Flashback: B-25 Hits Empire State Building

Exactly 64 years ago today, a U.S. Army B-25 bomber crashed into the Empire State Building between the 78th and 79th floors (remember this image?). NYC Aviation looks back at the incident, saying "an engine plunges down an elevator shaft, sparking a fire in the basement. Eleven people in the building are killed, in addition to the three man bomber crew. Elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver survived a plunge of 75 stories inside an elevator, which still stands as the Guinness World Record for the longest survived elevator fall recorded." The ESB notes that the pilot and two other passengers were killed, as well eleven people in the Catholic War Relief office.

The plane was being flown in dense fog by Lt. Col. William F. Smith Jr., who was trying to make his way to Newark that morning. The site wonders if he "mistook the East River for the Hudson and began his descent to Newark too soon... the plane had descended to around 500 feet and was on a collision course with the 850 foot RCA Building (known today as the GE Building) at 30 Rockefeller Center. A last moment turn averted disaster, alas temporarily. Flying south at 225 mph, they were only seconds away from the Empire State Building." Naturally, many below first thought the Japanese had launched a Kamikaze attack in New York. Here's a report from 1945:

Wouldn't it be great if the news networks brought this dramatic background music to their broadcasts?

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By Jen Carlson in News on July 28, 2009 3:01 PM

Comments [rss]

Mr Mel

We saw what 2 commercial jet liners did to the World Trade Center Buildings. That was a stone age air craft. They were lucky that it was a Saturday and most of the offices were closed.

Novanglus

NYCAVIATION.COM ROCKS! (plug)

But seriously, I had read some other detailed stories about this, and the fatalities were very gruesome...people burned to death, blown out of the building, etc. It was wild that the people in the elevator survived, though.

snickerdoodle

I love old newscasts.

newsyspice

So do I. I work in news, and those old broadcasts are incredibly majestic.

Vertigone

1:45-2:00 Are those charred bodies? I would think they wouldn't show such a thing, but based on the narration and the subsequent shot of the dead man who could be "identified easily", I think they might be.

NannyState

News back then wasn't sanitized like it is today. That's why it was called hard news. Today, if they are about to show a paper cut, they warn viewers and blur out the reddish mark.

John_Matrix

SOME PEOPLE THOUGHT IT WAS A JAP BALLOON BOMB

Wza

7/28 Never forget.

PKinNYC

just sayin'

Jen S

That last line really grates me.

silver

The WTCs wouldn't have collapsed if they were built in a conservative column happy way the ESB way.

Spirit of 76

On top of what everyone else wrote, the "conservative" way was done once upon a time when materials and labor were much less expensive. The WTC cost about $1.5 billion to build. Would it have been worth it to triple or quadruple that cost in anticipation of a one in a million chance that it might get hit by a giant airplane?

longacre

B-25: 10-15 tons

767: 175 tons

That is all.

EastRiver

And the top speed of the B-25 is about half that of a 767

PTG in nyc

And it has been noted that if 9/11 occurred at the ESB, it would have likely toppled the building over immediately, rather than collapse from melting steel an hour later. I'm no engineer, but that's what I've read in many places.

Of course, I'm sure people are happy to debunk and disparage my hypothetical...

NannyState

Also, as the bomber was in approach as opposed to just taking off, it lacked the fuel necessary to spark a fire that couldn't be contained. The ESB was pretty lucky that day...so to speak.

PKinNYC

hmmmmmmm a steel construction building struck by a plane and it's still standing...very interesting.

al_fredo

Actually, steel, but lots of other stuff too - overly designed, with a facade of 200k cubic feet of Limestone, 10 million bricks and other materials. As noted, there are no "open spans" - it's a web of columns in there. There was no concrete used at WTC.

Yea, i fed the troll. Sorry, I'm a materials engineer - I'm a bit sensitive about this subject.

matty

groan

MT

Was it me or did that music sound like the moat/crocadile music from March Of The Wooden Soldiers.

That last shot of the guy on the scaffolding making repairs was nauseating. How did they run around on skimpy boards so high up like that?

sj

Dense fog in late July? That doesn't seem to happen too often in Manhattan.

Novanglus

There can be fog at any time of year. Or are you joking?

Also keep in mind how high the ESB is....that area where the plane hit is often hidden in typical rain clouds.

sj

I'm well aware that there can be fog any time of year. I was simply saying it doesn't happen that often in Manhattan in July. I would assume if it was just a matter of a low cloud ceiling or more typical summer haze, the article would have worded it that way.

Nothing more, nothing less.