FEARFUL SPECTACLE AS SHIP CRASHES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 108, 8 May 1937, Page 9

FEARFUL SPECTACLE AS SHIP CRASHES.

CAPTAIN SUCCUMBS. i Tragic Blazing Mass of Wreckage. BODIES STILL IN DEBRIS. United Press Association.—Copyright. (Received 11 a.m.) NEW YORK, May 7. At noon the Hindenburg wreckage was still so hot that penetration even by those in asbestos suits was difficult. The known dead or those unaccounted for now number 32. It is believed seven are still in the debris.

There are 65 alive, of whom 24 were passengers. Fifty are injured. One of the ground crew died from burns.

The airship carried 36 passengers and 61 of a crew. It was in command of Captain Lehmann, who died of injuries.

Among the best known passengers still unaccounted for or dead, are: Mr. John Pannes, passenger traffic manager of the Hamburg-American Line, New York; Herr Ernest Anders, tea merchant, Dresden; Herr Herman Doehner, general manager of a large chemical firm in Mexico; and M. Birger Brink, Stockholm, editor.

Among the survivors are: Herr George Hirschfeld, Chamber of Industry, Bremen; Mr. Nelson Morris, member of the meat packing family of Chicago; and Mr. Ferdinand Belin, son of the American diplomat.

Pathetic personal belongings blown from the wreckage included lipsticks, a charred bundle of love letters, a large photograph of the Doehner family, of whom it is now determined that the wife and two children escaped, but the eldest child died to-day from injuries. Blazing Mass of Wreckage. The Hindenburg fell a blazing mass of wreckage which it was impossible immediately to penetrate. Nurses and doctors summoned from many New York hospitals stood by helplessly while the hot debris was searched. Only a few moments before the disaster the airship had triumphantly circled over New York escorted by numerous aeroplanes in honour of the first of the season's transatlantic flights. The dirigible was 13 hours late, her landing having been delayed by adverse weather conditions at sea. Just betore the explosion passengers could be seen at the windows waving to the ground crew and laughing. When the explosion occurred many of the occupants of the airship, apart from several who jumped out, were blown through the windows by a backdraught. The 44 members of the crew who survived were all badly burned. Survivor Blown Througa Window. Cue of the survivors said: "I was standing at a window watching the lftndinjr when, without warning, something hit me on the back and then on the mouth and one eye 1 lost consciousness and the next thing I kne* I was rving on the ground with lam pouring on my face. I must have been blnwn out of the window.

The ground crew miraculously escaped by running for their lives. There were only three women passengers. > Another survivor said: "I only know there was a flash and an explosion. You on the ground should know what happened. We could not see." Rescue work was greatly aided by a detachment of -men of the United States Army who had been detailed for duty at the field in view of possible emergency. They went promptly to work in motor trucks seeking the injured while the skin of the airship was still blazing. Captain Stampf. second in command, was rescued, but like Captain Lehmann, was seriously injured. The foreign passengers numbered 21. The ages of all the passengers varied from six months to 93 years, the former being the infant son of a journalist belonging to the Berlin staff of the Associated Press. Many Burned and Injured. Many of the survivors of the disaster were burned or injured, or both. They were taken to hospitals at Lakehurst and other communities. It is believed that at least half of them are fatally injured. The clothing was burned completely off several of the sufferers. There were three children on board and all escaped.

The flames were extinguished at midnight, but the embers were so hot that it was impossible to complete the search for bodies.

The com pa OS: explains that the three ranking officers were saved because they were in the control car forward and were farthest away from the first explosion which was followed by five or six others. Thus the stern struck the ground first and the flames were slower in reaching the bow. providing an opportunity for the officers and several passengers to escape.

If the dirigible's fall had been any slower probably all would have perished since flames enveloped the entire airship almost at the moment she rested on the ground.

It is believed that most of the survivors either leaped or were thrown out by the impact with the ground instead of by the explosions. The passengers are believed to have included several prominent people.

Army experts blame the disaster on static and the use of inflammable gases in combination —hydrogen and blue gas. A heavy electric storm coincided with the arrival of the airship.

An inquiry as to why helium was not used was answered by the information that the limited quantity of this gas resulted from the prohibition of gases other than those which the Army uses.

It is stated that the Hindenburg had been chartered to make a trip with visitors to the Coronation and subsequently to fly back to America with films of that event.

Professor F. P. Worley, professor of chemistry at Auckland University College, states that "blue gas," referred to in the cables, was probably water-gas, which is a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and is sometimes known as "blue" water-gas. Easily produced in large quantities, "blue" water-gas was highly inflammable, although not quite as dangerous in this respect as hydrogen alone. It was made by the action of steam on coke. HEROIC RESCUE. GENERAL GOERINGS THANKS. (Received 12.30 p.m.) BERLIN, May 7. General Goering, in a cable to Com- | mander Rosendahl, of Lakehurst station, ' and himself a survivor of the Shenandonh dirigible, states: "Thanks for heroic rescue, which is a beautiful proof I of the spirit linking the airmen of all nations."