All language subtitles for Unearthed Series 7 Part 4 Curse Of The Hindenburg 1080p

Narrator: The hindenburg...

The largest aircraft ever built,

an incredible feat
of nazi engineering.

That was certainly
the most advanced airship

that had ever been built.

But in 1937, disaster strikes.

Man:
The hindenburg is in flames.

Narrator: A raging fire tears
through the giant airship.

Morrison:
Oh, the humanity!

This is the worst thing
I've ever witnessed.

Narrator:
The cause of the crash

is an 80-year-old mystery.

In a matter of seconds,
245 meters of airship

was reduced
to just smoking wreckage.

Narrator:
35 people lose their lives.

What really happened
that fateful night?

♪

now investigators use
pioneering technology...

I don't think the flight crew
did the correct things.

Narrator: ...And innovative
forensic techniques

to unearth new evidence.

I can see the explosion
immediately.

We've got a whoomph,
didn't we?

You hear
that chamber go.

Narrator:
Using cutting edge 3-d graphics,

we will resurrect the hindenburg
from the ashes.

♪

we'll reveal its inner workings

and the engineering
that makes it fly.

We'll reconstruct
the night of the inferno

to reveal the mysteries of this
incredible nazi flying machine.

-- Captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by
discovery communications

♪

may 6, 1937.

Adorned with nazi swastikas,

germany's hindenburg airship
flies over new york

after completing a three-day
crossing of the atlantic.

It makes the journey
twice as fast

as the quickest ocean liner.

♪

the hindenburg is the pride
of the nazi air fleet.

At over 800 feet long,

it's the largest aircraft
ever to fly.

♪

under its aluminum-coated skin,

there's space for 61 crew
and 70 passengers.

♪

it's a flying five-star hotel
with bedrooms, dining hall.

Piano bar, and smoking room.

♪

gigantic cotton gasbags
filled with hydrogen

make this monster
lighter than air.

♪

♪

the hindenburg approaches
its final destination --

lakehurst naval base,
new jersey.

But as it prepares to land...

Morrison:
It burst into flames!

And it's crashing!
It's crashing terrible!

Oh, my!
Get out of the way please.

It's burning,
bursting into flames,

and it's falling
on the mooring masts.

This is one of the worst
catastrophes in the world.

Oh, the humanity!

I don't believe it.
Oh!

I-I can't talk,
ladies and gentlemen.

[ woman screaming ]

you see this giant,
beautiful airship float in,

know that it's filled
with people,

and then all of a sudden
it just bursts into flame.

Narrator:
What causes one of the most

notorious air
disasters in history?

♪

the enormous hangar one
at lakehurst is where

the hindenburg is stored
when it flies to the u.S.

♪

in 1937,

hangar one is the largest
single room in the world.

It's 350 feet wide
and nearly 1,000 feet in length,

as long as the chrysler
building is tall.

It's here where airship
historian dan grossman

begins his search for the truth.

Grossman:
This entire building

would have been filled
with airship.

And it kind of gives you a sense
of just how big the ship is.

This building had hindenburg
from one end to the other end.

Narrator:
The massive hindenburg

erupts into flames
just overhead.

♪

dan believes that the hangar
contains clues

to help solve this mystery.

We are standing where
the control car crashed.

This entire area would have
been covered with nothing

but burning,
smoldering wreckage of airship.

Narrator: To this day,

hangar one stores
charred traces of the airship.

Dan discovers evidence
of the fire's intensity

on these recovered
pieces of silverware.

Grossman: Well, we can take
a look at some of the items

that survived the fire.

You can see where metal
has melted

and dripped onto these pieces.

It was a horrific thing
for people to go through.

There was a lot of tragedy
associated with this.

Narrator:
In just 32 seconds,

the fire
consumes the entire hindenburg,

killing 35 of the 97 crew
and passengers.

But what can start a fire
ferocious enough to melt metal?

♪

within hours of the disaster,

there are rumors that opponents
of hitler sabotaged the ship.

♪

the hindenburg is as large
as the u.S. Capitol building --

plenty of room for foul play.

[ ticking ]

♪

is there a bomb
onboard the airship?

