Editor's note: A significant portion of the 9/11 Truth movement believes that it is a mistake to promote the questions about what happened at the Pentagon, and that the evidence supports the official story that a 757 struck the Pentagon. See, e.g., http://www.truthmove.org/content/2008-declaration/. Others feel that this conclusion is premature. In any case, this article presents questions about the problems at the Pentagon that have not been resolved.
Summary:
According to the Official 9/11 Conspiracy Theory (the one assigning guilt solely to 19 Arab terrorists conspiring with Osama bin Laden) promulgated by the 9/11 Commission and the Bush Administration, American Airlines Flight 77, a Boeing 757, struck the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. on 9/11/2001. A computer animation of the final seconds of Flight 77 produced by the NTSB based upon data taken directly from Flight 77's Flight Data Recorder shows that Flight 77 flew towards the Pentagon on a path different from the path of whatever caused the damage inside and outside of the Pentagon. Further, the data from the Flight Data Recorder show that Flight 77 flew over the Pentagon rather than striking it. Credible witnesses, including two Pentagon Police Officers, say that they are certain that Flight 77 flew over them on a path consistent with the NTSB computer animation. Professional Pilots indicate that the alleged terrorist pilot of Flight 77, Hani Hanjour, could not have accomplished the final maneuvers of that flight. Clocks and wristwatches, none of them synchronized with each other, that were permanently stopped by events at the Pentagon, reflect times more than five minutes before 9:37. The earliest reports from the Pentagon indicated that an explosion, not a plane crash, occurred there.
All of this evidence indicates that Flight 77 was not the source of the damage at the Pentagon. This evidence does not rule out the possibility that another aircraft actually did strike the Pentagon and cause the observed damage. In any event, this evidence shifts the burden of proof back to the US Government, which must now explain how this evidence can be reconciled with the official version of events.
Visual Orientation
This aerial photograph shows the area over which Flight 77 passed in the final seconds of its flight. The Pentagon, at the bottom of the photograph, is at the most eastern point in the photograph. The gas station (a Citgo station in 2001) an Naval Annex are to the west of the Pentagon. (source of photo: www.bcrevolution.ca)
The following aerial photograph shows the damaged columns inside the Pentagon as well as the damaged light poles outside of the Pentagon (damaged allegedly by Flight 77) (source http://www.pentagonresearch.com/lamps.html)
This third aerial photograph, below, is taken directly from the official report of the damage at the Pentagon, page 19 of the Pentagon Building Performance Report. The caption says "Figure 3.13 Aerial photograph modified to show approaching aircraft."
As a reference point between the three photographs, consider the location of the cloverleaf as it relates to the flight path, the damaged light poles, and the Pentagon. Whatever caused the damage at the Pentagon, both outside and inside, must have flown directly above the middle of the cloverleaf, which means well to the south of the gas station and the Naval Annex. Flying at over 400 miles per hour, no aircraft could have flown to the north of the gas station and the naval annex and then, in the very short remaining distance, turned south and then again east to be in line with the damaged light poles and the damage inside the Pentagon. Consider these aerial photographs as you review the following material.
NTSB Flight Data Recorder Analysis
Please watch this short computer animation of the final seconds of Flight 77produced and released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). It is based upon Flight 77's Flight Data Recorder. As you can see, according to the NTSB and the flight data, Flight 77 flew to the north of the gas station. Therefore, according to the NTSB report and flight data, Flight 77 could not have caused the damage to the light poles to the west of the Pentagon, nor the damage inside the Pentagon.
The computer animation was obtained in 2007 by Pilots for 9/11 Truth through a Freedom of Information act request. The NTSB refuses to comment on the fact that this computer animation contradicts the official 9/11 Conspiracy Theory.
This article by Pilots for 9/11 Truth provides further commentary on this computer animation, indicating, for example, that Flight 77 was too high to have actually struck the Pentagon. Instead, it flew over it. [their website:http://www.pilotsfor911truth.org/]
According to Rob Balsamo, a commercial pilot and co-founder of Pilots for 9/11 Truth, the Flight Data Recorder on an aircraft must be functioning properly as of the departure, or the aircraft would not leave the ground. During the flight, the flight data, measured at the source (altitude, airspeed, latitude, longitude, etc.), is recorded to a protected memory of the recorder less than half a second after being measured. No person, terrorist or otherwise, can alter this data during the flight.
Statements of Pentagon Police Officers who witnessed the final seconds of flight
Two Pentagon Police officers who were at the gas station claim to be absolutely certain that Flight 77 passed to the north of the gas station, consistent with the NTSB computer animation and inconsistent with the damage at the Pentagon and the official story. [watch 8-minute video] [complete film] In this video these officers do not believe that they are contradicting the official story because they are mistaken about the location of the damaged light poles and they are apparently unfamiliar with the damage inside the Pentagon, which damage is consistent with the southerly approach but not the northerly approach.
Statements of other professional pilots; Incompetence of Hani Hanjour
Many professional pilots state that even they themselves, as professional pilots, may not have been able to perform the extraordinary maneuvers in the final minutes of Flight 77, and that a novice pilot such as Hani Hanjour, who is the alleged pilot in the official story, definitely could not have performed them. For example, see what retired Navy "Top Gun" pilot, Commander Ralph Kolstad, has recently said. Here are other comments from pilots.According to the Official 9/11 Conspiracy Theory, Hani Hanjour, one of the 19 Arab terrorists, took over the controls of Flight 77 and piloted it into the Pentagon. However, there is plenty of evidence that Hani Hanjour wasn't competent enough to fly even a small Cessna airplane. [Read article]
Independent clocks, wristwatches were permanently stopped five minutes early
Other evidence that conflicts with the official story includes the fact that independent (i.e., unsynchronized) clocks and wristwatches that were permanently stopped by events at the Pentagon reflect times more than five minutes before Flight 77 is said to have struck the building. (The small differences between the times shown are what one would expect with unsynchronized time pieces.) [more info from Barbara Honegger] Flight 77 is said to have struck at 9:37; the stopped clocks and watches show a time of around 9:32, approximately five minutes before the official crash time.