The character of Kate Drummond is fictional. Only one person was killed on the ground during the Hindenburg crash - a linesman named Allen Hagaman.
This episode perpetuates the myth that exploding hydrogen was the cause of the Hindenburg crash. Actually, the cause has been proved to be the coating of the aircraft skin - consisting of aluminum powder and iron hydrate. This mixture was used in rocket fuel. Once ignited by a spark, the coating burned very quickly, destroying the skin of the aircraft. The hydrogen would not have ignited and burned in such a manner on its own due to a lack of adequate oxygen within the airframe. Once the skin burned, the hydrogen would have ignited and burned quickly and relatively safely above the aircraft.
There is a parallel to The Time Tunnel (1966). In both series' pilots, the heroes time travel to an early 20th century, trans-Atlantic disaster - the Titanic in the 1966 pilot and the Hindenburg in this episode.
Both Susanna Thompson (Lucy's mother) and Shantel VanSanten (Kate Drummond) star in multiple episodes of The CW's DC superhero shows - Thompson as Moira Queen in Arrow (2012), and VanSanten as Patty Spivot in The Flash (2014).
Matt Lanter (Wyatt Logan) and Bailey Noble (Amy Preston) both appeared in the 90210 episode "Dude, Where's My Husband? (2013)".