulr 61::
Rofarnnco is undo to yur lettnr dntad Iovumbor 29,
1°37, ralitiva to the abov» aaptienad case, advising that
there are narnus meaarnnda included in your file contain-
ing fribua &etai¢¢ sf thc investigatiwn conducted at Lake-
hurst, ew Jeraay.
Inalnch as tho bureau la not In possession or the
infowintion cantainod in tbs nnnortndn rofcrrad to abort,
you are ruquoatad to sulnariac the infbruation contalncd
thlrnin, sihllttlng tbs Sill to the Bureau so that it I111
be avsiiahxn 1: tbs ovut inquiries are unbacqunatly undo
rnlutivu ta ihin Bali.
Iiuy truly yearn, A
Job Edgar Iocvur, ,k ,///
. Macm-
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JOHN EDGAR HOOVER if '
tiDIRECTOR '3- '3
Jeheral Bureau nf Inuestigatinn
niteh Staten Brpartment at Justine
Eashingtnn, B. 01. '
December 17, 1937 .62-48190
HCV:TD
;:9292 /
!lE!.lOP..ANDUM son ,3. ruin
Re: Destruction_oi05;r- _
e1~.i;!.5 aieeeebe.=-gs ;
Government Reservation
_ _ hatter, _ ,'92 __
92/
With reference to the 8.bOV,O/O&pt1OnBd matter, you will recall
that on the evening of May 6, 1936 the Airship "Hindenburg" exploded
in midair at Lakehurst, New Jersey as it was attempting to land on its
initial trip for the year 1937 from Germany and was completely
.r"n'rnr921 '1 |:-bear92JUlllLJJnJ-I31]-5924 0
Thereafter certain investigation was performed by the Bureau
at the reque t of Commander C. E. Rosendahl, of the Neva Air stationat Lalcehurst, New Jersey, particularly as to one .TOSBph!gpaeh who was
a paeenger on the Hindenburg. The information developed concerning
Spaeh was subsequently transmitted to Mr. South Irimble, Jr., Solicitor,
Department of Commerce, Washington, D.G. _
A printed copy of a report prepared W South Tr-imble, Jr.
concerning investigation of the Hindenburg disaster is in the Bureau
file, setting out theories as to the cause of the accident. The
conclusion in Trimb1e's report, however, is to the effect that the
cause of the accident was the ignition of a mixture Of free hydrogen
and air and that the theory that a brush discharge ignited such mixture
appears most probable.
. In the absence of instructions to the contrary, the Newark
Gffice is closing its file. Yon sill observe, howerer, from the
attached letter that the Newark Office has been requested to summarize
information contained in numerous memoranda included in the Newark
file which has not heretofore been furnished the Bureau.
Respectfully, e, _ _ ._.l_
I 1
h.c.vege§s**@ EB; 1, :_ _ " W4; in L LL 21 J33?,9 I. 3'91 -éfel-AI 7
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Iebrusry 21, 1938
I
RCV:I-L - - _
62-mt 90 -1.1, ; H1502:-:.=";?:10 CONTA1¬I3J
Ipootal Agoot in Ola:-go, U
Ina-1:, In Iraq-
Boa DRBTMJOTIOI 0! Allin!!!
"I1I!IDB1'BUB" -
crvarnnmt loner-mtim Iatt-on
Darlira
Reference in nude to :7 letter dated
Docomb-or 23., 1937, concerning the above cautioned
Ilttrgrn
Iour attention 1| Qollod to the request
for as summary of the information oontained in
nunoroua mono:-anda included in your £110, Ihllh
information has not gztioualy bod: lrnishod in
the Bu:-om.
Yory truly youro,
John _ Hoover,$11-~i~: I5 1- Cm-3S1 an75 i.-i:1":;~=';'__!r!é .'.!!_...._-B
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"cut1on,_-no"w'1tnessqs i111be sci; =@a%,--;@¢-="m»; uimmnriu. ione "
the gavel Lir Ltrtion, Lakehurst, Lew Jersey, at 6 a.;. on
1&3 E, ZEST, but due to strong head winds which retsrdei its
grogresr during the course of its journey, it rafae the sta-
tion that it would. arrive about Sip;--ll hay ii, -193?. Bctweol
E-hi ého1L1r1e_0f_5':4O_ p¢I_;¢"|;0 1:45 p-an-e siaihe n.fternd'on of 1ts'
sehodulgsi-iifrival, there had been heavy: shtwu-s and thundog; - 'Tho" P-in;-.Tén u_1-5 ar1j,ive3' lver tha"ai i-part 1utyeeI: f§ve and/éi:£p-nu, but a 5:!»51;.:r.J:z_e aval next a m 'sse.ggI11;o til.ship 'tf§at 'diti_c>:.s we unset;-,,fiec1_ 92nB.*ro::o:;;r.3pJod that
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for landing," and that i" grciund oz-or of ninety-hro Navy person-
Ml ln 139 eivilims were ready -toroouire the _shi_p- ; There '
was _1_;Ahunde1'f over the Station at the time. 'E'ThO ceiling was ~
about three thousand foot, with Yilibilijqr ofjbout fire miles.
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many, on May 35,- 1937, on its initial trip for theft yoargftp 1
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The airship approached the airport at about 6:25 p.m.,
Eastern Standard Time, :25 p-m. Eastern Daylight Saving Time!,
and made a sharp turn to the starboard, which was not unusual»
In Commander Rosendah1's opinion, the approach was normal for a
ship inflated with hydrogen, and tr-I crew utilized the backing,-
power of the engines to check the approach of the ship, which is
customary. The men in the ground crew had been instructed in
groups, under their respective leaders, as to the handling of the
ship on the ground. The crew on the airship dropped the landing
ropes from the bow of the ship and they were imediately connect-
ed to the ground lines. These lines were used to draw the ship
into position for attaching the steel landing cable which is drawn
into the mooring mast. The approach was made at an elevation of
200 feet or less. Commander Rosendahl was located at the mooring
mast and gave the necessary instructions as to the handling of the
ground crew at this point. Ee indicated that the wind blew to the
westward when the ship reached the surface, and he believed the
conditions were satisfactory in general, and they were proceeding
in a normal manner to land the ship. About four minutes after
the control ropes had connected with the ground, and Wi16 the
mooring cable was being lowered but had not, as yet, reached the
ground, certain events occurred which changed the normal landing
procedure.
The nose_of the ship was about 50 feet from the circular
track, which is 6T1 feet from the mooring mast. The ship never
got any closer to the mooring mast than this point. Commander Ro-
sendahl indicated that at this time he saw a small burst of flame
on the top of the ship, towards the stern, and, in his opinion,
this indicated to him the doom of the §hiPe Imediately, the en-
tire stern took fire, and after this initial burst of flame the
fire progressed forward. He said he expected more in the way of an
explosion than was apparent, although he had never seen an airship
inflated with hydrogen burn- There were several mild explosions
and the ship was generally consumed by fire. Comander Rosendahl
indicated that he had no knowledge of the origin of the fire. ar-
ter thet, the stern of the ship continued to come down, and there-
after the front portion settled to the ground at a moderate rate
of descent. _ - _
Commander Rosendahl ran from the vicinity and commanded
the ground crew to do likewise in order to avoid being caught under
the ship as it fell. then the ship settled, the ground crew immed~
- 2 -
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imediately arranged for the necessary fire-fighting apparatus
…[truncated]