The dead from the Hindenburg disaster included a broad range of ages and backgrounds. Of the 13 dead passengers, there was Ernst Anders, who was on his way to meet the governor of New Jersey about an upcoming Swedish-American celebration; a druggist from Mexico City and his 14-year-old daughter; and Edward Douglas, 39, an advertising man whose brother, a local reporter, was there covering the airship’s arrival. Alan Hagaman, who was incinerated under the Zeppelin, was the sole member of the ground crew to die.
Besides Captain Lehmann, 21 other crew members of the Hindenburg also died. Capt. Max Pruss, who had taken command of the airship from Ernst Lehmann in September 1936, survived but was badly burned and carried the scars from the accident for the rest of his life. The rise and fall of the Hindenburg had been swift. The airship made its inaugural flight from Frankfort, Germany to Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1936, a year to the day of the disaster. It made 10 trips to the U.S. in 1936 without incident until its fatal end.
