9. The Walls of the Pentagon Were Reinforced
Source: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/ericbart/witness.htmlReinforced Walls of the Pentagon
The air liner smashed into the Pentagon walls at the point between the newly restructured walls and the original walls. The Pentagon had been recently reinforced at the point of impact. [Observing from in front of the impact site: on the left were walls constructed in 1947, or un-reinforced walls. To the right were the recently reinforced walls and windows.]
Only 90 foot Hole In the Pentagon
The hole in the Pentagon is in keeping with penetration by the fuselage of the plane. The wings were full of fuel and exploded upon impact. Scattering fires show the expected pattern from burning fuel from a plane just splattered on the side of a solid object.
Imprint of Plane
That the walls of the Pentagon did not cave in for an imprint of the plane, as happened in New York, is evidence that the walls were of a different consistency, construction, not that a plane didn't hit them. Below is an accounting by Pentagon contractors who worked on recent reinforcements of the walls.
Penetration Past Outside Walls
A missile would have penetrated a great deal further into the Pentagon than the plane did and would not have released jet fuel all over the place outside the building.
Eyewitness Statements re Walls of Pentagon Were Reinforced
Source: http://perso.wanadoo.fr/ericbart/witness.htmlPfeilstucker, Daniel C. Jr.
Danny Pfeilstucker is a commissioning agent for John J. Kirlin Inc., a Maryland-based mechanical contracting company that worked on the Pentagon renovation project that was nearing completion September 11. . . . Kirlin Inc., among many companies involved in renovating the Pentagon since the early 1990s, was in charge of updating plumbing and heating units. Around 9:30 a.m., Mr. Pfeilstucker and a co-worker got orders to check a hot-water leak in a third-floor office on the western side. After doing so, he stepped off an elevator on the second floor in Corridor 4, ladder in hand. Suddenly the walls and the ceiling began to collapse around him. The lights went out. "It went from light to dark to orange to complete black," Mr. Pfeilstucker says. "It was so dark I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face. "Within seconds, his left leg buckled. Unable to grab on to anything, he was thrust 70 feet down the corridor and into a tiny telephone closet halfway down the hallway connecting E Ring and A Ring. All I know is that the blast must have pushed open the steel door to the closet," says Mr. Pfeilstucker, who had been 40 feet away from the plane's point of impact. He remembers shutting the door and trying to stand up, not understanding what had just happened. "I thought it was some sort of a construction blast," Mr. Pfeilstucker says. "Or maybe there was a helicopter accident." His hard hat and work goggles were blown away. His ladder also had disappeared. . . . The fire sprinklers came on as the temperature shot up. Then he smelled jet fuel and smoke. The putrid odor was seeping into the closet. "It was this odor that I can't describe, but one that I'll never forget, that's for sure," Mr. Pfeilstucker says. "It was so hard to breathe. I didn't think I was going to make it out."
Dead link: http://www.washtimes.com/september11/heaven.htm
Slater, Mike
Within the last year, the Pentagon had put up shatter-reducing Mylar sheeting to reduce the impact of a potential terrorist bomb.
"A Hijacked Boeing 757 Slams Into the Pentagon," by Don Van Natta and Lizette Alvarez, New York Times / ObituaryRegistry.com, 9/11/01
Aviation Now
Blast damage was also limited by new Kevlar panels, but they didn't protect those nearby from fires from exploding fuel tanks, estimated to have produced the equivalent of 200-400 tons of TNT. . . . Fuel triggered an intense fire that caused the roof of the damaged E-ring section to give way at 10:10 a.m. It was still burning 18 hr. later.
"Pentagon Attack Hits Navy Hard," by David A. Fulghum, Aviation Week & Space Technology, 9/17/01
Singleton, Jack
"Where the plane came in was really at the construction entrance," says Jack Singleton, president of Singleton Electric Co. Inc., Gaithersburg MD, the Wedge One electrical subcontractor. "The plane's left wing actually came in near the ground and the right wing was tilted up in the air. That right wing went directly over our trailer, so if that wing had not tilted up, it would have hit the trailer. My foreman, Mickey Bell, had just walked out of the trailer and was walking toward the construction entrance."
"Saving the Pentagon, Part 1: Damage Control - Pentagon Shifts Into Higher Gear," by Victoria L. Tanner, Design·Build Web Magazine, October 2001
USA Today
In the renovated section outside the immediate crash zone, most damage was caused by smoke and water that poured out of brand-new sprinklers. . . .
But there was extensive fire damage hundreds of feet away in unrenovated areas that had not yet had sprinklers installed. The fire was so intense it cracked concrete.
"Pentagon repairs to cost $700 million," Associated Press / USATODAY.com, 1/1/02
Skarlet
The gash in the building looks so small on TV. The massiveness of the structure lost in the tight shots of the fire. There was a plane. It didn't go over the building. It went into the building.
. . . It's weird to watch it on TV while the same smoke drifts by your windows.
I've showered and showered. Ultimately, I think I'm going to throw away my clothes. I don't think the smell will ever come out.
"Rerun: September 11, 2001, by Skarlet (webmaster of punkprincess.com), Overly Caffeinated: The Punk Princess Weblog, 9/11/01
Patriot Resource
The area hit by the plane was newly renovated and reinforced, while the areas surrounding the impact zone were closed in preparation for renovation, so the death toll could have been much higher if another area had been hit.
"Sept. 11, 2001: Timelines: Pentagon Attack"
Mitchell, Terry
It's more to the right of where we were at. This is the -- this is in a renovated section on the opposite side, if you were facing the opposite side. This is a hole in -- there was a punch-out. They suspect that this was where a part of the aircraft came through this hole, although I didn't see any evidence of the aircraft down there. . . .
This pile here is all Pentagon metal. None of that is aircraft whatsoever. As you can see, they've punched a hole in here. This was punched by the rescue workers to clean it out. You can see this is the -- some of the unrenovated areas where the windows have blown out.
"September 11, 2001: Federal Response," Lee Evey, Pentagon Renovation Manager, Rear Adm. Craig Quigley, Deputy Asst. Sec. of Def. for Public Affairs, Terry Mitchell, chief, Audiovisual Division, Office of ASD PA, The Pentagon, The Patriot Resource - History: September 11, 2001, 9/15/01
back to CAH | ratville times | rat haus | Index | Search | tree