A real-life tragedy nearly happened while filming the Hindenburg explosion. A full-scale section of the Hindenburg's nose was built for the film, to be destroyed by fire. Six stunt artists wearing fire-retardant gear were placed in the nose replica as it was set on fire. The fire quickly got out of control, causing several stunt artists to get lost in the smoke, damaging several cameras filming the action, and nearly destroying the sound stage. Some of the footage was used in the final cut, but the full sequence, as it had been planned, was not included. Several of the depictions of escapes from the airship as it was crashing were loosely based on fact. These include the cabin boy who was doused with water from a bursting ballast bag and the circus acrobat who escaped by swinging from a loose mooring rope. However, unlike the film, the cabin boy was doused by water before he jumped out and the acrobat did not hold onto a rope but onto the side of the passenger deck.

The film includes clips from the actual newsreel footage of the airship's explosion and fire. The recording played just before the closing credits is the actual eye-witness account of news reporter Herbert Morrison, describing the Hindenburg disaster. WLS radio announcer Morrison was present at the scene of the Hindenburg crash, along with his engineer, Charlie Nehlsen, and recorded an eyewitness account of the unfolding tragedy. Nehlsen's recorder was running a bit slow, so when the recording is played back at normal speed, the pitch of Morrison's voice is raised slightly. The slight cracking at one point was caused by the shockwave of the explosion reaching the recorder just after Morrison shouts, "It's burst into flames!"