The Hindenburg mystery

New Delhi: Scientists believe they have explained what caused the Hindenburg to explode back in May 1937.On May 6th, 1937, a mighty 800 foot long blimp called the Hindenburg caught fire and crashed killing 36 people in this famous flaming tragedy. With nearly 100 on board, the 245m airship was preparing to land at Lakehurst, New Jersey, when the age of airship travel ended. In front of horrified onlookers, the Hindenburg exploded and plunged to the ground in flames. Thirty-five of those on board died.But who or what ignited the blimp remained a mystery till few days back though several theories have been proposed. Many people believed that this German made blimp was sabotaged by people who opposed the Nazi regime that had recently gained power. Others maintain it was lightening that ignited the giant airship. More recently, some scientists theorize that a build-up of static electricity that generated a spark sufficient to get things going. For years experts have pondered over what exactly caused it to explode, but now a team of engineers think they may have the answer.Using a small scale model of the airship, the team led by aeronautical engineer Jem Stansfield was able to piece together the series of events that conspired to destroy the Hindenburg. It turns out that the hull became charged with static during an electrical storm while at the same time a broken wire or faulty valve leaked hydrogen in to the ventilation shafts. The dream was a fleet of hydrogen-filled airships criss-crossing the globe, silvered hulls shining in the sunlight. And for a while the fantasy became reality, For the Hindenburg was the Concorde of its day – able to cross the Atlantic in about three days, twice as fast as going by sea.