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N0KFQ > TODAY 28.07.14 15:58l 57 Lines 2437 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 32000_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jul 28
Path: IZ3LSV<IR1UAW<IQ5KG<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 140728/1500Z 32000@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQK1.4.60
Jul 28, 1945:
Plane crashes into Empire State Building
A United States military plane crashes into the Empire State
Building on this day in 1945, killing 14 people. The freak
accident was caused by heavy fog.
The B-25 Mitchell bomber, with two pilots and one passenger
aboard, was flying from New 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 jet 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 jet 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.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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