Did Flight 77 really crash into the Pentagon?

intro • official claim • timeline • undamaged lawn • generator oddity • building damage • inside damage • suspicious debris • crash videos
 alleged hijackers • unusual passengers • pentagon fatalities • conflicting witnesses • debunking sites • theories • performance report • links

The odd damage inside...

(To link this page, please use the following address:  http://www.geocities.com/killtown/flight77/inside.html)

Last updated:  11/02/2006

Where did the fuselage of Flight 77 supposedly enter and then pierce through to the 3rd ring?

► "The Boeing 757 struck Wedge 1 on the Heliport side of the Pentagon very low to the ground and entered Wedge 1 just to the north of Corridor 4 on the first and second floors.  The plane traveled through the Pentagon at roughly 45-degree angle to the face of the building.  It went through Wedge 1 and into the un-renovated Wedge 2 before exiting the C-ring, the third ring of offices, and into a roadway (A/E Drive) that circles the perimeter of the Pentagon between the B and C-rings." -Annual Status Report to Congress (3/01/02)

► "Flight #77 penetrated the outer wall of the Pentagon’s E Ring and the damage extended all the way through the inner wall of the C Ring, a distance of approximately 285 feet." -Arlington County After-Action Report

Officials say that Flight 77 hit between the 1st and 2nd stories, so why is the 2nd story floor still intact?

► "And the plane came through the first floor, right through Naval Ops," Michael Flocco. - CNN (9/08/02)

► Excerpts from an interview with Captain Allan Lindsley, who was a Physicians Assistant for Emergency Medical Services at Dewitt Army Community Hospital, Ft. Belvoir, VA.
"At the time we could walk right up to the building. I walked right down, I was within 100 meters of the building, right in front of the crash site.
I didn’t see any of the plane. By then, the floors had collapsed.
Two FBI agents looking for airplane parts closer to the building walked into a yellow jacket nest and got stung several times.
I walked by that and looked up on the outer ring and you could see right at the crash site, and you could see filing cabinets and a computer monitor sitting there. They weren’t blackened, they didn’t look like they’d been moved, it looked like somebody had just driven by and broke a hole and nothing was touched. That was on the outer ring.
A lot of water, you could tell there were broken pipes and stuff, you could see that. You could see where the fire had extended almost a complete length to the left of the crash site and to the right, it only went maybe five windows over. I was told that that was because of the new construction that they were doing and fire walls had been put in. You could tell that to the right the structural integrity was much better. To the left is where they were really having to do a lot of shoring up of the building. To the right there was more steel, and to the left there wasn’t as much steel in it. So they’ve been replacing that." - Soldiers to the Rescue/Responding in the Pentagon [HTML]

So since the plane had to pierce through the 1st story only, do you see any evidence that the fuselage entered through the 1st story of Ring D on it's way to punch out the hole in Ring C? 

Do you see any evidence of an American Airlines Boeing 757 inside the Pentagon?

Photo #4436 take on Sept. 13.  (Photo source:  fema.gov [HiRes])

(FEMA photos taken on Sept. 13:  4420, 4421, 4422, 4424, 4425, 4426, 4427, 4428, 4429, 4430, 4431, 4432, 4433, 4434, 4435, 4436, 4437, 4438, 4439, 4440, 4441, 4442, 4443, 4444, 4445, 4446, 4447, 4448, 4449, 4450, 4451, 4452, 4453, 4454, 4455, 4456, 4457, 4458, 4459)

► Pentagon searchers encounter grisly scenes

"Members of Congress who toured the site Thursday said rescue officials reported that much of the fuselage of the hijacked airplane remains intact in the ruins." -USA Today (09/13/01)

► Pentagon Says About 190 People Dead

"Members of Congress at the site Thursday to watch the recovery effort said they were told by rescue officials that much of the fuselage of the hijacked airplane that hit the Pentagon remains intact in the wreckage, which could help investigators." -Firehouse.com/AP (09/13/01)

Check the FEMA photo library for more inside photos of the Pentagon.

(To search for more inside photos, type "Pentagon" in the Keywords box or choose "Virginia" in the Location box.  Choose "Terrorism" in the Category box, then choose your dates from 09/11/2001 and beyond.)

Some have theorized that the reason nothing or not much was left of Flight 77 after it crashed into the Pentagon was because most of it disintegrated upon impacting the Pentagon's retrofitted facade and anything left of the plane inside vaporized or burned up from the massive explosion and ensuing fire...

