On July 28, 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

crashed into the Empire State Building in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, while flying in thick fog. The accident caused the deaths of fourteen people (three crewmen and eleven people in the building) and damage estimated at (equivalent to about $ million in ), although the building's structural integrity was not compromised.

Details

Bomber Crashed into Empire State Building 1945

Empire State Building plane crash wreckage 1945

On Saturday, July 28, 1945, Lieutenant Colonel William F. Smith Jr. was piloting a B-25 Mitchell bomber on a routine personnel transport mission from

Bedford Army Air Field Hanscom Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base located predominantly within Bedford, Massachusetts, with portions extending into the adjoining towns of Lincoln, Concord and Lexington. The facility is adjacent to Hanscom Field ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

to Newark Metropolitan Airport in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Smith asked for clearance to land, but he was advised of zero visibility. Proceeding anyway, he became disoriented by the fog and turned right instead of left after passing the

Chrysler Building The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco skyscraper on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. At , it is the tallest brick building in the world with a steel fra ...

. At 9:40 a.m., the aircraft crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building, between the 78th and 80th floors, making an hole in the building into the offices of the War Relief Services and the

National Catholic Welfare Council The National Catholic Welfare Council (NCWC) was the annual meeting of the American Catholic hierarchy and its standing secretariat; it was established in 1919 as the successor to the emergency organization, the National Catholic War Council. It co ...

. One engine shot through the south side opposite the impact, flew as far as the next block, dropped , landed on the roof of a nearby building and caused a fire that destroyed a penthouse art studio. The other engine and part of the landing gear fell down an elevator shaft. The resulting fire was extinguished in 40 minutes. The Empire State Building fire is the highest structural fire to be brought under control by firefighters. Between 50 and 60 sightseers were on the 86th floor observation deck when the crash happened. Fourteen people were killed: Colonel Smith, Staff Sergeant Christopher Domitrovich, and Navy Aviation Machinist's Mate Albert Perna, who was hitching a ride, and eleven civilians in the building. Perna's body was not found until two days later, when search crews discovered that it had entered an elevator shaft and fallen to the bottom. The other two crewmen were burned beyond recognition. Elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver was thrown from her elevator car on the 80th floor and suffered severe burns. First aid workers placed her on another elevator car to transport her to the ground floor, but the cables supporting that elevator had been damaged in the incident, and it fell 75 stories, ending up in the basement. Oliver survived the fall due to the softening cushion of air created by the falling elevator car within this elevator shaft, however she suffered a broken pelvis, back and neck when rescuers found her amongst the rubble. This remains the world record for the longest survived elevator fall. Despite the damage and deaths, the building was open for business on many floors on the next Monday morning, less than 48 hours later. The crash spurred the passage of the long-pending

Federal Tort Claims Act The Federal Tort Claims Act (August 2, 1946, ch.646, Title IV, 28 U.S.C. Part VI, Chapter 171and ) ("FTCA") is a 1946 federal statute that permits private parties to sue the United States in a federal court for most torts committed by perso ...

of 1946, as well as the insertion of retroactive provisions into the law, allowing people to sue the government for the accident.

In popular culture

The events of the crash were the subject of an episode of the

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

channel documentary ''

Disasters of the Century ''Disasters of the Century'' is a documentary television series that airs on History Television. The program is produced by Regina, Saskatchewan-based '' Partners in Motion''. Each episode documents two different disasters from Canada and aroun ...

'', entitled ''"It Came from the Sky".'' The documentary was made in 2001.

References

External links

On This Day in Aviation History: July 28th
nbsp;– NYCAviation *
Bomber Crash into Empire State Building
engineering case study calculating the impact force of the bomber (Archived fro

on 2004-07-15. Retrieved 2016-06-26.) *
Empire State Crash
nbsp;– Video produced by the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

Series ''

History Detectives ''History Detectives'' is a documentary television series on PBS. It features investigations made by members of a small team of researchers to identify and/or authenticate items which may have historical significance or connections to important h ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Empire State Building B-25 crash Empire State Building B-25 crash Accidents and incidents involving military aircraft Aviation accidents and incidents in New York City Empire State Building B-25 crash Aviation accidents and incidents involving fog Building fires in New York City Commercial building fires 1945 B-25 crash Empire State Building B-25 crash High-rise fires

Details

In popular culture

See also

References

External links