Hindenburg Survivors Recall Tragedy 70 Years Later

(CBS/AP) LAKEHURST, N.J. -- At 87, Robert Buchanan says he sometimes has trouble remembering what he did 10 minutes ago. But he can recall in vivid detail the day 70 years ago when he watched the Hindenburg erupt into a fireball.

A burst of flames roared across the surface of the mighty German airship only a hundred or so feet above him, and Buchanan remembers his hair getting singed as he ran for his life.

"It was a piff-puff, just like someone would leave the gas on and not get the flame to it," said Buchanan, one of the last living members of the ground crew that were helping the Hindenburg land.

Seventy years ago Sunday, the Hindenburg ignited after it had dropped lines while easing toward its mooring mast at the U.S. Navy base in Lakehurst. The crash killed 35 people on board and one person in the ground crew.

"I ran quite a distance because the heat, the flame, kept shooting out ahead of me," said Buchanan, of nearby Tuckerton. "And I really didn't think I was going to make it, frankly."

With an 804-foot-long, fabric-covered, metal frame filled with more than 7 million cubic feet of lighter-than-air hydrogen, the Hindenburg was cutting-edge technology, "the Concorde of its day back in 1936 and '37," said Carl Jablonski, president of the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society. Jablonski said the Hindenburg would later be referred to as the "Titanic of the sky."

The historical society is holding a private 70th anniversary memorial service Sunday at the crash site in Lakehurst, about 40 miles east of Philadelphia.

A swastika-emblazoned billboard for Nazi Germany, the Hindenburg offered a trip across the Atlantic that took half the time of the standard four- to five-day ocean liner trip, said Rick Zitarosa, a vice president for the historical society. Before the crash, it had carried more than 1,000 passengers on 10 successful round trips between Germany and Lakehurst in 1936, on top of additional trips to Brazil the same year.

"It was the most luxurious experience in the air, before and since," Zitarosa said.

Hindenburg passengers ate gourmet meals off fine china, drink French and German wines, and even smoke in a pressurized room.

The Zeppelin company, the German company that ran the airship service, had to use flammable hydrogen to fill the Hindenburg because of a U.S. embargo on nonflammable helium.

On May 6, 1937, more than a thousand sightseers had gathered in Lakehurst to see the Hindenburg, carrying 61 crew and 36 passengers, after its first trans-Atlantic voyage of the year. The Hindenburg was in a rush to land and take off again, because a larger load of passengers was waiting. But for hours, rainy weather had delayed the landing.

Buchanan, 17 at the time, was among more than 200 ground crew members, getting drenched as they waited for the Hindenburg to land.

"The blessing is that I wore a sweater and I was soaking wet, absolutely ringing wet. And that's what I think saved us," Buchanan said.

As the Hindenburg came in and started dropping lines, Associated Press photographer Murray Becker raised his camera to get a shot of the giant, silver airship as it started to land.

"He was just going to make a nice picture of a dirigible coming in. And then it blew, right when he had his finger on the shutter," recalled Marty Lederhandler, 89, an AP photographer of 66 years who was working in the wire service's New York darkroom when the Hindenburg crashed.

Zeno Wicks Jr., 86, of Louisville, Ky., was 16 when he and his father, a Goodyear engineer who was driving their car onto the base, saw a flash of fire engulf the airship.

"My father was cursing, and saying that he hoped the man he was going to meet was all right. And it turned out, he wasn't," Wicks said.

As Becker shot photos, a Chicago radio station announcer was doing a taped broadcast of the landing.

"Oh, the humanity and all the passengers!" said WLS announcer Herbert Morrison, whose recorded words would later air on NBC stations, and be a part of history.

Meanwhile, Werner Doehner, an 8-year-old passenger aboard the Hindenburg, saw chairs fall across the dining room door his father had walked through moments before the disaster. He would never see his father alive again.

"Just instantly, the whole place was on fire," said Doehner, of Parachute, Colo., who is the last surviving passenger. "My mother threw me out the window. She threw my brother out. Then she threw me, but I hit something and bounced back. She caught me and threw me the second time out. My sister was just too heavy for her. My mother jumped out and fractured her pelvis. Regardless of that, she managed to walk."

Doehner, 78, still has trouble discussing the tragedy that killed his father and sister. He was hospitalized for months after the accident with burn injuries, including a right hand that needed to be reconstructed.

Amazingly, about two-thirds of those on board had been able to get out of the burning airship.

"You either died a horrible death, or you got out with minor injuries. There weren't many cases that were in between," Zitarosa said.

The cause of the crash is still debated. The most accepted theory is that static electricity from the day's storms led to the ignition of the hydrogen.

On the base in Lakehurst, a plaque and marker in the middle of an old airship landing area, its World War II-era pavement cracking, shows where the Hindenburg met its end.

In the distance, the massive Hanger No. 1, built by the Navy in 1921 to house airships, is used for training and storage. But since 2004, it has also housed an information center, which the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society runs in partnership with the military.

Last year, about 15,000 people visited the information center, and had a chance to see old newspaper clippings, a metal girder from the Hindenburg, and silverware blackened from the fire, according to Jablonski, the historical society president.

