A tent erected on the Pentagon south parking lot September 12, 2001, to manage recovery efforts in the aftermath of the September 11th terror attack. Shortly after 8 a.m. on September 11, 2001 in an attempt to frighten the American people, five members of Al-Qaida, a terrorist group of fundamentalist 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 paper cutters then flew a circuitous route that took them away then back toward Washington. At about 9:45 a.m. they flew the aircraft and passengers...

Similar

A tent erected on the Pentagon south parking lot September 12, 2001, to manage recovery efforts in the aftermath of the September 11th terror attack. Shortly after 8 a.m. on September 11, 2001 in an attempt to frighten the American people, five members of Al-Qaida, a terrorist group of fundamentalist 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 paper cutters then flew a circuitous route that took them away then back toward Washington. At about 9:45 a.m. they flew the aircraft and passengers...

description

Summary

The original finding aid described this photograph as:

[Complete] Scene Caption: A tent erected on the Pentagon south parking lot September 12, 2001, to manage recovery efforts in the aftermath of the September 11th terror attack. Shortly after 8 a.m. on September 11, 2001 in an attempt to frighten the American people, five members of Al-Qaida, a terrorist group of fundamentalist 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 paper cutters then flew a circuitous route that took them away then back toward Washington. At about 9:45 a.m. they flew the aircraft and passengers into the side of the Pentagon. The impact destroyed or damaged four of the five "rings" in that section that circle the building. That section of the Pentagon was in the finishing stages of a renovation program" to re-enforce and update the building. Fire fighter fought the fire through the night. The Pentagon was the third target of four hijacked aircraft.

Subject Operation/Series: NOBLE EAGLE

Base: Pentagon

State: District Of Columbia (DC)

Country: United States Of America (USA)

Scene Camera Operator: Michael Garcia, CIV, Dod

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.

date_range

Date

12/09/2001
place

Location

create

Source

The U.S. National Archives
copyright

Copyright info

No known copyright restrictions

Explore more

tent
tent