At 9:40 a.m. on July 28, 1945 a Mitchell B-25D Bomber crashed into the Empire State Building in Manhattan. The pilot, a decorated veteran of multiple bombing missions in Europe, was momentarily lost in a dense fog. The plane hit the edifice between its 78th and 80th floors, causing terrific blazes that burned many employees. Rescue workers, volunteer medics, doctors, nurses and Catholic Relief workers combined to treat the wounded and dying. The lobby of the building was converted into a temporary hospital for approximately five hours.