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svuorsns onFACTS: tile: of the InveetigationABoard of the Department ' of Gonmerce relative to Hindenburg dieaeter failed to reflect any information of value upon Irhich an investigation by the Bureau might be reasonably war- ranted in connection with any jaoeeible lahotage or _ other Federal violatione within the investigative ' P jurisdiction or the Bureau. 1h-. South rumble, .11-., Solicitor, Departmentof Oonmerce, and Chairman of - the Hindenburg Inveetigation Board, will requeet the Bureau'sfurther cooperation in the event ad-- ditional data obtained by him should Justify ouch request.
T"? y-. ..._, " P ' "'~~. , .- .- -.,, '7 " ."_- » _,1.-¢? 1.'=-S- !'§ff§, 3*-D "_""? *-aw .., lJ,.'|A£¢_____£_l _---,',:,_;.., .-0 W- --.'. _.';;J,ii "! _"~ HIIAILS: . On June 1.1,195'? received Agent inatruotione:1-"£111 EJI. r. , i Tam of the Bureau to examine the files relative to this cae in the office of Hr. South Trimble, Jr Solicitor, DepeI t1I1ant 0f commerce, with a view to extracting therefrom any data in which the Bu- reau Iould be interested from the etandpoint of any indications of viola- tions of any Federal Lew over which the Bureau has investigative jurie- diction. Accordingly,interviewed Agent E, IR. JR», Room5868, Department of CommerceBuilding, who state that between Hay 10th and lay 25th, 195'?Department the of Commerce Inveetigation Board, of which he ie the Chairman, conducteddaily oral hearings at the U. S. Naval Air Btation at Lakehuret, Net Iereey, in connection with the dis-
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-I-qs aster of the Gerlan Airship W indenburg", which occurred.on the after- . < noon of lay 6, l937,_and that at his request tso representatives of - the Federal Bureau or investigation, Inspector I. I. Oonnsllay, and ' Special Agentin Charge It B. Devereau{';attended_thehearings thein "3"! capacity of observers./=ra 'Q; , as: . . ' - _ _ . ' . , I I . . Hr. Tri hle stated that the Inibptigatioh Board had received numerous letters offering all sorts of suggestions and opinions as to the probable cause of the disaster; that while a great number of let- ters suggesting possible ssbotsae have already been given proper con» sideretion by the Board, he felt that there might be some other infor- mation in these letters Ihich could probably be handled with more there oughness by the rederal Bureau of Investigation, than by the Investiga- tion Board; that having this in mind, he furnished the Bureau with oer- tain letters and other data, in order that the Bureau night render any cooperation deemed advisable and appropriate by the Bureau in connection Iith this subject matter» I...:7 Mr. Trimble furnished Agent with six sections of correspone deuce, consisting principally of letters from passengers, eye witnesses, and persons who claimed to have observed the flight of the Hindenburg, and who have been interested enough to express their ideas, conclusions, 5 and opinions concerning the possible causes of the disaster. A review _'. j 1 .~ Id of these letters and correspondence by agent indicates that about 30% of them appear to place the responsibility tor the disaster upon me- g *~s- chanical defects, 50% uponstatic discharges and other aerial causes, and about 20% uponpossible sabotage perpetrated by Jews and directed against the Hitler regime in Germany. ~ :s*~§Q In-Up "5 Merely for reference, and not to be used in any tuttrer in- 3-sY"lr vestigation of this subject matter, hr. Trimble invited Agent's atten- .-.-~---- ;-£1 , tion to a strictly confidential memorandu dated Hay 29, 1937, prepared by the German Technical Commission, at the request of the Investigation _ av--.,1 . ,,_=: -1 Board of the Department of Commerce, on the subject of the possibilities Y . .-g'.,:_».~<.. of sabotage in connection with the loss of the Hindenburgt ' thisIn memorandum the possibilities of sabotage by the use or bombs installed in the ship and operated by clockwork, or effected by barometric bellows, or possible sabotage by incendiary bullet fired from the ground, are particularly mentioned. It is listed in this memo- randum that such a bomb could have been installed in Frankfurt only by a person having access to the remote parts of the ship, without being noticed by the crew, and set to a probable time shortly after landing, or to operate as soon as a certain barometric pressure would have been reached; that the device could also have been installed by a passenger
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during the voyage, if he had gained access to the after part of the ship nnaocopanied and unoticed; further, that an incendiary bul- let could have been tired by e_silenoed gun from the proximity or the ship, the flame caused by the bullet penetrating the gas cell and resultins in explosion. _ ;,- t
A This memorandu concludes by stating that the German Come mission proposes to be on the lookout during the salvaging or the wreck for any apparatus which might indicate an act or sabotage. In this connection, Hr. Trimhle informed Agent that the salvaging of the wreckage is still in progress under the supervision of the navy Department at the Havel Air Station at Lakshurst, but that so far no indication of any bomb or fuse or bullet has been discovered.
The rirst section or the material turned over to Agent tor examination contains carbon copies of correspondence, with notations thereon indicating that on May 26, 1957 Hr. Trimble transmitted to the Federal Bureau or Investigation rive letters received by the Board in the course or the investigation or the Hindenburg disaster. A re- view by Agent of these five letters, [4 letters and l postal tele- gram!, indicates, however, that none of the information furnished therein has any apparent value,msriting investigation by the Bureau» Bureau file No. 62-48190 shows that photoststic copies of these papers have been transmitted to the Newark Field Division, uner date of June 5, 1957, with a request that Captain C. E. Rosendahl, in charge or the Naval air Station at Lakehurst, ew iersey, be interviewed as to what inquiries, if any, he desired made in connection theresitht
The second section of the material furnished Agent by Mr. Trimble, marked 'Hindenburg Letters", consists or letters or sugges- tions as to the possible cause or the disaster and or statements from some members or the ground crew concerning their observations upon the landing or the Hindenhurg. There are two letters in this section suggesting possible sabotage; one is dated May B7, 1937, from K. It Q éeck, 1850 Hittsnhouss Square, Fhiladelphia, Pennsiltania, addressed to Commander Hugo Eokener, stating in substance that he is quite sure he saw a flash from an airplane that flew over some minutes berore the Hindenburg landing; that he cannot be certain about that flash, but it so looked to him, and that a bu1let,shot from that plane into the tail end of the ship might have caused the explosion. Another letter, alleging a similar obserration, has been found in Section 4, marked "Letters Left by Colonel Breithaupt of the German Mission". This letter is dated may 12, 193? and is from Joseph J-qhermoutz, 138 - West 62nd Street, New York City, addressed to the Ger-
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man Consulate, New York, stating that he observed the flight of the no-e Hindenburg over New York City and when he looked out of the window of his place of employment, he saw an aircraft flying close by the 1 body of the stern of the Hindenburg, which loohed very strange to him and to others nearby. It appears from letters and mamoranda pre- pared by the Investigation Board that no importance has been attached to letters or such character, as it hal bsen quite definitely estab- lished that there were no planes flying in'the air in the vicinity of the Havel iir Station at least one-half-hour before the arrital of the Hindenburg and during the landing maneuvers of this ship. - sabotage, The Insfrom other Dr. letter, Nathaniel dated.l iizgaris, 25, l937, President suggesting of the possible Planet- ar1ans', 18¢? - Iest 5th Street, rs. Angeles, Galifornia, wherein it is opined that a woman agent of the Hazi governsnt might have placed e time fuss which might have burst prematurely, causing the explosion. There is another letter, in section 5, from the same writer, dated May 9, i957, wherein the suggestion is expressed that in vies of the fact the Hindenburg was insured for $5,750,000.00, and that the Hitler government was short of funds, it is possible that the disaster was caused by a Hitler agent, acting on Hitler's orders.
Section 5, marked "Letters from Fassengersd, consists of letters sent by passengers of the ill-fated Hindenburg in reply to letters written to them by the Investigation Board, seeking any in- formation in their possession which could shed light upon the causes of the disaster. Hone of these letters suggested possible sabotage, ._ v however. In this connection, Mr. Trimble called Agent's attention ;4:..-;92 to one or the letters dated Hay 29, 1937, written to the Investiga- ;p-:1;- g - ,,-anll - ~_,a~- .= tion Board by one Joaepryspaen, or aeo-16 Alameda avenue, Douglaston, L. Is, telephone: Baysi e 9~l727, a passenger on the Hindenburg. Ir. . '92_. -_;._.,,_ ",1 ' . Trimhle informed agent that the Bureau had been requested by Gesnan= der Bosendahl to institute an investigation of this man, who clahned to be an acrobat, and who had access to the rear portion of the ship, where his dogs had been kept, and that he, Mr. Trimble, understood that the Bureau has been keeping surveillance of this individual in an effort to find out something about him. The letter of Spaeh states, in substance, that at the moment of the first explosion he was on the window farthest up toward the nose of the ship, in the dining room, taking e photograph of the ground crew, and that he jumped to the ground, without seeing any flames; that his rife, standing on the ground, was able to see the first flames shot out from the stern or the ship.
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I i I s ' -.' '" lhe 7 Iaehingtcn Field Division tile no concern- ing Joseph,8paeh, whose nameis erroneously spa ch!, contains a letter deted lay 2l,#l95?, rrom.the Special ngen in Charge of the Newark Field Division, requesting that all atailable inrormatien be obtained at the Passport Division, Btate Department, concerning an application tor passport, or other information relative to this per- son's recent trip to Germany. This letter mentions the fact that Joseph Spaeh had access to the aft portion of the airship to tend tso dogs which he owned and which were confined in the art freight room; that inasmuch as Spaeh had access to the rear portion of the ship, some suspicion attached itself to him, as at various times he was in the stern of the ship unaccompanied.
This file contains a report made by Special Agent R. P- Burruss, dated Hay 24, 1957, at Washington, De Cs, indicating that the Passport Division, State Department, Internal Revenue Bureau, Treasury Department, and the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Department or Labor, have no record relative to Joseph Spaeh. In view of the fact that Mr. Trimble advised agent that he has not as t 1-,.r6-15.~: yet been informed of any developments in this matter and further _,. ~., . that no subsequent information concerning this angle of the case is E.-C-.:-'-9?-i-A reflected in the Washington Field Division file, or in the Bureau 1 - file, this matter is called to the attention of the Office or Origin, :-33 without setting out an undeveloped lead concerning it. _.-e_92 -1,.-v ,.~_- Section 4, marked "Letters Left by Colonel Breithaupt of the German Hisllbn , consists of letters written originally in Ger- man and translated into Englishs Ir. Trimble informed Agent that .:"' Colonel Breithaupt Ins a member of the German Commission sent over by the German governmentto work in cooperation with the Investiga- tion Board or the Department of Commerce; that the originals of these letters had been turned over to Mr. Trimble by Colonel Frederick Yon Boetticher, Military attache of the German Embassyhers. Agent carefully noted the contents of the letters, 12 in number, the writers or practically all or them holding Jews or Nazi plotters" responsible for the destruction of the Hindenburg, without, however, furnishing any information whatsoever which would warrant an investi- gation. This opinion see fully shared by-Ir. Trimble and Mr. Dennis Inlligan, Chief er lnforoeent Division, Bueau of Air Commerce, with whom Agent conferred relative to this matter.
Sections and 6, marked "Correspondence Miscellaneous! - Group 5", contain nuerous letters from all parts of the countPY: fur" nishing opinions as to the possible causes of the disaster and Offer- ing suggestions for the improvement of future air travel, et cetera. The writers of a number of these letters claimed they observed 8°mB mechanical defects on the ship while flying over Bost i N9 Y°Tk and Newark, basing their opinions on the "I told you so" theory. Others
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up-1 92 _, I Z. I '.. '. . 92 I - - believed that static discharges caused the explosion; some believed an incendiary bullet fired from theuiroundg or a bomb Iith time fuse _ placed in the mail or freight, eau the iisester, and that Jewish" Cmnmudste or Nazi plotters sere responhible for this fatal erash,' However, not one of these letters suggesting possible sabotage con~ teined any reasonable basis upon which an investigation appears to be advisable and practical, This opinion, too, has been shared by . Hr, Trimble and Mr. Mulligan, at the time Agent discussed with them the contents of the material turned over to him for examination-
On June 15, 1937, Hr» South Trimble, Ir. furnished Agent Iith e confidential letter dated June B, 193?, addressed to the Department of Commerce, by Captain Allan S. Farqnher, Acting Director 92 or Naval Intelligence, Us S, Navy, Ih9I;;§Z}£ is stated, in substance, that information has been obtained from a enfidential informant to -'1.>._ -I I the effect that two days prior to the l of the Hindenburg, this in- .if_g»§" -Ki-l go,--'i{"'formant Ias in Atlantic City, where, while sitting on a flight of steps leading from the boardwalk to the beach, near the Steel Pier, he overheard snatches of conversation between two men, who were unaware or his presence; that these two men were well dressed, spoke English, but when they became aware or the inrormant's proximity, they reverted m L92,i:¥:; to the use or a foreign language, which sounded like either German or -'14?!"- .-1:92 - x. Yiddish; that one of these men spoke of having recently come from abroad on a cargo vessel that "landed at New York at 43'; that ta1k~ ing about the Hindenburg, one of the men said, This I111 be her last trip"; *zverything,including the long range tracers, is in readiness ; Soon new Hitler will not drive anymore Jose out of Germany"; that after noting inrorment'e presence, the tso non departed, but that -1.- shortly therearter one returned, accosted the informant, asked Ihether he had beerheerd their conversation, and when the informant replied txi *"1' in the negative, he Isa told to let it go"- ..»-7; _ Hr» Trimhle informed agent that the Iriter of the above nene tioned letter has been requested by him to have this confidential ine _ formant call at Mr. Trimb1e's office for interview, and that he Iould notify an agent of this office so that he may be present when this man is being interrogated. u H _/' at ' Ir; Trimble informd Agent further that he had in his poe- session certain information concerning an individual who has made some fantastic accusations against some high Government officials, in- volving narcotic and white slave traffic act violations, and that this individual claims to be a decoder of secret codes used by the so- called "Red Netsork"s Mr. Trimble stated that he transmitted this in- rornetion to the Bureau on June ll, 195?, and that he will let the Bu-
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i v ' . "a roan kmoi of the date on ihich this man, whois in es York, will call at his otrice so that an Agent nught be present when Mrts 92 Trimble interrogates him in connection withhis accusations. *- !_ In connection Iith this matter, Mr. Trimble turnished Agent, S for reviewing purposes, the following correspondence: ! letterdated.May 1956, 15, rrom.Han¬!5;enitsch, 3545 - 82nd Street, Jackson Heights, New York, addressed o Joseph B, Ieaver, Chief Inspector, Bureau or Hatigaticn and Steamboat Inspection, Department or Commerce, Iashington, D. Cs, enclosing therewith a de- coded message and key entitled "Secret Internationalist Codes Cper- ated in New York Press", and purported to be operated by the "Red Network". This letter states that information relative to the secret codes operated in the New York Press had been furnished certain mew bare or Congress and that: "The Codes appear to be operated by an in- visible super-government and they are decidedly anti American". Agent secured photostatic copies of the code diagram and of the letter of transmittal, which are attached to the Bureau copies of this report, one copy of which having been personally delivered to hr. E. A. Tanm * 22- ~ of the Bureau on June 16, 1957, for submission to the Technical Lab- -115; , oratory, it it is so deemed advisable. . 7%?r ! Letter dated May2e, 1956, from .1. n. Ieaver, Director, to Hans Cmonitsch, acknowledging the receipt of the letter and en- closure, and advising that the matter will receive the attention or ,~@ the Board or Inquiry which the Secretary or Commerce is about to ap- "- -."| 1- 92.unlik- point ror the purpose or investigating problems concerning labor con- dition s 1§¥§3C"; '- --:4 ? ! Letterdated '2, Hay1957, from m w omor, Harring- ton Hotel, Iaehington, D. Ct, to the Secretary o Commerce, Iherein, referring to the above correspondence, he stated, among other things, For about tuo years an associate of mine, Hrs Hans Cmenitsch, an ex- pert decoder, has vainly tried to bring to the attention of the pub- lic and the Congress the fact that a secret subversive code is being run in the press from day to day,trom article to article, in an al- most unbroken continuity." It goes on to state that to date nothing sees to have been done to save America from the terrible damage these codes have been and are daily doing and they are perpetually being flaunted in the very face of Congress in the every day Washington press." Continuing, O'Connor refers to the investigation of the Hindenburg disaster initiated by the Department of Commerce and states "as I have Mrs Omsnitsch available and as he has decoded enough in- formation indicating willfully planned sabotage I wish to go on rec- ord as not only asking, but demanding that Mr. Qmenitsch be called
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immediately and be made demonstrate his findings."
1 - ~i t_ ! Iestsrn Union telegram, dated Hay ll, 1937, Washing- ton, De Ce, from i'om_0' Connor, to South Trimble, Chairman, Hindem- hurg Investigation Commission, Lakehurst, New Jersey, referring to -. the absence of any acknowledgment of his previous letter and stat- ing among other things: !'Party aveilablejiere ready to testify and present positive evidence that crash Iai planned sabotage by a spe- cific group and sas positively intended to bring about foreign_cme plications deliberately precipitating iar-" ! Letter dated Hey 15, 195? from Dennis Mulligan, Heme her, Investigation Board, Lakehurst, He! Jersey, to Tom O'Connor, in care of Congressman E. E. Cox, House of Representatives, lashing- ' 92 ton, D. 0», acknowledging above letter and telegram and requesting I to have 0sConnor's associate transmit to the Board a statement show- I I ing what information he has and in that respect it may be connected with the Hindenhurg disaster. "
! Letter dated May 16, 1937, from O'Connor, to lire Mulligan, stating in reply that he has "requested this party to com- pile his data and he has agreed to start doing this immediately and expects to have it in complete form for presentation just as soon as compatible,"
'7!Letter of Hey 27, 1937, from Tom O'Connor, 109 - Iest 49th Street; New York City, Telephone: Columbus 5-9299?, ad- dressed to Mr. Dennis Mulligan, referring to the above letter, and stating "I am advised by this party that he now has all data in shape and is ready to present his complete findings to your com- mittee, but on condition that an acceptable number of members of the House and Senate be on hand." Continuing, O'Connor advised in this letter that the findings which his associate Iill present to the Investigation Board do not sell for any secrecy, since Congress is already in the possession of full information regarding the se- cret code through which the sabotage activities were directed and information exchanged both prior to and after the crash.
. as previously stated, "Io Trimble advised that he will re- quest the presence of an Agent of the Bureau when he interrogates Omenitecht In this connection, Agent conveyed to Hr. Trimble s message given him by Hr. E. 1. Tam of the Bureau, suggesting that Ir. Trimhle contact Hr. Tannby phone prior to his interview with Hans Omenitsch, Mr. Tamm intimating that the Bureau is quite famil-
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1 I 1 I iar with this man on account of his numerous auggeationsnrhich he had offered in connection I11_:h the L1ndbQ.5h__k1d.nap1n3 ¢aBe._ - ,
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Dear lira ' - This -111 noknoulodgo your1¢:m¥ of Juno 10, 19:-r omlollng a latter dctod at In York, lhy 25, 193?, and aignnd Iith the initillo, Q. 0. 0. .
At this timn allow me to thank you for your considera- tion in forwarding this letter to me for appropriate attention.
Yary truly your 1,
I.'s. nsvaaanux, Spooial Agent in Ohm-go. IBD :HL ,% 92 CC-Bureau
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Very ital; yours, ' .&LL ryFoamAw1ou cowraxuan '* I'!1iP.EI:~a 15 UNULASSIFIED " '
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J .. <1 _ .92 -; DUI FOR IR. I ~ Time- 2:30 P. I. r ._-ad I5 Re:OEindenburg.
I called SAC Devereauxat Lakewood, low Jersey, 669 and informed him that the Director had authorized the investigation requested l/C by CommanderRosendahl concerningthe personalhistory, background, criminal tendencies,etc., of Jos ,__pssemer on the Hindenburg. I told Devereaux he should point out to Commander Rosendahl that in the event this person was a German citizen, naturally our investigation [9 would not disclose much information. Devereaux stated that Spach'e passport reflected he was an American citizen. / Devereaux also stated that subsequent to his first call warningto the Bureau, has whichCommander beenmentionedRosendahl hadthisapproached inm er. Devereattx his concerning thethat states this warning was received by Captain Anton ittemn, who is the ./ commandingor officer theCraf andCaptainihehmann, who deceased, nae If -'in command ofthe Hindenbur-g. Ir. Devereauzfstated that these two -i... were the only persons who knewexwthing about the supposedwarning . §: §_;; f".-2 '! .7 and that they had imparted their information to no one other than >92the GermanAmbassador. Accordingto Ir. Devereamt, Hugofiickenerhad suggested to Commander Rosendahlthat Captain Witteman be interviewed for the purpose of securing information concerning this warning and Rosendshl has requested Devereaux to do this. I told Devereanx he - *1» * .=.=--:-*'_ i ,, should take no action in this connection until the Director had an <1,<.,;._'I I '-_* opportunity to pass upon the request of CommanderRosendahl, after _ which he would be advised if he was authorized to make the interview.
...,,=.?-. Devereaux is proceeding with the investigation as to Spam ,'_ " ; . '1 RespectfulJy,é72I W { f"; :'T* YD "4 $9 "'. v:=11~ l ~°. I P L * o o o - ; .- ,92 i" _.'_-d ' -"j'_,, j, ..- "'792¥_ 1" %,._- - .- -', L.-- .» ' 1 4 -' "' as J 1
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. - i JOHN. EDGKR HOOVER
ran cm: ' Ushers! Bureau nri lnuzstigaiinu p nitzh States Bspartnumt of Justice - ,. H Haslqingtnn,GI. , E. ~ E -1 May 19, 1937. s. Time- 1o=20 am. "" ,1 " 'mm.;:oagmLI1;92-IThis W - F013;?»-LE_ia Re: !Hindenburg. heSAC Devereauxreceivedatelephoned call from me fromGommandezihosendahl, Lakehurstand who said that saidthat late wanted lasthe night to discuss certain matters with him ersonallywhich he could not explain over the telephone. Mr. Devereaux went down to Lakehurst and contacted if Commander Hosendahl,who said that during the course of the testimony J which has been given in connection with this matter, it developed that the fire probably originated in or about MotorNo. 4 of the ship. The testimony showedthat the passengers werenot allowed to frequent the vicinity of the motor gondolas without being accompaniedby an officer or a member ofthe crew. However, the testimony showedthat there was on board this ship an acrobat by the name of Joseph Spach. This man had two pet dogswhich were placed in a compartmentin the aft of the ship, and hehad a habit of going to see his dogs withoutbeing accompaniedby .--1:1 -1'. an officer or a member of the crew. The innuendo of the entire matter is that this acrobat could have climbedout on the mtor gondola, removed the cover on the exhaust pipe of the motor, and allowed the flames to set fire to the fabric and explode the hydrogen. '
1-__',2*_y-' Commander Rosendahlwanted to know if the Bureau could conduct an investi- =e.*" _?_g*_~- . gation of this man, with particular reference to his personal history, 4-.._ his background, criminal tendencies, etc. This man was placed in the hospital at Asbury Park, New Jersey due to injuries received at the time of the incident, but he was discharged and left his forward.ng address as Douglaston, Long Island.