► "The purpose of the test was to determine the impact force, versus time, due to the impact, of a complete F-4 Phantom — including both engines — onto a massive, essentially rigid reinforced concrete target (3.66 meters thick). Previous tests used F-4 engines at similar speeds. The test was not intended to demonstrate the performance (survivability) of any particular type of concrete structure to aircraft impact. The impact occurred at the nominal velocity of 215 meters per second (about 480 mph). The mass of the jet fuel was simulated by water; the effects of fire following such a collision was not a part of the test. The test established that the major impact force was from the engines. The test was performed by Sandia National Laboratories under terms of a contract with the Muto Institute of Structural Mechanics, Inc., of Tokyo." - Sandia Laboratories (1988)

If most of Flight 77 disintegrated from hitting the Pentagon's wall and the rest of it burned up after the explosion, how did officials manage to find the remains of all but one of the 64 passengers onboard inside the building all the way up to the Ring C?

Figure 3.17  Fatalities found in first story.  (Graphic source:  "Pentagon Building Performance Report" [PDF])

(See also:  Flight 77's unusual passengers)

► French Conspiracy Theorist Claims No Plane Hit Pentagon

"In addition to the numerous eyewitness accounts, the remains of the passengers and crew onboard American Airlines flight 77 were recovered from the Pentagon crash site. A team of more than 100 forensic specialists and others identified 184 of the 189 people who died in the Pentagon attack (125 from the Pentagon and 64 onboard American Airlines flight 77). All but one of the passengers onboard American Airlines flight 77 was positively identified as a match with DNA samples provided by the families of the crash victims. These positive forensic identifications provide irrefutable proof that American Airlines flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon on September 11. In addition, rescue and recovery personnel at the Pentagon reported seeing the bodies of airline passengers. The September 14, 2001 edition of USA Today reported, "When [Army Sergeant Mark] Williams discovered the scorched bodies of several airline passengers, they were still strapped in their seats." -US Department of State (06/28/05)

► Pentagon searchers encounter grisly scenes

"On Tuesday, Army Staff Sgt. Mark Williams witnessed a combat zone for the first time in his 11 years of service. He never imagined it would be inside the Pentagon. One of the first recovery personnel to enter the crippled headquarters building after a hijacked Boeing 757 smashed into it, the urban search-and-rescue specialist found a gruesome sight. "If anyone has ever burned a pot roast, they'll know what the victims looked like," Williams, 30, said Thursday after another 12-hour shift of searching for 190 bodies — those of 126 missing Pentagon personnel and the 64 aboard the doomed jetliner.

When Williams discovered the scorched bodies of several airline passengers, they were still strapped into their seats. The stench of charred flesh overwhelmed him.

As of Thursday morning, search teams had recovered 70 bodies. The remains were being carried by helicopter to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to be identified." -USA Today (09/13/01)

► Web Exclusive: Washington’s Heroes

"Early Friday morning, shortly before 4 a.m., Burkhammer and another firefighter, Brian Moravitz, were combing through debris near the impact site. Peering at the wreckage with their helmet lights, the two spotted an intact seat from the plane’s cockpit with a chunk of the floor still attached." -MSNBC (09/28/03)

► "Data provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation included the locations where fatalities were found in the building. This information is reproduced as figures 3.17 and 3.18.
No fatalities from the aircraft were found on the second floor (figure 3.18). The figure shows no fatalities in the collapsed area above the first floor. In fact, it is likely that there were upper floor fatalities in this area, but their remains were found on the first-floor level after the building collapsed.
The Army Medical Command examined the recovered remains to determine the causes of death. Approximately one third of the fatalities were related to the impact, one-third to the fire, and one-third to a combination of impact and fire." [pg. 20]
"The remains of most of the passengers on the aircraft were found near the end of the travel of the aircraft debris. The front landing gear (a relatively solid and heavy object) and the flight data recorder (which had been located near the rear of the aircraft) were also found nearly 300 ft into the structure. By contrast, the remains of a few individuals (the hijacking suspects), who most likely were near the front of the aircraft, were found relatively close to the aircraft’s point of impact with the building. These data suggest that the front of the aircraft disintegrated essentially upon impact but, in the process, opened up a hole allowing the trailing portions of the fuselage to pass into the building." [pg. 40]
"The damage pattern throughout the building and the locations of fatalities and aircraft components, together with the deformation of columns, suggest that the entire aircraft disintegrated rapidly as it moved through the forest of columns on the first floor. [pg.41] - Pentagon Building Performance Report

► "Investigators have identified remains of 184 people who were aboard American Airlines Flight 77 or inside the Pentagon, including those of the five hijackers, but they say it is impossible to match what is left with the five missing people.
A team of more than 100 workers at a military morgue at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware used several methods to identify remains but primarily relied on DNA testing and dental records. They formally ended their effort Friday after concluding that some remains were too badly burned to identify.
The fifth unidentified victim was a passenger on the hijacked plane. A spokesman for the FBI declined to disclose the name of the victim.
All 64 people aboard the hijacked plane, including six crew members and the five hijackers, were also killed." -Washington Post (11/21/01); Arlington National Cemetery (11/21/01)

