Editing Empire State Building (section)

==== Other events ====
Per the original plans, the Empire State Building's [[#Above the 102nd floor|spire]] was intended to be an [[airship]] docking station. Raskob and Smith had proposed dirigible ticketing offices and passenger waiting rooms on the 86th floor, while the airships themselves would be tied to the spire at the equivalent of the building's 106th floor.{{sfn|Langmead|2009|p=82}}{{sfn|Jackson|2010|pp=1344}} An elevator would ferry passengers from the 86th to the 101st floor{{efn|name=101st-floor|The 101st floor was later renamed the 102nd floor and is 101 floors above ground. The former 102nd floor, now the 103rd floor, is now a balcony that is off-limits to the public, and is 102 floors above ground.{{sfn|Tauranac|2014|p=237}}}} after they had checked in on the 86th floor,<ref name="Hearst Magazines 1931" /> after which passengers would have climbed steep ladders to board the airship.{{sfn|Langmead|2009|p=82}} The idea was impractical and dangerous due to powerful updrafts caused by the building itself,{{sfn|Goldman|1980|p=44}} the wind currents across Manhattan,{{sfn|Langmead|2009|p=82}} and the spires of nearby skyscrapers.<ref name="smithsonian2000">{{cite magazine |last=Reingold |first=Lester A. |date=July 2000 |title=Airships and the Empire State Building—Fact and Fiction |journal=Air & Space/Smithsonian }}</ref> Even if the airship could successfully navigate all these obstacles, its crew would have to jettison some [[ballast]] by releasing water onto the streets below in order to maintain stability, and then tie the craft's nose to the spire with no mooring lines securing the tail end of the craft.<ref name="Rothstein 2011" />{{sfn|Langmead|2009|p=82}}<ref name="smithsonian2000" /> On September 15, 1931, a small commercial [[United States Navy]] airship circled 25 times in {{convert|45|mph|0|adj=on}} winds.<ref>{{cite news |date=September 15, 1931 |title=Throng Strains Necks as Blimp Tries to Kiss Empire State Mast |page=3 |work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle |url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/57565568/ |access-date=October 26, 2017 |via=[[Brooklyn Public Library]]; [[Newspapers.com]] |archive-date=October 26, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026162809/https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/57565568/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The airship then attempted to dock at the mast, but its ballast spilled and the craft was rocked by unpredictable [[eddy (fluid dynamics)|eddies]].<ref name="Daily Sentinel 1931">{{cite news |date=September 15, 1931 |title=Blimp Moored to Tower of Empire State Building |page=1 |work=Daily Sentinel |agency=[[Associated Press]] |url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspapers%252023%2FRome%2520NY%2520Daily%2520Sentinel%2FRome%2520NY%2520Daily%2520Sentinel%25201931%2FRome%2520NY%2520Daily%2520Sentinel%25201931%2520-%25203298.pdf |access-date=October 23, 2017 |via=[[fultonhistory.com]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=September 16, 1931 |title=Moors to Empire State; Small Dirigible Makes Brief Contact While Traffic Is Jammed Below |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1931/09/16/118424702.pdf |access-date=October 24, 2017 |issn=0362-4331 }}</ref> The near-disaster scuttled plans to turn the building's spire into an airship terminal, although one blimp did manage to make a single newspaper delivery afterward.{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Mellins|1987|p=612}}{{sfn|Langmead|2009|p=82}}

On July 28, 1945, a [[B-25 Mitchell]] bomber [[1945 Empire State Building B-25 crash|crashed]] into the north side of the Empire State Building, between the 79th and 80th floors.{{sfn|Jackson|2010|pp=413–414}} One engine completely penetrated the building and landed in a neighboring block, while the other engine and part of the landing gear plummeted down an elevator shaft. Fourteen people were killed in the incident,{{sfn|Berman|Museum of New York City|2003|p=86}}<ref name="Bartlett 1976" /> but the building escaped severe damage and was reopened two days later.{{sfn|Berman|Museum of New York City|2003|p=86}}<ref name="Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1945">{{cite news |date=July 30, 1945 |title=Army Pushes Bomber Crash Investigation |page=1 |work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle |url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52688081/ |access-date=October 26, 2017 |via=[[Brooklyn Public Library]]; [[Newspapers.com]] |archive-date=August 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210815004853/https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/52688081/ |url-status=live }}</ref>