It was a Saturday. July 28, 1945. Most people in New York were just trying to get through a humid, pea-soup fog that had swallowed the skyline whole. Then, at 9:40 AM, the world's tallest building shook. A B-25 Mitchell bomber, lost in the clouds, slammed into the north side of the Empire State Building. It wasn't a movie. It wasn't an attack. It was a horrific, freak accident that basically proved even the strongest steel can’t stop a twin-engine warbird traveling at 200 miles per hour.
You've probably seen the grainy black-and-white photos of the gaping hole. It looks surreal. Honestly, it's a miracle the whole thing didn't come down.
The Pilot and the Wrong Turn
The man at the controls was Lieutenant Colonel William Franklin Smith Jr. He wasn't some rookie; he was a decorated combat veteran with a ton of hours under his belt. He was piloting a B-25 Mitchell bomber from Bedford, Massachusetts, heading toward Newark Airport. The weather was garbage. LaGuardia’s tower told him to land there because visibility was basically zero, but Smith requested permission to continue to Newark.
He got it. But there was a catch. The tower told him, "At the present time I can't see the top of the Empire State Building."
That should’ve been the red flag. Instead of staying high, Smith got disoriented. He thought he was over the East River, but he was actually over Midtown Manhattan. When he realized he was flying past the New York Central Building, he tried to climb and bank. It was too late. He ended up staring directly at the 79th floor of the Empire State Building.
The Moment of Impact
The B-25 bomber hit the Empire State Building with a force that felt like a localized earthquake. One engine tore straight through the building, flew out the other side, and landed on the roof of a penthouse on 33rd Street, starting a fire that gutted a sculptor’s studio. The other engine—along with part of the landing gear—dropped down an elevator shaft.
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Wait. Think about that for a second.
An airplane engine falling 75 floors down a narrow shaft. It snapped the cables of two different elevators. One of them had a young operator named Betty Lou Oliver inside. She survived the initial crash, only to have the elevator plunge 75 stories to the basement.
She lived.
It’s actually the Guinness World Record for the longest survived elevator fall. The snapped cables coiled up at the bottom of the shaft, creating a sort of springy cushion that, combined with the air pressure in the shaft, saved her life.
Why the Building Stayed Standing
If this happened to a modern glass-and-steel skyscraper, the result might have been different. But the Empire State Building is a tank. Built in 1931, it was over-engineered with a massive steel frame and heavy limestone and brick.
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The fuel was the real danger. High-octane aviation gas sprayed across the 78th and 79th floors instantly. This created a "waterfall of fire" that poured down the side of the building and through the stairwells. Fourteen people died that day: Smith, two other crewmen, and eleven people working inside the building, mostly at the National Catholic Welfare Conference.
The fire was actually put out in about 40 minutes. It remains one of the highest structural fires ever successfully extinguished by the FDNY. It's kinda crazy to think that by the following Monday, many floors of the building were open for business again. They just boarded up the hole and kept moving.
Common Misconceptions About the Crash
People often get a few things wrong when talking about the B-25 bomber hitting the Empire State Building. First, they think it was a light plane. It wasn't. A B-25 Mitchell is a medium bomber that weighs about 20,000 pounds empty. It’s a beast.
Second, there’s a myth that the building was empty because it was a Saturday. While it wasn't a full house, there were plenty of people working. If it had been a Tuesday morning, the death toll likely would have been in the hundreds.
Another weird detail? The crash actually helped pass the Federal Tort Claims Act of 1946. Before this, you couldn't really sue the federal government for accidents like this. The families of the victims pushed for a change in the law so they could receive compensation for the negligence of a military pilot.
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The Lingering Legacy of the B-25 Incident
You can still find traces of this if you know where to look. While the hole was repaired long ago, the incident changed how we think about urban flight paths and skyscraper safety. It was a precursor to the modern regulations that keep planes far away from the spires of Manhattan.
What’s truly wild is the lack of structural damage. The building didn't tilt. It didn't sway. The steel girders were bent, sure, but the integrity held. It was a testament to the "Old School" construction methods where "enough" was never enough, and everything was built to last a thousand years.
What to Do If You're a History Buff in NYC
If you're visiting the Empire State Building and want to connect with this specific piece of history, don't expect a giant plaque at the impact site. It's mostly just office space now. However, you can take these steps to get the full story:
- Visit the 80th Floor: The exhibits here often touch on the building's construction and history. While the 79th floor is the impact zone, the 80th gives you the best perspective on the height and the tight quarters of the Midtown skyline.
- Check the FDNY Records: The New York City Fire Museum occasionally runs exhibits on historic "spectacle" fires. The B-25 crash is a hallmark of FDNY bravery and efficiency.
- Look at the 33rd Street Side: Walk around the block to where the engine landed. It helps you visualize the sheer physics of the crash—how a piece of machinery could be propelled through a skyscraper and across an entire city street.
- Read "The Sky is Falling" by Arthur Weingarten: If you want the definitive, minute-by-minute account of the people inside the building that day, this is the book. It’s out of print but easy to find used.
The B-25 bomber hitting the Empire State Building wasn't just a freak accident. It was a moment where the terrifying power of 20th-century warfare met the industrial might of American architecture. The building won, but the cost was a reminder that even in our greatest achievements, we’re still at the mercy of a little bit of fog and a wrong turn.