I told Hr. Devereaux that this request would be submitted to the Director for a decision, and we would let him know what to do about it. _ ,. _. r-,'" !"Y ;_1:;§2D ¢ T 1 pp-s;,;pi;5;iED gr p Respectfully, q.ta rie c.*i1 ,_...,,_....__.>_.+-r..__...._ - _ - " * _ K M. . .1 w L. I __/92 WESTERN umom % MAY 191931 ----p I I I wM1 21 GOVT COLLECT 92 1II! - NEWARK NJ MAY 19 745A DIQ,, FFTCPFEDERAL , BUREAU . 0? INVESTIGATION -1 v~. r "5 KEPT 0? JUSTICE v 92 PROCEED * f . - . I r 2-"i'-I-:7. 1 ., 1 - l I G L KEHUHST EIGHT A UIA B"PEnN cpg CAN E; 1 D':_ f L_I""" '92f,r92--- - fI' V . ._:_ ..d..*:_~_ . .", _, JP" - : {:;_-_y-_._A|-92;'.'~.T'D .. .- .._. _ »~_.»,¢-:3-1,; _ J _ _ __ {NH .. -d _____'m _ .9292T. Ir , _w__ %' ,, Y'.'.'. P1 ~ % CTIJZ 1:I-.:. i '¥1" ..! iTT5*7 - U . _ BIUERQRVX. ..": T .-_ 1.: -, ..i .-.6 F4? .- - -' "H5"? zoaar :.Z .s: -23- .._-¢.l_- ':- _ TT *<'1__"f_"92'.' 92 . :, ....- 3 1:13 : C-.11. .-92,92'l"' 1.-{92.Lh - TH 11"? _q 1:';_d'92"'-" A J - i92.-'..--V ~-' r____ .._--- . Y=§; 1- --- =- ;_ ,-. "I I -L -4 n-_-"Fa u.92""" Qz.¢:;;. .' _:_ K :§%;#]: _ as . ""4£1J* ¢1LL Q3 ' l Ni . -bj *T E 0 =' ' :i:;EZE:2f%¬%2v v> FM~M | 1c£Iv:.¢~l1&L. , QTZEQ PyWAfbA~V6:{§~~;::if,.-'ii;¬;:7 é; %;fgjfJ._l i |"' Q 1 /E an-=nus ; , Ill. 22. . 4 4 _ . . -' £5-1 ,3; J ' _/é -92_ Bpeniel Agentin Oherge, lava:-k, In Jersey. - _ .92-- ml! . ' -_ .151...... F_ :;1.-<- % l 11.: Ai.rahipL%1ndenburg; *2 Governlnt Heeervutia - =1: "-_ fw- letter O . ,,_m_ _ .'-._1 .-N? Dear Sir: "'1-"-a1-"H;Q_{_ 1? , b 1151 - P? " ._r;f: "'-. : I .- :;:4,,:1¢<@1.n_mBY_ F-i" Exuninemlon of the cut failed to disclose sufficient A ._.:-2.-Q-__-:.-; - .r,'-2'?-92-t_ :. | -,', detail to pemit an identification, but theword appearingon -_~: E; the cant night. possibly be '8E0O!iD'.The Iord SECOND ll 80:0- _ _; tinea stampedon inferior or eeaond-gradeeerchandiee. _ T _ It en noted at the time the pleeter cult In received 2~-____,_. -. ..',_ --,1 et the Technical Leboretoq,that it lad beenbroken during ??* . l;92 transit to the Bureau. "£34 an - '- V The epeclnansubmitted theea original.of Q18is being re nrned toyour officeunder eepnrate cover M Reileuy hqaresa. ,7 -»,,_s - .. *. .c., 7 .,... '93?79573:. "17 _ e_ V /5/7 _£ I 1 . " 1? » A . 'V 7:-§,:T'5 v9292n92v.niau¢S,,%;J _W_§_92_§_3 A aomnfagazouaéver,A 1- 1'---.~ 'A !§*""7 n $455 ' L-. . Ql u - ;qP bd '*f -.."H- . . E T4? ' fa __ ,,_ r~'-_-,|,[-.;. - ', l ._ P V .. . ,.d|_._ 1, ' h»h ,-_.~ rI ¢_ .-I ,.I -.. _ a_ 1 F -'3" _k5 . .-a.:~'-'-*" ,: .. 92_I '. 92 ~ / F .->-~*, _- ' i '1 . ; RI~'P:DMS P. Invoice ofpontents from FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATI us maron, n. 0. J , 18' 1937 , _ uvornnnt Airship lundcntnrg;Bean-ntlon 8&6, Ion:-I ll ¢1'- f - '-" ,»|-_--.---»~..-.- -...,. .. . _: -¢-. = _'?-.- -. . . ,i_ ni"":1r'*, - 92 -' c1l_i. _ I . . -92_ , _ "__-_ - _ .. _:,_92 __.__._£1, '3? . - V-' V: _,- ,' -. 92 _- _ _.... ~ v --»',| -I ,, ~-1.. . ' , » .. _ -~, _ . " " -- -'- -..I|:- J. '' -» ix: "."'¢ 1- F -'.92-_ ~.. - *-'- -1" 1-r . I =" ~.-*.;"". =."'1 ?¢'-, ' -J"- _ : 1, _. '-_,.. .. . ,_ .'v____ . _ _;_ I .r _92__92r¥ _ __ -. _ -_r-__4.'.-"P "-,'-_+.' -.,.;_.. .. '- I _- ~|¢_, _ _ _ -_., .. ,, - __.;_,_. ; - - _ k -h. 7- _~r , -- -- *-' - -4- l -- '-' - '.= " --.;'1:- '= 92- "*'92 ;" * "*.-ll-.. 1. 311 " 1 ii -92 -92 c '-.' v . * 1.t.-. , . . ,1 , , 4 ;;»;n_¢@1;g,;;_ _ __'§2-45190725 sis, » '.-7,8 .~...- <-an -V ¢. W-r -- F';'_ Z - _."vlé- *5 -'~ F-'1'-. g.. +.». L. . -1... L .. -. - , . + ;- . __-__ ;'_'_ ,' - -="'~ . ,1 --4 J 92 __ Y '" . _. - . -I " '3] 7,1 -" *I."~'!""" . ~_- 92 ' . » l ~ - ., " Iv- 0 I. __.-._ 1' '. if 4" ;--V , - ~,';,'. -,-.075 _<_:. .¢' I 92_ -3-_ -" - -- .- - - ».- , 4-I n 7: . -. * I V . I ' .if 1 _ .- _ r. '"- __ - < =_ .. ___, 1.19:. , __ :- '~ >i , - I _ ' 1 4. P ' '92 . r. 92 , . .. - ~ .92' ~- 1 . " u '~r'~ ' _ V - ._ Ff _ 7 '1 I --w " 92 u .- , =,. = ' 5 _ _ . ~ ix r . :_ __ __ -,_ J, ,.:'_F-_., _-___-I. ;_ i -,,_1_,: ., _- _ _ t__ ._ - - - _ 1, - H . _ I " '7. c _'-A ___- _. ._"¢. _ 7 ,._:¬__;:.92_r . , = -4,__- * w .~ 3 ALL n::r13?:~*¬,a-"$30!; f3@?4Tm@; _-.:;,.,; _}1__f R111}-i I3 {F-. = "i.'.';L_f_;1"~.'.".1li:"If-D .§ 3' 92. '-.:;,1"'; I _. _-.1!-.:'!___--F=:_»~-¬ll 1"I ., . -- - - V. - - 9 .':| 1- . 1 f ;_, ll;_ _ w -- .. _| . . -w _ ' I 92' r '. K - - P . ' ' - _~ - . . ,-.'." . . , . - *2 I ' . 1- " - - --' " ~_-92._»~ - ___ -4 -.»._. .-.. _ ', .- _ -- __ "' 1' " I -" M 3* '5: '= L" - H 92 - -LJw . ; ;~ - .-~ '-.=._..,~,__ _- ;1,"-1 ., Z' _"*:; ,' *_ __, DJ _;j£'_»f$_ " m_ .- *4,-; |_ _' =1 Ty ~*' __ ,1.¬ .__-'+ _#__,§_ "A": _,_ ,-.»_-'_.._ >_ .» -r92-7.?-. _'_'_-_' ' _~ " " "F"? ' " ~'*"'~-*-~ -- ~~*- --- *-w-~é#--» -0- » * i » -' a< -¢'Tr»~»--.-...... -....<..<...... -..,_ .. F" 92= '1 DEPARTMENT or Commence. OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY I. '15315- moron V1- IJE ,...... e _ _,_-;= ;-,_ iR§§¥ Q, , ;~.r " iv-." '" -¢-..-=- ' June 21, 1937. Y- =1 seas r F hq r. John Edear Hoover, _ _ Director, Federal dnrean of Investigation, Department of Justice, h-4¬ '-fashi gmn, DoCo To ivw Dear Mr. Hoover: /3 . This will acknowledge receipt of your letter of June 16th, regardinn the findings of your bureau in its examina- P-1 tion of the photograph and original negative purnortinn to depict the0airshi1: riII1DHIl;%U'P.Gapproaching the mooring mast at lakehurst prior to the explosion which caused its destruc- 131031. J8 sincerely appreciate your cooperation in tuis and in all other matters in which vou have rendered us valuable i§_. assistance in our investigation of the HINDENBURG accident and we hope that if at any time this Department can assist you in any way you will not feil tnv w -."R11 onv--. He -ii '._-.L¢-i tvw Very truly yours, 12-:. t. » , fern? - ,1 921/ .4 , , ' // outh T1-Tnbila9 I % /-'3'F§i'1'r'71a¬92 ' I Department of Commerce , Investigation Board. 1 1d:;Uul92'.DEL J _,;,;i.;'/--_;' ,, L,/1' f :-- 92- .. 1; _ ~ *92 , C |"' -.. .-- _4 i FEDERALBUREAU OF INVESTIGATION TH!Béig-EIORIGINATIDATNEW JERSEY NEWARK, I FILE NO. 70-£596 " _ I¢ WHICHlI:|Io|rrMA::;T . ummrurnmnuuan HIDE _ .||pIoIrlAb:lv irnuonron Iashington,o. n. e-as-av 6-19-3?s LOEBL LL=es - -m-L: O ' "-. ~ cu-uuucrnuor mes: - _» 1nsf1'Rvcw1qsVor__4;asm:P_'Bnnno:suse~gJ--I-_ ! - , eqinmwnmnnssavnrxos . '1 92I 1 ______lI' _ _, - ,_ _ -L,_ _ ' , SYNOPSISOF FACTS: Additional reviewedthe at Depart- ment oi but no information or /t U possible sabotage._ I mt 92o'92 A0 or X3 inter- N; the viewed; previouslyon to 1'u:r-" _ L 1511 I n 8 d.F%I:P§I§ §§M§?rI¬.§s:1s1r11 3:-IT"f~.INFI{it W I i 1'?-_: 3.? lb f r 1 P 3 i:i;__. ___A_.,-I--I . - I Report Specialof AgentLouie Loebldated at Washington, D.C.,.Tune 17,195'?- n.m.11s= Arggwsssmsrosj n, c. On June18, 1957,MR. SOUTHTRIMBIE, J'R.,Solicitor, Chairmanthe or HindenburgInvestigating Boardof the Department of Gomnsrce, inrormedAgenttelephone by he that received from Gomander " additional c. nsfnosenaanibatch or orthe letters Naval Air relating Station,to the Hindenburg Lakehurst,New Jersey, disasteran matter andthat hedesired haveto theletters reviewedfor any possible evidenceor sabotage suggested therein.Pursuant to this request,Agent examined at theorrioe oi Mr. Trimblethe additional file oi forty letterssent toCommander Rosendahlfrom variousparts of thecountry offeringsuggestions to asthe cause oi theloss st ' of,_ the the Hindenburg. lettecoincide theories The practically advancedwithbythose expressed thewriters or the in majority the _ *lPII=I1I; *;uI~I'I'"'; Q; 141??/EM: none-|-92|rnrrz||~|'m:n:llIA¢BS47 .Iuw24Is; A If B 3 '2 - ureeu Newark - pie _ L 92 1 -New YorkIni h.! , _A,92., I3 p 2 COPIES- WashingtonField DESTBOYID d 1. H __j I __ It _ as HE:HE".'__ ;1 __ g_ II I IIUIIIIKIT IIIITIIII OFFICE H Er 92M :- A - .- 1 ._ 92 letters previously reviewed: static electricity, St. Elmo's Fire a phenomenon consisting of oolleeted statip discharges}, faulty frame f work, or defective bonding in the stt section of the ship, electric "charges generated by the thunder sto:m,'eto-. p,, s There were five letters Buggesting possible sabotage caused by either e tracer bullet fired from an airplane at the time oi the landing or by an incendiary bullet fired from a silent rifle from a car perked near the landing place. Everyone or these letters, however, ere merely general expressions or opinions or conclusions based upon theories or hatred toward Germany on the part of its enemies both Jewish and Spanish. _.: Iith reference to the information furnished the Hindenburg Investigating Board by the Naval Intelligence concerning ,:'I certain intormation emanating from a confidential informant, as mentioned on Page 2 in reference report, Mr. Trimble stated that Commander Keisker of the Naval Intelligence had called on him in 92<»'92° 92> ° r P I "w -2- ,,___,~,|.._,.._..i.,,.F-_-._.., K VP ., , _ { $0 mo F I | '-fir -:_'.-n'-" - 1 V-"f Special Agent William S. McKinley of this office _ __:-;.f- :-5 -'"- 9-"? 2 -5%!" -*=92"-I -4 Ab informed Agent that on Saturday afternoon, une 9 '7, at about .~ _:'-~. §: _ ." ~F- ~ 92o O 4:45 P.I~£. shortlyafter Agent interviewe , while he ~41 at the Mf1o tsting that a rd: @'l'as~ago Ii ,-'.' *l-:5" 5 disaster to-e £7527.-.».: '- 5'-_: 1!11' l ' that he I85 '11" 3?_ - - because he Iaifaid that _thO B¥,_ {£5/_-Q C 1_ <-Err? eocent, might have been sent by the Ge = - 1- to cfheok up Q lfonnoétion IHTFEE intprnlstion he had in his F oonoerning the Hindenburg catastrophe. Agent McKinley "ted that the men who phoned expressed himself es being greatly relieved by the iniormstion given him that the person who inter- viewed him we really e. Department of Justice man. -PEN'DI£vFG- -5.. .-.-...__ ---nn .,_,,1. 1-I. -. Ft L " ' A - 92=*'w-a.1 --.-'-- Ia ad UHJ'P.§£-, _ 1..-._- -..-*- <-*---_z-.-,- k ... M N1 0? Ju~;"m- _ _ HL 7 " * , IIP @ Baugl|.mnn..... cu" Coley _Dawny ____. Egan ...... Q; Foiworlh Gllvin . ..-__ Hnrbo ...... - Jbneph ...__ _. IA|tcr ..__ Nichols. Qui.n:|. .... __ Schilder .. _ Imam _ Tracy ...... _. hu Glndy._...... ¬_-r _ _ Q1 - 9»! 1 , J - U './;~y" - 92 ~Y' fr Hg", J'_EDGER#1 ' 3o92{é-K--_...-/ - ?a im. A oirp:-¢c.1'a_q*BUREI-1Ur0FT 0F ' - - A :'wvEs'H'e-F1T1'o|v Q90 92~nsH H~' ..-. ff; M J_;- ~.._ 6 4_ Hoovrz r- If H CD6-C n: I EQTTEJQ 0 [_-3 -' W I 4. l9M92/1: ' F . U'7'=AU °F ~ BT16-AT _ . 92gFi'* °-'f"B192;.Wt92;,Q. _ f . ..A. *- ._ j _ .00 R SIR 0 ~ 1 Y°v w % I 7' ""5 SHOT Do .31:-T'T°'T* °92~ *7 /11..- ;' p W/1022' 53 '|_-11m=>1;NBU§c_ {N 15>; c/s1_¢-= Ir-W45 1'1" if/E-W -3.2331 .- 1 »L? »92.: Ea .:F_9LI¢[;'-' LlEuTo/=1 'Wi_iIé_'Ml¢ 0! 1; ... _A1 :=o1.;&,= M .-~ YWTI1 <11? f/- M» WITH ~ _-,-____L?Ep ALA T , HI _, SW7 11- . "XD0 & 6 -urv 12 qA'x';'*/I 51' I !/'a!i;Dl___ Q L _AG-U!-mm; --F9 * 0/:" !qY 0" I 92 T E5C D D'D"" -' P.*: R? -= U I-LQ'G|.J '0: 12* T I2'54! ' 55/qr I -!;T é ,» 92 Ns H093:H5. F015 Rmk /l4* ?__Ii7',r;; ,;;;8'1!./92/. °92/Eff arm ~ " :5 . ,..>/21.52" THE G L N ._..-,__..- ._.. _._... _,....._ A _____ Li "1' ~ :.-___ ' alznzrul Bureau of lnueanganun "1 / nitnh itatu Brpartment nf Juatire '-feehington Field Division, Room 2266, Weshinggton, D. C. June 2.5, 1937, ; ,. / I¢CEI92iQR;_l§T_DIJI~5 FUR 192-E'1_,a . Ar J . > 0 RE: DESTRUCTION OF AIRSHIP "HINDENBIJRG"; 92 _ G@921E1ne»F,1goBEs1:5'~!er;o;§ if - 92"-/ * " As reporteo. __ - ~ verbally, - -- 3- Ar. bouth - -- Tri-able, J'r., bolicitor, ~' Department of Commerce, phoned me at my home et 9:00 P.I»:,, June 25rd, V end requested me to be present on J e 24th in his e onfer- 92p / / 92eemuch encewhiches no he definite bed arranged hour was withs l _ fez-en , .;"ee11 In- available on -T u ne 24th et a momen s notice, but these men failed to .=_ ' , meantime, et your suggestion, I re an file __| _ I obtaining therefrom date concerning _G ch I subsequently conveyed to fir. Trimb e or his infor- Lir. Trtable hes just informed me by phone / ed him at 2:00 P.I.'I, today and informed him th _r---..:.l,_ =_,....;| l-~i.=»'»§- V iv _ et e local hotel under en assumed name, bed hurriedly le ;"~ the city yesterday and returned to New York. The attached memorandum, dated April 29, 1937, from 1.-Zr. Cw 11- Appel to Mr. Toleon, which was extracted from the Bureau file, _,.. ;. *5 is returne herewith. ' . 92- -:;_- -~* ,; . .- V 1 -ei» ; . __ ,1 . ALL INFORMATION CONTAINED .._= -- , - » HEREIHij;3:3l.AS-SZFEED Z'w# ZJL ogre»-1?-~ q"L BM» M,-._ R6 bu , &° 1=;=.:Pec el A¬8>*1.¢ l H-mm W t Z L/2?/%o~ 5/ e 1/ . . - '*2 * <92 7 Qif e Ir 1 / 92 . If /I; i I Q? _| i _92-.92 -4-._-J c .--1» - er_';~---- - _I .....,. -..._ -..,._..-".,. . - » 4-750 Rev.4-17-85! i-l" XXXXXX XXXXXX FEDERAL BUREAU DF IIWESTIGITIDII FDIPA DELETED PAGE INFORMATION SHEET _3_ Page s! withheld entirely at this location in the le. One or more of the following statements, where T3 in-linn+Q¢-Iinlun.-nut-u, Av-JainClipli-llll I-I-in unn uiisvuiuuu4-I¢sl¢~.H¢92n Deleted under exemption s! __. . with nosegregable D material available for release to you. ii lnfonnation pertained only to a third party with no reference to you or the subject of your request. 1:1 Information pertained only to a third party. Your name is listed in the title only. Documents originatedwith another Government agency ies!. These documentswere referredto that agency ies! forreview anddirect responseto you. Pages contain information furnished by another Government agency es!. You will be advised by the FBI as to the releasabiiity ofthis information following our consultation with the other agency ies!. Page e! withheld for the following reas0n s!: E] For yourinformation: _ y _ y _ _ _ [Z1 The followingnumber isto be used forreference regardingthese pages: 92a;1.-»92e92.:92-:~. , 0- .'~ . _ . bl _ . K X2£X "'XX ' XXXXKXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXX DELETED PAGE§ S! N0 DUPLICATION FEE X XXXXXX X FOR r-nee at xxxiotxxionoeooooonzx FBI/DOJ av . F I DEPARTMENT or COMMERCE 0FFl¢E OF THE BOLICITOR wnsniueros , July 1, 1957. 0~> 92 Q ,1.92 Q , O~ Honorable John Edgar Hoover, Director, Federal Bureau or Investigation, Department of Justice, " Washington, D. C. Dear Mr. Hoover: I wish to acknowledge the receipt of and thank you for your confidential report dated June 24, 1937, upon Jose a ph eh, a passenger on the last flight of the air- ' I Q1 - E11pv 1 I1"euFu"92TBUhnG - You ask to be advised whether the Board of Inquiry ' desires further investigation regarding Speeh. Dr. Eokener and the members oi the German Commission seemed to be especially interested in this passenger. They dwelt in private upon the fact that he was the owner of a dog ken- ;' - ""'$;'-'1 .25 - t -1 . ' 23 -: > .' P' neled in the stern part of the ship and after a day or so 3 .e§ out of Frankfort apparently was permitted the liberty of 7.1: going to the after part er the ship without being accen- panied by an Officer or members or the ship's crew. The _- -5., -- 1 steward reported that Lir. Speeh had made the statement .. :1. that his dog was so attached to him that the animal would ?.. _ . not eat unless he were present at the time. It is my un- .4-....-_» ,.n derstanding that the German authorities are conducting a . '-' nei-= close investigation or Spaeh and his activities abroad. 4lI _ - . .,.; ._'_ 4 We are enclosing for your infomation a copy oi the '|..;.|-....-_ .._-..|.. 4...-. 4-M.» T-.-.-_.-.4.-1...-..|.-In-. R-..-__A L.-- l!__ G-..n.-.92.. T .LBbb=J. Mb DU IIJJU LHVUUULSGHLUU UQLU Dy IILLQ $133110 J have nothing further to offer at this time. I would sug- gest that the investigation be held open __;*@_§_.@.=;__;_1;_ ______H order to see the reaction oi Mr. Spaeh. ' La! The willing esaR§ 6i é*QEE pt11§R%§EE r F yaiireéir e;»- is 2 your /9 0 "- .5M " organization is greatly appreciated. ' V 7 I /..» ¬~/Cs {HS p /1 g Cord£W I _ S e X /_ / ._. Q _ .....Y..._,.,-,_._... .-- ll? 92 Douglaston, N. Y. "" Bureau of air Commerce Investigation Board Naval Air Station Iekehurst, N. J. I Dear sn-= ' In your communication or May 24, re - information regarding the available facts, conditions and circumstances, relating to the k. -.. :=, accident to the IZ Hindenburg, I would like to say, being that I was a Passenger, that: Ll?'1 ii I i | I was at the time of the first Explosion, o the window furthest -.-a--_ up toward the Nose of the ship, in the Diningroom, facing the Hangar, taking a Photograph of the Groundcrew, With the sudden- ness of the whole thing, there was no time for me to observe, just where the whole thing was happening or where it started from, from the way we were rising for a secod and from the reflection of the explosion on the ground, I could imagine that we had gone up in flames, I jumped out from a great height and when I landed :.;,_,___ on the ground ran off without looking beck, thus at no time, did I see any flames, nor do I have the slightest idea, nor could I i I , 4 have, toward the solution of the accident. E 4 1 ,_ .- 1 My wife, who was standing on the ground, however was able to § '~? see the first flames shoot out toward the stern of the Hindem- -v,'_.-11.". -_ i burg with the rest following up in a few seconds. .,,..-1'."1 _ 4-, 4 This is all the information I can qive. -1 sincerely, 1~ned! Joseph Spaeh Douglaston, Lona Island, N. Y. I P ..,_FEDERAL BUREAU J 0F g ,_ INVESTIGATION 3 From: Laboratcr Date 195 Mr. Nathan =' ___HMr. McClintock Mr. Appel " ____Mr. Miller Mr. Baughman é _____Mr. Parsons Mr. Beach ____Mr. Pfafman _ Mr. Blackburn Mr. Pickering Mr. Burgess Mn_ Mr. Renneberger Mr. H.fM. Clegg Mr, - 0 Schilder Mr. Clark ' " w__M . Q. Tamm Mr. Ccnrad ____ hief Clerk Mr. Dingle Files Mr. Donaldson ___ _Laboratory - Mr. Engert Mr. Lovett Stencgrapher _Messenger Mr. Major ___Mai1 Room Mr. McC rthy ____7Mr. ' 6Z »ééh1;4_____ 92 h I - F ' b¢~ W 6 L- E?/iw -W ,.. T*.. =.. 7 .,,.-,_-_*,._, F...-,, ., . ...- -1 , ~ ~Tf_ ~ .- Y,~:. .*,'...<;._.,._.:. .. , . . -J ~' .- '. .; i_, -..-I-,..'.-..92-"i.~'_'_ij,; ,,92 ,-rcc,_,i9'.-./?a.:rr;.-;;._92;g/1.45:4 7 V E. P. COFFEY Please Handle --_.__..._____ Brlng Flle ""i-' -i__ii___ E; - p A M W M_____T__ _H____,,,,_ ,, ,,...,.., ., .~___.. , _. £1- U.'s. DE ARTMENT on com, sacs ,, W1 ' ___r:___r Air Commerce Bulletin ' '-_' _-_,I.~. _ Issued Monthly by the Bureau of Air Commerce _ ___f __ _, ,, V0119 W *- WASI-IINGTON,-- 1 '7 "7 F-AUGUST ' - 15,'1 1957" -" No.'2 t CONTENTS Airway! Dcpa-rtlnent lmpr vtlnent of Commerce. projects announced by Advisory airway committee re:-atlunproblems.formed to assist in civil t M. 5 . ,, . --=-~=-= -- . =":.'::.::*:; 1.:r.:.:'t::a.l ""'=""~="='=* German air line to make experimental i!i|-ht: gureau or iommerne Advisory Board hold:__ to United sum this summer. !!'!'t meeting' uesignarion of medical examiners. Air lines employ Bil hostesses and 105 Airports, charts, and lights. ltewardl. Licenses, approvals, and ratings. Airways Improvement Projects Announced by Department of Commerce A program of airways construction erer form of transmission he requires representing plans for expenditure of at the moment. about $5,000,000 of the $7,037,800 which As it is necessary that range signals the Departments appropriation act for and voice broadcasts be on the some the scal year 1938 authorizes for es- frequency, stations operating on the tablishment of air-navigation aids has older basis have to interrupt the range ban announced by the Bureau oi Air signals to broadcast voice. Although Commerce, Department of Commerce. lhe intervals are brief, not exceeding The act appropriates $3,037,800 for this 3 minutes, they may occur at times purpose for the scal year 1938 and when pilots urgently need radio range authorizes the Department to obligate guidance. Simultaneous transmission itself for an additional $2,000,000 prior does away with these interruptions. l to July 1, 1938, plus a further $2,000.- Service installation of ultra-high Ire- 000 prior to July 1, 1939. quency transmitters, also developed by The Bureau s program is designed the Bureau, to furnish a poitive indi- primarily to improve the existing sys- cation of the location of radio range tem ot air-navigation aids by modem- stations is a major part of the pro- izing present aids and providing new ! gram. facilities to ll in gaps in the present system. A further phase or the improvement An outstanding feature is adoption plan prov-ides for the equipment of all for Bureau radio stations of simulta- major radio stations now having the neous transmision of both voice and loop type antennas, with vertical ra- radio range signals on the same tre- diator antennas which improve the quency, which has been made possible transmission of directional ignals to by the Bureaus development work. airmen and also are necessary for sl- With simultaneous transmission the multaneous transmission. radio range signals transmitted to keep In addition, several intermediate the pilot on his course are sent con- landing elds will be enlarged, im- tinuously. Voice broadcasts are made proved, or relocated. and lights on sec- from time to time on the same tre- tions oi four airways will be relocated quency, with the range still in opera- in order to provide straight line tion, and the pilot may listen to which- COlIlI'BES_ T544- 3'l' -- ~1 19 aur- 20 la AIR oomaancn BULLE'1'IN A list of projects so far approved under the 1938 liscal year program fol- lows: Radio Idaho Falls, Idaho; Syracuse, N. ¥.; and Tucuincai-i, N. Men; will also be New full powered siniuliaiieous converted to the simultaneous type. weather broadcast and radio range sta- New medium-powered stations of tlie tions will be established at Browns- loop antenna type will be established ville, Tex; Delta, Utah; and Blooming- cit: ' ton, Ill. Acoaiiia, N. Hex. Golva, N. Dak. Medium powered stations having Charlotte N. C. Santa Ana, Calif. Custer, limit. Tintic, Utah somewhat less coverage, but equipped for simultaneous transmission of radio At the following sites will be located range signals and voice communica- ilow-powered radio localizers transmit- tions from a ve-tower vertical raidi- ting directive signals from loop an- ator system, will be establishednit the tennas, which serve as localizing following places: ' guides for airmen within a radius of Abilene. Tex. approximately 15 miles: Anton Chico, N. Mex, Austin, Tex. lit. Shasta. Calif. Baker, Oreg. Malad, Idaho Chesterfield. Tenn. Needles, Calif. Bakers eld, Calif. Meridian, Miss. Dill n, Mont. Pocatello, Irahn. Montague, Calif. Galveston, Tex. Rochester Y. Che Belirade,ails, Wash.Mont. Palmdale. Calif. Grand mpia. llich. sigmgaeiii, lll. Columbus. N. Mex. Parco, Wyo, G1-antiiville, Utah. S mpede Pass, Cor us Christi, Tex. Peoria, Ill. Joliet. Ill. Wash. Dallas, Tex. Laramie, Wye. Tyler, Tex. Roseburg, Orecg. a ur. Macon. Ga. Utica, N. Y. 12<=!"*s'-.<1.<>l°-Sacramento. liizrmon Mesa, Nev. _ Vern Beach, Fla. __ UIIDOIS, JJIIRDO Savannah, Ga. Radio ranges now located at Arch- Eugene, Orcg. §mit_li §rove,_Kg. Florence, . C. aoutn isenti, ind, bold, Ohio, Butte, 192_1ont., Cherokee, Great Falls Mont. Tonga, Fla. Wyo., Milford, Utah, and Tacoma. Indio. Calif. Tole 0, Ohio Wash., will be converted to radio lo- Kin g st on, Calif. Waynoka, Okla. Lansing, Mich. We-ndover, Utah. calizers of low power. Whitehall, Mont. Nondirectlve marker stations which Full-powered stations now equipped serve to mark one particular point will with loop type antennas at the follow- be converted to low powered directive ing points will be converted into the markers at A:-dmore, Okla, Lafayette, simultaneous transmission type with Ind., Livermore, Calif., McCool, Ind., vertical antennas and Morse, Ill. Alma. Ga. A fth tower and radio telephone Atlanta, Ga. Boise. Idaho Miami, Fla. broadcast equipment will be installed Burley, ldaho Mobile, Ala. at the following vertical antenna sta- Charleston, S. C. New Orleans,La. tions not now equipped for simulta- Chattanooga, Tenn. North Platte, NP Chicago, Ill. Pueblo, Colo. neous voice transmission, and simul- Columbia. M0. Raleigh, N. C. taneous operation will be provided: Columbus. _0hio Richmond, Va. Detroit, Mich. San Antonio. Tex. Burlington, Iowa. Rockford. Ill. Elmira, N. Y. Greensboro, N. C. Canadian, Tex. Rodeo, N. Mex. Gosnen. Ind. San Diego, Calif. Daggett. Callt. Texarkana, Ark, Indianapolis, Ind. Spartanburz. S. C. Des Moises. Iowa. Tucson. Avis. Jacksonville, Fla. Spokane, Wash. Milwaukee, Wis. Wink. Tex. Titusvllle, Fla. Washington, D. C. Ultra high-treouency markers for airways tra ic control use will be es- The following stations will be re- tablished as follows: located : Chicago Des Plnines!, Ill., Lansing, Moran. Kans., to Chanute, Kano. Ii1., Newhall Pass, Calif., Oceanside, Van Nags. CallI.. to Los Angeles, Calif. Callf., Sandberg, Calif., Sandla Moun- Mount haste, Calii., to Red Bluff, Calif. tain Alhuquerque!. N. Mex., Santa Fe C92J...