how did hindenburg burst into flames?

Answer 1

I watched a Mythbusters show about this and their hypotheses seemed to make sense. This is a generic report of what they found:

"What they came here to do on a clear and crisp October morning, with San Francisco posing magnificently across the bay, was set the Hindenburg on fire. Three Hindenburgs, actually, to address a debate over what actually doomed the hydrogen-filled zeppelin on May 6, 1937, in Lakehurst, N.J. Hydrogen, of course, is highly flammable and was the obvious culprit in the disaster.

But a counterargument had arisen that the doping paint used to toughen the craft’s skin of fabric contained aluminum powder and other materials that combined to resemble an explosive called thermite. That, the theory goes, made the fabric as combustible as rocket fuel."

So basically the paint that they used to paint the Hindenburg became a fire accelerator and made it burn at a record breaking pace. The flames were thought to have started from mechanical problems that were not able to be fixed... while this started the disastrous series of events the rocket-fuel-like paint combination caused it to actually burst into flames.

Answer 2

The official report says it was likely a static spark that ignited free hydrogen from a gas leak at the rear of the zeppelin. The often maligned paint likely contributed to the disaster, but that was an unknown at the time.

If the skin of the craft had not been flammable it's possible that the fire would not have spread nearly so quickly and more people would have survived.

Answer 3

The cause of the Hindenburg fire disaster is not really known for sure. Check out the source below for a discussion of the major hypotheses (sabotage, static spark, lightning, engine exhaust).

Answer 4

There was a spark when the Zeppelin tried to connect with the tower and the Hydrogen (?) Propane(?) ignited.

Answer 5

Oh the humanity....................
Could have been a static charge from the tower that ignited the hydrogen.