|
The
Pentagon Attack Images
Steve Riskus took
these pictures seconds after the plane hit the pentagon. He was traveling on
route 27 towards 395 when the plane crossed his path from the right about 100ft
in front of him and crashed into the pentagon.
Alleged Terrorist Airliner Attack Targets
Pentagon
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2001 -- The Pentagon was a target today of an alleged
terrorist attack, which followed other alleged attacks on the World Trade Center
in New York City.
Workers inside the Defense Department
headquarters in Arlington, Va., estimated that a blast occurred around 9:30 a.m.
Eastern time, which shook the building and produced a billowing gray-black smoke
plume that could be seen for miles
Army Maj. Jeff Mockensturm said he was in a
meeting in Room 3D450 at that time when an explosion erupted with a blinding
orange light. Authorities confirmed that a commercial airliner, possibly
hijacked, had crashed into the building.
Smoke
and flames rise from the Pentagon as firefighters continue to work to put the
flames out. A plane struck the building at about 9:40 a.m. Sept. 11, 2001.
Witnesses said evacuation of the building was calm and orderly. Hundreds of
military and civilian workers volunteered to help local medics. Photo by Jim
Garamone.
"It felt like it was right outside the
window," Mockensturm said, who works for Army's program analysis and
evaluation office. "The window cracked, the ceiling shook, the floor shook.
I felt like it was an earthquake, like the whole building was going to
collapse." The major joined thousands of other Pentagon employees who had
been evacuated after the blast.
The aircraft crash at the Pentagon followed
two others minutes earlier at the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New
York City. Both 110-story buildings later collapsed. Authorities said they
believed all three planes involved had been hijacked by terrorists.
Back at the Pentagon, gray-black smoke
billowed as an Air Force F- 16 fighter circled overhead, on patrol for another
airliner reportedly flying in the area. No airliner was intercepted.
The
plane that hit the Pentagon at about 9:40 a.m. Sept. 11, 2001, peeled the
building's reinforced concrete back all the way to the "B" Ring. The
area outside the Pentagon became a staging area for medical and emergency
personnel. Photo by Jim Garamone
Part of the building hit collapsed;
firefighters continue to battle the flames. The building was evacuated, as were
other federal buildings in the Capitol, including the White House.
The number of casualties is unknown. The
Pentagon's workday population is about 24,000.
Smoke
and flames rose over the Pentagon at about 10 a.m. today following a suspected
terrorist crash of a commercial airliner into the side of the building. Part of
the building hit collapsed; firefighters continue to battle the flames. The
building was evacuated, as were other federal buildings in the Capitol,
including the White House. The number of casualties is unknown. The Pentagon's
workday population is about 24,000. Updates will follow as they come available.
Photos by Gerry J. Gilmore.
credit:The Miami
Herald
credit:The
Washington Post
credit: BBC
The
Pentagon Before The Attack
spaceimaging.com
The
Pentagon After The Attack
spaceimaging.com
Pentagon Security
Camera Images of Plane crashing into building
U.S.
Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Jason Ingersoll
DoD Holds Press Briefing in Pentagon
By Sgt. 1st Class Kathleen Rhem, USA
American Forces Press Service
Defense
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld tells reporters that "people who work in this
building do so voluntarily, and they are brave people." Rumsfeld held his
press conference in the Pentagon at about 6:15 p.m., about eight hours after a
suspected hijacked commercial airliner smashed into the building Sept. 11, 2001.
At the conference podium were (from left) Army Secretary Thomas White, Chairman
of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Henry Shelton, Rumsfeld, U.S. Sen. John
Warner of Virginia and U.S. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan. Levin is chairman of
the Senate Armed Services Committee; Warner is ranking minority party member of
the committee. Photo by Jim Garamone.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2001 -- "The Pentagon is
functioning" is the message Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sent by
holding a press conference in the building's briefing room barely eight hours
after terrorists allegedly crashed a hijacked commercial jetliner into the
national military headquarters.
"It's an indication that the United States is functioning
in the face of this terrible act against our country," Rumsfeld said.
"(The Pentagon) will be in business tomorrow."
Accompanying Rumsfeld on the press conference podium were
several other senior federal officials including Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff Army Gen. Henry Shelton, Rumsfeld, and U.S. Sens. John Warner of Virginia
and Carl Levin of Michigan.
