Free-fall 77 floors

This is the story of a B-25 crashing into the side of the Empire State Building and how one elevator survived.

Transcript

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Welcome to Kitts Myths and Mysteries listened to in all fifty states and thirty nine countries. Stories from a world you thought you knew. If you have a fear of heights, you'd better sit down for today's story. On a foggy morning of July twenty eighth, nineteen forty five, at nine AM, a B-25 left the Bedford Armory Airfield in Bedford, Massachusetts, bound for Newark Liberty International Airport. The bomber was on a personal transport mission. In other words, it was carrying aside from the crew military personnel. As they approached their destination and asked for clearance to land, it was denied due to heavy fog and zero visibility. By 940, the pilot had decided to circle and attempt landing despite the warning, but slightly disoriented, he turned the plane right, intending a circling pattern instead of left. Moments later the B-25 bomber smashed into the north side of the Empire State Building. This much is history. It's known that the entire crew and passengers were killed, along with fourteen office workers on the seventy eighth and seventy ninth floor where the plane struck. But history has no mention of the operator of elevator number six. The bomber was traveling at over two hundred and fifty miles an hour when it collided. One engine went clear through the entire Empire State Building, if you can imagine this, and landed on the roof of a building across the street. Wreckage pierced seven walls, and flaming fuel was dropped onto the streets of New York's busy shopping district. Fire broke out at the site of the crash and the entire Empire State Building was evacuated. In all, twenty-eight lives were lost, although the massive structure was reopened within days. Twenty-year-old Betty Lou Oliver was operator of elevator number six and was on the eightieth floor, the Flying Fortress B-25 slammed into the floor below. The impact to the elevator shaft caused Betty Lou to be ejected from the elevator car. When rescuers found her, she had a broken back, neck, and a fractured pelvis and numerous burns, and was treated on the spot. After rescue workers had attended to her injuries, she was placed on a stretcher and gently slid onto the floor of elevator number seven, strapped in, of course. What they didn't know was that the cables for that elevator had also been damaged by the impact of the plane. As they stepped back from the elevator car, fully intending to send it down. They were concussed by the sound of the cables shearing and watched in horror as the weight of Betty Lou caused the cables to snap, sending the car carrying the injured woman into free fall for a remaining 77 floors. Amazingly, Betty Lou Oliver survived after she was rushed to a hospital inspection, determined that a thousand feet of cable was coiled at the bottom of the shaft, and that there was compressed air. Both were providing kind of a cushion. The story of Betty Lou Oliver surviving a 77-story free fall made the Guinness Book of World Records. Beyond this, little is known of Betty Lou Oliver. It was determined that she was married at the time of the accident and that she and her husband moved to Arizona, where she had three children, numerous grandchildren, and lived to the age of 74. And I doubt if Betty Lou Oliver ever stepped into an elevator after that particular incident. And if you notice in my reading, every time I got to the part about 77 floors, can you imagine being strapped to a board and free falling? That feeling in your stomach, free falling for 77 floors. Be sure to listen tomorrow for another story from a world you thought you knew. This is Kit Crumb. Thanks for listening.