This day in NY Aviation History (A little late!!)

[JHNA57]

Tuesday, July 28th was the 64th anniversary of the B-25 that crashed into the Empire State Building in the fog.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-25_Empire_State_Building_crash

I remember reading a book about it called "The Sky is Falling"

[Matt Molnar]

Oops, forgot to post this here...

http://nycaviation.com/2009/07/28/on-th ... july-28th/ (http://nycaviation.com/2009/07/28/on-this-day-in-aviation-history-july-28th/)

[JHNA57]

OOPS, :oops: My Bad!

[PhilDernerJr]

I've read about the Empire State Building a lot through the years, and until now, I never saw this photo, taken from Bway and 33rd St.:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/38/Empirestate540.jpg

Scary stuff to see the ESB like that. 9/11-esque.

[JetBlueAirwaysFan]

How did the Empire State Building not collapse like the WTC Towers? I guess it was a miracle.

[moose135]

The B-25 weights about 30K pounds, and was probably cruising at 200-odd knots. The aircraft that hit the towers were in the neighborhood of 10x the weight, and flying at twice that speed, so the initial damage to the buildings were much greater. Also, both airliners were carrying tons of jet fuel, which burned and set the interiors of the buildings on fire, causing the structures to weaken and ultimately collapse. The structural designs of the buildings likely had some effect on their ability to withstand a prolonged fire as well.