The Hindenburg disaster... like you've NEVER seen

[HG]

Do the passengers sleep inside the balloon bit?

Yes, it could berth 18k...

 

[McM]

Do the passengers sleep inside the balloon bit?

Only in the very lowest part of the hull.
They had small cabins, like in a night train back then.

 

[Miguelor4469]

To this day, experts are still unsure what caused the accident, which killed 35 passengers and crew.

Existing newsreel footage shows a close-up view of the airship as it burned while falling from the sky.

Now, incredible new video shot by an amateur photographer from a different angle has provided new clues about what might have happened.

The clip, filmed on a Cine-Kodak 8, Model 20 camera, was shot by Harold Schenck, whose nephew Bob Schenck features in a new PBS documentary revealing the unseen amateur video for the first time.

Hindenburg: The New Evidence, which is available to US viewers this evening, reveals how Schenck was standing in a different place to assembled members of the press, meaning he was able to get a wider view of the ship.

The film was ignored in the initial investigation into the disaster and only came to light when Bob showed it to aviation historian Dan Grossman, who features in the new show.

Crucially, the video shows the moment the airship's landing ropes were lowered, four minutes before the craft - which is believed to have been leaking hydrogen - exploded.

This adds new weight to the theory that the ropes conducted enough static electricity to cause a spark which ignited the leaking gas.

Schenck's film also gives a new wide view of the horrifying moment after the ship exploded. It is seen in a ball of flame as it falls to the ground in front of horrified onlookers.
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The film starts earlier and is shot from an entirely different angle to the more famous films.

Bob says: 'It was at the time publicly put out that he had it.

'Nobody ever asked for it. There was plenty of footage taken by the news reels and nobody really cared I guess about angles.'

Because the roll of film only lasted two minutes, Schenck only recorded footage for a few seconds at a time.

It showed the crowd of spectators assembling, as well as the moment the airship passed over the hangar at Lakehurst.

The last thing Schenck filmed before the explosion was the landing lines being lowered to the ground four minutes earlier.

Bob added: 'As it exploded, he had the camera at his side and it was a wind-up camera so he had the presence of mind to switch to switch on and pick it up at that moment.'

Unlike the famous footage – which shows only a close-up view of the front and underside of the airship as it burns – Schenck film reveals the nose and tail at the same time.

Schenck gained the different perspective because he was standing at an entirely different angle to the mass of photographers and other spectators.

It means experts can now examine a much wider view of the ship in its final moments.

After they verified the footage's authenticity, Harris and Grossman sought the help of expert Konstantinos Giapis, a professor of chemical engineering.

All the humanity lol!

 

[igotyour40acres]

For the longest time, I thought the accident happened at night.

 

[8point6blackout]

thats cool I enjoy trying to upgrade old footage