70th anniversary of Hindenburg airship disaster
(5 May 2007) AP Television FILE: Lakehurst, New Jersey - 6 May 1937 1. Various newsreel shots of the Hindenburg airship arriving in America AP Television Lakehurst, New Jersey - 4 May 2007 2. Various of last surviving member of the Hindenburg Civilian Ground Crew, Robert Buchanan, sifting through papers, photos and drawings of the airship 3. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Buchanan, last surviving member of the Hindenburg Civilian Ground Crew: "And that's about where I was." AP Television FILE: Lakehurst, New Jersey - 6 May 1937 4. Original newsreel shots showing sequence of the Hindenburg crashing AP Television Lakehurst, New Jersey - 4 May 2007 5. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Buchanan, last surviving member of the Hindenburg Civilian Ground Crew: "There was no explosion. It did not explode. Had it exploded it would have broken into many pieces like any explosion. It was, puff, just like someone would leave the gas on and not get the flame to it quick enough, a spark didn't catch it and it accumulated a little gas, it would, poof." AP Photos - No Access Canada/Internet Lakehurst, New Jersey - 6 May 1937 6. STILL: Hindenburg in flames, zoom into fire 7. STILL: Hindenburg in flames, pull back to wide AP Television Lakehurst, New Jersey - 4 May 2007 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Buchanan, last surviving member of the Hindenburg Civilian Ground Crew: (overlaid with newsreel of Hindenburg in flames from 6 May 1937) "And that's when I ran. I ran quite a distance because the heat, the flame kept shooting out ahead of me and really didn't think I was going to make it, frankly. I just couldn't imagine how I'm going to get out of this thing. It was drifting our way and it was getting hotter and I thought it would never stop. I ran. I ran in that direction over there (pointing to photograph.) Naturally, over to where those trees were. So I was running away from the ship and the ship finally came down and the nose went way up. This came down first and then this eventually came down." AP Television FILE: Lakehurst, New Jersey - 6 May 1937 9. Various newsreel shots of the Hindenburg arriving in America 10. Various newsreel shots of Hindenburg on fire on the ground STORYLINE: Sunday will mark the 70th anniversary of the Hindenburg disaster in the United States. The giant German airship burst into flames and crashed to the ground as it dropped lines towards its mooring mast at the US Navy base in Lakehurst, New Jersey on 6 May 1937. More than a thousand sightseers had gathered to see the Hindenburg as it arrived with 61 crew and 36 passengers on board after its first transatlantic flight of the year. The Hindenburg was in a rush to land and take off again because a larger load of passengers was waiting, but the landing had been delayed for hours by rainy weather. The crash killed 35 people on board the airship and one person in the ground crew. At 87 years old, Robert Buchanan is one of the last living members of the ground crew that was to help the Hindenburg land. He says he sometimes has trouble remembering what he did 10 minutes ago but can recall in vivid detail the day 70 years ago when he watched the Hindenburg erupt into a fireball. A burst of flames roared across the surface of the airship only a hundred or so feet above him and Buchanan remembers his hair getting singed as he ran for his life. "I ran quite a distance because the heat, the flame kept shooting out ahead of me and really didn't think I was going to make it. I just couldn't imagine how I'm going to get out of this thing," Buchanan added. The cause of the crash is still debated. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
