Did the Hindenburg carry an escape plane?

Answer 1

No, there was no escape plane on the Nazi Propaganda airship known as the Hindenburg.

Even if there was one, the passengers would not have been able to reach it in time. Hydrogen is highly flammable. The moment the first flame, by whatever caused the disaster (we still don't know for sure) touched the hydrogen, it started to burn up quicker than a rag doused in gasoline.

Whether you believe it was a design fault, an accidental spark, a deliberate attack to stop the Nazi propaganda (the Hindenburg was being used by the Nazis to show off air superiority), whether it got caught on the mooring mast which ripped the balloon, static electricity and so on, the Hindenburg burnt up in less than thirty seconds. It would have taken two minutes to board the plane, another two minutes to fire up those old engines and an incredibly good pilot to not hit the ground at such a low docking height.

You can see actual footage of the actual disaster, in which you can also see there is an absence of an escape plane.




Some airships were designed to carry planes, such as biplane class planes or scout planes, and were used for a short time as airborne aircraft carriers.
For example, the USS Akronand the USS Maconwere two such airships used for this.

However, no, the Hindenburg did not have an escape plane on board. Even if it did, it would not have made any difference (aside from adding more fuel to the fire).

Answer 2

No. The Hindenburg had a mechanism to catch flying airplanes. Their intent was to deliver customs agents to the airship so they could process passengers before the Hindenburg landed, and to take airmail away from the Hindenburg for faster delivery. They never could get it to work right.