On July 28, 1945, thick fog over New York City caused a U. S. Army Air Forces B-25 Mitchell bomber to crash directly into the northern face of the Empire State Building between the 78th and 80th floors.
The violent impact severed the steel support cables of two elevator cars. One car plunged down its shaft, but the most dramatic incident involved elevator operator Betty Lou Oliver. Rescuers on the upper floors had placed the injured 20-year-old into an elevator car to evacuate her, unaware that the crash had severely compromised the cables.
Moments after the doors closed, the main cables snapped, sending Oliver and the elevator car plummeting 75 stories—roughly 1,000 feet—into the building's sub-basement. Despite the terrifying drop, Oliver survived the crash, setting a Guinness World Record for surviving the longest elevator fall in history. Her survival was not merely good luck; it served as a real-world test for Otis elevator safety systems.
As the elevator fell, compressed air trapped in the tight elevator shaft acted as a pneumatic cushion, significantly slowing the car's speed. Simultaneously, emergency centrifugal safety arresters kicked in along the guide rails, creating tremendous friction to impede the freefall. When the car finally hit the bottom, a heavy oil-filled hydraulic piston buffer in the pit absorbed the remaining impact force.
Combined with coiled steel cables piling beneath the car to form a springy mat, these engineered safety mechanisms prevented total destruction and saved Oliver's life.