Fire and explosions expert
dr. Claire benson

puts the sabotage theory
to the test.

Eyewitness accounts
at the time suggest

there was a quite
a small fire towards the top

and the back of the hindenburg.

Narrator:
Claire plans to detonate a bomb

inside a model
of the airship

and analyze
how quickly the fire spreads.

She works with pyrotechnics
expert matthew tosh.

We are modeling now

the individual reservoirs
of hydrogen gas.

We've got a cylinder here,

and claire is going to feed me
some hydrogen gas.

This replicates the hindenburg's
massive hydrogen-filled gasbags.

♪

claire will analyze
the explosion

and compare it
to footage of the fire

that destroys the hindenburg.

Tosh: The explosive we're using
on our model

is black powder, gunpowder.

So this is the explosive
going in.

This is where
tensions start to rise sometimes

because we're now going
into the firing system.

Narrator:
Claire uses a slow-motion camera

to analyze the fire
that the bomb sets off.

Tosh: Right.
Let's arm the system.

We're armed.

Okay. You ready?
Here we go.

♪

in 3, 2, 1.

[ explosion ]

we got a whoomph, didn't we?
You hear that chamber go?

Benson: Yeah.

♪

whoo!

All right.

Narrator: The camera footage
is downloaded,

and claire replays the explosion
in super slow-motion.

♪

benson: I can see the explosion
immediately,

and it seems to engulf
the back third,

I would say, of the model
really quite rapidly.

Narrator: The hindenburg fire
last just 32 seconds.

But claire's experiment
suggests an explosive

would have engulfed the airship
in half that time.

Benson: An explosion happened
really rapidly

and then very quickly
that fire propagates

through the whole model
and burns it up.

Narrator: Despite the apparent
speed of the hindenburg fire,

claire's experiment reveals
in reality

the airship burns too slowly
for the cause to be a bomb.

It's a breakthrough
in the investigation.

She's certain she can finally
rule out the sabotage theory.

I think we can conclude
from the experiment

that it's unlikely
that the hindenburg disaster

was started
by an explosive device.

Narrator: A bomb did not bring
down the giant nazi airship.

So what else could it have been?

♪

federal authorities discover
that before the disaster,

the hindenburg's crew
gets sent threatening letters.

♪

as they examine the airfield,

investigators find
suspicious tracks

that lead away
from the crash site.

♪

there are rumors of a gun
in the wreckage...

Fueling speculation of a shot
from inside the airship.

♪

but even though investigators
name two suspects,

they eventually rule
out sabotage.

♪

the explanation of
this disaster remains a mystery.

Today, in the search
for answers,

investigators turn to the
design of the hindenburg itself.

What clues does it hold
to the cause of the catastrophe?

♪

narrator: The nazi-built
hindenburg airship

bursts into flames as it arrives
at lakehurst, new jersey.

Sabotage is ruled out.

But what else could cause
this disaster?

Now investigators look to the
hindenburg's design

for answers.

The hindenburg's skeleton

is a complex web
of aluminum struts and braces.

It carries
the ship's infrastructure,

as well as the engines,
passengers, crew and cargo.

♪

but its main job is to create
a large empty space

for the mission-critical
components.

16 gigantic cotton bags...

That hold 7 million
cubic feet of hydrogen,

the lightest element
in the universe.

The gas allows
the hindenburg to fly,

but does it also cause
its downfall?

Hangar one at lakehurst is
the hindenburg's american home.

The giant airship fills
the vast space.

Today, it houses wreckage
of the disaster.

♪

airship historian
dan grossman

investigates one
of the surviving pieces.

Grossman: This is an actual
girder from the hindenburg

that was recovered
after the wreckage,

and you can see in the bends

and the way this piece
was designed and fabricated,

that made it simultaneously
very strong,

but also very light because
I can take this entire girder

and I can hold it
with one finger.

Narrator:
The hindenburg's designers make
the frame as light as possible.

A light frame allows
the fuselage to be supersized,

key to carrying as
much hydrogen as possible,

keeping the hindenburg
airborne.

But there's a problem.

Hydrogen can be very explosive.

Investigators want to know
if that causes the fatal fire

onboard the hindenburg.

