Empire State Bldg Plane Crash Accident, US Pilot, Sat June 28, 1945, 20 Yr Old Elevator Operator Survivor [View all]
Wiki. Ed.- July 28, 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber of the United States Army Air Forces crashed into the north side of the Empire State Building in New York City while flying in thick fog.
The crash killed 14 people (3 crewmen and 11 people in the building), and an estimated 24 others were injured. Damage caused by the crash was estimated at US$1 million (equivalent to about $17 million in 2023), although the building's structural integrity was not compromised. Incident. On Saturday, July 28, 1945, Lieutenant Colonel William Franklin Smith Jr., of Watertown, Massachusetts, 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.
The pilot requested to divert to Newark Metropolitan Airport in New Jersey. 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 flying dangerously close to the Chrysler Building on East 42nd Street. 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-by-20-foot (5.5 m × 6.1 m) 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 feet (270 m), 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.
The Empire State Building fire is the highest structural fire to be brought under control by New York firefighters. Between 50 and 60 sightseers were on the 86th floor observation deck when the crash happened. 14 people were killed: Colonel Smith, Staff Sergeant Christopher Domitrovich, Navy Aviation Machinist's Mate Albert Perna, who was hitching a ride, and 11 civilians in the building. Perna's body was not found until 2 days later, when search crews discovered that his body had entered an elevator shaft and fallen to the bottom. The other 2 crewmen were burned beyond recognition. Approximately twenty to 24 others were injured as a result of the crash.
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 this 1,000 feet 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...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945_Empire_State_Building_B-25_crash
A Look Back: B-25 bomber crashes into Empire State Building, July 28, 2015,
https://www.jacksonville.com/picture-gallery/news/2015/07/28/a-look-back-b-25-bomber/833541007/
Survivor Betty Lou Oliver, elevator operator.
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