&-f.__...- DIHLIULIS uh -J. lII.CLlLU1U, '92.l'...II.92_.l llu. Bran [U1 CIA-4- In-willl1l1ll92nl|Springs, Callf., Sheridan, 111., and three Oi-eg., and Seattle, Wash, will be will be constructed in the vicinity of moved to new sites in the same Newark, N. J. _ locality. The medium powered radio range The medium-powered stations having station now at Bucksiown, Pa., will be loop antennas at lliartii-i s Creek, Pa., relocated to Somerset, Pa., and recon- and Fontana, Ca1if., will be replaced by structed with a vertical tower antenna new stations at Allentown. Fa, and system. A station of the same type Riverside, Calif., respectively, and will be constructed at Mai-tinsburg, Pa., equipped with vertical antennas and and a low powered range will be estab- the simultaneous transmission feature lished at Pittsburgh. Pa., for service as for voice communication and radio an airport localizer. This work will range. Medium-powered loop antenna be a joint undertaking of the State of stations at Camden, N. J.; Erie, Pa.; Pennsylvania and the Bureau of Air - l AIR GOMIME Conlmerce, according to present ar- rangements. All stations with vertical antennas. both new and old, are to be provided with simultaneous equipment ._ and stand-by radio range transmitters tor emergency use in case of a break-down. stand-by power, and positive cone of silence markers which give the airman a positive signal, either by turning on a light on his instrument board or by aural signal in his headphones, as he passes over the tation. BULLETIN 21 tnblished at Needles. One beacon on this section will also be relocated. Field and lighting facilities on the Las Vegas. Nev.-Milford, Utah, section of the Los Angeies-Salt Lake airway will be relocated to fa straight-line course. The intermediate landing eld at Baker, Caiiih, on the same airway will be discontinued and replaced by a new eld between Baker and Riggs. l Ali facilities between Pasco and Spokane, Wash., will be discontinued with the exception of intermediate landing elds for day use at Connell Field and lighting improvement prol- and Sprague, Wash. ects, in some cases, call for the es b- Field and lighting facilities will be lishment of entirely new tacillaes,relocated to a straight-line course be- while others call for improvement, re- tween Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. Pa., location, or discontinuance, Theseand beacons between McConnellsburg projects will be amended ti-om time to and Harrisburg, Pa., will be discon- time and others added to the list as the tinued. Field and lights between program progresses. Speci c items Washington. D. 0., and Pittsburgh, now planned are: 1Pa., will also be relocated to a straight- New intermediate landing elds at line course. These two projects, ac- East Liverpool, Ohio, and Marshall, cording to present arrangements, will Mo.; enlargement of elds at Advance, be performed in conjunction with the lllo., Arehhold, Ghio, Chesier eld, State of Pennsylvania. Tenn., Pitts eld. Mass, and Saugus, Calif. Enlarge or relocate: Livermore,. Teletypewriter Circuits Calif., and Wendover, Utah; improve Besides accomplishing the construc- or relocate: Kylertown, Pa.; il'lJpI'0i'B:tion work enumerated above, the Oceanside, Ca1if.; relocate: Columbia- Bureau will augment the service to air- 92-ille, N. Y.; discontinue: Higginsrille, ,men on the Federal System by arrang- Mo. ing for about 7,500 miles of te1etype- Beacons between Dana and Laramie, writer circuits for transmission oi W3-o., on the Salt Lake~0maha B.irW:l_92'weather information. These include will be relocated to provide a straight- the following circuits: line course. A new eld will be estab- Seattle-Vancouver. Fortworth-Houston. lished near McFadden, W3-0., and those Seattle-Fargo, N. Atlanta-FortWo1'1h. at Dana and Medicine Bow will be dis- Dak. Detroit-Grand Bap- continued. Fort Worth-Burbank ids. St. Louis-Tulsa. Newark Bul!i alo, On the Gods-Needles, Calit'., section St. Louis-New 0r- Wnshington- N a s h- of the Los Angeles-Amarillo airway the leans. ville. intermediate landing eld now at Goffs Great Falls. Mont: W RhlngfO -ClDClll- Salt La k e City - nati. will he discontinued and a new one es- , Lvos Angeles. Atlanta-Jacksonville. Report of Airship Hindenburg Accident Investigation Contents Part Schedule.I.- Introduction. Part II.- '1 he airship-Continued. Ownership Certi cate Gas shafts. of and si rorthiness. operation. ] Eropulslon.Propellers. Crew. Passengers. Electrical power plant and installations. Goods carried. RopesBa last and arrangements.cables. Ground crew and facilities. Radio equipment. Flight across the Atlantic. Lifting gas. Part II. 'I he airship, Bonding. Deilzn and construction. Part III.--The landing maneuver. 1936 record. Meteorological conditions. Digiension. capacities, other characteris-General. cs. Local. Controls. Fommunications. radio. '9 22 "" am ooamnnca BULLETIN 1 Part III.--The landing mancuver Con. Friedrich 92 ui| lioetticher. German mili- Altitude! at landing. Electric installations. tury attache, was selected by the _Ger- Rudder. man Ambassador at the invitation oi Part lV. '.l he iire. the Secretary oi! Commerce. as an ob- Ground log. , Description of landing. server at the investigation. Incidents tetcre the ..re. n .,.. than ...., -o...... f nl-H1 ...., dnv ,.. nf fhn ...... - Imago-vl..ngs, Fiuttering ot outer cover. the members or the German Commis- Strain on port trail rope. Sensations within the ship. -sion appointed to investigate the acci- Appearance of tire. dent, including Dr. Hugo Eckener, Part V. The combustible mixture and its ignition. Lt. Col. Joachim Breithaupt, Prof. Sabotage. Guenther Bock, Prot. Dr. Max D1eck- Accidental causes. 'mann, Director Dr. Ludwig Duerr, and Presence oi combustible mixture oi hr- dr 989n and air. Sta Euginmr Friedrich Hoffman, ap- Accumulation through dliiusion or peared and thereafter acted as oi» osmosis. servers and testt ed as witnesses. Failure of valve mechanism . Decreased ventilation. _ - The United States Navy Board of In- Entry of piece of propeller. quiry was represented throughout the Fracture or hull wire. Maijor structural failure. hearing by an observer. Ignit on of _the mixture. When the accident occurred, an Iuecnanlcai. aeronautical inter of the Depart- Chemical. ment oi! Commerce was present. Be Thermodynamic. Electrical. fore midnight of the same day, other Spark in gas fullness or pressure in- representatives of the Department dicator. reached the scene oi! the accident Resonance e. 'ect High-frequency in- ductance. After a preliminary inspection had Eleacti- os tat_icsI__ been made, public hearings were held, Bi- ulsl;:.§iJiii:hli1i:"ge or St. El.m0 s Fire. from Iuiay 10 to Iiiay 28, in the main Conclusion. hangar at the naval air station, Lake- Appendix I.--Crew iist. hurst, N. J., in Asbury Park, N. J., and II. Passenger list. in New York City. - III. Track of Hindenburo over Lakehurat, May 6, 1937. In addition to that provided by the with notes on maneu- Department's representatives. assist- VETS. ance was received from the United IV.- Anemogrcph. thernicgraph, States Navy Department, Bureau of and made microbaroéraph at Lak urst, tracesMay Investigation, Department oi Justice, 6. 1937. Weather Bureau, Department of Agri- In an order dated May 7, 1937, made culture, National Bureau of Standards, by the Secretary of Commerce pur- Department of Commerce, New York suant to the Air Commerce Act of 1926, City Police Department, and the Bu- as amended, relating to the investiga- reau oi! Explosives. Aviation com- tion of accidents in civil air naviga- panies, newspapermen, nevvsreel rep- tion in the United States, South resentatives. and photographers. many Trimble, Jr., solicitor. Maj. R. W. of whom were eye witnesses to the Schroeder, Assistant Director oi! the event, and others, furnished valuable Bureau of Air Commerce. and Denis information. Mulligan, chief, Regulation and En- forcement Division ot the Bureau of Part I.-Introduction Air Commerce, all oi the Department of Commerce, were designated to in- [No'ra. Ali times reported herein. un- vestigate the facts, conditions and cir- less otherwise indicated. are eastern cumstances or the accident involving standard time E. S. T.!] the airship Hindenb-urn, which occur- red on May 6. 1937, at the naval air The airship Himienburg was de- station, Lalsehurst. J., and to make strayed by re at 8:25 p. m., S. T.. a report thereon. May 6, 1937. at the naval air station, Commander C. E. Roaendahl. United Lakehurst, N. J. ;_ ..-.5._ ___ -5, - sf t s NKTF. Col. C. do F. Chandler, United States Army, Col. Ruch B. Lin- Schedule coln, United States Army, Col. Harold E. Hartney, technical adviser to the The airship was completing its rst Umted States Senate Committee on scheduled demonstration isht for the Commerce, Hon. Gill Robb Wilson. di- 1937 season, between Frankfurt, Ger- rector of aeronautics for the State of many. and Lakehurst. It had departed New Jersey, and Hon. Grover Loening, from Frankfurt about 8:15 p. m.. aeronautical adviser to the United G. M. T.. Monday, May 3, and was duo States Maritime Commision, were des- at Lakehurst on the morning of ignated as technical advisers. Gen.-it. Thursday, May 6. It was due out of W WA A _ _ q-F. I _ _ _ __M____ _____ W ,_ .... t...... ¢...~_..~- or ,_ ~ 92 l ..-- am oo1ltus....n smmarm ~ 23 ct-sod by the ship on this side of the ocean Lakehnrst at 10 p. m.. E. 8. I . that was from Nova Bcotia. via Boston. Provi- night. Because of unfavorable winds dence, Loruhlsllurd Bound New York. and encountered en route, its arrival at thence to kehurst. After passlni! over Lakehurst the rst time. it proceeded to Lakehurst was deferred until 6 p. m-, cruise along the coast for a iew hours before Thursday evening, and departure was retracing its course from Tuckerton. N. .l .. to be postponed until midnight or later to the naval air station. in order to reservice and prepare for Part IL The Airship the return voyage. '- ' Design and Construction Ownership and Oyara as The airship was placed in service early in 1936. It bore builder's number LZ 129 The ship was owned and operated by and had been constructed by the Luit the Dentsche Zeppelin Beederei, Schiifbau Zeppelin of Friedrichahafen. G91 - G. rn. h. H., of Berlin, W. S, under den msny, an nr snlsntion which had previously Linden, Germany. The ight. which built described,us this Zeppelin-type type of design alrships. provides Brie yfor u was to have been one of a series to he framework of duralumln meta Bil- tiers with tension wires. There is division by frame made into United States territoryninr wit-inga of the body into different compart- ing 1937, was authorized by a- provi- ments. into which the gas bugs are paced sional air navigation permit from the to receive the lifting gas; s eel wa kway to. take certain loads; a framework with an Secretary of Commerce, and a revo- outer cover of fabric to give form. and en- cable permit issued by the Secretary of gine cars ltlilpeniiritl from the frame outside the Navy to the American Zeppelin ihe ship. The Hiadcnhnrg was a Zeppelin- type airship. having an axial corridor con- Transport, Inc., of 354 Fourth Avenue, structed longitodinally through the center New York City, as general United of the hull. tates agent of the Deutsche Zeppelin HIS Record Beederci, G. m. b. H., for the use of During its 0 months of operation in I930. the landing ileld and facilities at the this airs sin had made more than 55 ights; naval air station at Lakehurst. own 2.764 hours, crnicd 191,583 mil»-s. crossed the ocean 34 times. carried 2,793 Certi cate oi Airworthiness passengers and more than 377,000 pounds of mail and freight. all without mishap. In March 1937 the German Government renewed the airworthiness certi cation of Dimension Capacities, Other Characteristics the aircraft, reporting that all of its safety dc-vices had been inspected and found satis- Its length was about 803.8 fect: height. factory. 147 feet; maximum diameter. 135 feet: Crew 0; lineness total ratio gas volume. lllcnzth over 7.063.000 diameter!. cubic houifeet: According to the crew list seeailependixnormal vo umc. 6.710.000 cuhic icct. Wcighl I} furnished by the American gpelinof ship with necessary equipment and fuel '.i rans|lort. Inca. the personnel on oard. was 430.950 pounds; mnximum fuel capac- including o icers, numbered 61. of whom 22 ity, 143.650 pounds; total pay load. 41,990 died as a result of the accident. gonads, and total lift understandard con- itions! was 472.940 pounds. its rarcll Passengers cruising speed was about '75 statuie miles per nour; its nlaiirnum speed was slisll tv The passenger list {see appendix II!. like- over B4 miles oer hour. Passenger space wise furnished. shows that 36 persons be- was entirely within the hull. rides the crew were on hoard. or these, 13 st-nccrs diedas a and result members of the of accident. the crew Other sustaiiaedas- Controls serious injuries. The control system was the conventional Zeppelin-type control. with two l 1iCid¢ lB act- Goods Carried elevators ingas a unit actlnf for likewise horizontal for contr l. vertical and control.two Total weight of the freight carried who Emergency c cvator and rudder-control wheels were Installed in the stern _of the maln 325 pounds. freight compartment The frel ht was at stowed frame 125: in thr-2 ship . An electrical gyroscoplc dc-vlce at- dogs were kenneed at frame 92. and 3 tac ed to the forward rudder WI-N391 P1'°- it-kages were stowed in the control car.vided automatic steering. all was carried in a compartment on top of the control car. Of the freisht and Outer Cover mail only s few pieces of mall were re- covered. The enter cover consisted of cotton fabric on certain parts of the frame; on others. Ground Crew and Facilities linen, depending upon stresses to which it was exposed. The exterior surface of The ground personnel consisted of 92 such fabric was treated with several mats naval personnel and 139 civilians. Prac- of cellon and a mixture containing aluminum tical], all of the ground crew had previouspowder. As protection against ultraviolet experience in Ian lug alrships. One mem-rays. the inner surface of the fabric on the ber of the ground crew died as a result of upper: part of the ship was coated with red burns received during the accident. pa n Flight Across the Ailaniic Gas Cells Across the Atlantic from Germany to the In each of the 16 compartments of the United States, the ight had been unevent- ship was a gas cell containing the lifting ful, save for retarding winds which were gas, hydrogen. The middle cells were sep- not unusually turbulent. The route trav- arate, whereas the two bow and the two ' -' -pp . .._.n.. __ __ 7.4 .._.._ n_.__.__....-..__..._....._a...... -1» .-.....-..,_..._a-~, . 24 In AIR 00MMl'JltGE BULLETIN stern cells were lntercommunlcnting. The gs cell mierial consisted ct a lm placedstructure through the engine. Tests were tween two layers oi iabric. Nettinga weremade with the prototype: oi lllu propellers provlded to prevent all sharp edszcs from used on the ship. They were to.-sled to luntln damaging the gas cells. It was stated that 50 percent in excess of the thrust -t0 Wllle'l| the amount or gas leakage through rbh-KWlllth ll"!Dl'°P9lI8rs Willi three would {mes [be subjected 21-oaivr at than take-oil ,the gate tabricot aaprgroxlmated at 1 liter per s square mllirnum meter illusionpcr 24 thrust which would be imposed at cruising ours. speed. bnclt it-sis. They also Thefl smccssfully were limlicd wllhstood lo 1,-IUIJtho its Valves revolutions per rn uute in forward rotation and 1,120 revolutions per minulr: in reverse Fourteen automatic and an equal numberi rotation. These revolutions were below the uttering speeds oi the blades. were ormanusllg a lxe operated to the cells. or maneuvering A sinlzle mallowvalves vering valve was silixed to cells numbered Electrical Power Plant and Installations 1 and 2 and cells 15 and 18. Gas could be released from the cells by manual operation The electrical power plant of the ship of the valve controls located in the controlconsisted of two 50-horsepower Diesel-driven car and hooked up with the valves lay a generators with switehboards and distribu- series or wires and pulleys. This Alas onetion system. These generators were inde- under the supervision or the captain or the watch oliicer in charge. The automatic or gendent he electric oi the generators outside and propelling principal englnr-s.mem- emergency valves were provided to reduce the pressure oi the gas in -the cells underon bersthe ot port the stem de oi werethe keel. located Current amldshipswas certain circumstances. The cells were num- generated tor purposes of lighting, cooking, bered from stern to bow, from 1 to 16. Theradio, and steering. There were two cir- maneuvering valves of cells nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, cuits, one of 220 volts, the other or 2-i volts. T. 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, and 14 were connectedThe ship's electric wiring was oi copper and to a master wheel in the control car which was installed in accordance with the ricld operated all of them as a unit and there sso were independent controls for the se - regulations Societies.for-erning he lead to the the German stern Mininglight, them aratecould inaneuvcrinlg be reessed valves as so desired.that the gas Bi which was on s 220-volt circuit, using a. extended veryheavy from cable tgrotected e electrical by a Eower special plantiusc, Cell Fullness or Pressure Indicator along the lower walkway and t ence to the light. No electric wiring extended above the equator except in the extreme nose or sure Electrically units were actuated connected gas to fullness the gas or pres-cells the ship. to indicate visually by sensitive meters in Ropes and Cables the control car the pressure and hence thl relative fullness ot the gas in the cells.to The the maintig or nose moorin en ot steel the cable ship. was The xedport These units were located in the ship's axial and star oard bow trail ropes were attached corridor, or walkway. The accuracy or sen-to the ship at frame 2-i~i_.5, These trail sitivity oi this system was not de nitelyropes were about 413 ieet ill length. It i established. An sgpreciahle amount or gasunderstood that in landing the ship, it was might have been a e to escape before suchthe practice to approach the ground mast escape would show on the vsual indicatorfrom leeward and drop the Wire cable and unless that indicator was kept under closethe two trail ropes. The main cable was observation. According to Vitness Hugothen coupled to a mooring mast cable lead- B00 Eckenercubic a meters cell could of gas lose before at the least indicator200 to ing through the top oi the must. By means would show such a loss. Such an amountor a winch, the cable was then reeled in, content.is only a very small proportion of a cell'spullinglthe mooring cone on the ship's nose into mast.t e The correspondlng trail raapes cup were on coupled top of theto Gas Shafts ground ropes and le out to the sides to keep the ship headed into the wind and Between every two cells a gas shaft was toward the mast and to prevent it from directly providedfrom into which the cc gas ls. could The shafts be valvedex- overriding the mast structure. In the tended vertically from the lower walkwaystern, at frame 47, an after mooring cable through the at al walkway to the top of lead. wasin Kt ractlce frame let ti2, out a through portand a metal starboard[air the topthey shipfor cameventilation in contact purpose. w tb the On outsidethespider was let out at lan ing. Besides those enumerated, the ship was providecl with air under the protection of specially de- other mooring or landing tackle, for such signed gas hoods or ventilators. use as circumstances warranted. Propulsion Ballast Arrangements Four Daimler Benz Diesel engines, type Water was generally used for ballast. LOF-6, each having a maximum rating of The emergency ballast was contained in 1,100horsepower, were used to propel the fabric containers, four oi which, of 500 airship. They were contained in four out- kilograms of water, were suspended in the side engine cars, or iondolas, and were sus-bow and an equal number in the stern. Eended laterally on t e ship's hull by struts.To the right and left of the lowcr vvalkwzly cation ngine-room between telegraphs the contro provided room and communi-the in- were suspended a number of other ballast dividual engine cars. The fuel used by the tanks, some of 2,500 liters each and others engines was a Diesel oil. of 2,000 liters each. The ballast tanks could be emptied partially or totally by the elevator men by means of control wires Propellers connected to a ballast stand in the control room, Several of the fuel tanks could also each The engine four-bladed were o propellers wood and attached 19 feet to9 be used for ballast purposes. inches in diameter. The blades were ar- mored with brass sheathing about 1% llltllee- Radio Equipment in width, on the leading edge, from about the 43-inch radius to the tip of the blade. The radio room was located above the The sheathing was bonded to the ship'safter end oi the control car. Its equipment provided for two-Way radio telephone and I 1 - 'am oomnnnonBULLETIN } 25 gilt-graph communications.it included a gures were arrived at Q!perllrlcn1.n1ly with ort-wave and a long-wave transmitter, glass ormetallic BpPl1.1 l1f-Uswhich didnot each with 200-watt antenna capacity; two have eilect upon tie combustion f9lI:|]l|~l - all-wave receivers and two direction aders.~ aturea. Catalyticmetals havirégadsorption The frequency of the short wave trans-, properties would-be likely to a ect the com- lnitter was 41604.0 17500 kilocyclcs. The bustion at lower temperatures. Filllsill-d trequcn oi the long wave transmitter was dnrujamin would not be expected tn have 120 toalt! liilocycles.The frequencyrange material catalytic effect upon hydrogen. of the receivers was 12 to 20000 kilocycles. Power for the transmitters was obtained Bonding from a 220-volt direct current supply gen- The whole metallic structure oi the craft Theerated receivers bythe obtained ship's electric their ligh ower plant.voltage was bonded. from batteries. and power for the r laments was obtained through a series resistor Iron: Part III.-The Landing Maneuver the 24-volt ship s generator. For the short wave transmitter,there wasa trailing an- llcteorological Conditions tenna ot 26 meters length. For the oug- With 1'1'HI>cctto ihe meteorological cun- wave transmitter, a trailing antenna of tliiiulls in which the landing was l:0lid1.l .'lvLl, about 90meters length was uzd.These 11 summaryoi! the general wcalher is gi92'|.'1i lowtrailing thetransmitters antennaswere located ranand, Tectly]througr be-an as well as the local conditions prevailing aperture in the keel of the ship. here at Lakchurst at the time of the accident. was a xed antenna extending from the control car about 15 meters toward the GENERAL stern. The xed antenna was used only The 7 : 130 a. m.. E. 3. T. Unit:-d States for receiving purposes. In addition to this 9292't-zuilicrmap l5u1't-all oi the vicinity, in- equipment, there was located in the bow an cluding the nuriheuntcrn tier oi States, emergency transmitter and receiver, cur- shows a tii.