► "What some experts have called "the most comprehensive forensic investigation in U.S. history" ended Nov. 16 with the identification of 184 of the 189 who died in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon.
Many of the casualties were badly burned and difficult to identify, an official said. Of the 189 killed, 125 worked at the Pentagon and 64 were passengers on American Airlines Flight 77. Only one of those who died made it to the hospital. The rest were killed on site, and for some, only pieces of tissue could be found.
A board-certified epidemiologist managed the tracking system for data collected during the autopsy process, and tissue samples were collected for DNA identification and further toxicology studies.
Teams of forensic scientists, under the direction of Demris Lee, technical leader of the Nuclear DNA Section, took over the difficult chore of generating a DNA profile of the victims. Their work included not only the Pentagon crash victims, but the victims of the Somerset County crash as well." -DC Military (11/30/01)

► "Unidentifiable remains of victims of the September 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery, the military said Friday.
The five victims whose remains have not been identified include: Dana Falkenberg, a passenger on Flight 77" -Arlington National Cemetery (08/16/02)

► "While identification information on military personnel is stored and centrally available, information on the 64 civilians on Flight 77 took weeks to arrive. By November 16, 2001, all but five sets of remains had been identified prior to mortuary specialists taking care of them before release to next-of-kin. “Because of the combined effort of all three services and the FBI” the process worked quickly. It was “the most comprehensive forensic investigation in U.S. history.”
Personnel from the AFME [Armed Forces Medical Examiner] supported, including acting as team leader, the identification of remains from United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in Somerset, PA. All but one of the passengers and crew were identified. Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory personnel were crucial in identifying victims." - Soldiers to the Rescue/Armed Forces Medical Examiner

► "Among the human remains painstakingly sorted from the Pentagon and Pennsylvania crash sites of Sept. 11 are those of nine of the hijackers.
In contrast, the remains of all 40 victims in the Pennsylvania crash and all but five of the 184 victims at the Pentagon site were identified months ago.
Families of the airplanes' passengers and crews and those who died within the Pentagon provided DNA samples, typically on toothbrushes or hairbrushes, to aid with identification." -CBS/AP (08/17/02)

How could the fragile nose of Flight 77 penetrate all the way through 3 reinforced concrete/steel hardened rings and punched out a hole through the inside wall of Ring C and leave no evidence of itself outside the punch-out hole?

► Excerpts from an interview with Specialist Kristopher Leigh Sorensen, who was a Medical Laboratory Technician at DiLorenzo TRICARE Health Clinic.
"I remember looking down the corridor, and you could see where part of the plane had busted through the wall, and the firefighters wouldn’t let us in. They were scared the entire wall was going to collapse. You could still see a tire and some unrecognizable little small portion of the plane." - Soldiers to the Rescue/Responding in the Pentagon [HTML]

► Excerpts from an interview with Sergeant First Class Maybon Pollock, who was NCOIC Logistics in the DiLorenzo TRICARE Health Clinic.
"At that point we were able to see the last part of the plane, where it stopped, basically. It was a big 8 by 10 or bigger, I’m just guessing, hole in the wall. You could see the tire, the landing gear, were just forward of it.
I was more impressed, I was truly impressed, with how the building stood up, after they told me the
size of the plane. And then I was in awe that I saw no plane, nothing left from the plane. It was like
it disintegrated as it went into the building." - Soldiers to the Rescue/Responding in the Pentagon [HTML]

Why didn't this rescuer describe seeing any plane debris inside the punch out hole?

Excerpts from an interview with Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Wilson, who was 91W Synchronization Officer at The Surgeon General’s Office.
"As I was in between two of the rings on the access road in between, I noticed that there was a wide gaping hole in the office wall. And through that hole I could see the building was on fire. It was the remnants of an office. You could see desks, telephones, office instruments. There were papers scattered around, and the smoke was coming out pretty thickly, dark, thick black smoke." - Soldiers to the Rescue/Responding in the Pentagon [HTML]

Could the FBI agents mentioned in this article marking plane debris inside the Pentagon's courtyard also have been planting plane debris?

Excerpts from an interview with Colonel Jonathan Fruendt, who was Deputy Assistant Surgeon General/Force Protection.
There were a lot of fire personnel inside the building.  By that time, there were FBI personnel in the area, too. We noticed pieces of the aircraft that had landed inside the courtyard, and the FBI personnel were marking the location where each piece landed." - Soldiers to the Rescue/Responding in the Pentagon [HTML]

Why does this report say that the punch out hole was caused by the plane's engine?

"On the inside wall of the second ring of the Pentagon, a nearly circular hole, about 12-feet wide, allows light to pour into the building from an internal service alley. An aircraft engine punched the hole out on its last flight after being broken loose from its moorings on the plane. The result became a huge vent for the subsequent explosion and fire." -MDW (9/26/01)

(Click photos for source.  [airdisaster.com])

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