On this Page, are the finishing Eyewitness Statements on the Attack on the Pentagon on September
11, 2001.
48. MILBURN, KIRK
"I was right underneath the Plane," said Kirk Milburn, a Construction Supervisor for Atlantis Co.,
who was on the Arlington National Cemetery exit of Interstate 395 when he said he saw the Plane heading for the Pentagon.
"I heard a Plane. I saw it. I saw debris flying. I guess it was hitting light poles," said Milburn. "It was like a WHOOSH
whoosh, then there was fire and smoke, then I heard a second explosion."
"'Extensive Casualties' in Wake of Pentagon Attack," by Barbara Vobejda, Washington Post,
9/11/01
49. 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
50. MORIN, TERRY
{Terry Morin, a Former USMC Aviator, Program Manager for SPARTA, Inc was working as a contractor
at the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) offices at the old Navy Annex.)
I had just reached the elevator in the 5th Wing of BMDO/Federal Office Building (FOB) #2 -- call
it approximately 9:36 AM....Approximately 10 steps out from between Wings 4 and 5, I was making a gentle right turn towards
the security check-in building just above Wing 4 when I became aware of something unusual....I started to hear an increasingly
loud rumbling behind me and to my left. As I turned to my left, I immediately realized the noise was bouncing off the 4-story
structure that was Wing 5. One to two seconds later the Airliner came into my field of view. By that time the noise was absolutely
deafening....The Aircraft was essentially right over the top of me and the outer portion of the FOB (flight path parallel
the outer edge of the FOB). Everything was shaking and vibrating, including the ground. I estimate that the Aircraft was no
more than 100 feet above me (30 to 50 feet above the FOB) in a slight Nose down attitude. The Plane had a Silver body with
Red and Blue Stripes down the fuselage. I believed at the time that it belonged to American Airlines, but I couldn't be sure.
It looked like a 737 and I so reported to authorities.
Within seconds the Plane cleared the 8th Wing of BMDO and was heading directly towards the Pentagon.
Engines were at a steady high-pitched whine, indicating to me that the throttles were steady and full. I estimated the Aircraft
speed at between 350 and 400 knots. The flight path appeared to be deliberate, smooth, and controlled. As the Aircraft approached
the Pentagon, I saw a minor flash (later found out that the Aircraft had sheared off a portion of a highway light pole down
on Hwy 110). As the Aircraft flew ever lower I started to lose sight of the actual airframe as a row of trees to the
Northeast of the FOB blocked my view.
I could now only see the tail of the Aircraft. I believe I saw the tail dip slightly to the right
indicating a minor turn in that direction. The tail was barely visible when I saw the flash and subsequent Fireball rise approximately
200 feet above the Pentagon. There was a large explosion noise and the low frequency sound echo that comes with this type
of sound. Associated with that was the increase in air pressure, momentarily, like a small gust of wind. For those formerly
in the Military, it sounded like a 2000 lb. Bomb going off roughly 1/2 mile in front of you. At once there was a huge cloud
of black smoke that rose several hundred feet up. Elapsed time from hearing the initial noise to when I saw the impact flash
was between 12 and 15 seconds.
....I met a Young African American...He had streaks of blood on his T-shirt and was wearing bandages
on both arms. Apparently he had been standing in the Control Tower for the Helo Pad that was approximately 200 feet to the
North of the actual impact point. He still looked as though he was in shock, but indicated that he had witnessed the impact.
I then confirmed that the Aircraft had been flown directly into the Pentagon without hitting the ground first or skipping
into the Building.
Coping with the 9.11.01 Aftermath, Accounts of Survivors -"Eyewitness Account of Pentagon Attack,"
By: Terry Morin, Coping.org, 9/01
51. MUNSEY, CHRISTOPHER
Already dumbfounded by the first, sketchy radio reports of the Catastrophic Attack on the World Trade
Center Towers in New York, I couldn't believe what I was now seeing to my right: A Silver, Twin-Engine American Airlines Jetliner
gliding almost noiselessly over the navy Annex, fast, low and straight toward the Pentagon, just hundreds of yards away....
