Empire State in Ruins: The Tragic Story and Photos of the B-25 Mitchell Crash

On July 28, 1945, a B-25 Mitchell bomber aircraft, piloted by United States Army Air Forces pilot Lt. Colonel William Franklin Smith Jr., crashed into the Empire State Building in New York City. The incident occurred just before 9:40 a.m. local time.

The aircraft, which was on a routine training mission, had taken off from New Bedford Municipal Airport in Massachusetts and was supposed to land at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York. However, due to heavy fog and low visibility, Smith became disoriented and flew into the Empire State Building.

The aircraft struck the 79th floor of the building, causing a massive explosion and fire. The impact created a hole approximately 20 feet wide and 20 feet high. The fire caused significant damage to the building, and debris from the crash fell to the streets below.

The crash resulted in the deaths of 14 people, including 11 office workers and Smith and his two crew members. An additional 26 people were injured. Most of the fatalities occurred on the 79th floor, where the impact occurred, and on the 80th floor, which was directly above it.

After the incident, the building was quickly evacuated, and emergency services were called to the scene. The fire was controlled within 40 minutes, but the building sustained significant damage. The building was closed for repairs for several months, and the 79th and 80th floors were closed to the public for decades.

The incident was the first and only time an aircraft crashed into a skyscraper. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the incident and determined that the cause of the crash was Smith’s failure to maintain proper altitude and visibility. The investigation also found that there were no mechanical issues with the aircraft.

In the aftermath of the incident, new procedures were implemented to prevent similar incidents from occurring. These included the installation of radar and communication equipment at airports and the creation of new flight patterns to avoid the city’s skyscrapers.

The Empire State Building, which is a National Historic Landmark, continues to stand as one of the most iconic buildings in New York City. The crash site on the 79th floor is not open to the public, but a plaque commemorating the incident’s victims can be found on the building’s observation deck.

#1 Empire State Building Plane Crash Story. Rev. M.S. Finneran of Montgomery, Alabama, looking at a small statue of Jesus on the cross, one of the few undamaged things on the 79th floor where the plane crashed.

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#2 Betty Lou Oliver Fell 80 Floors and Walked Again

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#3 Part of a US B-25 bomber which crashed into the Empire State Building in New York City.

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#4 Empire State Building at Manhattan in New York on July 1945

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#5 Jane Froman sits and talks to Military personnel during the Newspaper Guild Ball on December 6, 1945 in New York

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#6 Empire State Building Burning after Plane Crash

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#7 Crew at Airplane Crash Site on City Skyscraper

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#8 Firemen Carrying a Casualty From Crash

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#9 A man examines charred documents in an office in the Empire State Building after a B-25 Mitchell bomber

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#10 A workman fixing tarpaulins over broken windows at the Empire State Building, 1945

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#11 Police and firemen examine a burned out office on the 79th floor of the Empire State Building, 1945

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#12 An injured woman is carried out of the Empire State Building to an ambulace on 34th Street, 1945

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#13 The coffin of a crash victim is carried out of the Empire State Building to an ambulance on 34th Street, 1945

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#14 Exposed lift shafts on a damaged floor of the Empire State Building, after a B-25 Mitchell bomber crashed into the north side of the skyscraper, 1945

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#15 This photo shows where part of the plane came out other side of the building.

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#16 Close-up of a man as he looks up at the Empire State Building

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#17 Close-up of a woman as she looks up at the Empire State Building

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#18 Two men looking up at the Empire State Building

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#19 Empire State Plane Crash

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#20 A boy looking up at the Empire State Building where a plane (a North American Aviation B-25 Mitchell bomber) had crashed into the building

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#21 A view of part of the wreckage of the U.S. Army B-25 bombing plane that crashed into the empire state building

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#22 A girl as she looks up at the Empire State Building

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#23 A view of the hole rammed into the 78th and 79th stories of the Empire State Building by a U.S. Army Bomber flying in the fog.

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#24 Man Looking at Plane Crash Debris

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#25 Empire State Building Burning after Plane Crash

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#26 Workmen begin the costly job of repairing the damage done to the worl’d highest building the freak plane crash.

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#27 Don Maloney, Coast Guardsman, carries first aid kit as he helps injured woman down stairs at the Empire State Building after plane crashed into the building.

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#28 Firemen working amidst the wreckage from a plane which crashed in to the Empire State Building.

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#29 A bomber plane crashed here between the Empire State Building’s 78th and 79th floors.

Pieces of the plane, a jagged hole, ripped steel girders and shattered masonry testify to the devastating impact.

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#30 Twisted Plane Metal in a Heap

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#31 A man holding up debris from the wreckage of a bomber plane which crashed into the empire State Building

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#32 The wreckage from a bomber plane which crashed into the Empire State Building in New York City

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#33 Twisted metal is all that remains of typewriters at National Catholic Welfare Conference, on 79th floor of Empire State Building. Restoration work is proceeding at rapid pace on two hardest hit floors.

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#34 Grief-stricken relatives of Empire State plane crash dead talk with Detective Mullins (back to camera) at Bellevue Morgue. One man holds photo which was used to identify victim.

Identification of the 13 dead was proceeding slowly, most of the victims being burned beyond recognition. Three of the injured were near death.

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#35 A view of the Empire State Building after an Army B-25 bomber crashed into the 76th floor in fog.

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#36 Relatives and friends of those killed

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#37 Nun Looking at Plane Crash on Empire State Building

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#38 Empire State Crash Victim Returns to Scene of Injury

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#39 Workers on Side of Empire State Building

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#40 One of the propellers found amongst the wreckage of the B-25 bomber which had crashed into the 78th floor of the Empire State Building in New York.

Thirteen people were killed in the incident, including the three

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