~:tui'ba11t'et'en1|'a] ow-r New rent for which was obtained from a cen~ erator drivenby cpedalpower. Thisemer- York and i|o1'tllvnsiet'li 1'1-nn>;y|92':1nlu,with gsucy setemploys trailinga antennaabout a cold front exiemling from this center meters in length. southwestward lo West Virginia. This front ofseparated the cold [rout neutralized whlc polarhad become uirto the wnrnn-reast Lifting Gan and more moist and nenlralizcd :ul1le-|'air The ship was in ated with hydrogen. to the west of the front. The warmer and According to the evidence adduced, this more moist mass of air t 092 t'1 |'ll1ht- !92li¢|dl<- gas has the following characteristics: It is Atlantic States southeastern NewYork, and colorless, odorless, and tends to diffuse in o DllillPi ll New England. all directions. The only way that hytlf gen The cold front advanced eastward during could be detected by smell would be due to the day from central l ennsyi92'aninu at the presence of impurities as a result oi rote of 12 to 15 miles per hour, pa.~:.~;ing the process by which it was produced, or Lakellurst shortlyafter 3:30 um. Tin-re contamintion from ome source such as was not quite su icient sur ace ht-B.lll|;.',' during the early afternoon to set on? n rubberized fabric.Hydrogen, forlifting thunderstorm at Lalrehurst, and it was not poundspurposes, has per1,000 cubic a denity of feet, approximately depending on .1 until the front passed and some slight lin- the temperature and p1'ess1|I'e.Its it ting ing oi the air mass occurredthat a thunder- power is the difference between the density storm began. The records of the naval air of air and its own density. The density. staiion show that the thunderstorm begun of air is about 75 pounds per 1000 cubic at 3:40 p. in. and ended at 4:45 p. n1. feet. Assurninipure hydrogen,its lilting Telegraphic reports indicate, the thunder- power would t erotore be about 70 pounds storms in and to the west 0! New Jersey per 1,000 cubic feet. An opinion was ad- were not severe; nor were they of a well-do vanced that the general order of pressure of ned squall character. Between 12 p. m. __§F- Q1-f,!lrEI,II,.. the gas within the cells of the ship was and 1:30 p. m. E. S. 'I ., thesestorms ex- somewhere betweenhalf an inch and 1 inch tended in a definite belt over the region of of water pressure. It was stated that the Harrisburg, Pa., northeastward to Bear density of hydrogen correspondsto air at a Mountain, N. Y., and New Hackensnnir,N, Y. temperature of 5,000 F. and that the Between 1: 30 and 2140 p. Ill. none was ro- chimney eilect of its escape throughthe gas ported. Between2: 40and 3:40 m.. am- shafts of the ship was so very great that dcn and Fort Monmouth, N. 1., on y. reported there was no possibility of its movin,-.-.thunderstorms. Between 3:30 and 4:30 glgwnmthe shaftsinto thelower partson p. m.. Lakehurst. Mitchel Field, N. Y.. and e s . P l~ ]o_vd BennettField, N. Y., reported them. The ammable limits of a mixture of. Between 4:40 and 5:40 p. in. none was hydrogen and air are probably between: reported; and between 5: 40 and 6 : 40 p. 111., Floyd Bennett only reported one-. Snm~ 4.5 percent and B2 percent of hydrogen. marized. the thunderstorms in eastern New Other exgeritnentshave shownvariances Jersey were oi a local character and not lrom 8-9. percent to 68 percent. The tem- severe. perature ot which chemical activity be- The New York Weather Bnrcml oilicv tweenbetween 50 hydrogen° toand 557 C. oxygen takes This temper- placeis bulletin issued at 1=2o p. m., M.-1; 6, fol- ature range is dependent upon the amount lows: of hydrogen present. The range of ac- "1800 G. C. T. lliodcrnto wind shift Willi tivity oi combustion will be from the lower increasing and lowering clouds po.~=>=il=l|- i _ limit of 4.5 percent at which there will thnadersiiowers New York and 92-iciniiy ex- probably be an invisible union without evi- gected middlein orlate aftornoollStop dence of ame. A combustible mixture ew York Scattered cuinllius and srnzili would be more hazardousin an atmospheric cumulo nimbns appi-onclling from 9292't'.~ t~ condition of 08 percent relative bumirlity, risibilit excellent surface wind south 12 and temperature 60° F. than in dry air, milcs garomets=t- 29.68falling stcudily- with relatively low humidity, since dry,temperature 06." hydro-oxygen is more di cult to ignite and i: its ignition temperature is higher. In an 1 LOG-AL explosion the dame propagates in all dlrcc-l With the passage of the front at Luke- tions in the combustible rance between hurst, the wind shifted to the northwest 15 to 45 percent of hydrogen. Thesei with gusts up to 20 knots, and was ac- __ F ..n._...... _,..__ s-_...s.._.._... - -~ ---~--~1|- »-~'--v+~***~''*'' 26 to am oomsencs nULLs'rm1 companietl by slight increase in barometric pressure, decrease in temperature, heavy-til furthcr word from station advise your showers and several thundershower. Theni.iI.' A1 li lUlI92"4:52 p. m., the couinmnder there followed a rapid decrease in the veloc-of the ship l'c[lliI't]: "We will wait till you ity of the wind and its direction becamereport that landing conditions are in-tier." At 5:12 p. m. the commander of the slu- p.variable. m. went The into wind-at the southeast Lskehurst and remainedat 8:10 ,lloll advised the ship: Conditions now there tor about 45 minutes, shitting again,considered suitable for landing ground crew and than it became mostly southerly. The is ready &%iod thunder-slur-in m'0i' station front, after passing about 3:80 p. m. ceiling 2, feet visibility 5 miles to west- E. B. '13.. apparently slowed down to a rate ward surface temperature 00 surfllcc wind west-southwest 8 knots gusts in 20 knots of int agpnrximately e vicinity of 1 Atlantic miles an City. hour N. and J., wasat surface pressure 29.68. At 5:2: p. m. 8 p. m., its direction beinf north northeast-station commander radioed ship: "Recom- loutliwest, clearing rapid; after 8 p. In. mend landing now." At 6 p. m. Station During the afternoon cumuio nilnhus and transmitted to ship: f vercust moderate cumulus clouds developed locally and with rain diminishing lightning in west ceiling the iap roach o! the trout there apgeured a 2,000 feet improving visibility surface well e ned mild siluail line in I e wesi.10 windknots west-southwest surface temperature 4 knots gusts 01 pressureUntil-r apparently whichmoved became aiowy stationary over Laitehuizre beta n andif 29.70." At 0:08 p. I11. siuiion conirunntlcr when andthe it continued short line eastward. until about Several 5:.8 envym.,improved sentlast recommend message: earliest Conditionspossible dD |liti'gYIan - showers occurred between 5 and 8 p. in-.ing." . Prior This to the was accident acitnowiedfed ai of by the the shi ship. s reduced withacc lnp nyinii during t ese thunder. showers.- isibility At 0:12wastrailing antennas had been reeled in. t? p. in. the thunderstorm then over the eld hish-frequency transmissions were helm: was moving north and it was believed that conducted when the trail ropes were droppt-d bg the time the ship arrived at the stationtrorn the hip. Both transmitters were t e storm would have moved away from turned to ihe "oil" position at that time the station. The ship at this time was ouiand remained so thereafter. The ra-iio dy- oi sight because oi ow visibility and thenamotors had also been shut oil . The last ceiling, in the direction from whch it was message transmitted over the s-hip s radio expected to npproach, was not more thilii was s ortly after the landing station signal 500 to 600 feet. had been sounded, about 15 minutes l.e- Conditions at the time of the approachtore the re. It was sent on the long-v92":u'e were: Ceiling between 2,000 to 3,000 feet; transmitter to Lakehurst at 6:10 p. m., clouds 0.7 stratus very light rainfall;E. S. T. During the landing, watch 92'.- r|.= sky showed signs oi clearing to the west lrept on the long-wave receiver. No landing report was transmitted from the ship to ature ward;60° barometric F.; relative pressure illlrniditv 29.72; 98; temper-sur aceGermany while it was over the eld at Lake- wind light, variable and sliiiting and at hurst. One of the shigs radiomen stated the precise moment of the beginning of thethat atmospheric distur nces had been eu- land ng was southeast 1 knot. It was ex- countered during the afternoon oi May ti, pected that the surface wind dircctionhut that such condition improved toward would go into the west or perhaps the evening and continued to ilnprovc during northwest. Reports from Trenton and the ist 30 minutes of the icht. No dir- Camden, N. J., indicated that the winddculty was experienced during that period was westerly and that at Camden it was in sending or receiving either on the short about 18 knots just previous to the landingor long-wave transmitters or receivers. oi the ship. ind at top of the weatherWitness Herbert Dowe, ship radio operator tower on the eld was west 6 knots. The stated that he was on watch and actually approach level of the ship was about 200 listening to the radio until the re started and that he did not notice any interference tower fretabove is 186 the feet ground. above sea The leve top of groundthewhich could have been caused h improper elevation at plnce or landing was about 90 bonding or shielding and that He did iiot feet above sea level!. The inversion condi-receive any interference such as might live tion was 60 nt the lower level, 59° at the been transmitted by local station. second. and 57 at the third level. being There was no oral communication between temperature thetop to the rendincs bottom at of various the weather levels tower.fromPersons n the in maneuver.the ship and on the ground dur- As the ship was approaching the lsndinc file sequence of actions in brillgintz the area, occasional lightning was visible from ship up to the landing point is in part r_e- the distant south and southwest. but nonevealed pictorioliy b_v the track of the ship was observed over the eld at this time. over Lake-burst, drawn on mop of the naval When the headwsv oi the ship was stoillled.air station, with notes on the maneuver h,v s pronounced shift of wind was felt on top witness H. W. Bauer seeappendix ill!. of the mooring mast. from southerly to Among other data the map pl'01'il lPs informa- southeast or south-southeast. This wind tion respecting successive altitudes, speed, was colder than the previous wind had been. valving operation or of gas.engines, release of ballast, and Coramlmicationa, Radio Operation of Engines Resular reports from the ship were re- c'~ived as scheduled at the naval air station. About 10 minutes before dropping the bow Lalrehurst. At one stage in the latter pari trail ropes. the engines were 1"llilnil1;_r full of the ight the static was bad bllt it did cruising speed ahead; ship's speed about not prevent communications between the 33 meters per second approximately73 shin and ground stations. ishortly before miles Der hour]. The altitude of the ship. arrival at Lakehurst. direct communicationaccording to its altimeter, was then about 180 meters 90 feet!. About S to 9 llir was station.maintained by the ship with the navalminutes prior to the release or the ropes At 1:55 p. m., eastern standard time, the all engines were ldled ahead; ultitnrie 150 statlon received a message from the com-meters to15 meters 92 feet!! per second ship's approximatelyspeed fallinc oil 33 mander of the ship stating that he would de-miles per hour!. Then. in fairly rapid part from Lakehurst as soon as pO.=Sibieorder the aft:-r gngines were idied nstern after arrival. At 4 : 42 m. the commanderand then put full asiern to reduce the speed or the station radioed t c ship: "Conditionsto 12 to 13 meters per second npnrox- still unsettled recommend delay landing un-I imsteiy 2? miles per hour; atter which all _,_ _.__.._.._.__ ..__ .__.....___,..,_.. . -- , "T-~ -i--- ...... _~ .e.- _---.e..» e----W -~--~»--~------ -- - »------~ ~-- ---A--~--To '--- -ow-- - - - t 28 '5' am OOMM1inI..~L - I w 1 auuams J ' I disturbances or squalls. Witness Nelson Morris, rainft-ll a exactly passenger, as stated thelllllp that came a very over lightthe eld the last time, but tmti that time there had been no rain. Witness Anton Witte- manii, who had commanded the irship. Ga-of Zeppelin statedthat when the Hinduis- burg nppronclied tor its landing maneuver and as it passed through the front, the Incidents Before the Fire - ' weather conditions as seen from the ship were entirely favorable; the thunderstorm Before the lire broke out. the ship was had dpassed into ordinary rain. The ship en-being held by the bow port trail rope whit-ii term somewhat heavy rain which became had been conga-d to the port yaw line and much lighter when closing in on the station. I strain had n taken on this rope around At the approach there were no cumulus the nigerhead oi the'|rrountl winch. The clouds: there was a clear-cut stratus layer bow starboard trail rope had not been cou- from which light rain was tsliin . Witness pled to the ground lino, hut was being han- Ii. W. Bauer, second watch o gher of the.dled by the stiirboarrl bow landing party. ship. said that about 20 minutes beiore the At- no time during the approach did tho landing approach the ship passed through a egg: come closer to the mooring mast than heavy rain and through stratus clou s con- 1 feet. The main bow cable of the ship at this time had been let out about 5-u feet, It tainingdid not rain pass before near making any lghtnlng.the a roach.but neither ll nor any of the cables or ropes in the stern hnd reached tho ground before the llre ltartetl. After the trail Altitude: at Landing ropes in the bow had been dropped, the ship When the ship was brought to a stop over no longer had any forward speed. It hr-can the landing point, its altitude was about to move up and nstern and also to swing 130 feet above the ground. It rose to about slowly to starboard. Then a light gust was 200 feet when the how port landing rope-,felt from port. checked its further upward rise. Tliereafter, it descended to about 135 to 150 feet when Flattering oi Outer Cover the accident happened. Witness R. II. Ward, in charge of the port bow landing party, a couple or seconds Electric Installations before the re. had his attention attracted by a noticeable uttering of the outer cover iliccording to Witness Philipp Lens. chiel on the top port side between ti-nines 62 and electrician of the ship, no fuses blew nor did 7?, which includes ell no. 5. No smoke or any circuit breakers operate just prior to other disturbance accompanied the utter the re. The several circuits of the ship when he rst saw it. It was a wave ino- were intact. the interior ship lights and thetion. In his opinion the motion of the navigation lights were burn ng as usual. surface was not due to the slip stream oi- resonance eifect of the propeller. It was Rudder entirely too high from the propeller. It ap- peared to him to be more Ike an action Two witnesses testi ed that the top and of gas inside pushing tug. as if gas wits es- bottom rudder did not appear to be working cap ng. He apparently ad seen this action in unison when the ship came over the eld. occur in other aircraft. The snip had no From other testimony it appears that the perceptible forward motion the time he rudders were functioning normally. observed the tlutter; its engines were idling in forward rotation. The fabric had not opened up when he rst made the observa- Part IV. The Fire ton. The utter was followed by a ball of ame agproxirnately 10 feet or so in Ground L08 diameter; t en came an explosion. On a It diagram this witness indicated that the rst was the practice at the naval air sta- alppearance of re was near the top of tiorito maintain a log of events in connec- t e shin and above the point where he saw with the landing of the Hindrnbiirg.th_e utter. V th respect to this testimony. tionlog approachof its of last the landing Slllil n reveals landing that maneu-thewitness Eclrener said that a leak in a gas was sighted at 6: 5 p. m.. . S. T.. meters cell,permitting of gas per the secon escaipe , would oi 40 be to sumclent50 cubic TheMay 6, approximately over the omcers to cause a utter in the outer cover which quarters on the station. At 6:21 p. m.. the could be observed as reported. but probably rsthow trail ropes were dropped, on a bearingwould not be enough to draw the attention oi 30° from the mooring mast, _ rst, the of those in the control ear to a loss of starboard rope, followed immediately by buoyancy aft. Witness_R. W. Antrim, who the V81 port rope. Ship was rst observed was on ton of the mooring must, also stated afire at 6 : 20 p. m. be saw that the fabric behind the after port engine was very loose and uttering. It ex- tended rearward and upward from the after p liill to . engine to a quarter of the way to the Strain on Port Trail Rope The drift of the ship to starboard, ae- Description of Landing cordlng to the mooring o lcer, witness T_92'- ler, was nally checked by means or the port trail rope. This rope was hauled up The landing made on this occasion hastaut on the winch. The starboard trail been describe as a highlanding or yingrope was being handled by the inaiipower mooring, a method o landing which is of the starboard bow party. '1tnt's< A1- occasionally employed. Some chuali ed wit-bert stoe er, one of the ship's cooks, nesses stated that it was norms _v,- conductedwho was looking down from ii window in nesses inevery Rose-ndahl respect. and Among A. . these Heineu. were OthersWit-the ship, stated that he "saw how the landing crew came running up. and how indicated that the approach seemed hur- they loosened the knot _of that rope and be ried;a fairlv that the short sh? urn made and what approached seemed theto fastened it to the lower lines on the ground. mooring circle fairly rapidly. Based upon Then I saw bow the ropes took tension the statements of other witnesses, Witness and at the moment I fet a very strong Eckener expressed the view that the ship detonation of the ship, vibration of the must have proceeded in a sharp turn to ship. * ' I did not notice anv ex- approach for its landing. Witness Sainmt plosion. I only noticed that vibration I said the turns were normal. was speaking about before." He thought the ship was striking the mooring mast. AIR OOMM- .- BULLETIN 29 Witness H. W. Bauer stied that after the pearnnce of re were looking at the port landing; fromits rope position had been tothe fastened, port window he wentin side of the ship. the contro car and observed the tension- After carefu iy weighing the oral evidence ing of the landing ropes. At the time of and transcribing to a master diagram the that observation, there was a strong shocknumerous diagrams on which the ground in the control car and his rst assumptionwitnesses indicated their rst observations was that the landing rope had broken.oi. re, we conclude that the rst open Witness Ila: Babel, ships third ollcer. ame, produced by the burning of the ship's stllird that he observed the how trail runeshydfoibllt forwardof appeared he entering on the edge top of ot thethe Vcrliciilship being dropped; that the port trail rope n over oclh 4 and 5. The rst open ami- become rather tight. lie saw the endsthat was seen at that place was followed whirl oi the around ropes and w ich tizhten. were tied Immedgiutelyto ether after a veg brief interval by a burst of Qfter this landing rope had become tight. aming hfy rogen between the equator and an explosion was heard and the destruc- the top o the ship. The lire spread in all tion of the ship occurred. He describeddirections. moving progrcssively forward at the vibration that was felt in the controlhigh velocity wit a succession of mild ex- car as an extraordinary one. Witness plosions. As the stern quarter became en- Dowe. ship radioman. testi ed that while veloped. the ship lost buoyancy and cracked watching one oi? the lllnriin ropes beingat about one-quarter of the distance from handled by the ground crew ldfd suddenlythe rear end. The forward part asumed a was some tearing in the ship. a metallic main bow-upevel. attitude. At the the same rear time appearing the ship to wasre- tearing. A passenger reported. ilnd fhensettling to the ground at a moderate rate a asdetonation that rope ' was ' getting '." taut, ..~I, eardof descent. Whereas. there was a de nite detonation after ame was rst observed on the ship. we believe that the phenomenon Sensations Within the Ship was initially a rapid burning or combus- In describing their nervous reactions at tions tion--notmade. an it explosion. BpP."|lI 8 that From there the observa-was a the beginning of the accident, some of thequantity of free iydroaen present in the Persons with n the ship, in addition to suchatter part of the ship when the re descriptions as are provided in the preced-originated. ing paragraph. siiiioke. in eilect.as follows;A brief résumé of the observations made Witness Seven-in lein When the ship waswithin the stern of the ship shows that almost standing still. it save a sudden jolt. witness Helmut Lsu, who was standing Witness Xavier Mater- First he heard det- on the ladder Ieadiua up to the lower cat- onation: then he noticed the vibration,walk from the lower vertical u and was the shock. and tell on his back. Witnesslooking up facing the port side of the u. Heinrich Kubis First heard or felt an ex- heard above him a mutiied detonation and plosion approximately at the same time that saw from the starboard side. down inside the shin tool: a sharp inclination. Witnessthe gas cell. a bright re ection on the front Lena-The sound that he heard he thoughtbulkhead of cell no. 4. He saw no re might have been a. landing ro e breaking.at rst. but a bright re ection through and Witness Claus Hinkelhein- The gerk and the inside the cell. The cell suddcnlr disap- sound oi the detonation and the sight of peared because of the heat. Then cells 3 and the re or the re ection of re were nli 5 caught re. This witness said he did simultaneous. Witness Kurt Bauer !92 n-not see the center of the origin of the ticed a cracking shock which originated in re, but it must have been farther up since the real . lfitness Vi'lttemann --l92'hen he he saw the re ection of rc through thr- heard dull detonation. thud. his rst irlcacell wail material. It was the some type was that rope had parted. Witness Walter of explosion that one hears when using s ZiPlller Ssw how the port landing ro c kitchen gas range. when r=t lighting the was hauler! tizht: shortly thereafter he ame or turning it off. Witncss Lau [iii] heard a dull thud or detonation and a hea92'_vnot smell any hydrogen at the time he shocl: went through the ship. Witness Kurt made these observations. Witness ll:-ms Sci1oenherr It was a strong shock he 5e1|R9Freumi [ was letting out the after mooring nfier hearing a rather dull detonation.cable at frame -i7 and had let out a few Witness Sammt His rst intimation that meters of it when he heard a muffled deto- something was out nf order was a heavynation. Fire was simultaneous with the ex- had push. been about gushed the to Sallie the shock side and as the if the landingshipplosion. He was surrounded by re im- rope had roken. Neither prior to nor after mediately. Witncss Rudolph Sauter. who the push did he hear n mu led explosion.was stationed in the keel of the lower vertical He did not associate the push with anythingtin. rst heard a dull detonation. then sou re in ccll no. 4. a big fire, which he i ]f l .