...
As we looked out our third-floor window, we saw debris fall on to the
street. We immediately thought New York was being bombed."
Another eyewitness, Helen J. Hurwitt, from Greenacres, Fla., told the
Post:
"I heard a horrendous noise. My husband and I were in a building
directly opposite the Empire State Building. ... Large plate-glass
windows looked out onto 34th Street. The floor we were on was pretty
high. At some point, we heard a horrendous noise and rushed to the
windows. ... We were horrified to see a B-25 half in and half out of
the Empire State Building."
"The building shuddered, realigned itself, and settled. Probably
instantly, although several witnesses said there seemed to be a
moment's interval, came the explosion, and the top of the fog-shrouded
Empire State Building was briefly seen in a bright orange glow.
High-octane airplane fuel spewed out of the ruptured tanks and sprayed
the building...The heat was so intense that partition frames within
offices disappeared, and the shattered glass from windows and lamp
fixtures melted and fused into stalactites....One engine, part of the
fuselage, and a landing gear tore through the internal office walls,
through two fire walls and across a stairway, through another office
wall and out of the south wall of the building, with the parts coming
to a fiery rest at 10 West Thirty-Third Street in the penthouse
studio/apartment of sculptor Henry Hering, who was off playing golf in
Scarsdale at the time"
John Tauranac, The Making of a Landmark, New York: St.
Pages:
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134