Today fire and explosions expert
dr. Claire benson

is taking a new look at how
hydrogen behaves when ignited.

Benson: This is a bag filled
with pure hydrogen.

And inside
is an electrical igniter,

and we're going to see
what happens

when we try
to ignite pure hydrogen.

Arming.

And 3, 2, 1.

[ snap ]

narrator:
It won't set on fire.

A spark cannot
ignite the hydrogen.

The igniter went off,

but there was
no combustion reaction inside.

But the hydrogen, because
it's just pure hydrogen.

Narrator:
But in certain circumstances,

hydrogen will ignite.

Claire fills a second bag
with hydrogen

mixed with another gas
that's all around us --

oxygen.

Okay, arming.
3, 2, 1.

[ pop ]

narrator:
Together, hydrogen and oxygen
create an explosive cocktail.

But if they are kept separate,
then hydrogen is perfectly safe.

Benson:
We have to manage it.

We have to make sure
that we can contain it

and that we can keep it away
from oxygen

that it could react with
and from ignition sources.

[ pop ]

♪

narrator:
In the first world war,

german airship designers use
membranes from cows' intestines

to make bags
that safely contain hydrogen.

♪

in the 1930s,
they changed to helium --

a gas with less lifting power,

but also less risk.

♪

but the only place in the world
that produces helium is america.

And the u.S.
Won't sell helium to the nazis.

The hindenburg
must use hydrogen,

but can now afford
to have nine extra cabins

as hydrogen
has more lifting power.

♪

the hindenburg's designers
also create a new way

to safely contain the gas.

They make airtight cotton
gasbags to hold the hydrogen.

They are so confident
their plan is foolproof,

they even allow passengers
to smoke onboard the airship.

So why does the hindenburg
catch fire?

Claire believes there
can only be one answer.

Benson: On the hindenburg,
if there was a leak

or some kind of mixing
of the hydrogen with the air,

it's the mixing that
would enable the ignition

of that reaction.

Narrator: Could a deadly leak
of hydrogen play a part

in bringing down the hindenburg?

What sparks
the catastrophic fire?

♪

narrator: The massive nazi
airship hindenburg

erupts in a raging fire.

Seven million cubic feet
of hydrogen are set aflame.

Within moments,
thirty five people are dead,

but hydrogen will only burn
when mixed with oxygen.

It should be completely safe

within the airship's
giant airtight gasbags.

Now investigators
want to know

how does this hydrogen escape?

Seconds before the disaster,

a witness sees
the ship's skin fluttering...

...Possible evidence
of a gas leak.

♪

right beneath this spot are
gasbags number four and five,

each filled with half a million
cubic feet of hydrogen.

Could something
inside the airship snap

and tear the gasbags?

Now hydrogen can escape...

And mixed with oxygen,

turning hindenburg
into a gigantic flying bomb.

But how could a section of the
hindenburg's structure break?

Dr. Praskovia milova
is an aeronautical engineer

from the université libre
in brussels.

She examines the hindenburg's
design for clues.

Milova: We can see that the main
structure of the hindenburg

was supported everywhere
by still bracing wires,

narrator: Thousands of feet
of steel wire

braces hindenburg's innovative
lightweight frame.

Steel wires surround all 16
gasbags, securing them in place.

From this view, you can
imagine that the gasbag

would be filling
this whole space.

And even pressing
against the wires.

Narrator:
But steel is prone to rust,

milova: Steel is a corrosive
material just by nature,

and rust then has
a significant impact

on the strength of the material.

Narrator:
Before the disaster,

the hindenburg makes 17
round trips across the atlantic,

with each crossing taking
an average of 55 hours.

♪

it flies at a cruising altitude
of only 650 feet,

exposing it to moisture
and salt from the ocean.

♪

to shield the skeleton under the
hindenburg skin from corrosion,

it is covered
with protective paint.

♪

but the steel bracing wires
are unprotected,

and when exposed to salt
and moisture, they can rust.

♪

praskovia thinks there's
another threat

to the steel wires.

The airship's aluminum
frame bends and stretches

to cope with the challenging
weather conditions

crossing the atlantic.

Milova: Corrosion --
it's the material,

so it creates little cracks
on the surface.

