Hindenberg Radio Reporter Dies at 83
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Herbert Morrison, the radio reporter famous for his impassioned description of the 1937 Hindenburg dirigible disaster at Lakehurst, N.J., died today in a nursing home. He was 83.
Morrison was a 31-year-old reporter for WLS radio in Chicago when he witnessed the explosion and crash of the dirigible on May 6, 1937, that killed 36 people and virtually ended international dirigible travel.
“It burst into flames. . . . It’s on fire and it’s crashing,” Morrison broadcast from Lakehurst as the hydrogen-filled zeppelin exploded shortly after arriving from Germany on a transatlantic flight.
“It’s crashing . . . terrible. . . . It’s burning, bursting into flames and it’s falling on the mooring mast. . . . This is one of the worst catastrophes in the world. Oh, the flames, four or five hundred feet into the sky!
“It’s a terrible crash. . . . Oh, the humanity. And all the passengers. . . . Honest, it’s just lying there, a massive, smoking wreckage.”
Combined with newsreel footage, Morrison’s tearful account for WLS brought home to Americans the scope of the tragedy.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
