Joseph Spah, a passenger listed as an acrobat and stage entertainer, survived the Hindenburg disaster after jumping from the burning airship. In a letter written weeks later, he said he leapt “from a great height,” landed, and ran. He did not give an exact height.
Who was the acrobat who jumped from the Hindenburg?
He was Joseph Spah, a 32-year-old passenger from Long Island. The Navy Lakehurst Historical Society passenger list identifies his occupation as “Acrobat/Stage Entertainer.” A surviving passenger-list reference says its details derive from U.S. immigration manifests and retains their original wording: Airships.net’s Hindenburg passenger and crew list.
His name appears in the signed 1937 account held in the FBI’s Hindenburg file as Joseph Spaeh. The passenger list uses Joseph Spah. The difference in spelling is worth noting when searching for the archival document, but both references concern the same passenger.
What did Spah say about his escape?
In a letter dated May 29, 1937, to the Bureau of Air Commerce Investigation Board, Spah wrote that he was at the dining-room window nearest the nose of the airship. He was facing the hangar and taking a photograph of the ground crew when the first explosion occurred. He described his escape this way: “I jumped out from a great height and when I landed on the ground ran off without looking back.” The letter is reproduced in the FBI Vault’s Hindenburg file.
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“A great height” is all the account establishes. Spah supplied no measurement, so a precise distance should not be attached to his jump as if it came from his testimony.
Could Spah identify how the fire began?
No. Spah told investigators the disaster happened too suddenly for him to see where it began. He said he did not see flames while escaping and could not help determine the cause. His letter also reports that his wife, who was on the ground, saw flames first near the stern; that was her observation as relayed by Spah, not something he said he witnessed.
The Hindenburg burst into flames while preparing to dock at Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937. The U.S. Census Bureau lists sabotage, lightning, static electricity, and engine backfire among proposed explanations, but says none has been conclusively proven: U.S. Census Bureau, May 2022.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How many people survived the Hindenburg disaster?
The National Archives says 62 people aboard survived. The Census Bureau reports that 35 passengers and crew aboard died, as did one member of the ground crew. Those figures distinguish people aboard from the ground-crew fatality: National Archives exhibit on the Hindenburg.
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