Expert Witness 2: Dr. Addison Bain
The next person that you talk with is another doctor named Addison Bain. Dr. Bain thinks that static electricity might be the reason that the disaster occurred. Dr. Bain says, "that there was static being built up on the airship and it could have sparked and ignited the paint on the airship or the highly volatile hydrogen gas that was used to keep the airship aloft." In order to make up for the delay of more than 12 hours in its transatlantic flight, the Hindenburg passed through a weather front of high humidity and high electrical charge. The storm could have made the airship's mooring lines wet and thus conductive, and may also have built up an electrical charge in its skin. The mooring rods were coated in a non-conductive material, but the wet conditions may have allowed them to carry a charge to the hydrogen and back to the highly flammable paint.
