Story Highlights
- Historical event:
- 28 July 1945
- The plane hit the building between the 78th and 80th floors. One of the bomber's engines shot through the skyscraper, dropping 270 meters and landing on a nearby building.
On this day in 1945, an American bomber B-25 Mitchell lost its way in the thick fog and crashed into the Empire State Building in New York.
It caused the death of 14 people and damage estimated at $1,000,000. However, the impact did not compromise the structural integrity of the Empire State Building, the tallest building in the world at the time.
The B-25 Mitchell bomber was on a routine mission of military personnel transport that day. It was a twin-engined bomber weighing 10 tons, with a wingspan of over 20 meters.
The pilot of the aircraft was flying over Manhattan, on the way to the airport in New Jersey. The fog was so thick that he did not see the Empire State Building, a 103-story skyscraper.
The plane crashed the building between the 78th and 80th floors. There was a big fire, but it was extinguished in about 40 minutes. One of the bomber engines shot through the skyscraper, dropping 270 meters and landing on a nearby building.
