On This Day in Aviation History: A Precursor to 9-11?

In 1945 the Empire State Building in New York City was the tallest building in the world.  We were told as kids that if you dropped a penny from the observation deck on the 86^th floor, it would penetrate the skull of the unfortunate pedestrian below.  Actually, Newton’s Law disproves that theory, but as kids we were not Einsteins (at least I wasn’t) and we were less interested in physics than we were in morbidity.

Twenty-six years later in 1971 during a post-high school graduation trip down to Key West and returning back home to Georgia and then Ohio via NYC, I waited until the guard up there on the observation deck turned his head and then quickly scaled the (at that time lower and thereby permitting stupidity) fence and I tossed a Frisbee I had snuck up there under my shirt off the 86^th floor and quickly dropped down before being arrested for being a knucklehead.  My traveling partner (who ended up somehow as the best man at my wedding) and I watched that Frisbee disappear into the haze. 

If there were cameras all over the place like now, I’d probably be writing this aviation history vignette from my prison cell.

And if there were cameras back in 1945, we’d have ring-side seats for the event that happened today at the end of WWII.

According to History.com editors and downloaded today from:  https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/july-28/plane-crashes-into-empire-state-building, a military plane crashed into the Empire State Building today in 1945.

“A United States military plane crashed into the Empire State Building on July 28, 1945, killing 14 people. The freak accident was caused by heavy fog (and pilot error).

The results of the B-25 crash into the Empire State Building.  Photo credit: Bettman archive, Corbis, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18623093

“The B-25 Mitchell bomber, with two pilots and one passenger aboard, was flying from Bedford, Massachusetts, to LaGuardia Airport in New York City. As it came into the metropolitan area on that Saturday morning, the fog was particularly thick. Air-traffic controllers instructed the plane to fly to Newark Airport instead.

“This new flight plan took the plane over Manhattan; the crew was specifically warned that the Empire State Building, the tallest building in the city at the time, was not visible. The bomber was flying relatively slowly and quite low, seeking better visibility, when it came upon the Chrysler Building in midtown. It swerved to avoid the building but the move sent it straight into the north side of the Empire State Building, near the 79th floor.

“Upon impact, the plane’s fuel exploded, filling the interior of the building with flames all the way down to the 75th floor and sending flames out of the hole the plane had ripped open in the building’s side. One engine from the plane went straight through the building and landed in a penthouse apartment across the street. Other plane parts ended up embedded in and on top of nearby buildings. The other engine snapped an elevator cable while at least one woman was riding in the elevator car. The emergency auto brake saved the woman from crashing to the bottom, but the engine fell down the shaft and landed on top of it. Quick-thinking rescuers pulled the woman from the elevator, saving her life.

“Since it was a Saturday, fewer workers than normal were in the building. Only 11 people in the building were killed, some suffering burns from the fiery fuel and others after being thrown out of the building. All 11 victims were workers from War Relief Services department of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, into the offices of which the plane had crashed. The three people on the plane were also killed.

“An 18 foot by 20-foot hole was left in the side of the Empire State Building. Though its structural integrity was not affected, the crash did cause nearly $1 million in damages, about $10.5 million in today’s money.”

According to Wikipedia, “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 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, 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.”

Onward and upward!