|il- of thatthe miahthip. haveoccurredin theafterpart ed as a hrdrogen re. None of tin-so witnesses in the stern of the ship felt 1111.1 unusual vibration or heard any breaking Appearance of Fire of structures prior to the detonation or the sight of re or re ection of fire. None Numerous expert and lay witnesses on the of the other members or the crew or eld testi ed as to where they rst ob- passenzers on board the shin observed rc served the re on the ship. There was great or re ection of tire until after feeling an diversity in this testimony tor reasons that unusual vibration or shock or hearing the are very apparent. Among the most im- detonation. portant of these reasons were the extreme rapidity with which the re spread. the dif- ferent positions of the Witnesses with re- Part V.--The Combustible Mixture and spect to the hip. the size of the ship. more than one-sixth of a mile in length. and an Its Ignition over-all height equivalent to a 12-story Having retraced the course of events and building. and the tact that at the time of the circumstances surrounding the accident, the re it was still daylight. it is es- we come to the question. why did the re timated thrii the interval between the rst occur? As yet, with the tcw exceptions glimpse of mne and the impact of the main to be noted, no more has been provided body of the ship with the ground was 32 than a hypothetical approach to the answer. seconds. The great majority oi the groundWe have weighed the several theories that witnesses who testified as to the rst ap- have been advanced. - r~ 30 """' am OOMMERUE BULLETIN_ Bsbohse, 1 P9881"! tothe scavengingoi gas was that immediately afierthe last reporred Yillvilg The possibility that the cause is to bl the lhfgfscmiincs werebacked down-hard, explained by premediatedor willfulact hasand t at lls deceleration should have tended to move the gas in the ship inward i§§§"?=n§1'§=e§°cq .s.sb:ihuc%etio::§ ugdginttglothe bow and out through the forward gas aha s. P"noen i"*-:*:.@':s a u e seen '.':.:..i* e c ra *=*. In considering the production of ouch mixture by the rupture oi s cell or cells, andugon theI31-oppingtheshp from an ignitingarpiane: ofin thesecond compositlolhiilaere arest leastseveral avenuesto ex- c seidcation internal- including the plac- pore. esBill CG.use has 0 9, TB -can B IIO M Gm!!! IHTBY OI PIICI OI PROFILE-IR to indicate that sabotage produced the grim result. .- Oil! 01'those milbt he laid to the fail- ure of a propeller and the throwing oi one Accldentsl Csases ofoi the its fraglm-nis hull into a cell. through Tothe this adjacent possib port liiy there was devoted an extensive £Xll.lIlillii- In aconsideration mdentg of causes.tion by experts oi our stall and those or two factors must be foun - _ geth . There other agencies. The condition oi the pro- must be present u! s combustible mix- peller oi engine car no. 2 attracted our ture of hydrogen and ozy en oi! the air: attention. Witness F. W. Caldwell. one tore.and n the su icientbf analysis orto t heate lgnite evidencesuch the mix-_of this country's foremostpropeller ex- mixture and its ignition are treated perts.of the after wasquite port engine certainthat did not the renkgropellcr in separately. ight but was shattered at the time the car struckthe Igrouod.He saidthat iherc PRESENCE OFCOHBUBTIBT-E MIXTUREOF was no indicat on of the separation of the- sheathing tron: the blades except as the re- HYDROGEN ANDAIR sult of shattering on impact. Witness Deutsche, machinist in the after port en- Accumulation ThroughDiilnsion or Osmosis gine car,indicated thatthe propellerof is car was still rotating when it struck While it is conceded that the fabric of ihe ground;that hedid notfeel anyun- which the cells were made is slightly per- usun vibration of the engine before the meable to the diiiusion oi the contained crash. hgdrogen,it is not ouropinion thatthis c aracteristic of the cell walls, under the raacrnan or HULL wlan circumstances prevailing. would account for a combutlble accumulation of gas and air _One other signi cant possibility must be within the ship; the normal rate of seep- discussed uhilethe ueation of cell rupture age being. as was indicated under descrip- is being examined. t was suggested that. tion of the cells. about 1 liter per square willie in ight, a tension wiremight have ripped a hoe in a cell and thus permitted meter per 24 hours. a quantitgof Pasto escape.Coualed to FAILURE OFVALVE IIICHANIBLI R.this poasiH.Ward, ility s diglestedthe testimonybrie y inofthe Knees state- According to the testimony, only one ment of facts, t at he saw a uttering in valve taiiure had occurred on the ship. the outer cover above the equator between This happened when the ship was new; as a frames 62 and 77 and believed that this consequence. certainchanges badbeen made uttering wascaused gas b escapinginto in the construction oi the mechanism. In the spacebetween agjothe ningceli andthe any event. the failure noted occurred to outer cover. A shear wire in one oi the an automatic or pressure relief valve which panelsthe at glacefrom whichthe llswas would not have been functioning at the escaping coul have snapped wh e the time of this accirlent. However, because ship was turning during the landing ma- the valves were mechanical devices, it was neuver. Witness Echener stated that such possible that there might have beena defect turns generate high stress in the after part or failure in them, but no testimony ap- tionof the closeship, especiallyto thestab inllsipi the ns center whichare sec- pears toshow thatthi possibilitywas a braced by shear wires. e gas thus ac- ikely one. cumulated between the cells and the outer cover must have beenI1 rich mixture. Such DECBEASKD vasrinariozr la mixture,enclosed a inspace between the outer cover and the gas cells, would, it Another query regarding the presence oi! ignited, burnwith relativelyslow speedun- such mixture presented itseli. Could it tl glas in greatervolume wasreleased by have been due to the reduced scavenging oi the urning through of the cell walls. Wit- the gas by the ship's ventilationsystem ness Bo-sendahlrecalled that in the early during the last minutes oi the crafts ex- years of operation with naval aircraft, shear istence when its speed eventually had been wires had broken with varying eifect, caus- reduced to a lull stop. combined with the ing no serious damage,however. forelast valving the re? operation, Thistheory about 6 seemsminutesim lrobilhle be~ because of what was said about t e e ici- IA-TUB 8'IEUl'.'.i UR.lL|l"AlLUl1Il ency of the ventilation system and because or the fact that the chimney effect created sibilityConsideration thata mailer has beenstructural given to the failure pos-in bys ip sthe elevation 6-knot duringwindthat the was lastblowing 4 minutes theat the stern of the a ip caused the hydrogen prior to the re should have evacuated to be liberated by rupturlniz I1 cell Ind gt-acticallyof all the gas fromthe shafts.forcefully breaking an electric lead or he forward speed of the ship, reported to rnetalfire broke part. out thus when producingthe Fort a spark.trail rope. The have been from 15 to 20 knots per hour, whlch held the ship to be ground. be- when the last vaivlng operation was per- came taut. It was reported by some per- formed, should have been ample, it was sons that at. or about, the time they oh- stated, to have cleared the gas rapidly from ggrved thg re they IJEBPI1 8 tirii klllg the ship. A further argument made with sound trom the stern of the ship. An ex- FF AIR GOMMEBCE auuarm 31 alnlnation of the wreckage disclosed that the rivets. by which the after end or the as-ial corridor was connected. through a Duerr ments testiiledrespecting that this very possibility extensive had naggl- titling to the hull. had [lulled out: that all conducted by the builders and the results of the radial wires tn the small frame had been reassuring. when the engines are nearest the stern had broken in tension: that only a few of the small tabs oi metal:ielive1-his clnpera ill! 11522" to e I thor powert on ore 1 theen- from the peri hery of the frame. which . .'i1§i'nge llerareo ethggst eexaus B 680° ttol sower.5310' C. had theradia been pulled wires oi! hooked the hight on to i'ol'l.'nctl the frame.where.The engines ordinarily develop B00 to $50 were tound on the ground below where the horsepower. At this output the ten1psru- frame struck. The shearing or the rivets tare oi the exhaust gases is 450° to 480" and the condition oi the wire and the back of the cglinder. with a mixture of air ,suclted in. t e temperature is reduced to which irame might therear he end explainedbit the by ground; the force or withbl 280° to 250' C. Visible sparks have a tem- 1 the torsional or other stresses which the perature over 500' C. but lose their heat It tailhas snitered also been in its pointed last momenta out tbat in the the shipair.i 92rapidiiy Ha this asthey been are the impelled cause through of the ignition.the air. was stressed for greater loads than the tén-it is believed that it would have come into aional strength o the bow rone andplay betore the elapse oi the 4-minute in- that the rope bad not pa Ful'ther-ro$s tervaland between the accident.the dropping ot the trail which moreit the was trail observed rope was tbs. attached the eye throu hto t e bat the beat of the exhaust gases caused ship and the longitudinal member to whichthe havoc ls also improbable. Ii. ignition the eye was amxed. were intact after the ha_d happened at the exhaust it would have accident. The four members oi! the crewbeen necessary that the temperature or the in the stern of the ship testl cd that theyband oi air between the outlets and the did not bear or see any such structuralglance of the rst ame would have had to failure prior to the lire. about 507° C. According to witness Duerr. the temperature at the exhaust nut- IGXIHDN OF THE HIXTUBE lets was much lower than 507° C. with Many of the theoretic aspects of the ig- the Etmienhur and the Gr-or Zeppelin, no nition of the combustible mixture werequa di ilctueltiesr. hado been experienced from this experts. dealtwith Only aat great summary length 0 bry this a number phase of IILETBI CAL the investigation is related in this report. Under the classi cation of electrical source oi ignition several were considered. MECHANICAL A combustible mixture of air and hydrogen could have been ignited by the overheating If there had been enough beat generatedoi wires carrying current within the ship. bl the friction of wires or other memberse. F, by a short circuit. Barring the possi- of the ship coming forcibly into contactbil ty previously alluded to. of a substantial with each other. due to structural failure or failure in the stern structure of the shin. breaking. beenproduced a autiicientlr to set hot oi! spark such might mixture.hlvewhich might have produced a sudden break- There is tnsniilcient evidence to sustain a ing of such wires in the aft end of the ablfi. conclusion based upon this theory. it possibleis thought that the to have mixture been was only tired" remoteyn CHEMICAL gegct ng.or failure of the ship's electr cal as has been stared. there are metals tioned According in t e to electrical witness Lenz. powerwho plant was at sta-the which tureof have ahydrogen catalytic and air eifect and upon nwould mix-ma- time of the accident and had most of the terially lower its ordinary ignition temper-ship's electric indicators. fuses, and cir- ature. but it does not appear that anv suchcult breaker under observation. the vari- metal was in that port of the ship were theous circuits were functioning normally Just lire was rst observed. prior to the con agratlon. No fuse blew Under the title of chemical possibilitiesor circuit-breakers operated at that time. It there has also been suggested that 3 amewas also observed that the cable carrying might have been produced by spontaneousthe current to the stern light was very combustion. The evidence is inadequate to sturdy and was installed so as to Provide support this theory. plenty oi slack to compcnsate for expansion and contraction of the frame or the ship. THERMODINAHIC In theexamination of thermodynamic poa- SPARK IN GAS FULLNESS OR PRESSURE aibilities much time at the outset of the in- INDICLTOR vestigation wos given to the possibility of A theory introduced by witness Heineu such mixture being ignited by the sparkswas that the muse of the re was due to rrom the engine exhausts. It was suggestedthe ignition of such mixture in one oi the that sparks or larger Dlrticles oi carbongas fullness or pressure electric meter ac- tuating units fixed to the axial corridor in have thrownbeen out carried from the into Diesel the opening; enirlnes in mighthethe vicinity of cells nos. 4 and 5. He be- lows! Dart of the hull or have been blownlieved that a small pocket of gas accu- have overignited theexterior sucb mixture. or the stern While and the the-recir-mulated in the folds or riders of the cells culation of the exhaust gases, set up by theinto surroundingthe inner the recesses corridor 0! and the found meter its wayand direction beforethe of accident rotation theof aftcr the propel engines era id {netingthe was re there thus ignited created by an traveled electric up spark: along thatthe in reverse and the forward enzines iriiincradial wires to the space between the cells she-_ad! was different from that producedand the outer cover igniting the free hydro- While under way, it was maintained by thegen collected along the loncitudlnais at the German experts that this clrtillmstance;top of the ship on the inner surface of the would not result in sparks or carbon par-outer cover: that the relatively slow burn- ticles reachlng the interior of the hull. and.ing oi such free hydrogen would account furthermore. that the sparks would not havefor the peculiar manifestations of illumina- been able to ignite such mixture on thetion described by certain Witnesses: that top of the ship at least . 165 feet . HWBV tr0l'l'lthe lire in the second sequence than de- the after exhaust outlets. Witness LudwigLau.atroyed gas cell no. 4. as seen by witness -Iww M___ ._ .....w....--~ ~-v --'- r . M 32 l AIR COMMERCEBULLETIN J With regardto the presence ofegusin one of the meters it was cstitnnt that whether metallicthe braidwas Ori¥iI1'Hliy in 1 hour the seepagein the axiul corridor clamitcdage n the re."the to ' mt-iul bolt, because0 Lithiu- ' would have amounted to one-Iort_lcth of 1 In the light of all the nvnllnltlemvldt-nr-c percent or the volume or the corridor; that on this point Webcllcvc lltttt the pose- i|li|il_v even in the motionless condition oi the oi igniting such mixture by the int-ans just ship, the corridor would have been wcll described was very slight. ventilated due to the chimney effect created by a wind of8 knotsblowiop overthe IEIOIAICI IF'F'Y'5CTiIIIG I'll]-J4,|l'l-INCY gas shafts; that the ventilat on in the ' INDUCTANCB corridor would have preventedpockets of hydrogen from forming because the air An attempt was mmlo in discover if the current through the corridor was not lami- ignition oi such mixture could have bet-n nated but was made up oi whirls and iliid T-0 spark elllissiun due 10 rt-sunttncu eddies. However, if it could be shown that effect upon metal parts of the ship's in- It rent occurred in a cell below the axial terior caused by received radio waves of corridor, thenit is possible thatsome irec hyd1'0§el'lhave foundits might waysinto higlhhere frequency. was on the ilcld at Lnkehnrst. n one o the meters. localizer beam rsnlio transmitter of low In regard to the ignition of lurch mix- power. maintained by an airline company, ture within a gas pressure. pr fullness the on-course portion of which was so meter thefollowing quoted is Iron:a report situated as to puss through the spare ot~<-t|- oi theBureau 0 Standards. relating tonied by the shin at th-- time it ttmk ilrt-. exhibit 74, one oi the meters taken rom .1 Thistransmitter wasat that time about1,>»-on the ship: feet irom the ship. Its power output was "It is evidently intended for measuring 15 watts; its frequency 278 kilocyclcs. Tito and giving a remote indication ot small tua.t...'.".-'nstrength eld authorized for this gas pressuresby electrical means. Thegas type of station is 1,500 microvults per pressure acts on a diaphragm in opposlt on meter at I mile. which represent.-t iiitven to s. helical spring. A plunger attached to tcn-thousandths oi!1 volt per meter tncns~ the diaphragm carries a coil of wire which urect at 1 mile on the on-course portion of hasa resistance oi 100 ohms. Two rollers, the range which. incidentally. is the area connected inparallel, make contact with thr of weakest radiated power. The strength sides of the coll. Two exible I1ilECtl0ns of this eld is so low that it has been com- run to the ends oi! the coil. The changegttred tothe powerof a y. Sofar ascould in the relative reistances oi the two parts determined. this locallzer was the only of the circuit between the contact rollers transmitter that was operating at Lake- and the ends can cause suitable electrical burst at the time in question. It is not indicating instruments in the control cabin believed that other hlglt-frequency stations. to indicate the position of the coil and at some distance from the eld, could have diaphragm and hence the pressure. bnd inductive e ect upon the airship. "all electrical parts are enclosed in a Witness Dleckttmnn. of the German Com- cylindrical metal box. The only openings mission, statedthat ll? and his colleagues into this box are ! the bole, 10 nttu in bad been p.irticul.url_v interestedin the pos- diameter at the top through which the sibility ofignition throughhigh-frequency operating rod passes with a clearance of radio induction.especial; afterhearing not over 0.05 mm and 1 the opening at the testimony oi! Witness reund who was the bottom which is completely lled by engagedin nayinc out a length of the stern the 3-conductor cable coveredwith metallic cnhle at frame 47 when the accident took braid! which connects to the rest oi the place; that this pnrt of the cable might circuit. The conical housing surroundinghave received impulses and thus electriratl the metal box is well ventilated. energy would have been conveyed into the The device seems to be excellentlv de- inside or the ship. However,it appear; signed and constructed from the standpoint tbnt if such result was to occur due lu in- of safety, and there appearsno way by ductive e ect. a transmitter relatively close which it could with any reasonableproba- to the ship] andor consirlerablepower btlltv have caused atire. would have ad to be operating at the time "An overheatingof the deviceby short of the event. These conditions were not circuit seems impossible. A short circuit present. external to the device would impose on it Resonance eilfect due to high-frequenqv generation within the ship was impossible onlycuit the and produce fall voltagerate 4a volts! heatof ofdissipation the cir-of because all the ship'stransmitters l-ad l-.cen less than 6 watts. A short circut inside shut down before the appearance of re. the device would not draw more th- n the Furthermore. the strip was carefully shielded I rnilliampere xed by the external instru- against resonancee ects generatedfront ments. A simultaneous short circuit both thin. Witness J. B. Whitehead put no inside and out would blow a fuse. if one stock in this possiltiiity because of the was present, before a dangerous tempera- small amount of energy that could have ture was reached. Good practice requires been involved. Furthermore. once inside the such fuses on all circuits. and one was ship in the form of oscillations in the probably used. structure no damatro could bnve been done. The normal operation of the device should because thestructure itself was so lsrtre produce no sparks. Deterioration of the snd so complex that there was no possi- contact rollersor of the coil or a breaking bility of a small nnmunt of energv setting of a wire inside the metal box micllt pro- the whole ship in oscillation and that oscil- duce a spark inside. It seems impossible lation in separate parts, which perhaps that hydrogenshould hepresent insideas contained high resistance, would he short- it could get there only by diffusion down circuited by other parts of the shin. In the narrow clearance betweenthe operat- elvenview or theonthis facts Possibility. and the expertit may testimonv be said int? rodand its guide tube.50 mm long. A that in such nductnnce there was only spark could be produced outside the ho: the retnotest chance that it was responsible caontlf o. by the breakingof the 3-conductorfor the elusive spark. "This cable is strengthened bythe metallic braid andruns inR tn-on-credlocation alone Ell-BCI'RDS'I ATICS the structural member. It could not be- Under this designation oi electrical pos- determined whether or not the cable was slhiiitios there is now to be considered n de nitely anchoredto the member, norgr un distinguishable from current elec- AIR oonunacn BULLETIN 33 tricltv and known as electrostatics. in this froup, there is rst mentioned a possibil- he shig did not give indication that any I3 due to the nature of the materials l-ll iniuryor to ad the 0001-ll'l't t} accident.to the ship's bonding unployed. _ We have also considered the possibility In the older type oi ceii fabric, contain-that due to a discharge between parts or ing a rubberized e ement it was apparently the ship having dicterent potentials a spark might have been created. Whethcr such possiolethe fabric. to create The a cell static fahr spark c used by tearingin the Hindenbusa, as far as we could learn, did a discharge occurred we cannot say. Ac- not inclu e material possessing this char- cordigfbond in to keeping the testimony. with the ihe best ship nownwas acteristic. Since virtually all of the cells practice. were consumed by the re, no test could lie There was one iixture oi the ship in made oi the cell fabric. . , this respect that received morethan pass- The two bungee: in the stern oi the ship lni; not ce the unbonded electric wires at connected to the horizontal members of the the stern electric latng of the airship. tail, contained some rubber, but as Ii-ir as Witness Dieckniann in icated that there we know the bungees had not been damaged might have been a static charge produced until after the re had broken ant, by this tail light wiring at the light bulb Before proceeding further with the sub- snce the wiring within it was the only part ject of electrostatics, it is to be remarked of the ship w ich did not have the same that an airship as a body ls regarded as Potential as the 1'8l.'ll .lIlll&B surface oi! tile carrying an electric charge, the nature and ship, a very small di erence, however. extent of which depend upon the circum- 9292 hetber such a sniali electrostatic capacity stances. In motion it may accumulate a as tlie lamp terminal would have been able churge either through friction with the air T0 Produce a spark is highly questionable. or gerhaps by means of charged water dropsAnother reason to regard it as improbable auc as may be found in clouds or mist. is that no one reported having seen the It may accumulate a charge of either posi- origin of the lire at the extreme rear end tive or negative sign. Thunder clouds may ot the ship. carry» cordug a to positive the evidence or a nefaiive n this sifn. nstuncc.Ac- BALL LIGHTNING the sh p is assumed to have carried a posi- A reading of the record reveals that tive charge on its outer surface, which is a. some space s given to another manifesta- semiconductor. This phenomenon is due to tion of electrostatic discharge; namely, to the tact that an airshiip in ight is withinthe possibility that ball lightning might the atmosphere which s electri ed. A few have accounted for the ignition of the oi the more interesting features of this mixture. phenomenon are; that t e earth ordinarily Ball lightning is supposed to be one oi! s charged ncgativelly; that in the atmos-the peculiar species oi iglitning discharges Dhere there is an eectrical eld measured that have been observed trom time to in volts per meter potentialgradient !time. One of its features is that like a which in tine weather amounts to 00 volts drop of oil on water it spreads and splits per meter, becoming higher as the weather into segments, some of vi-liicii segments grows more disturbed; that the tendencycontinue for a distance along oiijccis on s for an E g.li'i]ll9tiOlJcurrent to pass fromwhich thcv alight. the atmosp ere to the fround; thit thi- Although some authorities have dis- electrical conductivity o the atmosphere claimed the exltence of ball lightning, we is greater when the atmosphere is humid. have considered the idea for what it niiglii Other facts and assumptions are that the be worth. It does not very well explain total outer surface of the ship has a uniform the slow burning ihat some of the wirncsse.