1945 Empire State Building B-25 crash

Aviation accident in New York City July 2026 February 2025 Empire State Building on fire 1945 by INP.jpg The Empire State Building on fire following the crash July 28, 1945 Controlled flight into terrain (building) in inclement weather conditions (fog) Accident Empire State Building, New York City, United States 3 A B-25 Mitchell similar to the aircraft involved in the incident North American B-25 Mitchell Old John Feather Merchant United States Army Air Forces 41-30577 Bedford Army Air FieldBedford, Massachusetts Newark Metropolitan Airport 3 24 North American B-25 Mitchell.JPG 40 44 55 N 73 59 08 W title region:US_type:event 0 24 11 14 3 On July 28, 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber of the United States Army Air Forces accidentally crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building in New York City while flying in thick fog. The crash killed fourteen people (three crewmen and eleven people in the building), and an estimated twenty-four others were injured. Damage caused by the crash was estimated at 1million yes (equivalent to about $US 1 1945 million in US), but the building's structural integrity was not compromised.http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/0112/News/News8-0112.html Empire State Building Withstood Airplane Impact JOM (monthly publication of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society) 2001 July 29, 2009 August 8, 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140808145606/http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/0112/News/News8-0112.html live Incident On Saturday, July 28, 1945, Lieutenant Colonel William Franklin Smith Jr., of Watertown, Massachusetts,Empire Crash Due to 'Human Errors' https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120105822/empire-crash-due-to-human-errors/ United Press August 17, 1945 March 3, 2023 March 3, 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230303204040/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120105822/empire-crash-due-to-human-errors/ live was piloting a B-25 Mitchell bomber on a routine personnel transport mission from Bedford Army Air Field in Massachusetts. Due to thick fog, the aircraft was unable to land at LaGuardia Airport as scheduled.Genzmer Herbert Great Disasters Kershner Sybille Schutz Christian 9781445410968 Queens Street house 210 The pilot requested to divert to Newark Metropolitan Airport in New Jersey.Berman John S. https://books.google.com/books?id=MDotCyoCdn8C&pg=PA85 The Empire State Building: The Museum of the City of New York Barnes, John & Noble Publishing 2003 9780760738894 85 Barron James Flaming Horror on the 79th Floor; 50 Years Ago Today, in the Fog, a Plane Hit the World's Tallest Building https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/28/nyregion/flaming-horror-79th-floor-50-years-ago-today-fog-plane-hit-world-s-tallest.html November 17, 2012 The New York Times July 28, 1995 July 29, 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170729060821/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/28/nyregion/flaming-horror-79th-floor-50-years-ago-today-fog-plane-hit-world-s-tallest.html live Byers Roland O. Flak dodger: a story of the 457th Bombardment Group, 1943–1945, 8th AAF 1985 Pawpaw Press Smith asked for clearance to land, but he was advised of zero visibility.Joe Richman The Day A Bomber Hit The Empire State Building https://www.npr.org/2008/07/28/92987873/the-day-a-bomber-hit-the-empire-state-building Eight months after the crash, the U.S. government offered money to families of the victims. Some accepted, but others initiated a lawsuit that resulted in landmark legislation. The Federal Tort Claims Act of 1946, for the first time, gave American citizens the right to sue the federal government. NPR July 28, 2008 July 28, 2008 May 3, 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20220503054905/https://www.npr.org/2008/07/28/92987873/the-day-a-bomber-hit-the-empire-state-building live Proceeding anyway, he became disoriented by the fog and turned right instead of left after flying dangerously close to the Chrysler Building on East 42nd Street. thumb|upright|The plane embedded in the side of the building|alt=A black-and-white photo of airplane wreckage embedded in the facade, high up 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 18 x 20 ft m on hole in the building into the offices of the War Relief Services and the National Catholic Welfare Council. One engine shot through the south side opposite the impact, flew as far as the next block, dropped 900 ft, 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, severing its cables. The resulting fire was extinguished in 40 minutes, and remains the highest structural fire to be brought under control by New York firefighters.http://nycaviation.com/2009/07/28/on-this-day-in-aviation-history-july-28th/ On This Day in Aviation History: July 28th Molnar Matt NYCAviation July 28, 2009 August 1, 2009 https://web.archive.org/web/20090801112745/http://nycaviation.com/2009/07/28/on-this-day-in-aviation-history-july-28th/ live Between 50 and 60 sightseers were on the 86th floor observation deck when the crash happened. Fourteen people were killed: Lieutenant Colonel William Franklin Smith Jr., Staff Sergeant Christopher Domitrovich, Aviation Machinist's Mate Albert Perna, who was hitching a ride, and 11 civilians in the building. Perna's body was not found until two days later, when search crews discovered that his body had entered an elevator shaft and fallen to the bottom. The other two crewmen were burned beyond recognition.http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/history/q0311.shtml B-25 Empire State Building Collision Aerospaceweb.org April 8, 2012 July 6, 2009 http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090706192155/http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/history/q0311.shtml live Approximately 20 to 24 others were injured as a result of the crash.Two Probes Underway; 24 Injured https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120112596/two-probes-underway-24-injured/ Sunday