On a Saturday morning, July 28, 1945 a U.S. Army Air Corps B-25 bomber was
being flown by Lt. Colonel William Smith through a steadily increasing fog. The  
plane was on its way to Newark airport at the time when it crashed in the 79th  
floor of New York City’s Empire State Building, killing 14 people (three crewmen
and eleven in the building) and injuring 26 others. The resulting fire was put out
in 40 minutes. The crash caused one million dollar’s in damage. The structural
integrity of the building was not compromised and was opened for business on
many floors the following Monday. In the aftermath of the crash, flight rules
over New York City were strengthened.    

B-25 Mitchell bomber, similar to one that hit the Empire State Building