And then because the whole
structure is flexible,

the steel wire
would be repetitively

tensioned and relaxed,

tensioned and relaxed,
and eventually it breaks.

♪

narrator: Each cotton gasbag
is reinforced and sealed

by a thin layer of rubber.

Could a snapping steel
wire puncture one of the bags?

♪

the cause of the leaking
hydrogen is a mystery today.

Praskovia is finally putting

the suspect gasbag material
to the test.

She prepares samples
of the rubberized cotton

with lab technician
inge desmet.

Milova:
We chose the pointed needle
because if the wire broke,

it would have had
the sharp edges,

and the pointed needle would be

the best to assimilate
that broken wire.

♪

narrator:
The machine ramps up the force.

♪

milova:
This sample was punctured.

You can see the hole.

The puncture resistance
is around 40 newtons.

Narrator:
Praskovia's test reveals

how little it takes to pierce
the material.

Milova: The gasbag material
could have been

pretty much easily broken
by a broken wire.

Narrator: All the vital
forensic evidence

is destroyed
in the intense fire.

But with the results
of her test,

praskovia is now certain

a tiny piece of metal
is the most likely culprit.

The cause of
the hindenburg disaster

is finally getting clearer.

♪

but the leak
still needs a spark.

What starts the mighty fire?

Narrator: May 1937.

The wreckage
of the airship hindenburg

lies burning
on a new jersey airfield.

Now investigators believe
a broken steel wire

has ripped open a gasbag,

and half a million cubic feet
of hydrogen leaks out.

But the highly flammable
mix of hydrogen

and oxygen needs to be ignited.

So what sparks
the deadly fire?

[ thunder rumbles ]

the hindenburg lands at
lakehurst during a thunderstorm.

Eyewitnesses report
dim blue lights

rippling across its aluminum
coated skin.

Are these the sparks
that ignite the hydrogen

and bring down the hindenburg?

Dr. Chris gould is
an electrical engineer

from staffordshire university
in England.

♪

he investigates
if a thunderstorm

can produce a spark powerful
enough to start a fire.

Gould:
What we're trying to test here

is how can a spot be created

within the hindenburg structure?

Narrator:
Thunderstorms produce millions

of volts of electricity.

The hindenburg
is electrically charged

flying through
the stormy conditions.

But dropping its
mooring ropes for landing

should safely discharge
the airship.

♪

the mooring ropes
should channel

any electrical charge to earth,

eliminating the risk
of potentially lethal sparks.

How is a spark created
on the hindenburg?

Chris and technical assistant
suhil want to find out.

They use a replica of the
hindenburg skin to investigate.

This model represents
the main components

of the hindenburg --
the airframe and the outer skin,

which has a woven fabric
painted with aluminium powder.

And we have this aluminium bar,

which represents
the metal structure

of the airship airframe.

Narrator: The mooring ropes
are only attached

to the airship's aluminum
alloy frame.

The skin is separated from it
by wooden dowels.

Chris suspects this separation
means the skin

keeps its electrical charge

when the airship drops
its mooring ropes.

The electrical current
then flows across the gap

in the form of a spark.

If we can create the spark
in that gap,

then potentially
that can lead to ignition.

Narrator:
Flying through the storm,

the hindenburg's outer skin
gets covered in water.

Chris and suhil recreate
the same conditions

on their model.

Gould: The water that we poured
onto the fabric of the airship

is replicating
the pools of water

that have formed as the airship

has been traveling through
the poor weather conditions.

Narrator: Suhil connects
the high-voltage generator

to the wet skin...

And grounds the inner frame

exactly like the hindenburg
moments before the disaster.

Gould:
I think we're ready to go.

Narrator: Chris's equipment
can produce up to 50,000 volts.

The experiment must be done
inside a cage for safety.

♪

1,000.
One and a half.

2,000 volts.

We can see a spark.
We've got a spark.

♪

chris creates a spark
in the exact conditions

the hindenburg faces.

His findings are conclusive.

Chris believes it's a discovery

to finally solve
an 82-year-old mystery.

The test reveals a fatal
design flaw in the hindenburg.

