Herbert Morrison

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Herbert Morrison (born May 14, 1905 , † January 10, 1989 in Morgantown , West Virginia ) was an American radio journalist. He became known worldwide through his radio report during the disaster of the airship LZ 129 "Hindenburg" on May 6, 1937 .

Together with the sound engineer Charles Nehlsen, he was in Lakehurst on May 6, 1937 , to record a report on the first arrival of the Hindenburg airship in the 1937 season for the Chicago radio station WLS. The project was sponsored by American Airlines , the US contract partner of Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei , and Presto, the manufacturer of the recording equipment. Morrison had already worked successfully with American Airlines when he reported live from the plane about the great floods in early 1937 and was therefore selected again for the planned report. Surrounded by people waiting, Morrison routinely described the landing procedure to the audience when suddenly flames broke out from the stern of the airship. He excitedly describes the progress of the disaster:

“It's burst into flames, [The coordination of the recording device is disturbed by the pressure wave, the following is barely audible.] It's burst into flames and it's falling, it's crashing. Watch it! Watch it, folks! Get out of the way, [The sound engineer fixed the problem.] Get out of the way. Get this, Charlie, get this, Charlie! It's cra ... and it's crashing, it's crashing, terrible. Oh my! Get out of the way, please! It is burning, bursting into flames and… and it's falling on the mooring mast and all the folks agree this is terrible, this is one of the worst catastrophes in the world! [unintelligible], oh, four or five hundred feet into the sky, it's a terrific crash, ladies and gentlemen. There's smoke and there's flames now and the frame is crashing to the ground, not quite to the mooring mast. Oh, the humanity and all the passengers, screaming around me! "

“It went up in flames, it went up in flames, and it falls, it falls. Attention! Be careful guys! Away there, away there. Take it up, Charlie, take it up, Charlie. It crashes ... and it crashes, it crashes, terrible. Oh God! Run away, please! It burns, hits flames and ... and falls on the mooring mast and everyone agrees: this is terrible, this is one of the worst disasters in the world! [Inaudible], oh, four or five hundred feet into the sky, it's a terrible fall, ladies and gentlemen. There is smoke and flames now and the scaffolding falls to the ground, not all the way to the anchor mast. Oh, humanity and all the passengers, screaming around me! "

During this description, Morrison is audibly overwhelmed by his feelings. His professional narrative tone from the beginning turns into whimpers and sobs. Morrison continues the report, reports on the rescue work and interviews some eyewitnesses. He has to interrupt his work several times to calm himself down.

The synthetic resin-coated aluminum plates with his report are brought to Chicago that evening. The following day, excerpts of the report were broadcast nationwide on the NBC network.

Together with the films and pictures of the disaster, the report had a high emotional impact on the population. Although the Hindenburg disaster was not the worst airship disaster in history, it made a significant contribution to the abandonment of airship transport.

Harvey Friedman plays Herbert Morrison in the German television film Hindenburg (2011) .

Web links

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Burt A. Folkart: Herbert Morrison; Radio reporter at Hindenburg Crash . Los Angeles Times , January 11, 1989.
  2. ↑ In January 1931, a hundred-year flood on the Ohio River exceeded the levees in the city of Cairo, Illinois . About 90 people died; there was serious damage.
personal data
SURNAME Morrison, Herbert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Morrison, Herb
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American radio reporter
DATE OF BIRTH May 14, 1905
DATE OF DEATH January 10, 1989
Place of death Morgantown , West Virginia