Suburban Guerrilla

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Jul 28th, 2005 at 9:48 pm by Susie

Did you know an airplane crashed into a New York City skyscraper before?

It was 1945, and it was the Empire State Building.

Posted in Uncategorized

10 Responses to “Whattaya Know”

on 28 Jul 2005 at 11:00 pm1julia

yes ma’am. My great uncle was one of the people killed.
on 28 Jul 2005 at 11:17 pm2Catherine D.

Yup, my grandfather worked for Otis and fixed the elevators that were damaged.
on 28 Jul 2005 at 11:25 pm3The Heretik

If I recall correctly, a B 25 bomber was flying in fog and slammed into the eightysixth floor where the Catholic Charities offices were located. One of the engines slid across to an elevator shaft and fell down to street level. In contrast to the Trade Center, the Empire State Building has a a stone outer face and is far more resistant to fire.
on 29 Jul 2005 at 12:20 am4Melanie

The Heretik tells it right. But it wasn’t a planned event.

And then there is the Hindenburg…
on 29 Jul 2005 at 9:41 am5JJ

Fortunately, it was a Saturday. Even though many employers had gone to a six-day week during WWII, there were still fewer people in the building at 9:49 AM than there might have been.

One of the survivors was the mother of George Willig, who in 1977 would climb the World Trade Center.
on 29 Jul 2005 at 12:25 pm6Mike

That crash was a design factor in the building of future skyscrapers, including the WTC towers. They were designed to withstand the impact of the largest aircraft of the time. And they performed beyond the design spec in terms of impact - the crash did not bring them down, even though the planes involved were significantly heavier than the plan specified.

Nobody could have predicted planes being used as weapons. Except Stephen King (Insomnia). And anybody who participated in WW II naval operations at least as much as I did - I watched Midway in Sensurround. And people involved in or interested in the history of th Empire State Building. And anybody with a little brother who owned a toy airplane.
on 29 Jul 2005 at 12:27 pm7steveeboy

jj,

whatever happenedf to george “teh human fly” willig?

I thought for sure he would be seen once more in the wake of the wtc bombings, but while high wire artist philippe patik (sp?) got a big role in the docuemntaries on the wtc willig seems to have disappeared?!?!!?

I read willig’s autobigogrpahy while in junior high, but I don’t recall the connection to the b-25 crash.

the first thing I thought of on 9/11 was that b-25 crash…
on 29 Jul 2005 at 12:30 pm8steveeboy

mike,

tom clancy had a 747 crashing into the capitol building during the SOTU speech in one of his books and taking out the congress and government, that is how jack ryan got to be president, and that is why it was such bullshit when condi said “no one could imagine planes as weapons”

I bet half of the military and other governemnt security types read all tom clancy books.

military and government book stores carry them all.

also, george willig is ALIVE and living in california.

his autobiography is a cool read and is called “going it alone” published 1979.
on 29 Jul 2005 at 12:47 pm9kate in phila

There was also an on-line game that featured planes being crashed into the WTC towers. It was removed from the internet after 9-11. Condi is soooo FOS.
on 29 Jul 2005 at 10:44 pm10julia

Phillipe Petit was last seen (by me, anyway) walking a clothesline in Washington Square Park

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