- potential : that the electrostatic effects on described as having taken plncv at the llE~ the outside of the ship are selparute andginning of the action. Moreover, the apart from those on the inslic: that ii t eorg as applied in the present instance number of conditions tend to equalize the wool appear to have little substance since potential of the ship with the siirroainding no one testiiled to having observed any atmosphere; among these is the dissipation form of llchtning. created by the exhaust gases and by the For the some reason any o.ht-r claim movement of propellers, the eilses oi the niarle on the ground of lightning as n lattcr being rnetallicnliy connected with thi cause would also seem to fail, because none ship's structure; that the landing ropes of the witnesses who tcsti ed stated that would serve as conductors of the ship s they observed any lightning ashes in the charge and equalize the potential of the uinily of the ship or heard an accom- ship with that of the ground. When the pnnyiug clap of thunder at the time of ship is held by the landing ropes tlic elec- the accident. trostatic picture is such that the surface of the ship after a brief interval. so to BRUSH DISCHARGE, OR 5'1 . EL.92I0"S FIRE speak, becomes a piece of the ground e e- vated into the atmosphere. In order to develop the next possibility The potential ditlerences measured ver- to be considered, viz. ignition due to brush tically to the earth are called the potential discharge, or St. Elmo's re, a few addi- gradient. This gradient is higher over those tional remarks arc necessary upon the areas of the ship where the edges or points subject of electrostatics and the conditions project into the atmosphere. especially overthat actually prevailed at the time and he bow and stern of the ship. It may he place oi the accident. increased in the presence oi charged clouds. It will be recalled that the bow pori The principal protection against an elec- trail ropes rst made contact with the ex- trostatic dischiirize which might serve to trcmelv wet ground, 4 minuies before the ignite an in ammable mixture in or about re. when they left the ship they rip- the shlp is the bonding of the ship. Brl r pcared to be quite dry as dust was observe-ll such bonding is the connecting up of the to ii,i' from them as they descended. These many parts of the ship so that electrically ropes were made of hemp. The atniosphere it becomes one complete metallic whole. A at the time and place of landing was humid possible test of the state of this bonding and the ship had absorbed moisture. ii could have been made by detecting throuu-1 was. therefore. reasonable to suppose that the radio receivers the characteristic noise in the interval the ropes continued 1n_ ah- associated with interference created by lin- sorb moisture and their conductive qualities perfect iionding. in the present instance, increased. Therefore, their contact with the s had been noted. the receiving system of ground under the circumstances would dis- _ _ I V _ I ____ _____W__W _n_V__M >_ Mb Y_H_m W ______,_ , _ _,.. ,. ,'_,....,_.,_,.,...__...... he ~34 92* no oomunac lu_1.1.n'rm 3 charge the static accumulated on the ship. em. aid that ii s secondary storm was Laboraioiiy ti-sis were made by the Nationalpresent in suilicient intensity to muse a Bureau o Bllhdiirds or the electrical con- spark of lightning or any character that it ductivity, at various humidities. of I sec- would have been visible or audible. At any ti ono 1' hte bo wpor it ll ra rope, t o dterminc,e rule thatit probably would because be reasonable of the to suppreceding use by whether the airship the static was or discharge was not accumulateddischargedthunderstorm the potential Jradient at the when such rope made contact with he time and place of the scci ent was lume- ground. Under the varying conditions em- whnt greater than normal. . ployed in the tests. it-was found that the? Witness I . A. L. Dartach. aerologlet at airship would be 90 percent discharged in a the naval air station. appeared to ave a period of from 0.8 second to 170 secondssomewhat diiilerent opinion. He stated that atter such rope came in contact with the pgevioue to the llndlng there lllll been svy showers which could have Produced ground.with respect to the potential gradient ex-a strong potential dicnt but whe her that isting in t e atmosphere in which the ship stil-I ex sted at tg time of the accident was standing, witnes F. W. Reichslderfer. when onlg a light rain was falling with Just the clou s above, he could not de nitely nsval aeroloflst, indicated that conditionswear. He did not believe that the potential due wereto favor-ab ethe existence to a sleep of a potential hunder-storm gradientcon- ggarlient then existing was dangerous to dition. Witness Eckener also believed that 1 e ship but he had no way of verifying a high potential gradient existed at "19the his view. thunderstorm In answer had to dlblggiwlted. the question, llld "Alterlilo time an place o the accidi» t. He ap-wind and rain had decrea , were there any rently based his opinion * the -io-signs or indication ot a new small depres- ]- :win5: passe over That the athunderstorm station; that ti. t tho bldlriustenvy sion or squall?" Witness Dartach said that rain had become n light drizzle, thus re- the onl! indication they had had was the temporary shift from southeast to southwest ducing the potential gradient _materiallywith the alight abqut one-hundredth inch- and aneet of at the from sky his showed a information light stratus the appear-ceil-rlse in Pressure. However, no distinctive ing. He proceeded to any t at i! one Citroe-clouds o precipitation occurred with this ly examined the current registrations of change. winds. temperatures, and pressures then Brush discharge ordinarily is seen only one might recognize that the rst thunderafter dark. It is manifested Particularly front must have had a smaller, lighter one from I|1iI.l'E points or projections oi dig foiiowin it, that the wind turned back to material o ject that is chug: to a an - clently. high electrostatic Bo tial so that tude thesoufbeast. remained Winds westerly. oi the The higher rometeralti-the c arge dissipates. T e eifect is pro- curve showed a slight falling off of Preh- duced hy Particles of the mate-rial substance sureand relatlvelg the temperature startedor by ion nation oi the gases of the atmos- to rise again. T at is, after the tempera- phere froln impacts or stress. The ignition ture had been brought down ncppreciably,of a combustib e mixture of gases in such a by the breaking in of the col air, the discharge is due to transformation oi ki- temperature remained constant for one-half netic energy into heat from impacts oi ions hour before the landing maneuver to one or particles. The brush discharge appears one»half hour after the landing maneuver. either reddish or bluish depending upon the Then the temperature again started _ _ _ to de-_ electrical sign of the chars- cline rapidly and the wind slowly turned Durlng the course of the gublic hearings. buck to the northwest. the %uestion oi whether a rush discharge This, according to the witness, the sensi- woul produce aumcient heat to ignite an tive instruments show, and that if this was in ammable hydrogen air mixture, was not noticed at the eld it was quite natural dwelt upon to a considerable extent. Since that time, further experiments have been because tugmaneuver attention and was on tocused the handling on the of land-themade in the high-voltage laboratorg oi the sh p. For registrations made by the sen- National Bureau ot Standards an it has aitive instruments, referred to by witness been found possible to ignite hydrogen by a Eckener, see appendix 47 containing graphs brush discharge by using somewhat more made at the naval air station, Lakenurst, intense discharges than those previously N. J., May 6, 1937, including anemograph,tried with a somewhat slower velocity 01' thermograph and micro-harograph traees the gas passing the needle point. correct within 5 minutes.! In this consideration of the possibility of He stated confidently that there was a brush discharge it is to be noted that no small tail-end to the rst thunderstorm that witness testi ed that a visible indication oi passed by, which most likely created a it Wd egirescni. This, however, may be steeper_potentia_1 gradient _than_ would oth- account tor by the tact that darkness had erwise be expected. whether tnia stronger not yet fallen at the time of the accident. gradient could have generated su icient po- Wtness Whitehead was oi the o inion tential between the airship and the air thatthe continuous presence 0! brush dis- masses above the ship so that an etléi lllwcharge, su icient to cause the ignition, would tion of the gradient took place eit er by requ re a greater current intensity than St. Elmo's re, or by a spark, he was un- could have been possible through a dry rcgae. able to decide. Another argument against the brush ls- That the ignition was not e ected by suchchaiage theory advance by Witness White- a static equs ization spark immediately after hea was that there was much evidence that the landing lines had been dropped was the rst sign oi re was through the trans- because the£ then were dry, hence poor con-lucent skin at the point well away trons ductors. '1 cg slowly became damp in thethe tip of the n. light drizzle hat was falling, and in such Witness Dieckmann in elaborating on this condition their conductivity became greater. phenonemon stated that a one-hun rcdth or Therefore. he believed that the potential one-thousandth part oi! a watt, perhaps less. between the ship and the ground was slowly was all that would be necessary to ignite a equalized and afterward the potential mixture oi air and hydro ehi that t was gradient between the ship and the overly- di icult for him to believe that brush dis- ing air space was su cicnt to generate charge was responsible tor the ignition ; that these static sparks. none oi the witnesses testi ed to its pres- Witness Whitehead, in commenting upon ence. He remarked u n the testimony as these views respecting the potential gradi- to the presence of glgwing re ections oi 66 ~._, am commonCE BULLETIN J In XIOKB Matilda, mm.-0 cm-, 11.1- Xnver Mal:-r. chief cook. Do .-, Waller, Maxim City Maxi:-o. 'Ri|'hnrd Huelier. Doehner . Werner _ M vxlcn CH3 . HEMP!!. Alfred Bloc-i'lh92r. 'l llI I, Cnriia. France. Alfred Groezinger. Douglas, Edward, New York. Fritz Flnkns. 'lCr F E F E ;. l _*______H ,_ ..W_,,___.,..-.__...__...... __ - . -.--.--7,-----.-»------1. @' LIB OOMMET ..q~BULLETIN J 35 re which had moved from the stern tor- WATCH OFFICERS ward but stated that such references to re §9Cl.1I?t:l; were peculiarly inde nite and Libcrt Burnmt. nnce I1. Heinrich Bauer. the 01' ogainion related oi interest witness to Earle brush that discharge in an wasat- Wxlitcr Ziegler. mosp ere oi hixh humidity. static elvctriciiy could be attracted to the top points oi the NAVIGNIOBS ship when the ship's mooring rages came Mg; Zabel. into contact with the ground an cient to Frans Hernoit. I hydrogen musea spark and tohup air, aging ncrntm that the such mixture would.of Christian Nielsen. be possible ii the a in was in relatively Kurt Bauer. slow motion, while gas was being valved. I-M110 DI !- ICERS placing the a amp layer atmosp oi ins ere. between The the concen ship ratedaml atmosphere between the cloud and the ship Willy Speck, chief radio operator. would reduce resistance to permit aparlrins Herbert Dowe. and it the potential oi the ship was the Frans Eichelmann. same as that of the 121-onud there would*beEgon Schvreiknrd. a possibility of spark an across: that it is easier to spark through hydrogen than IFGINEQI NO OFF] CERS through air. .. data The 0! meteorological the lnvestisation records were and mt ple relatedavail-§ Rudolf Bauter, chief engineer. able to Dr. W. J. Humphr vs oi_ e United Eu ne Bchaeuhle. States Weather Bureau. e has concluded WI elm Dimmler. after making a study of such material that. a brush discharge, or several of them, Yer? IZEVATOBMEN well might have occurred on the ahip after. not before. the landing rages came into contact with the ground: t at this hrush LndwigH1l eiber. discharge would have continued for somei time: that it would have been invisible be- Ernst uchel. inc in davlight!; that such a rlischarse Eduard Boetills. likely would have ignited any adequateg rich stream oi leaking hydrogen that reach HIILIISMEN it: and that from t e point oi ignition the ame would have shot back to the leak. Alfred Bernhard. there quick] would have burnt a larger Helmut Lau. opening sndy set goins: a con agration of Kurt Schoenherr. great violence and rapidity." Conclusion ELECTRICIANS The cause oi the accident was the lgnl- Philip Lena, chief electrician. tion of a mixture of free hydrogen and air. Joseph Leihrecht. Based upon the evidence. a leair at or in Ernst Schlapp. the vicinity of cells 4 and 5 caused a com- bustilsle mixture of hydrogen and air to HDCHANICS form in the upper stern part of the ship in considcrahle quantity: the rst appear- Walter Bahnholzer. ance oi! an glen ame was on the top of Eugen Bentcle. the ship an a relatively short dlstnucr Rudy Biallns. forward of the upper vertical u. Tho August Dcuts hlc. theory that a brush discharze ignited such J0l1Il_V lloer ein. mixture appears most probable. Adolf Fischer. Albert Hnlderried. Richard Kollmer. Respectfully submitted, Robert Maser. Alois Reisar-her. SOUTH Txrarnm, .13., . Theodor Bitter. Solicitor. Raphael Scbnedler. R. W. Scnaomna, Willy Scheef. Joseph S-:-hrcihmueller. Asst. Director, Bureau Wilhelm Stceh. of Air Gommercc. Alfred Stoerkle. Dn.92'1s ]92I['LL1GAN, German Zettel. Chief. Regulation and Eilforrorlront Ditrisiou, BIGGEBS Bureau of Air Commerce. Ludwig Knorr, chief riggcr. Hans Freund. Approved : Erich Spehi. DANIEL C. Roam, Secretory of Commerce. B'1 E9292' A EDS Heinrich Kuhis. Appendix I Wilhelm Balla. Fritz Deeg. O icers and crew on board the air- Ma: Henneherg. ship Hindenhurg on its departure from Severin Klein. Eugen Nunnenmadlet . Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, on Ma! Max Schuize. Frau Imhoi! stewardess 3. 1937, were BS IOHOWSI i Dr. Ruediger, ship's doctor, Capt. Ernst Lehrnann. Capt. Max Pruss, commanding. Indicates those who died in accident. _92!__m M w %W W Rm M92'8 __ 3if I _'___¢92; _>_u_"_mzO_xH8oz_3_v-m° =_ __ 92% M. % -____ _° ____ 92_m 924U______ _ _""%n_h___"_____"_____'_ ___h___"______ ______U______ ____ '___V_ _, _. _$L______J~ __I! ____ Wm|m__5____m______H_____'_ ______ _ _W"_ _H__,__ _"____,__ __H'____ M J UW_q_m§%§%§%%§_~_%M ___$%%% E Y"MumI hMm _m_"_mM'M|mMm"m'Mmm m$_M m_|Mm"MM__L__j_ ____i M 5:"?mML_mm_" "_"_|m M___$___5: :____L lm:% g J gga a E_mm_MmmMmMmw_ qwm_EE~__mm mmuwMm_ _ m __h|w__Km E l" ME___§§§i___WmmnmmMWmmmmmmmmm"____M_____w__§ MmmWmmmww giH_W__ __|__~______A5__W? inEM"__Wm'h.u"_.______ m_ _ _'_:Mmmm|HI"" |_ '__LA__h_FW_H92w__ _am______ Eh§__ad mm? Hm mmmmmmmm m__""_mm m__WMMWMWWHNI HuiMM? gip Lg rhm MMMEm_% __"Mp__mmH AmM 'I_"E ' UI"1.] g E lum um_u__>_M_ §W5 w§kW__ W_|___|_ A _m§_M hm_"W %__ Mm_Wm_ _UuIJ_-_ 'rAl ::'L__'__._"_____W_'H_cn___wM"_ I _W_H__/4_'"__F_h__ __,_ __ _!___H; M_U|__ hw$}_"_ Wm? _| w wnn1;___ ___'_" '_ _ ___,T_ :__ I__H__ "__ ____ _ ! ______"__Jj_ _J__p{VJMr §|__JAd y__ __.___'___ y __ I ____%/_,__' __ ____V& N|.'__I _W_'__._°__'._~u _'v 1.______.__ ~ }_ J_L.__r,______m WN M_H'anM F H E2isu92__ W__ ______ ___92_ __E_ _w -é_I _/VJ_O1 7 3 Jm T mME C R E MR M__!_ O CW 1' v_ _ u_ _ 7 I __" | _ _Q v maMl W5*___2u_ ___n__Xii!i: __ _l___I _. H_ ':p 1 _:__ ____*_1W H In ___1 ___1___m____|_ NH;1 ML92NIV IIllM R HAM 4L :|Jl'_'_|_|______|___ _l_|[_i + |_||||||ll W41_I|_*l__;1_WIT_|__|_|%lull___I,M.' It 92 .92" '__m IL VII|FHL_|||_:|: _J H M ,_ H__W|ll _}h__ 4_H1MWW__|é_W|__HP__h_____J_H_H92____| __W__;_Z|_4m_i_92__M___b_M_WMifH_1 *5___n__d______~_ &%___%w_¬___mw %____ _ _=h: __=jiiig1mM QR_'I* I;HNW _. W l H U__'$_:$rQLL______k_E i mug _m"m___%% _§m%_&____ _W F _w___f__*%_____éW____$"__m_M__$_ _JM__ _A____1Fv_|___mh__wh_ ___w__ E WWLL_m_"_ '_¢ _,Ur____:_ __r_?_'__ _%_,______g_ _ RI d__/__%/___Ey kI£_|__~_2 ? Y II1 I i n F {92- 40 "- Am 001 non aonnarns -.2 tions inimical to unrestrained ights, 4. Procedure to be followed in setting 111.1 Sufi!!! I-Ereemclits by various scrviccs, the importance oi certain types oi l;I'0upa, or an-us. Not assigned; ior general ight operations transcend the impor- dl scusslon.! tance of other types of ight operations. 5- Lltten illg of airport control 'tow -r lt also must weigh the needs of any opt-rotors. Amm'iL'unMunicipal Associ- ation.! _, - one type oi ying as balanced against ti. D_l92'lsi0l'l of authority lwlwvcn airway the needs of other types of ying and lra ic control station and airport control assist the Bureau of Air Commerce in towers. American Municipal Association; __'._ _- National Association oi! State Aviation Util- determining under what conditions and ems; Air Transport Association ot America.! to what extent the Bureau must begin '1. Priority in clearing ililghts of various to apply and enforce restrictions in the clasl service! into airport. on cr conditions of use of the civil airways. 'landing sequent-e_ assignments. National Aeronautic Association.! It is believed that this committee, 3. Closing of airways or airports to vari- representing as it does the several ous typea of tra ic according to weather. phases of military aviation. private op- National Aeronautic Association; American Municipal Association.! erator, the scheduled ai - line o rator, 9. Penalties to be invoked for violating the communication or*iizati<:p1 13, anduirwif tra ic control regulations. Ameri- the regulatory body of the. Bureau of can unicipal Association.! iii. Civil air regulations up. o0 Alr Air Commerce itselr, as well as com- tra ac control, including adoption or con- munication agencies, will furnish n- solidated intcrline saterg agreement provi- complete, well-rounded picture at the sions to t all ying. _.u:-ecuor Air Com- immediate needs of the dl erent types meme.!11. urisdiction of airway tra ic control or ying now properly making use of in authorizing clearance for military intell- the aids to air navigation tarnished tional instrument ights nlon qor across air- and operated by the Bureau of Air ways. War Department; avy Depart- meat.! Commerce. 12. System of coordination of all mili- The committee, which is composed of tary trat c into other tra ic at all times. the following members, held its rst War Department; Navy Department.! 13. Discussion as to necessity tor ight meeting on July 7: Capt. J. E. Webb plans for all itinerant ight movements representing the National Aeronautic along or across airways un er all weather Association!, Chas. A. Massom, secre- con tlons including the requirements or radio dx reports with the establishment of tary. State Aviation Commission of communication facilities. Navy Depart- Maryland; Paul Goldsborough, presi- ment; Narlonal Aeronautic Association.! dcnt,_ Aeronautical Radio, Inc.; Oom- 14. Two-thousand-toot tree zone or sub- manuer 0. B. Hardison, United States stitute ior aircraft without two- way radio. Navy Department; National Aeronautic Navy, Navy Department; David L. Association; Air Transport Association.! Behncke, president, Air Line Pilots As- 15. Discussion as to the necessity or the sociation; Lt. G. H. Bower-man, Avia- establishment of a dispatching agency for tion Division, United States Coast thor thePurpose ty over 01' all exercising other t an ight air control line move-au- Guard; Maj. A. W. Marriner, Army Air ments. National Aeronautic Association.! Corps; S. S. Keuvvorthy representing 16. Establishment ot maximum altitude zones for the entire country measured above American Municipal Association! ; the terrain. allowing contact ight at an Fowler W. Barker, secretary, Air altitude under the speci ed maximum alti- Transport Association of America. tude. Such ight plan to be merely termed At the rst meeting the committee "contact." How far below cloud base and with what visibility day or night ! Na- members were presented with an initial tional Aeronautic Association.! list of subjects to be studied and after 17. Discussion as to steps necessary to general discussion, it was agreed that expedite communication in forwarding in- Iormation required lag airway tramc con- each member be assigned one or more trol. such as dispatc es and ship reports. of the problems with which he is ta- Aeronautical Radio, Inc.; War Depart- miliar. After determining facts sur- ment.! 18. Discussion as to advisability of air- rounding such problems, the members way tratdc control managers taking up ir- v were to submit complete data to the regularities aud violations oi airway tra ic committee tor general discussion and control procedures directly with local super- vising aeronautical inspector, immediately agreement. The subject and assign- upon their occurrence. Not assigned, for ments follow: genera] discussion.! 19. Plan for handling tramc beyond Btudy of present airway tratllc control capacity of one airgort on a civil airway system in all phases oi procedure, and recom- b rerouting or hol ing at point of origin. mendations for improvement. l ational Aeronautic Association: Air 1.Designation 0 B mdri and secondaryTransport Association.! airwa{_s. AirLine ilots ssociatioo: Air- 20. Direction communication eéaaansiou wazy . Reduction radlc Control.!in airway width. [War D9. should foll092t' -radio? ground? ar De- partmcnt ; Navy Department.! Bartmcnt; Navy Department: Aeronautical 3. Restriction of number of airports and adio, Inc.! bad weather operations near major terminals. 21. Should any oi the following fre- National Association of State Aviation Odi- quencies he changed or discontinued for cials; Airway Tra ic Control.! itinerants?--3105, G210, 3120 kilocycles. ___ _. I V W _ A A ______~______i¬ ___ ______,_ _ _,__m,__,_,_,_____,_,,__,'_....._,_...,.,.