1945 Empire State Building B-25 crash

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1945_E...ing_B-25_crash

On July 28, 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber of the United States Army Air Forces
crashed into the Empire State Building in New York City, while flying in thick
fog. The accident caused the death of fourteen people (three crewmen and eleven
people in the building) and damage estimated at US$1 million (equivalent to
about $14M in 2019), although the building's structural integrity was not
compromised.

Details

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 in Massachusetts to Newark 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 passing the
Chrysler Building.

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[7] into the offices of the War Relief Society and the
National Catholic Welfare Council. One engine shot through the south side
opposite the impact and flew as far as the next block, dropping 900 feet (270 m)
and landing on the roof of a nearby building and causing 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 only significant fire at such a height 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 car had been damaged in the incident, and the car fell 75
stories, ending up in the basement. Oliver survived the fall but had 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 loss of life, 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 of 1946, as well as the
insertion of retroactive provisions into the law, allowing people to sue the
government for the accident.


Accident
Date July 28, 1945

Summary
Controlled flight into terrain (building) in inclement weather conditions (fog).

Site
Empire State Building, New York City

Total fatalities
14

Aircraft

Aircraft type
B-25 Mitchell

Aircraft name
Old John Feather Merchant

Operator
United States Army Air Forces

Registration
41-30577

Flight origin
Bedford Army Air Field
Bedford, Massachusetts

Destination
Newark Liberty International Airport

Occupants
3 (flight crew members)

Fatalities
3

Injuries
0

Survivors
0

Ground Casualties

Ground fatalities
11


*