IMPACT ZONE
“It was a big machine, more than 50 yards long, it wings equal in area to the floor space of
a three-bedroom suburban house. Empty it weighed as much as a diesel locomotive. In addition to the fuel in its belly,
and the luggage and U.S. mail* in its holds, the plane carried two pilots, four flight attendants and 58 passengers...more
than 600,000 airframe bolts and rivets, and sixty miles of wire.”
(The Virginia-Pilot - Norfolk, Va. - Sept. 7, 2002 - Saturday Final, Page A1)
American Society of Civil Engineers
According to Boeing engineers, the weight in each wing was composed of the following:
Exposed wing structure: 13,500 lb
Engine and struts: 11,900 lb
Landing gear: 3,800 lb
Fuel: 14,600 lb
Total: 43,800 lb
Lee Evey
“The plane approached the Pentagon about 6 feet off the ground, clipping a light pole, a car antenna,
a construction trailer and an emergency generator before slicing into the building, said Lee Evey, the manager of the
Pentagon’s ongoing billion-dollar renovation.”
detnews
Local copy - original removed.
Sgt. William Lagasse
“…and struck a trailer used to store construction equipment for the renovation of the Pentagon…”
Assit. Chief Belvoir F.D. Russell “Rusty” Dodge Jr.
“There were two vehicles burning, along with a construction trailer – we didn’t
know at the time, but the trailer was the main producer of smoke on the outside of the building…”
“…construction trailer which was producing some severe fires and subsequent mini-explosions due to highly flammable
chemicals in it…”
Geoff Metcalf
“To the right you can see the diesel generator trailer on fire and the darker smoke as the diesel fuel tank exploded
and is fueling fires in that area.”
(Source)
“Captain Dennis Gilroy and his team were already on station at the Pentagon when Flight 77 slammed
into it, just beyond the heliport. Foam 161 caught fire and suffered a flat tire from flying debris."
(Arlington County After-Action report)
These quotes give us some idea of what we're seeing and what we're looking for. There were many
obstacles in the chosen flight path as we know. The main body of the fires and smoke were not caused by the aircraft.
There were 2 cars, a generator trailer, a construction trailer (I see two in the photos but it is always referred to as singular),
the helipad fire engine and the building contents burning. The actual fire right at the impact hole is really minimal
compared to what you might expect. One other thing that strikes me as odd is that in none of the photos do you see
any burnt grass or pools of jet fuel on fire. Hear the initial size up report from the Incident Commander below.
Incident Commander
".....(silence) right now...uh...we have an airplane that crashed into the Pentagon.....(inaudible)....that's what they're
saying, it's a plane....."
It's important here that he backed up and said, "....that's what they're saying, it's a plane". The cardinal rule in size-up reports
is you only report what you see. He did not see a plane, he was told it was a plane.
(Play audio below)
* I have never seen an article regarding thousands and thousands of packages/letters not being delivered
as a result of the destruction of the four 9/11/01 planes. That would
have been thousands of dollars in claims.
USPS 2001 News Archives
More detailed building information can be found here at these two sites
9-11 Research and
9-11 Review.