News July 29, 1945 March 3, 2023 March 3, 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230303214806/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120112596/two-probes-underway-24-injured/ live Crash Kills At Least 13 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120113013/crash-kills-at-least-13/ Associated Press July 29, 1945 March 3, 2023 March 3, 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230303214808/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120113013/crash-kills-at-least-13/ live 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.Lynch Patrick This Woman Cheated Death Twice on the Same Day After a 1945 Disaster https://historycollection.co/cheat-death-twice-betty-lou-oliver-survived-75-storey-elevator-crash-plane-crashed-building/2/ HistoryCollection.co May 11, 2020 October 11, 2017 Oliver survived this more than 300 m 1 on flip fall due to the softening cushion of air created by the falling elevator car within this elevator shaft; however, she had 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.http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=53746 Longest Fall Survived In An Elevator GuinnessWorldRecords.com dead https://web.archive.org/web/20060317041607/http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=53746 March 17, 2006 Coincidentally, the next recorded instance of an elevator fall caused by total cable severance happened during the September 11 attacks 56 years later, which also involved a plane crash (this time deliberate) into a New York City skyscraper.Cauchon Dennis Moore Martha T. Elevators were disaster within disaster https://www.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2002-09-04-elevator-usat_x.htm September 4, 2002 USA Today May 23, 2008 October 2, 2002 https://web.archive.org/web/20021002175929/http://www.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2002-09-04-elevator-usat_x.htm live Aftermath thumb|upright|Workmen clearing the wreckage Despite the damage and deaths, the building was open for business on many floors the next Monday morning, less than 48 hours later. After the debris had been cleared, Armand Hammer purchased the damaged 78th floor, refurbished it, and made it the headquarters of United Distillers of America.Fenton James March 15, 2008 Restoration and removal en-GB The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/mar/15/featuresreviews.guardianreview14 March 14, 2023 0261-3077 August 15, 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210815033132/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/mar/15/featuresreviews.guardianreview14 live June 22, 1946 Comment https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1946/06/29/comment-3390 March 14, 2023 The New Yorker en-US March 14, 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230314233726/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1946/06/29/comment-3390 live The crash spurred the passage of the long-pending Federal Tort Claims Act, which was signed into law by President Harry S. Truman in August 1946, initiating retroactive provisions into the law and allowing people to sue the government for the accident. On July 24, 1946, four days before the first anniversary of the crash, another aircraft narrowly missed striking the building. The unidentified twin-engine plane, described as bearing no military insignia, flew past the 68th floor, startling workers and tourists.July 25, 1946 Plane Barely Misses Hitting Empire State The Spokesman-Review (credited to Chicago Tribune Service) https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120107405/plane-barely-misses-hitting-empire-state/ Spokane, Washington March 3, 2023 Newspapers.com March 3, 2023 https://web.archive.org/web/20230303204041/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/120107405/plane-barely-misses-hitting-empire-state/ live The events of the crash were the subject of an episode of the 2001 History channel documentary Disasters of the Century, "It Came from the Sky".It Came From the Sky – Disasters of the Century (Season 1, Episode 10) https://tv.apple.com/ca/episode/it-came-from-the-sky/umc.cmc.1jm5d7q0vmscd3117ifhe0kp2?showId=umc.cmc.77xz93jcgs30qw68mjlxv6dl Apple TV January 31, 2025 April 12, 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20250412161441/https://tv.apple.com/ca/episode/it-came-from-the-sky/umc.cmc.1jm5d7q0vmscd3117ifhe0kp2?showId=umc.cmc.77xz93jcgs30qw68mjlxv6dl live See also 1945 in aviation List of accidents and incidents involving airliners in the United States List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft (1945–1949) Skyscraper fire Similar aircraft accidents and incidents: 1946 40 Wall Street plane crash Convent Crash El Al Flight 1862 September 11 attacks 2002 Tampa Cessna 172 crash 2002 Pirelli Tower airplane crash 2005 Iranian Air Force C-130 crash 2006 New York City Cirrus SR20 crash 2010 Austin suicide attack References Further reading Weingarten, Arthur (1977). The Sky Is Falling. New York: Grosset & Dunlap. 0448144115 3279000 External links On This Day in Aviation History: July 28th – NYCAviation cUlWpqLsOVs Plane Hits Empire State Building Bomber Crash into Empire State Building, engineering case study calculating the impact force of the bomber (Archived from the original on 2004-07-15. Retrieved 2016-06-26.) Pa2107Empire Stillman Fires Collection: Empire State Building Empire State Crash https://web.archive.org/web/20170218192824/http://watch.opb.org/video/2260080600/ February 18, 2017  – Video produced by the PBS Series History Detectives Empire State Building B-25 crash Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the North American B-25 Mitchell Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in New York City Empire State Building B-25 crash Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving fog Category:Commercial building fires in New York City 1945 B-25 crash Empire State Building B-25 crash Category:High-rise fires in the United States Category:1945 disasters in the United States Category:Disasters in buildings and structures Category:United States home front during World War II