Wooden dowels insulated skin
from the metal frame

and the mooring rope.

The frame loses its charge

when the mooring rope
drops down,

but the skin remains charged
and can still trigger sparks.

♪

chris is convinced this is
the cause of the deadly fire.

Gould: That spark would be
enough to be able

to ignite a leaking hydrogen
mixture from the hindenburg.

Narrator: Investigators discover
that an electric spark

ignites the hindenburg.

62 of the 97 onboard

survived the resulting fire.

How can so many people
escape the inferno?

Narrator: The hindenburg airship
leaking hydrogen

and electrically charged by
a huge thunderstorm

approaches
lakehurst, new jersey.

♪

during the landing, most
passengers are in the lounge.

They have no idea what's
happening 400 feet behind them.

A spark ignites a gasbag
in the tail

and turns it into a fireball.

A huge flame blasts
through the central walkway.

Fire engulfs five crew
in the central control rooms

and traps nine crew
in the bow.

The nose becomes
a giant blowtorch,

and the ship starts to crash.

How can 62 of the 97 people
on board survive this inferno?

Airship historian
barbara waibel hunts for answers

in the town
where the hindenburg is built.

Friedrichshafen, germany.

The zeppelin museum houses
a full-scale replica

of the hindenburg's interior.

[ speaking german ]

narrator: The trip across
the atlantic takes three days.

♪

a round trip cost $720.

♪

not much today, but in 1937,

it's half the average
u.S. Worker's annual salary.

The need to save weight
is the biggest priority.

Each cabin only contains
what is absolutely essential.

The hindenburg
makes its final approach

towards lakehurst, new jersey.

Most passengers are in one
of the two lounges

enjoying the dramatic views
of new york city.

The hindenburg is designed
with vast windows

along the length of each lounge,

reconstructed here
at the museum.

As the hindenburg
descends to the airfield

at lakehurst naval base,

the large windows in the lounges

are the most popular place
to be,

but the passengers here are

the first to notice
the disaster.

♪

the windows not only
help alert passengers

to the unfolding disaster...

They help with a hasty escape.

The hindenburg catches fire
200 feet in the air

before it crashes to the ground.

People escaping must wait

for exactly the right moment
to jump.

[ indistinct shouting ]

but not all passengers are
in the lounges during landing.

Many are in their cabins
preparing to disembark.

They face greater danger.

♪

the cabins' modern
minimalist design

lacks one crucial feature --

a window.

All the cabins are situated
in the center of the airship

with no views to the outside.

Passengers in their cabins

are unaware of the disaster
unfolding around them.

It takes just 32 seconds from
the first flames being spotted

to the giant airship
hitting the ground.

[ indistinct shouting ]

passengers still in their cabins
have no time to escape.

No one in their cabin
survives the disaster.

23 passengers do escape.

Every one of them
are in the lounges.

However, the crew are spread
throughout the airship,

14 of the 61 crew onboard

are killed almost instantly
in the fire.

The rest have a chance
to make their escape.

♪

at the time of the disaster,

the captain is overseeing
the landing

from the hindenburg control car.

The control car is far away

from the start of the fire
at the tail.

The captain and 11 of the crew
here escape

when the airship crashes
to the ground.

♪

but this is not the end
of their ordeal.

♪

now on the ground,
they must find their way

through the burning wreckage.

Two of the crew
in the control car die

trying to escape.

The captain survives,

but is severely burnt
fleeing the wreckage.

Other members of the crew
are luckier.

♪

the engine cars are far away
from where the fire starts,

and 9 of the 11 crew there
escape.

♪

with the tail virtually
touching the ground,

all four crew in the rear also
walk away virtually unscathed.

In total, 39 of the 61 crew
survived the disaster.

But could the entire
catastrophe have been averted?

What can the captain
do differently

to stop the disaster?

Narrator: Lakehurst, new jersey,
may 1937.

The wreckage of the hindenburg
lies scattered on the airfield.

35 people are dead.

♪

can the captain of the airship

do anything to stop
the disaster?

♪

mats backlin is
a retired airship pilot.

Mats programs
this state-of-the-art simulator

to exactly replicate
the conditions

on the day of the disaster.

