On July 28, 1945, a US Army Air Forces B-25 bomber got lost in the fog covering New York City and struck the upper floors of the Empire State Building, which at the time was the tallest building in the world. The collision opened a large wound in the facade of the famous Manhattan skyscraper.
The impact caused fires on the upper floors and killed 14 people. Among the dead were the three crew members of the military aircraft. The pilots' bodies were never found in the wreckage.
Among the fatalities and the injured there were extraordinary cases. An elevator operator, Betty Lou Oliver, was thrown into an elevator shaft and fell approximately 75 floors inside the elevator car itself. She survived the fall, a fact that was recorded in the annals of history as a miracle.
The accident highlighted the risks of flying military aircraft over densely populated urban areas in conditions of poor visibility. The event occurred only weeks after the end of World War II, during a period when military air traffic over New York was still frequent.
