Plane blast blows girl from elevator, across hall
‘Not surprised at crash,’ declares eyewitness on 75th floor
By James W. Irwin
The author of the following dispatch is president of the James W. Irwin Co. management consultants.
NEW YORK (UP) – At about 10 a.m. today I was sitting alone in my office on the 75th floor of the Empire State Building.
Outside the windows there was a dense fog.
The roar of airplanes going overhead is a familiar sound to those of us who have offices in this giant structure.
But this morning I heard one coming that seemed to be headed right my way.
I ran into the hall as the roar increased. Just as I hit the hall the plane struck.
Blows girl across hall
A girl elevator operator had just opened the door of the elevator shaft on my floor. The blast blew her all the way across the hall.
She is in the next office as I dictate this to the United Press. No first aid has reached us as yet. We are isolated.
There are at least 11 other casualties on this floor alone, mostly women, some of them badly burned.
I am told that the plane struck the building several floors above my office. That would be hard to tell from here. The halls are still so full of fumes that we are afraid to use the stairs.
Not surprised at crash
The screaming and general hubbub up here is so terrific that I can hardly hear over the telephone, but now things are quieting down.
All of my windows are gone and the hallways are littered with glass.
I don’t want to claim too much, but I must say that I am not too surprised at what has happened. We hear these planes all the time and frequently they sound like they are coming awfully close.
Fortunately the building was not too full of tenants this morning because so many people take Saturday off. I don’t know what happened to the people on the floor where the plane struck.
Office shattered
This was a variable foggy morning. Sometimes I could see other buildings in the neighborhood and then the fog would close in and I couldn’t see anything. That is the way it was when I heard the plane roaring in. It was spitting rain.
Now at 10:30 I can hear noises from the street below. Glass seems to be falling continually.
Returning to my office after the blast, I saw how lucky it was that I got out into the hall. I would have been full of splintered glass if I’d been in here when it hit.
Firemen pant up stairs
Now, at 10:35, the first firemen have reached us on the 75th floor. They came panting up the stairs and said anybody who was able could start walking down the 75 flights. They said the fumes were clearing out.
There is no question about what side of the building the plane hit. My office is on the Northside (Uptown side) and it hit right above me.
On a later call to the UP offices, Mr. Irwin said that in addition to hearing the approaching plane he could actually see it hurtling through the fog and rain.
“That’s why I ducked,” he said.
After the firemen got up here, they began carrying people out, or at least helping them down the emergency stairways. People coming down from up above seemed dazed and couldn’t tell much about what had happened. All they wanted was to get to the street.