Unbelievable Survival: The Woman Who Fell 75 Stories and Lived
This is the story of Betty Lou Oliver, who fell 1,000 feet in 1945 after a plane hit the building she worked in. She survived two brushes with death that day.
(Photo: Shutterstock)The incredible story of Betty Lou Oliver, one of the survivors of a tragic accident that occurred in New York in July 1945, when a plane crashed into the Empire State Building during dense fog.
Fourteen people died, but Oliver survived, making her story seem like a miracle to many, as she escaped death twice – first by surviving the plane's impact, and second by getting out alive from an elevator that fell 75 stories.
The plane that crashed was supposed to land at LaGuardia Airport, but the thick fog caused it to continue toward Manhattan. It's believed that the pilot descended too low, veered off course, and accidentally crashed into the Empire State Building. Initially, the plane struck the 78th, 79th, and 80th floors, killing the three people aboard and 11 others on those floors. The ensuing fire was brought under control by firefighters. It was found that one engine fell into an art studio and another into an elevator shaft.
Betty, then 20 years old, worked as an elevator operator. She was thrown from the elevator and suffered severe injuries. Medics arrived, and as she got into another elevator trying to descend, the cable snapped, and she plummeted 75 stories – about 1,000 feet.
Betty felt the elevator falling. How did she survive? The elevator crashed into a shock absorber at the bottom of the shaft, but it broke through the floor. However, additional cables cushioned the impact, minimizing the crash. She remained inside, grasping the sides of the elevator. Incredibly, she survived with only broken bones.
After this incident, Betty recovered. She lived a relatively normal life and even returned to work at the Empire State Building a few months later. In 1999, she passed away at age 75, confident that her record would never be broken, although a few years later, it was surpassed when a man fell from 84 stories and survived thanks to emergency systems in place.
