Hindenburg Crash Research Paper

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The Hindenburg Crash: Through the Eyes of a Teenager

The Hindenburg was a German passenger ship scheduled to leave Germany Spring of 1937. While attempting to dock in Township, New Jersey, it caught fire, and flames began to overwhelm the airship. Instead of successfully docking at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, it crashed at an altitude of almost 300 feet.

It was the 6th time Frank E. Ward would see the sight of the huge German Airship travelling over the Jersey pines. During the year prior, the teen had observed it come to the station in New Jersey 5 times. “My father, Peter Ward, was an engineer at the base and involved with the Navy’s lighter-than-air dirigibles,” he said. It took about 150 men to pull the ship down, and so he left with his father that day to be part of the ground crew.

The flight took off in Frankfurt, Germany. The public were fascinated by the idea of a quick, comfortable and affordable way of travel by air across the world. Leaving May 3rd, The Hindenburg fought strong headwinds when flying over the Atlantic, delaying the duration of the journey. “That day there was an off-and-on rain, and when the Hindenburg first arrived at Lakehurst, it was raining,” said Ward. The first indication …show more content…

After that he heard someone else yell, ‘Hey, the guys in the middle are running!’ Then suddenly the airship made a very sharp downward motion above him. “It was coming down, and I started to run. I ran about 20 yards, and then heard this eerie sound of metal crunching against the ground. I stopped and turned around.” He witnessed the wreckage of the framework and people trying to escape. He saw them stumbling, falling, and burning. “It was a horrible sight. We stood for a moment and then we rushed back toward the flames, but what could you do? I tried to help, but you couldn’t get that close because of the billowing

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