__,__ .. AIR commence BULLETIN J 39 Bureau of Air Commerce Ad --Air Lines Employ 286 Hostesses sory B o a r d Holds Firs and 105 Stewards Meeting i There are 286 young women em- As a medium through which the Bu- ployed as hostesses, and 105 mcn em- reau of Air Commerce can obtain the ployed as stewards on AmcrlcI1I'l-0per- viewpoints and counse1_o£ other Fed- ated air lines, according to the most eral agencies having to do with acro- recent reports from the lines to the nautics and of national organizations Bureau of Air Commerce, Department representing the aeronautics industry, of Commerce. Seven domestic air the Department of Commerce has es- tines chapter hostesses. One domestic tablished a Bureau oi Air Commerce line and two" lines extending to foreign Advisory Board. The rst meeting, countries ploy stewards. held on August 6, was a luncheon at In October 1936 there were 270 host- the Willard Hotel in Washington. esses, all on domestic lines. Thcrc was Monthly meetings are planned with I male steward on a domestic air line ecrctary oi Commerce Daniel C. -at that time and there were 41 stew- Roper, Assistant Secretary of Com- ards on foreign extensions. merce J. Monroe Johnson, and the The air lines which have hostesses members of the Bureau's own Policy on their airplanes include American Board representing the Departuient. Airlines. Brani ? Airways, Grand Can- The Policy Board consists of Director yon Airlines, National Airlines Sys- oi! Air Commerce Fred D. Fagg, . Ir., tem, Transcontinental & Western Air, the Assistant Director, the Technical United Air Lines, and Western Air Ex- Assistant to the Director and the ipress. Eastern Air Lines employs 43 ehiefs of the Bureau's seven divisions. stewards and Pan American Airways, These meetings will he devoted to con- operating to Latin America and across sideration oi important national aero- the Paci c, has 51 stewards; Pan nautical problems and the formulation American Grace, 11 stewards. of notional policies with respect there- The Bureau of Air Commerce has no to. jurisdiction over hostesses and stew- The members of the Bureau Advi- ards, as it does with respect to quali- sory Board are: cations of pilots and dispatchers, and airworthiness of equipment, hut docs Hon. R. Walton Moore, counsellor. De- partment ot State. request the lines to include in their rc- Hon. Stephen B. Gibbons, Assistant ec- ports the number of hostesses and retary, Treasury Department. stewards employed. ___Gen. Oscar Weatover, Chiet oi Air Corps, war Department. Hon, Harllee Branch, Second Assistant Advisory Committee Formed to Postmaster General, Post O lce Deipartment. Admiral Arthur B. Cook, Chie , Bureau Assist in Civil Airway Opera- of Aeronautics, Navy Department. . tion Problems Hon. Willis R. Gregg. Chief, Weather Bureau, Hon Carroll Department Miller, of cha Agriculture.rman, Interstate An Airways Operation Advisory Com- Commerce Commission. mittee has been organized under the Dr. George W. Lewis, Director of Aero- sponsorship of the Bureau of Air Com- nautic Besearch, National Advisory Com- mitiee for Aeronautics. merce tor the purpose oi securing the Hon. Corrington Gill, Assistant Admin- best thoughts of ight sections of the istrator, Works Progress Administration. various aviation interests throughout hear Admiral Emory S. Land, member, United States Maritime Commission. the United States, looking toward a Hon. Gill Robb Wilson, president, Na- long-time planning program for the Eignai Association of State Aviation Oi -operation oi the civil airways of this '"1'~i$3. Charles F. Hornet, president, Na- country. tional Aeronautic Association. The various aviation groups con- Hon. Andrew Joyner, Jr., president,cerned were asked to designate repre- American Municipal ssociation. sentatives on the committee in order Aeronautical Hon. Leighton Chamber W. oi! Rogers. ommerce.president,that problems peculiar to each oi them Hon. 92 i'|n. A. Schrmder, chairman, Com-,would be given consideration in the mittee on Aeronautical Law, American Bar Association. , nal recommendations made to the Sec- Dr. W. W. Arrasmlth, president, Avia- retary of Commerce for guidance in the tion Commission, American Legion. issuance oi necessary instructions to Col. Robert G. Elbert, chairman, Business Advisor Council. those operating, as well as using the Mr. genres E. Hoskina, chairman, Avia-civil airways and the facilities thereon. tion Committee, Actuarial Society of Amer- As an illustration of problems before ica. Col. Edgar S. Gorrell. president, Air the committee. it must consider "l rn'mar92m'i' ----_..,.r..... ____------V-_ Associationof .._ _7----WAmerica. whether. or not, under certain condi- -. J-' -w ... -an - » i. v . i VMM ...... a_...... ____,,_...._._.,.,,e..._,i__e, ff _>.. 42 -- Am communes aonnnrm -./ Dr. Merrill W. Hollinlnrorth? 1506 North Main street, Santa Ana, Call . The following-named physicians are Dr. Samuel B. Bnndnll, 84 Walnut no longer conducting examinations tor Avenue, Santa Cruz. Calif. the Bureau of Air Commerce: Dr. Victor W. llari, 113 North Oregon Dr. Dwight H. Trowbridge, 51-., Fresno, Btrcet, It-eka, Calif. Cuiit ,_ C'_@Q!IlE _E- HBWIT. 391% lllllll Qllftl, Dr: Joseph G. Zimmerman, Traverse City, Lieu- r aruui, iowa. Mich, treet, Dr. S. Brooklyn, Senior Sack, N. Y.96 East Fifty-ioui-tn] Dr. I llf Chlldrey, .lr., Bochelter. Minn. Airports, Charts, and Lights Airports of Entry Airport; Ind landing lields having any night lil iging un|cipa_ equlipmentz_.._._-....-...... 261 Temporary Airports of Entry Commercial...._...._...-...-...... 93 Intermediate...._..-.....--...-.. . 2&0 Redeaignated I Army._._.__....._._-...-.-. .. _ .. .-_ Navy.__-._...-...... --__ ..... The following temporary -airports itgxte.-___-..---__._----..._..-...... -- of entry have been redesignated for fhll 1..-u. nu nnrvinrl vu ua. nf a 1 ;-canUnnr: . Prime.:..'II§IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Total ...... JFK Name onn-port 1§;"fn ; ;§'Department of Commerce Aero- nautical Charts Bu alo Marine Airport, Bu alo, N.Y ______.. July 29,192? The following aeronautical eharts are Bault Ste. Marie Airport. Sault Ste. now available tor distribution: Marie, Mich ...... Aug. 4,1037 Dubuque revisedas of June 1937!. El Peso revisedas of July I937!. Savannah revisedas of June 1937!. Airport of Entry Designated Without Time Limit Copies may be obtained from the of- ce of the Director, Coast and Geodetic Rouse: Point, N. Y.- The Surrey, 'WiiSi1ingt0n,D. C., at n cost of Point seaplane base has been desig- 40 cents each for single copies. A dis- nated an airport of entry without time count on aeronautical charts and books limit, e ectire July 14, I937. will be allowed only on orders amount- ing to a gross value of $10 or more. Number of Airports and Land- The discount on such orders which ing Fields in the United may be assorted! will be 33% percent. States as of Aug. 1, 1937 Private Aeronautical Lights Municipal airports ...... -...... _. 750 Commercial a|.rgorta...... ______._. ____ .- 443 Department oi ommeree intermediate elds. 258 Los Angeles, Calif.- The directional Army airdromes__._...... __.___,__.__.. ______Bl projector of the beacon near Monte- Naval air stations includingMarine and bello has been returned to normal op- -~ . .1 __ Coast Guard!,,-.---__-..--._--....-.....-_ 27 eration, pointing toward Alhambra Air- Mark uhwggeraieuauxiliary neicis.._...... ___.-______...___ iieIde.______-___.___..___ we46port instead of Eastside Airport as Private elds ______75 heretofore. Fields for miscellaneous Government activ- ities ...... __ 28 Mason, Ohio. The Crosley Radio Corporation red revolving beacon not Total ...... 2,354 burning until further notice. Licenses, Approvals, and Ratings Summary Pilot licenses, active...... __ Aircraft licenses, active ...... __ 7,97! Scheduled air transport pilot ratings, actit-0.. Aircraft unlicensed, active._-..-..-.._.-_...-- 1,110 St __u d en t li _oen.eee. act!ve._-.__--..-.--...__.-. Glider lice naea, active _-_____,_-__--_-.____._32 Glider pilot licenses, actlve...... ____-.-..-.___ Glider unlicensed, eotive._. .-______.---._._ 327 Mgchanim Bt dent glider licenses, pilot ectlve_.'_::_.Y?__._-..__.. permits ti _._ . _-_.._. a, 131 135 Approved-type oerti certi ?tt:= t issued isuecl for ior air glilders. lanes- - 4 649 Parachute rlgger licensee, active.----_-.--.. 375 Approved-type certi cates issued for engines. l7D .1 . 92 '92-- AIR CON" KRCE BULLETIN .-92 l Ra;'yDepartment; Aeronautical IL nc. Domestic Air Transport Lines 22. Should the above be replaced at I0'l'nr'Carry 110,842 Passengers in de nite date by ultra-high frequencies {or transmlesion irom aircraft? Navy Dc- June 1937 partmcnt; Aeronautical Radio, Inc.! 23. Should the whole aircraft system oi The 20 scheduled air lines operating to-o W8J communication be l'9Wlin|Jl d for in Continelliul United States in June using by I-ones ultra-high an al aircraft or aorne with high n a frequencieszone and 1931 carried 110,842 passengers, and perhaps the ground ataiiona in the nann- ew 5,811,404 miles and 4 Z,2i ,2"i'i! aone would be on the same channel? Navy passenger-miles, according to reports Department: Aeronautical Radio, Inc.! to the Bureau oi Air Commerce, Dc- be24. combined Should PX into reporting a common and iilgit P Finnsorm? ptirtment oi Commerce. Navy Department: Coast Guard.! The Ham carried 650.709 pounds of 25_ Does the Weather Bureau need addi- express and ew 377,223,090 express- tional personnel. and at what stations: how pound-miles during the month. many additional men at auch stations ,to expedite information, particularly discus- Comparisons with April and May of sions before ights? {Not assigned, for this year and with June 1936 are shown general discussion.! _ in the tollowing: A April 1037 May 193? June I937 June iiiii Companies operating_._....___.--_...__...... _. Companies reporting.--_--._...--..-...-__-_-.._.. Passengers carriod.___...... _..._.__..___..-._..__ givrw PC1111 1 WILD.-."--..,..____-__.__-. Miles own ...... _.___...,____..._,,______Passenger-miles own.._._._..-..._.-___---_-..-... Pamenger-sear.-miles own.____...-_.____--._..-._. PercentI.1sed seats....__--..-._-.-_....___...-__._ 20 21 an 21 110. B42 97, 453 sso, mo 701,142 344,433, -ms 5.e1o,eoo 40,252,351 59,094. H9 as. ll German Air Line To Make Ex- of which carries a crew or four. No perimental Flights to United passengers or goods will be carried. States This Summer Two catapult ships will be used as ocean bases. one stationed near the Azores and the other near the Amer- Secretary of Commerce Roper made ican coast The ships also will be the following announcement at his equipped with meteorological stations weekly press conference on July 7: and radio. The German air line, Deutsche Lufthansa, A. G., will conduct a se- ries 0i' experimental ights across the Designation of Medical Atlantic by way of the Azores. be~ Examiners ginning with a ight from Frankfort. Germany, August 14. During the month of June 1937 the Secretary Roper announced that the following physicians were oiiicialiy: Department of Commerce has given its authorized to act as Bureau of Air permission for eight round-trip ights Commerce medical examiners in the with heavier-than-air craft which the cities speci ed. company plans to make during the summer of 1937. A.iubomn. Dr. Wallace B. Sargent, 313% Col. J. M. Johnson, Assistant Secre- U0liforniu. - Montgomclg r. Avenue, Dwight Sheffield.H. Trowbridge. Jr. tary oi Commerce, stated that 5 sec- _T15 T. W. Patterson Building. Fresno. limneeota.--Dr. William R. Lovelace, Mayo ond ight from Germany will com- Clinic. Rochester. mence August 28, and the rst return .lfoniuna. -Dr. Earl M. Farr, 221 Hart- Albin Building, Billings. ight will begin August 31. The base Tc:ras. Dr. Sam S. Terupiin, United States in this country will be at Port Wash- National Bank Building, Galveston. ington, Long Island. In 1936, we 11""!-r0mfng. Dr. Robert Y. Batteries, 10 Os- Deutsche Lufthansa conducted tour borne Building, Iiiawllns. trial ights to the United States in two T h e following-named physicians heavienthan-air craft. changed their addresses during the The eight trips this summer will be month their new addresses being as made in tour-engine seaplancs, each I follows: O -' -s am GOMMEh-Ad aunnsrm J 43 Approved-type osrtl ut-as llluad [or propellers505 Everel, I-88-A, birch with fabric or stainless steel tipping. 6 ft. 4 in. diameter, A1;E?Jv-':_d-type oortlncotoo issued ior para-57 automatic pitch, 40 la. p., 2,575 r. p. m. Approved-typo oortl ontes issued for aircraft 93, T-19-37.! component: and ooonsorios.--...... ---.---- H Lsltsrs of approval ISIIM1 ior airglanas_-.-...an Hartsel, 410B, birch or onartered oak with lattuooi approval issued ior all ers______.__a brassor stainless lteél tgping, 6 it. 0 in. 1 diameter, §__i't. 3 in. pit: ,_gg h. p.,_,2.25u Lzlitorl nss ...... oi approval lnnod lor domestic .------.---an- r. p. m. one, 1--26-67.! ouo penoI1-lg. Engines having mlihrstlon rating- -.-.. .-.... Letters oi approval lmuod ior propeilors_-,._. Lotta: oiopprovol lined lot pnnlo0n.s__----- Letters of Approval Latin: of approval lnued tor skis ...... -. Lotta: oi approval inuod ior foreign en:i.ne|_. Numbersand dates in parentheses! Repair stat one approved. active.....-...... Schools approved, active ...... -._---.-._--- LIEPI.-|92l'¬E Ground instructors licensed, _l._ctive_.._-___.__ Flying instrllctcrl ratings, aouva__--....___.-. Vultee, V 1A Special, 8-pllace closed land mono £!la!ne.Engine, Wrigt Cyclone SR New Approved-Type Certi -1820 ", 850 I1. p. -539, 7-5-37.! cates ,_ - GLIDEB Approved-type certi cates certi - - Sport-Flugzeughatil, Hutter I-I-17, 1-place cate numbers snd dates in parentheses! open _land monoplane isaiiplanel. 2-6, have been issued the following: 7-26-37.! 1-TBPLANE5 ; Change in List of Approved 1 Schools Waco, UPF-- I and VPF 7, 8-place open land biplane. Engine, Continental WBTOK Chsngie name oi! Roosevelt Aviation or K1 SDUPF-7! or Continental WGTOM or School, nc.. Roosevelt Field, Mineola, Long M1 {IL F-T!. 12, B 5 -3?.! Listed as Island, Y. to Roosevelt Field, 1nc., Avia- pendin in Jul 15, 1937. tion School fivlvlsion. mon1[:}p.ane. Douglas, D'1¥S-A, Engines, 2 31-placeP 8: W closed 1 w1u Waspland BB3 s at 900 I1. p. or 2 P Q W Twin Wasp, Repair Stations I s s u e d Ap- BB G's at 900 h. p. 47, 6-30-37.! Waco, UKS 7 and VKS 7 5-place closed prgved Repair Station Certi - 01'land K1 hi i]UKS 'T! lane. Engine, or Continental Continental W670l92I WGTOI-ior ca es M1 VKS-7!. B48, 6-8-37.! blew York State Aviation Repair Station, Beechcratr, D11'S, 5-place closed land bi-~525 John Street, Utica, N. Y., ggprovecl July plane. Englue, P A: W Wasp Jr. SB. ,6, 1937, for repair oi weld steel tube 49. 7-16-37-! ,strnctnre, wooden stmcture, fabric coverin wood-covered wings, fuselages and contro ENGINES surfaces, and box and laminated spars, steel i ttin gs, and a S5811] bl Y. Kinner SC-T, 7-cyl, radial air cooled, 350 Pennsylvania-Central Airlines Corpora- 1;. _p. at i,9_p_9 r. p._ m. at l5,000 it. altitude.,tion, 92Pa.,approved Allegheny July Countv 15, Aligaort 19 '3', for Pittsburgh,repair or i115, o a -1:.! L|Iii¬ as penning in July welded steel tube structure, wooden struc- 15 1037. ture exc1udinE box and laminated spars wright, lljouble Row Cyclone GR-2600A 2,wood-covered uselages, wings and control 14-cyl. radial air cooled 3:1 reduction surfaces, fabric covering, steel ttings, §ears, 1,200 h. p. at 2100 r. m. at 5.700aluminum alloy structure, aluminum alloy t. pressure altitude. 7 . B-10-37.! ttings, assembly, aluminum alloy propeller Liste as pending in July 15, 1937. blades and/or steel hubs, engines, and in- Allison, V1'l'10 C-l, 12-cyl. vee liquid cooied 2 : 1 reduction gears, 1.000 h. p. at struments. 2,800 r. p. m. at sea level. 77, 7- " Waterman-Studebaker, B-1, 6-cyl. Changes in List of Approved liquid cooled, 90 h. at 1,800 r. p, sea level. 78, 'l' 5-37.! Repair Stations Pratt Q Whitney, Twin Wasp Jr. SB 14-cyl. radial air cooled. 750 h. p. at 2 Delete Atlanta Air Services, Candler Field, Atlanta, Ga. §.T m. at 9,600 It. altitude. 79, 7- Commercial Aircraft Co., Inc., Portland Airport Portland, 0:-eg., delete for repair PBOPEI-LIBS lo! welded steel tube structure, e:clu..lng Maynard Di Cesare, DC400 1, steel, 9 i ttings, Inter andCity steel Airlines, ttings.nc., Boston Munici- pal Airport, East Boston, Mass., add for re- gtbgoin. , r. diameter, . m. &%16.1stab1e . %tch,¬?£¬ . se p.,as pair oi aluminum alloy structure, aluminum pendin lg Ma 15.1937. ! 1 allcay ttings, aluminum alloy propeller bla es and/or steel hubs, wooden propellers, ft. Curtfss to 10 seeds ft. B blade in. diameter, aluminum contro 1110;, lable12 pg:-:l;1* 85 h. p., 1,445 r. p. m. 92, I-l e iéies. lete and Paci c instruments.Aircraft Resair Co., Los Angeles Airport, Inglewood, ,alif. _ "F 1 H _ _ _ _ n »_ "W _.»_s~.r...._.e .._ ...M.-.t__._ V. i. . .1. N A % ..__~1.r1|e._.~c.--.eH.._-H I r 0 kl 1 -.4 Fu- , . I | I 0 r r - If O Publishers Are Authorized to Use Material Appearing in This Bulletin Published with the approval of the Director of the Budget up-nu-an-uq _. I U 5 UVIRNMENY PRHIIING DFFILI |lI'| | __ ._ -.-41--'4 I » ~ ' _>____ _,,______._.__...... l..-..,,. ._ ,... 4_...-..--H V» ~ "' """_' ______._F'L_.' _-IllU___!_;'_'3' >IIIIiI_i H_92__ ____M:_:__ _i______'I __:_g___k_no_%_n_z_wl_____T_l_[n_IDIuv__¢JEH70_u___UEDm_ZUDZ_Il_InE_¢____!OCEFt lg;JU_"J:I D...::=t_ ____;____to.2;*1II______:______:___'u_____P t.-"8..__ ____:___ll! §° nI'M;'I___423>1I- ° :______.I_, CI_=______7PIv°_h_ °l5"331E'92'_ ll°~Ol ;__.C_____II'I*':8ai6 _.O' _ _ D7 __~|__ I___.2___h_I_=_H_I_____ 9292l92'1l" 92 _I, _ @ _ K i®If!if _I J:I/IJ I I___ __ _ _'__|_|___l|__.__ I :"IF .2-_:_:.:_i:2:____r_=/ID_____gwA.L__ T A Iuwuul V ,__Ir__ ' _ PV I_7___I I' __92_~92¢t92 _|92__I______f H __n_IH__n _ FL_A__°____E__.2_____=_zE : ____,___;|_:_2l_ 92, _,92_PH/V ! H"____ __ _ 1u___II,_:___l_;______°2:-__:_°___Hm '_V _ 92 _ .__l __.'__ 92F;,'_/ ___:_1% 92___.v__yiéi| E 92______:____:19 II__-______:I°_I.*,______0____=__ :U 9 L92 ______H°______I Y~ _ U2Q £_|.______,:______O:______:_____;or °_Ilgt U I1_92_|___H_ A_UCQ__I:_:_ J°_2! :I lg / 92 __Dh __ ___Fj_|F'.:d _I°L___'_I_;__'______tr,_r'I_:___ J _ 92_n=___:_uF .; H_92_h P ___:____"_.'I__J1° _"-aIn¢__ __°_"__ it 6 I__M|_ .-.'qiftII__Q ______92_ U_= I ti u HI:______BO _OpU____-_IIFI°_IL4::Ob.JQIIQI O NII. __:______:_a____'_____?3Q92'.£F_ _ar._m .. _'_v_ ____92______-:_____:n__n=__'_;1;92__ IL '__lN °_.54,___m_% M_l _ Q aw~_q_ __041%__'_____0'9vi+" __'9G° I0 _°_ G10, ,9O trB G ,Ua ',9 _ _ II_J?______IOI:;:'PPCO_Il_ ____;_:_____ C U-QB'l:I l;6I._~_;___:__-'8?:14:<_::JI . ECO1t j F 4- -. f ¥ x. ..i 956 Raymond-Comnaroo Building Iinnrk, RI Jcrliqy Y" I 4 . Q Q Jr" August 15, 1957. } _ '. "Bahama Unitod 8-Into: c. I-i¢donhh1val Mr Button . 1_4h:hu_1-gt, !e! Jag; 0/ Ill AR$P _ Gila! locondlhls G°791I%%%e§e 591-ya-[;j_°n 1937 I115 .1. W roooipt of your lottor or August 12," hag n lotto: stamped "O1921oogo, 1111:- 7" oonnaotion with tho shun nutter. I dasiro to unk you for founding thin, and it will roooin proper oonsidantion. Iith host Iillaa, I In very any r=92u-W, nrF01=_~_=-.'::_iz§|_§%I§§§:;;'I" ?$- V ' 1¥'E-ZWIIN IS u:~+".'- I-'~>-=_. - " :4»- .2¢4e;;!;.~.-1~-M4!-~ !~ R. B. 7B1'I II..I, Bpoohl Agont in Ohlrgo RE-'V:CSC E1100 _ INDEXEQ " <'75 ? -jgiria J3/o :> - 4/9 /§s;'i»>§ X , I{E 4 92- 921 ./. . _92. . 92' Director Nathan Tolson 1 _ 19:57 Quinn. ____F11eB Sect1on __*_Personne1 F1168 ____Ch1ef Clerk's Offlce Clegg ____Ident1f1cat1on D1v1s1on Foxworth __ _Techn1ca1 Laboratory ____lleohan1ca1 Sectxon SUPERVISORS ...______Brandt Mr Drayton Pennlngton Chambers Mr Leckae Ranstad Chi manp M; McDade Boson Collier Mr MoInt1ra Spear Corne us Mr Mertz V FTL 1>::" ? I'll0 NT-"D O ; - 1'1"5 L I 1*=" .-»2+ - 40 __ _:/"- .._- __See Me r Ward Send F11e _Mr Parsons ______Ca11 me regardlng th1s Mrs Morton Correct glee Coe Note andReturn 133 Conlon S rch, serlallze androute ____Typ1sta- 5724 enographers5730 - Q 92 E A TAMM 5 58 PEBAL BUREAUOF INVESTIG b | .1 9 Director Nathan Tolson 7 Mr. 3 , Mr. Quinn- F Clegg --- __ __ 1&5 ? . Foxworth Files Section _ ____Personne1 Files Brandt ____Chief Clerk's Office _H__Identification Division ____Technica1 Laboratory Chipman" Mechanical Section Colliersu1=ERy'Isons Mr . -Lawler Chambers ____&f. Leckie Eanstad Drayton___;Mr. McDade _;__Mr. Mclntire ____ Mr. Pennington ____Mr Rosen .-ELI. It-rt c;r::~%.-f i:e-;s-r -F_'rF;-5?,-=.%*_e;a--- - * TRFZIN 13 F rms IF n ____Miss Gandy .; -5,.it/6¢!f_ __ _ 1*;-=.glj_1.t!:6;u.v-» Spear Mrs. Fisher ____See Me 7 ____Mrs. Morton ____Send File __k_Mr. Ward Vogel ____Call me regarding this __Mr. Parsons ____C0rrect Wyly ____Miss Conlon *___Note and Return ____Search, serialize and route ____Typists - 5257 ____Stenographers - 5750 ; -"-if jun "455 '11} £5? Wk i i /,2.Q?'W*% ~W» i 4*-"~ :- .._ 92 _ _..._-. ; __ Pr_ 7 _. .- E. A. TAMM - 5vseT r 4- IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIv 7 ,, ,1-_ _ _ _,_ ___,| * ' _ _ ' F1 I 6 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII_ IIII In l ru:rallIu'¢a11n!ha1I |y1 m.D.tlIILd-ll tb IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIII 62-431-9!-~28 :::: IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII::IrIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII V_H IIII _ 7-//E /1/ / Pin3021; WAS 275171.75» 3-!; A 04;! 92H ' 77' "M4- Z¢=/~:B- 77//I 92»vA'.r Au. /"1./wwv;, IE/E-t £9 WIVKJ. :' B lF!r lPlFf / f'- like ;=% £| ; £uF- H Fqb ,2B ?Q/ff.._.- ,0 92 -. -_ J. f -| D£.r7'£¢I --'-Q/ P ""-T /Vn //v/aw//0,? V {D 7'0 / ~'§/*Jr 92/~ H4» /V dP/jfqzii/Q. M/Y Mn -k/G/I7 A44 /°4r.r¢=A,a£/?% /it 4 Z 92LI J17 5/a;C'i£wI /V ' L- 04'? /r7 4' i"'Ay 4wb !.4ya; '3 W93/in 441- s CE///"MM 74/1c.£,z> /1 ' .9 _ $42- 0 W" 1 "775 ! /Va 0? #5 ? //-5 frrP'/t A/:w¢1F .2 "lVQ;; } ,1? ;P77,_ _ r P " '£¢ /c /veg!?/2:. A/e r+ZJ L MW EFPA/'4' C J./V J ">5 or Az> F-'-»+ms.r .5 ' '2C/7'5/ O/4 A'A &..f£ p.PE¢Pb',qPJ' / i;lF 7-}, Lb NI! *2 575* /Yaw W/u. U gw D/ Z»Y7'//e "" - "4/W E Mnzm 'w/ran; Z1:/Mo 'Nu?! M J ? """'>B1 //'>~ . - W W L001:/N6 F02, 55, /A/£2? 40""! if "7' EL/ow! So/PA; J /r IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIII IIIIIII IIIIII II IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIII IIIISHIIIII IIIIIIIII III II IIIIIIIIIIIIIII:IIiIIIIII II I I IIIIII III::=IiII :::::::I:lIIIl IIIIIII:I:II::II:::::::::II:::::::::IIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIII l :: IIIFI In-1:: F IIIIr1rn!- - i _ IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIV I. I "U /-F23 , EM/7 4.57 /-///v!, W __A._ ._-_._,.;-__..-_.._.....-_--.. |||192 -I !'92.l|92l,1 _'.. l_l_l_J J-_L_..L_ _. |_J 1 I-I"f f"I - . -'. iZ$ZiI1i1i l -~:1:::1 4-» @--.. _._1+ L.|. . + ,__._!Tr___V _ , - ~r <;.. . 21,1. . " -1.-3-Q" H 4% ... .-.3 . ,__..~¢ . .-_.>~92=_ - . _ /1 92<>" .-_ | - . ,- 92 .. .. . - ._ . __ , _,._.._.___,_.__._ A .,,.M._ _~___,_,_,____,____l,__,______, _ _ ,_,______' III I - III.-I-. --q-r-_-u III...-I-I uunuLl;" """"4°J- u_'R$ IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII - I I .-.5 _ I _I 1' ' 4 . -1 In A-3'1" A " QM-If u 44> .* - - 1=.'i:.'.."'.$* F.- _ 4' " 1} W ""--..;-- " !"@r§f::".»:-A .__' //vursr/'e»r/m B, ,?£,, , 0-J . .DE/97_ J7 ~7:__rd$ 7_/ C5 V" W} 4»§ /Q. _. H, /V 92 0 - _ _ _- '92 ' . .--_:<.*o.!! j }f f"-Zé.3=*r .LA E Iii - r _ 92 92B . M--II!" ' " " _ H _m______.. ~ ~~~~~*"1~" ** *' *"" ' ee J I T _, . . . .4, J ,_ 121121-al Bureau of Investigation nite?! tatre Brpartment of lactic: 936 Rlynond-Commrce Building, Wk, HO JG 4 I 1'Jp,]|J llovenber. 29, 1937 TD-15 ~ 4. 1' Director, " Federal Bureau oi Investigation, walhi gtdn, De Ce . o RE: nasmucrxon or _._l_msn11? "nnmmmuna" _ i _ oovmlgmm RFESEQYAQION §lTTER_ no _ >__-» 92-. DOB! $11 ; A review of this file reveal: there in no in»- veetigation to be conducted. at this time and that the investigation conducted by the other interested gonrnmntalz genoiee including that oi Conmander 0- Ebflloeendehl of the U. Se llevul Air Station "-oi -.1, 1 at Lalcehurat, New Jersey, ie dormnt. m l ' It ie noted that there are numerous nemorande included in the file oi this division, which contain -nrioue de- taile of the inveetigetion conducted at Lakehuret, H. J. Same have § -: '"~ not been included in a report. The information contained in these ,__92_ ',:_ .e memo:-ande ie of a miscellaneous nature and ie not believed to be of J informative velue to the Bureau. Therefore, eane in not being .t'< included in a report, ae it would neceeeitete considerable clerical worke »- T Unleee instructions are received to the contrary an" ._T, __{ n _ _.._ _:92 --». from the Bureau, this caee ie being considered closed» _~;.-V ._;. 9 _, Very truly yours, =92 5 .; -;3-- A. _ .. > -#3 "-" ?-fi! _;h; 92e.F-TL! 4 ' - " ._ .4, r92" "'-'=92T Anal? - 1*-FL W 1'? 7§;_§?I -Y q-'9292| " Y't~i.?I'="73 t _ '_ WJ To Jo MEGAN;/ L? , Specie]. Agent in Charge -4 ce- Washington Field - _ - ,,,_ ._. _._-.--~ _... V --» -.- - 92 Di- ,_/ /92 W y M ~._~ ;':l;*:.a.;..;'-.. 1 1 W .,*,92 .2 2- K ""u ~13 ~;.r,. i- ' . " '" ' ,- '92 __ . - I . 