In the Spring of 1937, worried by anti-Nazi threats against the gigantic 804 foot-long dirigible Hindenburg, the German government assigns Luftwaffe Colonel Franz Ritter (George C. Scott) to make the first trans-Atlantic crossing of the season and supervise strict security over the 97 passengers and crew members. As the giant airship soars majestically westward, Ritter finds that he does not lack for sabotage suspects: a countess opposed to the Nazi regime (Anne Bancroft), a disillusioned former Hitler youth (William Atherton), a nervous ad agency executive (Gig Young) and several others equally suspicious. The tension steadily mounts -- we know the final outcome — right up until that moment on May 6 when the Hindenburg exploded while landing at Lakehurst, N.J. At this point, the film goes from Technicolor to black-and-white so that the chilling actual newsreel coverage of the catastrophe can be intercut with new action footage.