The key plot point of the disaster is a conspiracy involving "Helium Magnate" Edward Van Zant and American Oil concerns, who wants the Hindenburg blown up as a means to change public sentiment against US regulations preventing the selling of Helium to foreign countries--especially Germany. At the time, the US was the sole provider of Helium and after German Zeppelins bombed London in WW1, it was embargoed, as an important defense material. This is a fictional construct. In reality, after the Hindenburg disaster, the Zeppelin Company's Hugo Eckener converted its next airship in production to a helium design but was unable to overcome the embargo. In fact, FDR and his entire cabinet supported selling Helium to Germany, however Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes vehemently disagreed. He believed the Nazis would use Zeppelins for military purposes and successfully kept the embargo in place. This led to the shutdown of The Zeppelin Company.