92. 92; 92 T "92 92. I , UL1 a_ _d_--____-.-!92_ .;_.b._ __ . 92. .¬$_§!.92] I I______,___..-._._-.{'1- 4,4 ,- --- - *~~"-' if R vaf _ 53é£l1W-"53 " _ haiku:-21,1 B'I'" T . I - ' fl qgmww , _ ". r , __< A | _ ipocinl lgunt in Ohnrgn, luau-1:, In Jornq. ln: IESTZHBEIOI O! AIRSHIP 'IIID!3BH ' - dove:-slant Rosnwatim latter. Dulr 61:: Rofarnnco is undo to y ur lettnr dntad Iovumbor 29, 1°37, ralitiva to the abov» aaptienad case, advising that there are n arnus meaarnnda included in your file contain- ing f ribua &etai¢¢ sf thc investigatiwn conducted at Lake- hurst, ew Jeraay. -wé$»¢¢; Inal nch as tho bureau la not In possession or the _ -,.__,- infowintion cantainod in tbs nnnortndn rofcrrad to abort, you are ruquoatad to sulnariac the infbruation contalncd thlrnin, sihllttlng tbs Sill to the Bureau so that it I111 be avsiiahxn 1: tbs ovut inquiries are unbacqunatly undo rnlutivu ta ihin Bali. '-I ; 1"~11 Iiuy truly yearn, A i . Job Edgar Iocvur, ,k ,/// . Macm- 92¢,_,.,=k._~,~.@92=.-:~1_92 { j_ 5,,,.= 92 5£i»'9292 $ A m_. j It-:?£ 1??t":AT"IO?¥ r:{92.?w-.'."? '1 "__. 92 __ .~> .= '55 Ulf - 7'/ L '5! M in 92 +1--~ i 9236: " ' -'_92L .k-Y IL; ;t92i_-' '- _'- D "1 "'- ; n - _ .;, I__ __.- 92 £7192 1". a #3 Q ~>. ,, , _M _ _ --»__ V W »-._.,_,.... -. A , - -I .. JOHN EDGAR HOOVER if ' DIRECTOR '3- '3 Jeheral Bureau nf Inuestigatinn niteh Staten Brpartment at Justine Eashingtnn, B. 01. ' 62-48190 HCV:TD December 17, 1937 . ;:9292 / !lE!.lOP..ANDUM son ,3 . ruin Re: Destruction_oi05;r- _ e1~.i;!.5 aieeeebe.=-gs ; Government Reservation _ _ hatter, _ ,'92 __ 92 / With reference to the 8.bOV,O/O&pt1OnBd matter, you will recall that on the evening of May 6, 1936 the Airship "Hindenburg" exploded in midair at Lakehurst, New Jersey as it was attempting to land on its initial trip for the year 1937 from Germany and was completely .r"n'rnr921 '1 |:-bear I ","aj.4ll I ti 92JUlllLJJnJ-I31]-5924 0 Thereafter certain investigation was performed by the Bureau at Lalcehurst, the reque t New of Commander Jersey,particularly C. E. Rosendahl, as to of onethe .TOSBph!gpaeh Neva Air who stationwas a paeenger on the Hindenburg. The information developed concerning Spaeh was subsequently transmitted to Mr. South Irimble, Jr., Solicitor, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.G. _ "V. A printed copy of a report prepared W South Tr-imble, Jr. 23 concerning investigation of the Hindenburg disaster is in the Bureau . I, .:l.___. file, setting out theories as to the cause of the accident. The '-.I|;; 4 ""_-'3 conclusion in Trimb1e's report, however, is to the effect that the -_=L1'92 cause of the accident was the ignition of a mixture Of free hydrogen and air and that the theory that a brush discharge ignited such mixture appears most probable. I.;_.__ ._; .-... - . In the absence of instructions to the contrary, the Newark Gffice is closing its file. Yon sill observe, howerer, from the attached letter that the Newark Office has been requested to summarize information contained in numerous memoranda included in the Newark file which has not heretofore been furnished the Bureau. Respectfully, e, _ _ ._.l_ I 1 h.c.vege§s **@ EB; 1, : ,9 _ _ I.3'91 " -éfel-AI W4; in L 7LL 21 J33? ~,*>*"?9292 "W ____ ___ 4 .. - V ._...,. "me. 7 , V ,, ._...... _.___,,l e....-.--~----~--~- r Q u- If n- Iebrusry 21, 1938 I RCV:I-L - - _ 62- mt 90 -1.1, ; H1502:-:.=";?:10 CONTA1 ¬ I3J $11-~ i~: 75i.-i:1":;~=';'__!r!é I5 1- Cm-3S1 .'.!! _...._-Ban Ipootal Agoot in Ola:-go, U Ina-1:, In Iraq- Boa DRBTMJOTIOI 0! Allin!!! "I1I!IDB1'BUB " - crvarnnmt loner-mtim Iatt-on Darlira Reference in nude to :7 letter dated Docomb-or 23., 1937, concerning the above cautioned Ilttrgrn Iour attention 1| Qollod to the request for as summary of the information oontained in nunoroua mono:-anda included in your £110, Ihllh information has not gzt ioualy bod: lrnishod in the Bu:-om. Yory truly youro, John _ Hoover, -- = -""""'.T'::'- 192m~'&%%92- =-=2? J ct-or '1 - ""' , *'* * 1. "who.-~+'s1 1<> . i 1 , F q .. ~' H , ql v - Fl-LEHP. U In 5 I II ' v M l '92 I $55 as I9: P r v11= *"~'*" f .°1f92I§ §l:§1==.v _,, . I. . mi ! u. s/u¢.Pw~-F J r- Jl, "it"E E u H mm S _. I . =- 4 ¢ / I '1. IhnnRo.l ' =- =-no--=-w-m:-=»-T zmmnx, mm JERSEY ' iéna:-k r... NO. 10?-15 Iuro|t'l'm92nIA'r= IIATIII-llIllMDI;_ . lIuonronun-ucnu.mr_- __ J _" f -7 mm,-_&v_ -~ -~»»~@- II" F =2""""-"' " . --.»-~-~- .,~.»£a¢,-24».-.z§ -1-1.1;-e5_§ -;;rsA.:@?3!..-@§a:: .~; t A5 '"". 92?-" -'1???9.? _ .4; 1 *1*"iv~ . .-Li. i _r¢ 1'_ " *i_;F¢:s; 1-_. . 7 'VM*" -"~ """"I-12'".-'*éi~;-~'-e i .'-. -92 -._ _-L P .* the tre f men: fv» _'C ._ . _._ *2 »-,-.. _ .- 5 _ . . 7_ .. -TI -1~_ L 1_t D ,3 15¢ 1--Q." Rb ' ki. >..- "1'.r*._;_ _ ,. J f _ 1. ; .;.-: "I _ -_> > 4 -. ,. ;_-"if, .1 - -zvf ?"- ' __ .. '._ .»- $%'¬,q -.- 1-__' -15'" 1° -1 » 5- , '23'! -|:";' g ._._., -I . , _._¢ __ ;__.;'.. _ ' . _.- »- ' B '1- L _ ; J. ~ 4l"'I92'lVIlHllb r ' §= __J - ;._ _ .. Mg,-.----. :-1-=_1~.I'~ .-*-;,=.- ~f ._ - "92~_-'_ - - ,_ : 92 ., -" I-,1,- _"'.;¢ K 1 *=+-~._~ , .4; -2- 6-..9 v;1;>..;.r-~*--*-"1-"f' ,,.92;_-<_ - Q _- ~-=;~!.~@_,i._'-~ :. y.'V; I! : >""-P1'. A ' _ _$.$.f,- _,_ H," -1;;- ~ -;-"1--1 'I;:= *' *A _ J? "T¥..:L_ marhnnxuI. *1- " .=-x ~-,. ; _ W - 5-' _. -' 1-: *""'*- __ _-*- "0-= _ _-;_. -_ _;-5»- .7 .___'* - 9 9 - 52'.-;'. '.r"q-jg 2 3 - < 11-nu an-on an 'ro= ~ " BUREAU OF nT92TEs-rma-r|o.-| : * cmicn an OFF 92 ' . 4 ' ' ff; - Bureau ' -Ii "F - I = '@' ' "*"" _JRCKF-THU. 2 -- Lewarl-: 92 h ;.° f_ 1,, AR'l"'llEN'|' U51 CE5* *1 * arias mgsraomn I i <52 *1 I 92 "qnmns1:4 * * e*.__;,._,,,__.,,,_,,,_;,,,._<_-e *ee*** * :1 * ,_..;.. M n i umn w_ "V I _ ___, _ ._,.,.f,...... 92.....---1--1.v- _ 92 --»wp~ ' - - Q ,r 70-15 1 . r The airship approached the airport at about 6:25 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, :25 p-m. Eastern Daylight Saving Time!, and made a sharp turn to the starboard, which was not unusual» In Commander Rosendah1's opinion, the approach was normal for a ship inflated with hydrogen, and tr-I crew utilized the backing,- power of the engines to check the approach of the ship, which is customary. The men in the ground crew had been instructed in _, 3,1,-;g..,e_l . _.___a <_ groups, under their respective leaders, as to the handling of the ship on the ground. The crew on the airship dropped the landing i** -!*: -': i-B2 ropes from the bow of the ship and they were imediately connect- f 1 ed to the ground lines. These lines were used to draw the ship - . ""'- - ..-'4--'-r. 0'.1 i -4 l-"'- :11. - -- into position for attaching the steel landing cable which is drawn - - -*.|.~»= into the mooring mast. The approach was made at an elevation of 200 feet or less. Commander Rosendahl was located at the mooring % mast and gave the necessary instructions as to the handling of the ground crew at this point. Ee indicated that the wind blew to the westward when the ship reached the surface, and he believed the - ._--V-9 : - conditions were satisfactory in general, and they were proceeding in a normal manner to land the ship. About four minutes after the control ropes had connected with the ground, and W i16 the mooring cable was being lowered but had not, as yet, reached the ground, certain events occurred which changed the normal landing procedure. »Trr$§ . Y. :=g_=_t__- The nose_of the ship was about 50 feet from the circular track, which is 6T1 feet from the mooring mast. The ship never got any closer to the mooring mast than this point. Commander Ro- sendahl indicated that at this time he saw a small burst of flame on the top of the ship, towards the stern, and, in his opinion, T ' I this indicated to him the doom of the §hiPe Imediately, the en- £§£f1§e tire stern took fire, and after this initial burst of flame the r;3§§§;I', '_=' J4-T ,-.»-~ . -~.,;_..,_ '.- fire progressed forward. He said he expected more in the way of an . r Ea-iv AAA ; . 4, ,.;. explosion than was apparent, although he had never seen an airship inflated with hydrogen burn- There were several mild explosions Commander Rosendahl ran from the vicinity and commanded the ground crew to do likewise in order to avoid being caught under the ship as it fell. then the ship settled, the ground crew immed~ - 2 - w mum viii "ppm 7 _m_'_M__mM__m___. r in m______ ______V _V ___M______,____,_ ,,_,___r_ _,.?__,.4_,...-..._».» - 70-15 iateiy returned to errect the pOSS1bl6 rescue or the injured. In8y' __,..___ _ ...... ta imediately arranged for the necessary fire-fighting apparatus, us- ,_..92_ ~_ r .. ing chemicals for this purpose. _There was no water line in the in- nediate vicinity of the mooring mast and this necessitated the lay- ing of considerable hose to reach it. The hounded were immediately removed and taken to the hospital, until the available space was = ._ __; exhausted._.A guard was imediately established to prevent anything being stolen from the ship. t" . " - ' " - ~ --Ir ------4._.'-.:...'.--- f'92-P UL Ling UILU O ? 7| -nquenn-.-.p ywa DULLD 4-. uu. 1- Anne; uula-Lu,_ _ oil IO 1-41-_192Auep mumvwxa U], A8 J-LA uuu UJUII gun» --Au.uu - "~*"rnc '.--:- "" ~ 4-il _ ,1 1 . 41.,-1.,; of the passengers, survived. Twelve passengers and 22 members of ~ rd? n» the crew met their death at that time, and one member of the ground '<..: _" - :.' » . ~._ 'J . __ --l =>4 ,;§1'r: ._ _ creW'wae burned and subsequently died, on May 6, 1937. 1- F, ' The airship was in the comand of Captain ERNEST LEHIANH, 23%;» who was one of the crew who met death in this tragedy. na §%£*% At approximately 8 p.m. on the evening of hay 6, 1937, " - .. s-4? ;- 1 i §;s?d Special agent in Charge H. 5. Devereau; was telephonioally informed by Assistant Special Agent in Charge T. J. Donegan, of the New York Field Division, to the effect that former Special Agent in Charge E. L. Richmond, who was convalescing at his home, had heard a press dispatch given over the radio at approximately 7:40 p.m. to the ef- fect that the Airship Hindenburg had exploded and had been complete- ly demolished at Lakehurst, Jew Jersey, as it was attempting to land 1..-t_-_. __» . r , ,. ~ _ on its initial trip for the year 1937, from Germany. .£gis<=~1 Based upon this information, a telephone call was placed 1 . to the Bureau by Acting Special Agent in Charge h. L. Levereaux, who contacted Mr. P. L. Foxworth. Mr. Foxworth was informed that the _i~ §_lQ#-. news of the crash had been received and, inasmuch as the Naval Air . 5W;_;1 .-ii n Base at Lakehurst, New Jersey, was a Government Reservation, Acting :3,;}rl92-__' T g ' ~. .1..- . Special Agent in Charge Devereaux and Inspector E. J. Connelley were proceeding immediately to Lakehurst in an effort to ascertain wheth- er or not the facts involved would constitute a situation that would be a crime over which the Bureau had investigative jurisdiction. Shortly after midnight on the night of Eay 6-7, 1937, the facts concerning the disaster were conveyed to Mr. Foxworth by tel- ephone by Acting Special Agent in Charge Devereaux. in the afternoon of May 7, 1937, Acting Special Agent in Charge Devereaux received a telephone call from Assistant Director Clyde Tclson, who informed Mr. Devereaux that he was of the opinion - 3 _ if I 70-15 that Acting Special agent in Charge Devereaux;'in company with eith- er Inspector E. J. Connelley or Special Agent in Charge R. E. Vet- terli, should proceed to Lekehurst,_New Jersey, and inform the Naval and authoritiesthat the that Bureau they was were taking acting no active onlyin part the in capacitythe inquest of observers %in so far as investigative activities'Iere concerned at that time. . - - . , , .| . A * Almost immediately after the destruction of the Hindenburg, there was organized a Board of Inquiry of the Department of Comoros under the direction of Hr. South Trimble, Jr., Chairman, and Major R. W. Schroeder. This Board conducted daily oral hearings at the United States Naval Airport Station at Lakehurst, New Jersey between may 10, 193?, and May 28, 1937. An investigation was also conducted by a Senatorial Comittee, under the supervision of United States s?- Senator Royal S. Copeland, but under the immediate direction of Roger Williamson and Lieutenant Colonel harold E. Hartney. Qliilrvj During the investigation conducted by the above, the Bureau offered to co-operate with the Inspectors of the Department of Com- apgé-Q merce in their investigation. agents of the Bureau were present at the daily hearings conducted by the board of Inquiry in the capacity of observers. On Lay 8, 1937, Lieutenant Colonel Harold L. hartney and Inspector Williamson of the United States Senate Comittee advised ;92 , 1 41-». ~ S -" that they had found tracks of two men leading over a back fence of J the Reservation along the road about 1,000 feet onto the Reservation, and they had photographed these tracks. They attached some signifi- cance to these foot tracks and indicated that possibly the tracks of these two men were those of persons who might have had something to -<"s_-§-P-7 1 do with the destruction of the Hindenburg, if a sabotage angle was to F:-.~ -'= be considered. Bureau Agents photographed these foot tracks, as well _ "1"". hp -_-vi-,-ii? -4, , 2; -r 1 1.; ~ as making plaster of Paris casts of them, but subsequent developments '£1-*; . -t."-'0 . . 92 ,-'~_*:?@3 -.' '' indicated that these tracks were only those of persons who had tried to be in a better position to witness the landing of the Hindenburg than would have been possible had they remained outside of the en- 'nJ£E-5 .'.- closure of the Reservation with the thousands of other people who gathered to view the landing of the ship. , -. The hearings conducted by the Board of Inquiry of the De~ partment of Comerce began on May 10, 1957. At these hearings, var- ious Naval employees constituting the ground crew at the Lakehurst ._ §., Naval Air Station, members of the crew of the Hindenburg, and pas- - 4 - . ,.. -~_- _ __w___ J__"_ _ __ _ 0,1, . _ ,.....'.»..-i-Q .6 ~ 70-15 sengers of the ship, testified.v In general, the numbers of the crew testified thet_the trip eoross the ooean ees entire1y satisfactory and normal in every respect, and that they_knew nothing concerning F-_ the accident until they saw_the reflectiap of flames, accompanied by E1; a detonation. These hearings furnished-no information to the effect that sabotage was responsible for the_deetruction of the Hindenburg. P 2 " On May 14, 1937, the Board of Inquiry representing the De- partment of Commerce, was joined by a German Commission which had been invited to sit in on the hearings. This German Commission was composed of Dr. Hugo Eokener; Dr. Ludwig Duerr, Chief Construction - -- Engineer of the German Zeppelin Transport Copany; Dr. Guenther Bock O Professor of Aerodynamics at the Charlottenburg Technicological In- stitute; Professor Vax Deiokmann, Radio Expert; Walter Eof man, of "~ 4 the national Research Bureau; and Lieutenant Colonel Joachim Brcit- haupt, of the German Air Ministry. -_ ._ On the evening of May 18, 1937, a telephone call was re- ceived fron Commander C. E. Rosendahl of the Faval Air Station in Lakehurst, new Jersey, to the effect that he desired to confer per- sonally with bpecial agent in Charge L. L. Devereaux on the morning of Lay 19, 1937, inasmuch as he was in possession of certain informa- §§??;;. tion that he did not care to discuss over the telephone. _$¬T%G Un the morning of May 19, 1937, Special Agent in Charge Devereaux and Special Agent Lee I. Malone contacted Commander Rosen- dahl who advised that he was a personal friend of Hugo Eckener, the ';Z.;..r ___'§ 5 German airship Technician, and that Eckener had stated to him on num "¥%f3 -1;i = =f'-1 erous occasions that the first opinion he had formed of the disaster _ ;»=a s-,e».e __u_.,.., J was that her wreckage was caused by sabotage; further, that he now 1- ;snsé -~--1 knew that he had made a mistake in expressing such an opinion to the journalistic fraternity in Germany; and to remedy this mistake he had made a statement to the press in this country that he did not feel that sabotage could possibly have been the cause of the disas- ter. Eowever, according to Commander Rosendahl, Eckener stated to him that he was convinced that the airship had met her ill-timed _ fate through the employment of sabotage on the part of either Com- munists or sympathizers with the Anti-Nazi movement. Commander Ro- sendehl, on this occasion, also informed that he had always enter- tained the sabotage theory as being a logical cause for the destruc- tion of the Bindenburg and this opinion had gradually grown until, at the time of the interview, he was also confident that there had been sabotage present in connection with the destruction of the ship. He advised that on hay 18, 1937, Helmut Lau, a member of the - 5 - 70-15 erman crew, who was serving in the capacity of helmsman, as well as Rudolf sautor, who held the position of Chief Engineer, had stat- ed at the time of the catastrophe they were occupying positions in the stern of the ship and they were located,near the lower rudder. _ According to their testimony, the first evidence that they had that anything was wrong on board thqfhindenburg was when theyf noticed a glow that appeared in the gas'shaft that separates gas cells #4 and #5. They testified, further, that-imediately after the appearance of this glow, which reminded them of a Japanese lan- tern, the entire section of cells #4 and #5 seemed to burst, and im- mediately flames enveloped the entire stern. This is the first testimony that was given before the Board of Inquiry that had shown a definite origin for the fire, and this, therefore, placed'the fire as definitely beginning in the gas shaft located between cells #4 and #5. l There are sixteen gas cells in the superstructure of the airship. Each cell is filled with hydrogen gas, and through the use of this hydrogen gas the airship obtains its lifting power. For the airship to lose altitude, it is necessary that this hydrogen gas he valved off so that the airship may gain weight and lose some of its =»a'~_'. -i > buoyancy. In order to valve off this gas, there is located in each gas chamber what is called a maneuvering valve, as well as an auto- matic value. The automatic valve is a valve that is more or loss of ,,j; e- fie -=~ a safety device and operates only as a result of pressure within the gas chamber, as, for instance, in the event the gas cell becomes too :44 .1-' - *1 full of hydrogen, the safety device will then function, and enough _elpn gas will be valved off through the automatic valve so that the gas *s .3 within the gas cell will again be maintained at its normal pressure. The maneuvering valve is the valve that is operated by the operator of the ship to cause the ship to lose altitude, and the maneuvering iiiesete"- _ aé':_""'T- 4 valve is controlled by apparatus which is located in the control car. _ _ The position of both the maneuvering valve and the automatic value is conveniently located along what is called the axial girder, upon which is placed the axial catwalk. This axial catwalk runs the entire length of the superstructure of the ship. then the gas is valved off through the gas shaft, it pro- ceeds upward into the air through the shaft, which is covered by what is called the shaft hood. Commander Rosendahl explained that the shaft is open to the air at the top of the superstructure of the Hin- denburg, and naturally there is air in the shaft itself. He also ex- - 5 _ 0 . 70-15 I plained that hydrogen is a gas that, when mixed with air, is highly inflammable, and, mixed with a sufficient quantity of air, is high- ly explosive. ln further explanation, he stated that 99% hydrogen mixed with 1% of air will constitute an inflammable mixture. How- ever, if the ratio of hydrogen is increased to 80%, and 20% air, there is still a highly explosive minture.* If the_oontent of the gas cells is reduced to ace hydrogen andfB0n air, it still consti- tutes a highly explosive mixture. "i 1 » -- , 92 Therefore, Commander Rosendahl stated, as soon as hydro- gen is valved off into the gas shaft, there is a mixture of hydro- gen and air in the internal part of the superstructure of the Hin- denburg and there is a certain area in which these two elements are permitted to mix before they are carried off into the air through the gas vent. Comander Rosendahl stated that it is true that this mixture of air and gas in the gas shaft or vent could have been ig- nited by static electricity that might have been generated by the clothing of a person on board,rubbing of two objects in-the super- structure, by friction, or any type of vibration in the imediate vicinity of the gas shaft. Commander Hosendahl stated, however, that he was of the opinion -due to various happenings that had been called to his at- tention--that there was a strong possibility that the fire which was ignited in this gas shaft at 62 ring, was caused by an individual who attempted to perform an act of sabotage. In connection there~ with, Commander Rosendahl stated that Dr. Eckener had personally in- terviewed every member of the German crew, since his arrival in the United states. He stated that the members of the crew naturally talked more freely to Eckener in private than they had to the Board of Inquiry at the public hearings. According to information that Eckener had received from members cf the ores, the rule that a pas- senger was not to be allowed out of the passenger quarters unless accompanied by a member of the crew, was not strictly enforced in the case of a passenger by the name of Joseph Spach. According to Commander Rosendahl, various members of the crew informed Eckener that the passenger, Joseph Spach, had two dogs that were maintained in the freight room, necessitating $pach's entrance into prohibited territory in order to tend to these dogs at frequent intervals, and frequently Spach was not accompanied by an-officer of the crew on his visits to care for the dogs. l Eckener also related to Commander Rosendahl that one of the students who has since returned to Germany, mentioned the fact - 7 _ _ _ _ I _ _ __ A ______ ___ _ ... _..._. ..,.._.,...... _ 92 I 70-15 r that Joseph Spach appeared to him to be unsympathetic to airship travel and impressed him-as being a peculiar type of passenger; also, that this person remained aloof from the other passengers and was'not at ell, in his opinion, responsive to the e planetion of the crew re= garding the various technicalities of the_airship itself, Commander hosendahl advised that the only information he had on Joseph Spach- there at Lakehurst was to_the effect that he was supposedly a United States citizen, using an American passport, and that he had been treat ed at the Fitkin Meorial Hospital at.Asbury Park, New Jersey, immedi- ately after the accident. 92 - Special agent Lee F. Ralone conducted an investigation rela- tire to the eharaeter of Joseph Speeh, who resided at 240-15 Alameda Avenue, Douglaston, Long Island, New York. A neighborhood investiga- tion revealed that Spach was considered by all who knew him, to bear an excellent reputation. ; 1,e;@an Nuerous people have written to the Board of-Inquiry of the Department or Commerce, expressing their views as to the cause of the disaster to the Hindenburg- An examination of these letters reveals that 30% of them gave mechanical reasons for the destruction; 50} at- tributed the destruction to static igniting the hydrogen gas; and QC; considered the cause of the disaeter to be sabotage. The entire in- vestigation by the Board of Inquiry of the Department of Comncrce, '.";;_ ;.__,,.;,4,.._" .- . however, revealed no direct evidence that there was sabotage in connec- '1 -L tion with the destruction of the ship, and the definite cause for its -..~;1'_. -?Tr'.i'destruction was never really ascertained. :E Q%~f92r e A: v i s _ .. . ."1 . "-3 -"._'_l - CLOSED ~ .. ,4 i _,i¥.;£i-'.-'5 _ 9 - _ .,,,, . .. _ "" '"" _ .n_-. .- .._'_ . ...... _.., >44- -4~ - ~