In the search for clues,

he's re-created the hindenburg's
precise flight path.

♪

backlin:
There are major differences
between airships and planes,

but the trickiest part
of any operation is the landing.

The ground can be
very unforgiving

if you hit it the wrong way.

Narrator: The hindenburg is
flying through a thunderstorm.

It charges the airship
with lethal electricity.

And puts it hours
behind schedule.

The captain decides
to land fast.

He uses a quick
and efficient method

called a flying moor.

In a flying moor,

the hindenburg drops
its ropes at a high altitude

and is winched to the ground.

But only the airship's frame

is safely discharged
of electricity.

While it's 200 feet in the air,
the height of the airship

increases the electrical charge
of the skin,

causing the catastrophic spark.

The captain's choice to land
using a flying moor

is the catalyst
for the disaster.

Mats thinks there's
a safer way to land.

We're going to try
the approach at a lower level,

narrator: Airships can also land
like conventional aircraft,

slowly reducing speed
and altitude

until coming to rest
on the ground.

♪

a low landing is much slower
and harder for a pilot to do,

but it dramatically reduces
the risk of a disastrous spark.

[ thunder crashes ]

mats attempts to land
like an aircraft

to see if the captain can do it
and avert the catastrophe.

♪

backlin:
The flight crew has more tasks,

more conditions to deal with.

If you're very low, you can
easily post the tail

to strike a tree
or even the ground.

Narrator: Mats approaches
lakehurst airfield

and begins the critical stage
of the landing.

♪

backlin: We're coming into
the final approach.

Try to avoid hitting pine tree
on the right here.

Narrator:
Mats safely brings down

the massive airship
onto the airfield.

We're now going to be
settling down to the ground.

Narrator:
Mats' new experiment proves
the disaster is not inevitable.

The captain could have chosen
the slower but safer option.

♪

the hindenburg disaster
is seen around the globe

and shocks the entire world.

The catastrophe brings an
abrupt end to the airship era.

♪

astonishingly,
dr. Praskovia milova believes

that despite the tragedy,
hydrogen-filled airships

could grace our skies
once again.

Hydrogen's amazing
lifting power

means it could be the perfect
green alternative

for moving cargo.

Praskovia and her team
are building a brand-new airship

they hope will avoid
the mistakes of the past.

We've spent so much time by now
designing and researching

all the components
of the airship model

due to the disasters
that happened in the past

with the hydrogen airships.

Narrator: They develop a 50-foot
prototype model

to test their technology.

The airship is built
from carbon-fiber tubes

that are corrosion resistant.

We are using carbon tubes,

which are light,
which are strong,

and they are also
electrically conductive,

which is very important
for a hydrogen airship,

narrator:
Praskovia needs to test

the most critical component
of her design --

the material that makes up
the hydrogen gasbags.

She's discovered
a brand-new fabric

she thinks will prevent
any possible leak.

Milova: The solution is to have
two layers of plastic film

for even more gas-tightness,
plus carbon fiber,

which is a synthetic material
to make it even more strong.

Narrator: Praskovia tests
her new material.

Will it be stronger than the
hindenburg's original fabrics?

She's using a machine that will
test them to destruction.

Basically pulls away
until the sample is broken,

and then the force is measured.

Lab technician inge desmet
loads the tension machine

with the material used
in the hindenburg

and sets the test running.

♪

the force ramps up...

And rips apart the cotton.

It gives us around 200 newtons
of force to break it.

Narrator:
Praskovia runs the same test
on her brand-new material.

♪

it doesn't rip
until 700 newtons.

Her modern fabric
is much stronger.

Compare it to the cotton-based
material

used in hindenburg,

this is 3.5 times more strong.

Narrator: Praskovia is confident
she's found a material

to safely contain hydrogen...

♪

...And our skies
could soon be filled

by a fleet of brand-new
hydrogen airships.

♪

the crash of the hindenburg

is one of the most spectacular
aviation disasters in history.

Modern investigations reveal
a punctured hydrogen bag

creates an explosive gas

and a spark of electricity
that ignites it.

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35 people die
in the catastrophic fire.

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but new discoveries
from the tragedy

may mean a new age
of hydrogen airships is dawning.

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