The secretary told reporters it's not possible to have solid
casualty figures at this time and that the various Defense Department components
are working to account for their people. He said there could be no survivors
among the 64 passengers aboard the commercial plane that crashed into the
building.
"There is no question but that the attack ... today was a
vicious, a well-coordinated, massive attack against the United States of
America," Rumsfeld said. "What words the lawyers will use to
characterize it is for them (to decide)."
Shelton called the events of Sept. 11 "an outrageous act
of barbaric terrorism carried out by fanatics." He said this was a reminder
of the "tragic dangers" that military people face day in and day out.
The chairman refused to discuss what actions the United States would take in
retaliation.
"But make no mistake about it," he said, "your
armed forces are ready."
Military
medical personnel rush to the Pentagon to aid victims of the Sept. 11, 2001,
plane crash that called for the help of rescue workers and firefighters
throughout the metropolitan area. Photo by Paul Disney, USA
Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called
terrorists "the common enemy of the civilized world." "Our
intense focus on recovering and helping the injured and families of those killed
is matched only by our determination to prevent more attacks," he said.
"This is indeed the most tragic hour in America's
history," said Warner, former committee chairman and its ranking minority
party member. "And yet I think it can be our finest hour as our president
and those with him (including) the men and women of the armed forces stand ready
not only to defend this nation and our allies against further attack but to take
such actions as are directed in the future in retaliation for this ... series of
terrorist attacks (that are) unprecedented in world history."
Warner called upon the entire world to step up and help.
"We're in this together," he said. "The United States has borne
the brunt, but who can be next. Step forward and let us hold accountable and
punish those that have perpetrated this event."
Asked by reporters about possible retaliation, Rumsfeld called
the question premature.
photo by Tech. Sgt. Cedric H. Rudisill
|
The
effects of the blast and the fire caused when the hijacked American
Airlines flight slammed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11th, are evident in
this Sept. 14, 2001, photograph. The office was in the section of the
Pentagon slated to be renovated next. Offices in the newly renovated
section survived the blast and the fire much better. The terrorist
attack caused extensive damage to the west face of the building and
followed similar attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center in
New York City. DoD photo by Staff Sgt. Larry A. Simmons, U.S. Air Force |
|
A
wall of the E-Ring of the Pentagon leans inward and other walls show
fire damage in this Sept. 14, 2001, photograph. Damage to the Pentagon
was caused when the hijacked American Airlines flight slammed into the
building on Sept. 11th.
DoD
photo by Staff Sgt. Larry A. Simmons, U.S. Air Force. |
The
effects of the blast and the fire The office was in the section of the
Pentagon slated to be renovated next. The terrorist attack caused
extensive damage to the west face of the building .
DoD
photo by Staff Sgt. Larry A. Simmons, U.S. Air Force |
DoD Official Provides Briefing After Pentagon
Attack
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2001 -- Survivors of today's apparent terrorist attack
against the Pentagon are urged to contact relatives to assure them of their
safety, a Pentagon spokesman said today.
"We are asking ... people to phone their
families and loved ones immediately to let them know that they are OK," DoD
spokesman Navy Rear Adm. Craig Quigley told reporters outside the Pentagon at
midafternoon. It was the first official DoD news briefing after the incident.
Quigley said he had no information on the
allegedly hijacked commercial aircraft that crashed into an outside wall of the
Pentagon around 9:30 a.m. Eastern time today.
However, he remarked, "This was no
accident."
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was in
the Pentagon at the time of the crash, and he walked outside the building to
investigate and offer help, Quigley said. The admiral noted that the injured had
been taken "to a variety of area hospitals" and added that Pentagon
officials are working to provide a list of injured.
"We will work our way through to
identifying them and getting their names out to their loved ones," Quigley
said.
The Pentagon incident followed two other
alleged aerial hijackings that resulted in crashes that ultimately collapsed the
110-story twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. All U.S.
airports have been closed.
Quigley said defense officials began to
assemble a crisis action team after the second aircraft struck the World Trade
Center.
"Shortly after that, the aircraft hit
(the Pentagon)," he concluded.
credit: Department of Defense The Miami Herald, The Washington
Post
|