The Plane, with Red and Blue markings, hurtled by and within moments exploded in a ground-shaking
"whoomp," as it appeared to hit the side of the Pentagon.
A Huge Flash of Orange Flame and black smoke poured into the sky.
Smoke seemed to change from black to white, forming a billowing column in the sky.
"The plane...exploded in a ground-shaking whoomp," by Christopher Munsey, Navy Times, 9/11/01
53. MYERS, RICHARD
General Richard Myers, Vice-Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that before the crash into
the Pentagon, Military Officials had been notified that another Hijacked Plane had been heading from the New York area to
Washington.
"'Everyone was screaming, crying, running It's like a war zone," by Julian Borger, Duncan
Campbell, Charlie Porter and Stuart Millar, The Guardian, 9/12/01
54. NARAYANN, VIN
At 9:35 a.m., I pulled alongside the Pentagon. With traffic at a standstill, my eyes wandered around
the road, looking for the cause of the traffic jam. Then I looked up to my left and saw an American Airlines Jet flying right
at me. The Jet roared over my head, clearing my Car by about 25 feet. The tail of the Plane clipped the overhanging exit sign
above me as it headed straight at the Pentagon.
The windows were dark on American Airlines Flight 77 as it streaked toward its target, only 50 yards
away.
The Hijacked Jet slammed into the Pentagon at a ferocious speed.
But the Pentagon's wall held up like a champ. It barely budged as the Nose of the Plane curled upwards
and crumpled before exploding into a Massive Fireball....
I think I saw the bodies of Passengers burning. But I'm not sure. It could have been Pentagon workers.
It could have been my mind playing tricks on me. I hope it was my mind playing tricks on me.
"'Tomorrow always belongs to us," by Vin Narayanan, USATODAY.com, 9/17/01
55. O'KEEFE, JOHN
"I was going up Interstate 395, up Washington Boulevard, listening to the radio....and from my left
side, I don't know whether I saw or heard it first -- this Silver Plane; I immediately recognized it as an American Airlines
Jet," said the 25-year-old O'Keefe, Managing Editor of Influence, an American Lawyer Media Publication about lobbying. "It
came swooping in over the highway, over my left shoulder, straight across where my Car was heading.
"I'd just heard them saying on the radio that national Airport was closing, and I thought, 'That's
not going to make it to National Airport.'
And then I realized where I was, and that it was going to hit the Pentagon.
"There was a burst of Orange Flame that shot out that I could see through the highway overpass. Then
it was just black. Just black thick smoke."
"At the Pentagon: Airplane as a Bomb," New York Law Journal, 9/12/01
56. OWENS, MARY ANN
Mary Ann Owens, a Journalist with Gannett News Service ... was driving along by the side of the Pentagon,
on September 11, 2001, when a Hijacked Jet screamed overhead and plunged into it....
THE sound of sudden and certain death roared in my ears as I sat lodged in gridlock on Washington
Boulevard, next to the Pentagon on September 11....This Engine noise was different. It was too sudden, too loud, too encompassing.
Looking up didn't tell me what type of Plane it was because it was so close I could only see the
bottom. Realizing the Pentagon was its target, I didn't think the careering, full-throttled Craft would get that far.
Its downward angle was too sharp, its elevation of maybe 50 feet, too low. Street lights toppled
as the Plane barely cleared the Interstate 395 overpass.
The thought that I was about to die was immediate and certain.
This Plane was going to hit me along with all the other commuters trapped on Washington Boulevard.
Gripping the steering wheel of my vibrating Car, I involuntarily ducked as the wobbling Plane thundered
over my head. Once it passed, I raised slightly and grimaced as the left wing dipped and scraped the Helicopter area just
before the Nose crashed into the southwest wall of the Pentagon.
