Plane Crash

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Skyscrapers might look tall and majestic their windows gleaming in the sun. However they can get in the way of planes when by accident they get in the way due to an error. Such a thing happened on July 28, 1945 when a U.S. military plane crashed into the Empire State Building in New York City killing 14 people. It happened due to a freak accident that was caused by heavy fog. A B-25 Mitchell bomber was flying from New Bedford, Massachusetts to LaGuardia Airport in New York City. Onboard were two pilots and one passenger. It was a foggy Saturday morning as they approached the metropolitan area. Air-traffic control told them to fly to Newark Airport instead. Changing their flight plan meant having to fly over Manhattan and the crew was given warning that the Empire State Building was the tallest building in the city and not readily visible in the fog. The bomber was flying slowly and pretty low looking for better visibility. They spotted the Chrysler Building and swerved to avoid it. Unfortunately this maneuver sent them straight into the north side of the Empire State Building about the 79th floor. The horror of the crash was such that the plane’s jet fuel exploded and filled the interior of the building with flames all the way down to the 75th floor. The flames shot out of the hole that the plane had made on impact. One plane engine went straight through the building and wound up in a penthouse apartment across the street. Other plane parts wound up being embedded in and on top of nearby buildings. The other engine snapped an elevator cable and only the emergency auto brake saved a woman from crashing to the bottom but the engine fell down the shaft and landed on top of the elevator. The woman’s life was saved when rescuers pulled her out. One good thing was that since it was a Saturday there were not many workers in the building. Due to this only eleven people lost their lives suffering burns from the fiery jet fuel or being thrown from the building. The three people aboard the plane were also killed. The Empire State Building was left with an 18 foot by 20 foot hole in the side of the building and caused nearly $1 million in damages. Does anyone remember hearing about this incident?