Today In History with The Retrospectors

The Plane That Crashed into the Empire State


Listen Later

Captain William Smith, a decorated World War II pilot, was flying a B-25 Mitchell bomber on a routine mission on 28th July, 1945. In heavy fog over New York, he got disoriented and tragically turned the wrong way, narrowly missing the Chrysler Building - before crashing into the Empire State Building.


Elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver, was thrown from her lift, but miraculously survived. First responders, unaware of the damaged cables in the shaft, placed her in another elevator to transport her for medical care - and the cables snapped, sending her plummeting 1,000 feet. Yet, astonishingly, she survived: setting a world record for the longest-survived elevator fall.


In this episode Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider how the incident led to landmark legislation allowing American citizens to sue the federal government; explain why the dramatic crash didn’t make a splash you might expect on the New York Times; and reveal the best position to adopt if you find yourself in a plunging elevator cart…


Further Reading:


• ‘Why a Plane Crashed into the Empire State Building 70 Years Ago’ (TIME, 2015): https://time.com/3967660/army-pilot-crash-empire-state-building/


• ‘This Woman Cheated Death Twice on the Same Day After a 1945 Disaster’ (History Collection, 2017): https://historycollection.com/cheat-death-twice-betty-lou-oliver-survived-75-storey-elevator-crash-plane-crashed-building/


• ‘TBT: She survived the longest elevator free fall’ (CNN, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHM-0c_Otes


This episode first aired in 2024

Image By Bettman archive, Corbis, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18623093


Love the show? Support us! 

Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… 

… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. 

Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2025.




Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Today In History with The RetrospectorsBy The Retrospectors

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

103 ratings


More shows like Today In History with The Retrospectors

View all
The Allusionist by Helen Zaltzman

The Allusionist

3,014 Listeners

More or Less: Behind the Stats by BBC Radio 4

More or Less: Behind the Stats

897 Listeners

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4 by BBC Radio 4

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4

2,119 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,924 Listeners

Answer Me This! by Helen and Olly

Answer Me This!

827 Listeners

No Such Thing As A Fish by No Such Thing As A Fish

No Such Thing As A Fish

4,852 Listeners

Comedy of the Week by BBC Radio 4

Comedy of the Week

490 Listeners

Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

Curious Cases

805 Listeners

The Week Unwrapped - with Olly Mann by The Week Unwrapped

The Week Unwrapped - with Olly Mann

78 Listeners

Evil Genius with Russell Kane by BBC Sounds

Evil Genius with Russell Kane

351 Listeners

The Modern Mann by Olly Mann

The Modern Mann

150 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,190 Listeners

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford by Pushkin Industries

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

5,142 Listeners

We Can Be Weirdos by Global

We Can Be Weirdos

194 Listeners

Lunchbox Envy by Lunchbox Envy

Lunchbox Envy

50 Listeners