Still gripping the wheel, I could feel both the Car and my Heart jolt at the moment of impact. An
instant inferno blazed about 125 yards from me. The Plane, the wall and the victims disappeared under coal-black smoke, three-story
tall flames and intense heat.
"The day thought I was going to die," by Mary Ann Owens, This is Local London, 9/11/02
57. PATTERSON, STEVE
Steve Patterson, who lives in Pentagon City, said it appeared to him that a Commuter Jet swooped
over Arlington National Cemetery and headed for the Pentagon "at a frightening rate...just slicing into that Building." ...
Steve Patterson, 43, said he was watching television reports of the World Trade Center being hit
when he saw a Silver Commuter Jet fly past the window of his 14th-floor apartment in Pentagon City. The Plane was about 150
yards away, approaching from the west about 20 feet off the ground, Patterson said.
He said the Plane, which sounded like the high-pitched squeal of a Fighter Jet, flew over Arlington
Cemetery so low that he thought it was going to land I-395. He said it was flying so fast that he could'nt read any writing
on the side.
The Plane, which appeared to hold about eight to 12 People, headed straight for the Pentagon but
was flying as if coming in for a landing on a nonexistent runway, Patterson said.
"At first I thought 'Oh my God, there's a Plane truly misrouted from National," Patterson said. "Then
this thing just became part of the Pentagon...."
He said the Plane, which approached the Pentagon below treetop level, seemed to be flying normally
for a Plane coming in for a landing other than going very fast for being so low. Then, he said, he saw the Pentagon "envelope"
the Plane and Bright Orange Flames shoot out the back of the Building.
"It looked like a normal landing, as if someone knew exactly what they were doing," said Patterson,
a Graphics Artist who works at home.
"This looked intentional."
"'Extensive Casualties' in Wake of Pentagon Attacks," by Barbara Vobejda, Washington
Post, 9.11/01
58. PETERSON, CHRISTINE
I was at a complete stop on the road in front of the Helipad at the Pentagon;...I looked idly out
my window to the left -- and saw a Plane flying so low I said, "holy cow, that Plane is going to hit my Car" (not my actual
words). The Car shook as the Plane flew over. It was so close that I could read the numbers under the wing.
And then the Plane crashed. My mind could not comprehend what had happened. Where did the Plane go?
For some reason I expected it to bounce off the Pentagon wall in pieces. But there was no Plane visible, only huge billows
of smoke and torrents of fire....
A few minutes later a second, much smaller explosion got the attention of the Police arriving on
the scene. They began ordering People back into their Cars and away. I drove to work knowing that I would not be flying anywhere
for a while.
"Tragedy at the Pentagon - An Eyewitness Report," by Christine Peterson, '73, NAU Alumni Association,
10/18/01
59. PLAISTED, LINDA
I live in Arlingon, Virginia, less than one mile from the Pentagon. On September 11th, I was sitting
at my desk in my home office/studio working on a new piece of artwork when I heard the sound of a very loud Aircraft. Since
we are not far from Reagan National Airport, at first I just chalked it up to that and voiced my annoyance aloud for my work
being disrupted. But as the sound of the Plane grew louder and louder, I thought to myself - that Plane is in trouble.
I jumped up from my chair as the screeching and whining of the Engine got even louder and I looked
out the window to the West just in time to see the belly of that Aircraft and the tail section fly directly over my house
at treetop height. It was already sickening to see, knowing that this Plane was going to crash. The sound was so incredibly
piercing and shrill-the Engines were straining to keep the Plane aloft. It is a sound I will never stop hearing-and I now
imagine the screams of the innocent passengers were commingled with the sounds of the Engines and I am haunted.
I was unaware at this time that the World Trade Center had been Attacked so I thought this was "just"
a troubled Plane en route to the Airport. I started to run toward my front door but the Plane was going so fast at this point
that it only took 4 or 5 seconds before I heard a tremenoudously loud crash and books on my shelves started tumbling to the
floor.
