Archives On The Air 152: "The Detective Of The Doomed Dirigible"—Denis J. Mulligan Papers

By Wyoming Public Media

Published May 14, 2019 at 11:24 AM MDT

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Postcards that were recovered from the Hindenburg the day that it crashed, 1937. Box 2, Denis J. Mulligan papers.

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Postcards that were recovered from the Hindenburg the day that it crashed, 1937. Box 2, Denis J. Mulligan papers.

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Part of a report that was recovered after the Hindenburg crashed, 1937. Box 2, Denis J. Milligan papers.

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Part of a report that was recovered after the Hindenburg crashed, 1937. Box 2, Denis J. Milligan papers.

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Letter from Denis J. Mulligan to A.A. Hoehling discussing the Hindenburg crash, 1972. Box 2, Denis J. Mulligan papers.

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Letter from Denis J. Mulligan to A.A. Hoehling discussing the Hindenburg crash, 1972. Box 2, Denis J. Mulligan papers.

In 1937 Denis J. Mulligan was chief investigator of the U.S. Bureau of Air Commerce. Also in 1937, the German-built Hindenburg caught fire and crashed over Manhattan. 36 people were killed. Mulligan was the lead American investigator.

The cause of the crash is still unknown - although sabotage, lightning, a puncture, or a fuel leak have all been speculated as the cause. Mulligan had his own idea.

He had traveled on the Hindenburg just months before the crash. From this, Mulligan thought that faulty work from making the blimp longer and the mixture of air and hydrogen inside caused the fiery crash.

The Denis J. Mulligan papers at UW's American Heritage Center have documents recovered from the Hindenburg and correspondence from Mulligan's research.