Lesson Of The Hindenburg

It was on this date in 1937 that the largest, fastest and most luxurious flying vessel ever built---went up in flames.

The German airship “Hindenberg” was consumed in a matter of seconds as it arrived in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36 of the roughly 100 people on board.

Captured on film—and immortalized in a live broadcast on Chicago’s WLS Radio, announcer Herbert Morrison’s emotional description of the disaster was heard by thousands as it happened.

Here is a film of the catastrophe, complete with Morrison’s broadcast:




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiAT9xvTVKI

The critical flaw—in hindsight, was glaring.

Namely, even though it was commonly known that helium was far safer than hydrogen, the latter was chosen due to lower cost and the ease of maneuvering when the dirigible was filled with hydrogen.

SEVEN MILLION CUBIC FEET of a highly flammable gas.

The “Hindenberg” was a symbol of Nazi Germany’s national pride. More than 800 feet long, it had a range of 8,000 miles using a state-of-the-art Mercedes-Benz engine. A top speed of 85 miles an hour was possible and the “Hindenberg” had made 10 successful ocean crossings in 1936. Appointed for comfort and luxury, it was a revolutionary—and speedy way—to cross the Atlantic---and, as it turned out—also deadly.

On that fateful day, bad weather forced a later landing than scheduled. When finally cleared to land, the pilot, Captain Max Pruss brought the ship in too fast and had to order a reverse engine thrust. At 7:20pm. A gas leak was noticed-and within minutes, the tail blew up, sending flames hundreds of feet into the air—and as far down as the ground below the ship.

About a thousand spectators felt the heat from a mile away as the entire vessel was consumed instantly. Some aboard tried to jump to the landing ropes meant to moor the ship. Those who missed fell to their death. Others waited until the ship was closer to the ground before jumping. Fifty six passengers survived, but many had broken bones or were critically injured from burns.

A decision made for economic reasons—cost versus safety---a decision most likely made without emotion or thought to the potential for disaster—ended up being a massive catastrophe that set commercial aviation back—and virtually buried the possibilities of “lighter than air” travel. Passengers could not be convinced that a switch to a safer gas was, in fact, safe.

And who could blame them? The impetus to cut costs at the expense of safety had another casualty-----trust. The public no longer believed that their safety was a concern.

As we sift through the wreckage of an oil drilling rig off the U.S. coast and try to discern what went wrong, it’s also likely that a decision made in clinical fashion in some corporate boardroom in order to keep costs down—may be to blame for the failure of backup and contingency systems designed to avert the environmental disaster that we are facing now---and are only at the threshold of dealing with.

Profits.

Important, but never at the cost of the public’s safety. Holding those responsible---criminally liable---may be the only way to make executives aware of the human implications of their accounting decisions.

If you’d like my blog in your weekday box, just let me know: tim.moore@citcomm.com