The memory of the crash also stays alive because it was so tragic. As with the Titanic, it's a story of human beings pushing technological limits, and failing, said Rick Archbold, a Canadian author who has written about major disasters.

For Buchanan, then a teenager working on the ground crew to earn some extra cash and get out of school for a day, the crash is something he will never forget.

"A thing like that, you pretty much, in detail, you remember everything," he said.

'Titanic of the sky' met fiery end 70 years ago

LAKEHURST -- At 87, Robert Buchanan says he sometimes has trouble remembering what he did 10 minutes ago. But he can recall in vivid detail the day 70 years ago when he watched the Hindenburg erupt into a fireball. A burst of flames roared across the surface of the mighty German airship only a hundred or so feet above him, and Buchanan remembers his hair getting singed as he ran for his life. "It was a piff-puff, just like someone would leave the gas on and not get the flame to it," said Buchanan, one of the last living members of the ground crew helping the Hindenburg land. Seventy years ago today, the Hindenburg ignited after it had dropped lines while easing toward its mooring mast at the U.S. Naval Air Station in Lakehurst. The crash killed 35 people on board and one person in the ground crew. "I ran quite a distance because the heat, the flame, kept shooting out ahead of me," said Buchanan, of nearby Tuckerton. "And I really didn't think I was going to make it, frankly."

Fast facts

• The German airship crashed and burned on May, 6, 1937, at Lakehurst Naval Air Station.

• Thirty-five passengers and one ground crew member were killed.

• Its metal frame was 804 feet long and covered with fabric.

• The airship was filled with highly volatile hydrogen because the United States had embargoed inert helium.

The huge airship -- more than three times longer than a modern Boeing 747 -- was engulfed in flames and crashed in less than a minute. Camera shutters clicked, newsreel film rolled and a radio station broadcaster recorded the memorable phrase, "Oh, the humanity!" With an 804-foot-long, fabric-covered, metal frame filled with more than 7 million cubic feet of lighter-than-air hydrogen, the Hindenburg was cutting-edge technology, "the Concorde of its day back in 1936 and '37," said Carl Jablonski, president of the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society. Jablonski said the Hindenburg would later be referred to as the "Titanic of the sky."

The historical society is holding a private 70th anniversary memorial service today at the crash site in Lakehurst, about 40 miles east of Philadelphia. A swastika-emblazoned billboard for Nazi Germany, the Hindenburg offered a trip across the Atlantic that took half the time of the standard four- to five-day ocean liner trip, said Rick Zitarosa, a vice president for the historical society. Before the crash, it had carried more than 1,000 passengers on 10 round trips between Germany and Lakehurst in 1936, on top of additional trips to Brazil the same year. Hindenburg passengers ate gourmet meals off fine china, drank French and German wines and even smoked in a pressurized room. The Zeppelin Company of Germany ran the airship service and had to use flammable hydrogen to fill the Hindenburg because of a U.S. embargo on nonflammable helium.

On May 6, 1937, more than a thousand sightseers had gathered at Lakehurst to see the Hindenburg, carrying 61 crew and 36 passengers, after its first trans-Atlantic voyage of the year. The Hindenburg was in a rush to land and take off again, because a larger load of passengers was waiting. But for hours, rain delayed the landing. Buchanan, then 17, was among more than 200 ground crew members getting drenched as they waited for the Hindenburg. "The blessing is that I wore a sweater and I was soaking wet, absolutely ringing wet. And that's what I think saved us," Buchanan said. As the Hindenburg came in and started dropping lines, Associated Press photographer Murray Becker raised his camera to get a shot of the giant, silver airship. "It blew, right when he had his finger on the shutter," said Marty Lederhandler, 89, an AP photographer who was working in the wire service's New York darkroom when the Hindenburg crashed. Historic words

As Becker shot photos, a Chicago radio station announcer was doing a taped broadcast of the landing. "Oh, the humanity and all the passengers!" said WLS announcer Herbert Morrison, whose recorded words would later air on NBC stations, and be a part of history. Meanwhile, Werner Doehner, an 8-year-old passenger aboard the Hindenburg, saw chairs fall across the dining room door his father had just walked through. He would never see his father alive again. "Just instantly, the whole place was on fire," said Doehner, of Parachute, Colo., who is the last surviving passenger. "My mother threw me out the window. She threw my brother out. Then she threw me, but I hit something and bounced back. She caught me and threw me the second time out. My sister was just too heavy for her. My mother jumped out and fractured her pelvis. Regardless of that, she managed to walk." Doehner, 78, still has trouble discussing the tragedy that killed his father and sister. He was hospitalized for months after the accident with burn injuries, including a right hand that needed to be reconstructed.

Amazingly, about two-thirds of those on board had been able to get out of the burning airship. The cause of the crash is still debated. The most accepted theory is that static electricity from the day's storms led to the ignition of the hydrogen. On the base in Lakehurst, a plaque and marker in the middle of an old airship landing area, its World War II-era pavement cracking, shows where the Hindenburg met its end. In the distance, the massive Hanger No. 1, built by the Navy in 1921 to house airships, is used for training and storage. But since 2004, it has also housed an information center, which the Navy Lakehurst Historical Society runs in partnership with the military.

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