DBWI: Hindenburg crashes

So apparently, after the famous zeppelin Hindenburg's first flight of the 1937 season, while the crew was inspecting the ship following the landing, they discovered that one of the gas cells in the stern was leaking. It had been torn open by a broken cable. Given that the ship had been flying through an electrically charged sky, it's a miracle she didn't blow up.

My question is, WI the Hindenburg had caught fire, right in front of all the media of the day? Would that end the era of airships? Hitler and Goering apparently weren't too thrilled with zeppelins, so maybe their days were numbered anyway.

Thoughts?
 
Well, I mean, it was only a few years later that the US launched their fleet of Helium airships. I have a hard time imagining one crash discrediting a whole class of transportation, but maybe it could stunt helium airship development.

That would be a tragedy, though. I mean, without the airships, there wouldn't be any luxury air travel. As effective as air planes are for getting from place to place, you couldn't take a ten-day cruise of the US aboard one.
 
So apparently, after the famous zeppelin Hindenburg's first flight of the 1937 season, while the crew was inspecting the ship following the landing, they discovered that one of the gas cells in the stern was leaking. It had been torn open by a broken cable. Given that the ship had been flying through an electrically charged sky, it's a miracle she didn't blow up.

My question is, WI the Hindenburg had caught fire, right in front of all the media of the day? Would that end the era of airships? Hitler and Goering apparently weren't too thrilled with zeppelins, so maybe their days were numbered anyway.

Thoughts?

I've wondered about that as well. I guess if that happened the Pilot would have to drop altitude as quickly as possible, while the Hindenburg remains somewhat buoyant. Not to sound cold or anything, but the occasional airplane crash doesn't deter airplanes either, so the only thing I wonder about the Hindenburg is whether it is early enough in the bevelopment of blimps to discourage their widespread use...I think WW2 actually supported their development, with the Navy's whole "Sky Whale" program of blimp based recon.

Hydrogen lifted blimps were going out of style anyway in that period--the Helium blimp would have been dominant even earlier--and in all likelihood, Nazi Germany would not attempt to build more Hydrogen pulled blimps in WW2--that was STUPID..
 
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