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The undamaged lawn... (To link this page, please use the following address: http://www.geocities.com/killtown/flight77/lawn.html) |
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Last updated: 09/08/2006 |
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Why is there no burn marks, skid marks, or plane debris on the Pentagon's lawn when so many eyewitnesses and news reports said Flight 77 hit the ground before it slammed into the building? |
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(Photo source: defenselink.mil [HiRes]) |
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"The plane hit the ground first, then slid into the building." -Patrick Di Justo ("Hunt the Boeing" Answers) an astrophysics educator at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City who writes for Wired magazine and Wired News. |
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"As eyewitnesses described and photographs demonstrate, the hijacked airliner dived so low as it approached the Pentagon that it actually hit the ground first, thereby dissipating much of the energy that might otherwise have caused more extensive damage to the building." - Snopes.com |
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Purdue University's simulation of a Boeing 757 crashing into the Pentagon. (Graphic source: Purdue Univ.) |
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"The plane slammed into the west wall of the Pentagon. The impact was deafening. The fuselage hit the ground and blew up." -Delaware Online (9/12/01) |
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"It is also evident that the plane was on the ground before striking the Pentagon albeit skimming the grass. I might also point out that distant photos will miss details on the ground that up-close observation would show." - Christian Patriots/Pentagon Crash Analysis - "Christian Patriots provides top-notch analysis, introspection, and products that challenge accepted wisdom." |
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(Photo source: geoffmetcalf.com [Alt: renovation.pentagon.mil]) |
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| "Some eyewitnesses believe the plane actually hit the ground at the base of the Pentagon first, and then skidded into the building. Investigators say that's a possibility, which if true, crash experts say may well have saved some lives." -CBS (9/21/01) | |||
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(Photo source: airliners.net) |
"...I saw it hit right in front of -- it
didn't appear to crash into the building; most of the energy was dissipated
in
hitting the ground, but I saw
the nose break up, I saw the wings fly forward, and then the conflagration
engulfed everything in flames. It was horrible." |
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| "What--or who--caused Flight 77 to hit ground first, diffusing most of its destructive energy before it slammed into the Pentagon?" - ESPN | |||
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Since the two engines on a Boeing 757 hang lower than it's fuselage, why didn't the ones on Flight 77 leave any skid marks on the lawn? |
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(Photo source: nfpa.org) |
(Graphic source: "Pentagon Building Performance Report" [PDF]) |
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| "The plane rolled left and then rolled right. Then he caught an edge of his wing on the ground. There is a helicopter pad right in front of the side of the Pentagon. The wing touched there, then the plane cartwheeled into the building," David Marra. - Time (9/12/01) | |||
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The engines of a American Airlines Boeing 757. |
"I watched in horror as the plane flew at treetop level, banked slightly to the left, drug it's wing along the ground and slammed into the west wall of the Pentagon exploding into a giant orange fireball," Steve Anderson. - JMU (10/02/01) "Both eyewitnesses and the news of that day report that the plane hit the ground before it hit the building, thus causing a ground level impact." -Sierra Times (3/15/02) (Photo source: airliners.net) |
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(Photo source: nfpa.org) |
(Photo source: criticalthrash.com [HiRes]) |
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Levi Stephens, 23, courier Armed Forces Information Service - According to one witness, "what looked like a 747" plowed into the south side of the Pentagon, possibly skipping through a heliport before it hit the building. |
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(Photos source: startribune.com. Also see Pentagon video page.) |
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| "NBCs Jim Miklaszewski explains that the sequence of five photos, taken from a Department of Defense security camera, shows the Boeing 757 hitting the ground an instant before it plows into the building and explodes in a deadly fireball." -MSNBC (3/07/02) | |||
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Here's what you would expect the lawn to look like if a plane had crashed on it... |
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Fed Ex flight 1478, a Boeing 727, crashes in Tallahassee, FL. Three fatalities. (Photo source: airdisaster.com) |
Vladivostok Avia Flight 352, a Tupolev TU-154M, crashes in Burdanovka, Russia on 7/03/01. 143 fatalities. (Photo source: airdisaster.com) |
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United Air Lines Flight 232, a DC-10, crashes in Sioux City, IA on 7/19/89. 112 fatalities. (Photo source: airdisaster.com) |
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"Instantly I
knew what was happening, and I involuntarily ducked as the plane passed
perhaps 50 to 75 feet above the roof of my car at great speed," Owens
said. "The plane slammed into the west wall of the Pentagon. The impact
was deafening.
The fuselage hit the ground and blew
up," Mary Ann Owens
- Delaware Online (9/12/01) |
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See also: The power generator oddity (Photo source: renovation.pentagon.mil) (See also FEMA pic: 4388) |
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"The plane clipped light poles on nearby Route 27 and a backup generator at the Pentagon, bouncing off the ground before plowing into the building at a 45-degree angle." -USNews (12/10/01) |
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(Photo source: renovation.pentagon.mil) |
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(Photo source: criticalthrash.com) |
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Click here for more photos of the undamaged lawn. |
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Why didn't the engines or any other part of Flight 77 pulverize the cable spools on the lawn? |
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(Photos source: Library of Congress) |
(Photo source expired: DoD Imagery Server [Alt: renovation.pentagon.mil] [Local HiRes]) |
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(Photos source: americanhistory.si.edu) |
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(Photo source: geoffmetcalf.com [Alt: renovation.pentagon.mil]) |
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Click here for more photos of the undamaged cable spools. |
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Did this Pentagon construction worker and father of a Pentagon victim suggest on Larry King Live that a Boeing 757 didn't hit the Pentagon because the aircraft that did had "fewer engines"? |
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"KING: Michael, the Pentagon was kind of lucky
in a sense, wasn't it? FLOCCO: (UNINTELLIGIBLE). KING: The side they hit wasn't that populated and it didn't make a direct, full -- like top of the Pentagon hit, right? FLOCCO: Correct. Also, the other contributing factors -- fewer engines -- was the fact that it hit initially on the newly renovated section that had (UNINTELLIGIBLE) wire inside of -- able to withstand more of an impact." -CNN (9/08/02) |
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| If Flight 77 didn't hit the ground or the cable spools before it crashed into the building, why didn't any plane or building debris shoot back out over the lawn like debris shot back from when Flight 175 hit the WTC 2? | |||
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(Photo source: sipa.com [Archived: WayBack Machine]) |
Simulation that shows a Boeing 757 hitting the Pentagon without hitting the ground or cable spools. (Graphic source: "Pentagon Building Performance Report" [PDF]) |
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Flight 175 flew into the WTC 2 from the left of this pic. (Photo source: allesamerika.com)
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Flight 175 flew into the WTC 2 from the left of this pic. (Photo source: september11news.com) |
Flight 175 flew into the WTC 2 from the right of this pic. (Photo source: digitaljournalist.org)
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(Photo source: defenselink.mil [HiRes]) |
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(Photo source: renovation.pentagon.mil) |
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Did the Pentagon pave the lawn with gravel so soon after the crash so heavy equipment can clear rubble, or were they really trying to quickly cover up the undamaged lawn? |
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Arlington, VA, September 15, 2001 -- Heavy machinery is being used to clear rubble from the crash site. (Photo source: fema.gov) |
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