Airships or dirigible balloons were once a promising means of air travel. People commonly used airships before the 1940s, but as the capabilities of airplanes developed, the former method was demised. One contributor to the less frequent use of dirigible balloons was the Hindenburg disaster and crashes of the R101 and two airships from the United States in the 1930s. These events proved that airships were not as reliable as other types of airships and had a plethora of safety-related problems. This paper will review the factors that led to the demise of airships.
An airship is a specific type of ship, which is lifted with the use of lifting gas that is less dense when compared to the air surrounding the airship. Airships require less energy, and therefore, less fuel to remain in the air and do not pollute the environment as much as other air transportation means (Szlay, 2017). However, several subsequent crashes of airships led to their demise, and people began to use other means of travel, such as R101 in 1930, USS Akron crash in 1933, and USS Macon in 1935.
Although one can trace early examples of airships to the seventeenth century, this air transportation vehicle gained the most attention in the twentieth century. The first notable crash of an airship is the R101 that crashed in France in 1930 (Szlay, 2017). The cause of this crash was unfavorable weather conditions. Following this event, two airships from the United States also crashed in 1933 and 1935 (Szlay, 2017). The cause of the crashes in both cases was stormy weather.
Many consider the Hinderburg crash to be the end of airship travel. The crash happened on May 6 in 1937. Hindenburg arrived at the Lakehurst Naval Station from Frankfurt, Germany. Upon arrival, the ship was caught in flames and burned almost completely within ten minutes (Szlay, 2017). Out of the ninety-seven passengers, thirty-five died, while those who survived had to jump from the ship to the ground.
Notably, to lift Hindenburg, the crew used hydrogen, which is a highly flammable gas. Although hydrogen was commonly used as a lifting gas for dirigible air ballons, it was replaced by helium after this gas was first discovered. Bain and Van Vorst (1999) refer to this crash as a ‘hydrogen bomb’, pointing to the safety concerns associated with the use of helium as a fuel for vehicles of any kind. Hindenburg was a notable catastrophe since this airship burned almost completely.
Hindenburg was the most technologically advanced and the biggest airship of its time. This, perhaps, is another reason why airships lost their popularity since the crash pointed out that even the most advanced airships had significant safety breaches. Szlay (2019) argues that Hindenburg was supposed to become a remarkable sign of the new era of passenger air travel via airships, but instead marked its abrupt end. The commission appointed to investigate this tragedy concluded that the hydrogen used as a lifting gas became free and was ignited electrostatically (Bain & Van Vorst, 1999). Although this may be the cause of the crash, there are many questions regarding how exactly the gas was freed. Bain and Van Vorst (1999) conclude that helium use was not the actual reason for the crash and instead, the fabric and the coating used by Zeppelin company to manufacturer this airship, combined with environmental conditions led to the crash. Regardless, the safety of airships was compromised by a series of crashes and fires.
The crash of Hindenburg in 1937 and the previous crashes of the ships from the United States point out that airships of that time were not sustainable to weather conditions. Mainly, their lack of sustainability to weather conditions, such as storms or heat was an issue. Hence, the construction of airships was flawed and made them susceptible to crashes as a result of weather, either a storm or heat. After Hindenburg, passenger airplanes became the most frequently used method of mass air travel.
Overall, airships are a type of air transportation method that allows for a controlled powered flight with the use of lifting gas lighter than the air. They are much more energy-efficient when compared to other air transportation methods, such as airplanes. However, during the early twentieth century, when airships became popular, several notable crashes happened. These crashes led to the demise of airships because they pointed out the safety issues that exist with these vehicles.
References
Bain, A. & Van Vorst, D. (1999). The Hindenburg tragedy revisited – The fatal flaw found. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 24, 399-403.
Szalay, J. (2017). Hindenburg crash: The end of airship travel. Web.