NFPA Journal - July/August 2013 - (Page 88)

>>LOOKING BACK At left, an exterior view of the plane’s area of impact between the 78th and 79th floors. Below, investigators at the scene. A Foggy July Morning In the closing days of WWII, a B-25 bomber slams into the Empire State Building “I CAN’T SEE ThE Top of the Empire State Building.” It was an off-hand remark from an air traffic controller at LaGuardia Airport on the morning of July 28, 1945, but William Smith, Jr., didn’t pick up on it. Instead, Smith, a 27-year-old lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Air Corps, flew his B-25 bomber straight into the skyscraper, killing himself, a crewman, a passenger, and 11 people in the building. The weather in Manhattan that Saturday morning was unseasonably foggy, and Smith, who was on his way to Newark from Massachusetts, had to fly low to see where he was going. According to aerospaceweb.org, flight rules at the time “required aircraft to maintain an altitude of at least 2,000 feet (610 meters)” over New York City, but Smith hit the skyscraper between the 78th and 79th floors, about 975 feet (295 meters) above the ground. The impact of the plane tore a hole in the building about 18 feet (5.5 meters) wide and 20 feet (6 meters) high, and ripped the fuel tanks off the fuselage. One of the tanks shot through the 79th floor, trailing flames, and out the other side, smashing through the roof of a neighboring building. The other tank fell down an elevator shaft, starting a fire in the shaft that ignited the fuel that had spread throughout the area of impact. Eventually, the fire spread to the 75th floor. Since it was the weekend, only about 1,500 people were working in the building, far fewer than there would have been during the week. Among the people killed in the building were six young women working on the 79th floor, employees of the National Catholic Welfare Conference, who were engulfed in flames and died at their desks. 88 NFPA JOURNAL JULY/AUGUST 2013 The fire was largely brought under control about 35 minutes after the crash by the building’s suppression system, supplied by water tanks. Fire spread was also hampered by the building’s compartmentalization. Each floor was self-contained, rooms and floors were separated by fire partitions, and stairwells were fireproofed. Each of the building’s 210 steel columns was enclosed in concrete. The walls and floors were both 8 inches (20 centimeters) thick, and the 10 million bricks used in its construction were covered with approximately 200,000 cubic feet (5,663 cubic meters) of limestone. Among the survivors’ stories was that of 20-year-old Betty Lou Oliver, who survived what is still considered the longest elevator fall on record. When the plane hit the building, the elevator door on ThE IMpACT RIppED the fuel tanks from the airplane’s fuselage. one of the tanks shot through the 79th floor, trailing flames, and out the other side, smashing through the roof of a neighboring building. the 75th floor had just opened to let her off. She was blown across the hall, badly burned, where she was found by two women, who gave her first aid. They then helped her onto another elevator, but its weakened cables snapped, sending her plummeting more than 1,000 feet (305 meters) to the building’s basement. Despite the carnage, much of the Empire State Building was open for business the following Monday. —Kathleen Robinson Photographs: AP/Wide World http://www.aerospaceweb.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2013

NFPA Journal - July/August 2013
Contents
First Word
In a Flash
Perspectives
Firewatch
Research
Heads Up
Structural Ops
In Compliance
Buzzwords
Outreach
Electrical Safety
Wildfire Watch
Loud + Clear
Allied in Safety
Front Burner
Firefighter Fatalities in the United States, 2012
Fire Analysis + Research
Section Spotlight
What’s Hot
Looking Back

NFPA Journal - July/August 2013

https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2024spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2023winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2023fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2023summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2023spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2022winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2022fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2022summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2022spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2021winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2021fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2021summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2021spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20201112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20200910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20200708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20200506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20200304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20200102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20191112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20190910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20190708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20190506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20190304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20190102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20181112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20180910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20180708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20180506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20180304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20180102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20171112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20170910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20170708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20170506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20170304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20170102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20161112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_201610_sprinkler
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20160910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20160708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20160506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20160304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20160102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20151112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20150910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20150708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20150506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20150304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_201501
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20141112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20140910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20140708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20140506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20140304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20140102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20131112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20130910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20130708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20130506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20130304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20130102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20121112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20120910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20120708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20120506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20120304
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com