Contribution #1148, 4/2/02, by Linda Plaisted {34} Virginia, where were you/september 11,
2001
60. PROBST, FRANK
Frank Probst ... {a} Pentagon Renovation Worker and Retired Army Officer...was inspecting newly installed
telecommunications wiring inside the five-story, 6.5-million-square-foot building.
...at about 9:35 a.m., he saw the Airliner in the cloudless September sky.
American Airlines Flight 77 approached from the west, coming in low over the nearby five-story Navy
Annex on a hill overlooking the Pentagon.
"He has lights off, wheels up, Nose down," Probst recalled. The Plane seemed to be accelerating directly
toward him. He froze.
He dove to his right. He recalls the Engine passing on one side of him, about six feet away.
The Plane's right wing went through a generator trailer "like butter," Probst said. The Starboard
Engine hit a low cement wall and blew apart.
He still can't remember the sound of the explosion...
"It was pretty horrible," he said of the noiseless images he carries inside him, of the Jet vanishing
in a cloud of smoke and dust, and hits of metal and concrete drifting down like confetti.
On either side of him, three streetlights had been sheared in half by the Airliner's wings at 12
to 15 feet above the ground. An Engine had clipped the antenna off a Jeep Grand Cherokee stalled in traffic not far away.
"Fortress Reborn," by Sgt. Jamelle A. Colbert, Pentagram/dcmilitary.com, 9/21/01
61. RAINS, LON
In light traffic the drive up Interstate 395 from Springfield to Downtown Washington takes no more
than 20 minutes. But that morning, like many others, the traffic slowed to a crawl just in front of the Pentagon. With the
Pentagon to the left of my van at about 10 o'clock on the dial of a clock, I glanced at my watch to see if I was going
to be late for my appointment.
At that moment I heard a very loud, quick whooshing sound that began behind me and stopped suddenly
in front of me and to my left. In fractions of a second I heard the impact and an explosion. The next thing I saw was the
Fireball.
I was convinced it was a Missile. It came in so fast it sounded nothing like an Airplane. Friends
and Colleagues have asked me if I felt a shock wave and I honestly do not know. I felt something, but I don't know if it was
a shock wave or the fact that I jumped so hard I strained against the seat belt and shoulder harness and was thrown back into
my seat.
"Eyewitness: The Pentagon," by Lon Rains, Editor, Space News
62. REGNERY, ALFRED S.
As I approached the Pentagon, which was still not quite in view, listening on the radio to the first
reports about the World Trade Center Disaster in New York, a Jetliner, apparently at full throttle and not more than a couple
of hundred yards above the ground, screamed overhead.
Although Airplanes regularly fly over the Pentagon on their way to Reagan National Airport, just
a mile or two south, this Plane was too low and going too fast. As I watch it disappear behind bridges and concrete barriers
I knew it was about to crash.
63. RENZI, RICK
{Was driving by the Pentagon on the overpass}"...less than 300 yards from the impact site at the
Pentagon"
"The Plane came in at an incredibly steep angle with incredibly high speed..." was driving by the
Pentagon at the time of the crash about 9:40 a.m. The impact created a Huge Yellow and Orange Fireball, he added. Renzi, who
was interviewed at the scene by FBI Agents, said he stopped his Car to watch and saw another Plane following and turn off
after the first Craft's impact.
"creaming in at a dive bombing angle"
64. ROBBINS, JAMES S.
I was standing, looking out my large office window, which faces west and from six stories up has
a commanding view of the Potomac and the Virginia Heights....The Pentagon is about a mile and half distant in the center of
the tableau. I was looking directly at it when the Aircraft struck.
The sight of the 757 diving in at an unrecoverable angle is frozen in my memory, but at the time,
I did not immediately comprehend what I was witnessing. There was a Silvery Flash, an Explosion, and a Dark, Mushroom Shaped
Cloud rose over the Building. I froze, gaping for a second until the sound of the detonation, a sharp pop at that distance,
shook me out of it.
"9/11 Denial - The French bestseller and its company," by James S. Robbins, National Review,
4/9/02
65. RODRIGUEZ, MESEIDY
Meseidy Rodriguez confirms "it was a Mid Size Plane." His Brother Inlaw also saw a Jetliner flying
low over the tree tops near Seminary Rd. in Springfield, Va. and soon afterwards a Military Plane was seen flying right behind
it.
66. RYAN, JAMES
I live a couple of miles from the Pentagon and my Car wasn't starting so I was looking for a garage,
a mechanic to fix my car. This place was on Columbia Pike. So I went to Columbia Pike. And so I left there and then that's
when I saw what I saw; I saw the Plane, was on my way home.
What made me look up was the sound. Because typically you hear Planes flying over and they make a
steady sound like "shhhhhhhhhhh," when they're coming to land, it's pretty steady. Well I heard {making a buzzing sound that
drops in pitch} and so I looked up. And when I looked up...on my left...I see an American Airlines Plane, Silver Plane, I
could see "AA" on the tail. I noticed the landing gear was up. And the Airport's over here...the Planes are laning this way,
typically {pointing in the opposite direction}. And so he's going in the wrong direction.
Meanwhile I had just heard about what happened at the World Trade Center. Sp...immediately I thought,
'this is all wrong. Everything about it is wrong. The sound of the Engine is wrong. The place of the Plane is wrong. It's
way too low, it's right here and ther's no landing gear down, so how can it land?"
Question: How high he was?
RJ: Within a hundred feet. It was very low. At that point he tilted his wings, this way and then
this way. Kind of about this speed. He kind of did like that and it was, the plane was slow. So that happened concurrently
with the Engines going down...and then straightened out sort of suddenly and hit full gas....It was so loud it hurt my ears.
It was just so loud....and he just went straight in at that point and I just screamed...because I thought, there was nothing
I could do, I wanted to throw a rock at it or something. It was awful.
Question: And you saw it hit the Pentagon?
RJ: No at that point it went down because I was approaching a hill. And at that point it went straight
down over the hill and a moment later I heard this terrific boom!, a very deep boom! sound, and then immediately I saw all
the Orange and Yellow sort Ball of Fire and then thick black smoke go up in to the air....
the Plane was low enough that I could see the windows in the Plane. I could see every detail of the
Plane. In my head I have ingrained forever this Image of every detail of that Plane...
It was a Silver Plane, American Airlines Plane, I recognized it immediately as a Passenger Plane.
Real Player (video): "Ryan," Digipresse, 5/22/02 (low bandwidth recording)
67. SAYER, JOHN
Lt. Commander John Sayer, a Navy Reservist, was riding on a bus when he heard a thud. "It sounded
like a very loud clap," he said. "At first I thought an Airplane had hit in front of the Pentagon, but when I got closer I
saw that it had struck the Pentagon."
"Mournful church bells toll, police sirens soar as D.D. explodes into panic," by Jessica Wehrman,
Scripps Howard News Service/The Albuquerque Tribune, 9/12/01
68. SCOTT, DON
Don Scott, a Prince William County School Bus Driver living in Woodbridge, was driving eastward past
the Pentagon on his way to an appointment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center: I had just passed the Pentagon and was near
the Macy's store in Crystal City when I noticed a Plane making a sharp turn from north of the Pentagon. I had to look back
at the road and then back to the Plane as it sort of leveled off. I looked back at the road, and when I turned to look again,
I felt and heard a terrible explosion. I looked back and saw flames shooting up and smoke starting to climb into the sky.
69. SEIBERT, TOM
"We heard what sounded like a Missile, then we heard a loud boom," said Tom Seibert, 33, a Network
Engineer at the pentagon. "We were sitting there and watching this thing from New York, and I said, you know, the next best
target would be us. And five minutes later, boom."
"'Everyone was screaming, crying, running. It's like a war zone'," by Julian Borger, Duncan
Campbell, Charlie Porter and Stuart Millar, The Guardian, 9/12/01
70. SEPULVEDA, NOEL
Master Sgt. