New York / Lakehurst, May 6th 1937, 7 pm:

The "Hindenburg" has come all the way from Europe - a luxurious flying hotel, faster than any ship. Now it is going to bring its passengers back down to earth.

But all of a sudden, the pride of the Third Reich bursts into flames. In a matter of seconds, the largest airship ever built turns into an infernal ball of fire.

Even now, 60 years later, surviving eye witnesses cannot forget the horrible smell of burning flesh that lingered in the air. 35 people died in the flames - and nobody knew why. Was the "Hindenburg" disaster the result of sabotage, committed by opponents of the Nazi regime? Was the zeppelin struck by a bolt of lightning? Or was one of the most devastating accidents in aviation history nothing but a cunningly planned insurance fraud?

While the world press followed the investigation into the cause of the accident closely, the German public was left in the dark. The nazis had no interest in exposing flaws in German technology. Consequently, rumours spread. The mystery surrounding the disaster has never been resolved - until now. In many years of research, a NASA scientist at Cape Canaveral has discovered its real cause: Neither the hydrogen in the hull nor a bomb was to blame, but a special fabric for the outer skin that, when ignited, burns like dry leaves.

With spectacular historic footage, the moving stories of eye witnesses, and elaborately colorized sequences of authentic black-and-white material, our documentary reveals a truth that has been covered up for many years: The "infallible" German engineers had designed a flying bomb just waiting to explode.

Available in English, German and Spanish.

Length: 1 X 30 minutes, 1 X 90 mins in preparation.

© VIDICOM Media Productions 1998