In defiance, a US flag is setup outside the Pentagon. Shortly after 8 AM on September 11, 2001 in an attempt to frighten the American people, five members of Al-Qaida, a group of fundamentalist Islamic Muslims, hijacked American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757-200, shortly after it took off from Dulles International Airport just outside Washington DC. The hijackers herded up the 64 passengers toward the rear of the aircraft using knives and box cutters then flew a circuitous route that took them away then back toward Washington. At about 9:45 AM they flew the aircraft into the side of the Pentagon. The impact destroyed or damaged four of the five "rings," in this section, that circle the...
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The original finding aid described this photograph as:
[Complete] Scene Caption: In defiance, a US flag is setup outside the Pentagon. Shortly after 8 AM on September 11, 2001 in an attempt to frighten the American people, five members of Al-Qaida, a group of fundamentalist Islamic Muslims, hijacked American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757-200, shortly after it took off from Dulles International Airport just outside Washington DC. The hijackers herded up the 64 passengers toward the rear of the aircraft using knives and box cutters then flew a circuitous route that took them away then back toward Washington. At about 9:45 AM they flew the aircraft into the side of the Pentagon. The impact destroyed or damaged four of the five "rings," in this section, that circle the building. The Pentagon attack followed an attack on the twin towers of the New York World Trade Center in what is now called the worst terrorist attack in history.
Base: Pentagon
State: District Of Columbia (DC)
Country: United States Of America (USA)
Scene Camera Operator: TSGT Jim Varhegyi, USAF
Release Status: Released to Public
Combined Military Service Digital Photographic Files
According to the official 9/11 Commission Report, the Flight 77 was 5 miles (8.0 km) west-southwest of the Pentagon when, it made a 330-degree turn. At the end of the turn, it was descending through 2,200 feet (670 m), pointed toward the Pentagon and downtown Washington. Boeing 757-223, flying at 530 mph over the Navy Annex Building adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery, crashed into the western side of the Pentagon. The plane hit the Pentagon at the first-floor level, and at the moment of impact, the airplane was rolled slightly to the left, with the right wing elevated. The front part of the fuselage disintegrated on impact, while the mid and tail sections moved for another fraction of a second, with tail section debris penetrating furthest into the building. In all, the airplane took eight-tenths of a second to fully penetrate 310 feet (94 m) into the three outermost of the building's five rings and unleashed a fireball that rose 200 feet (61 m) above the building.
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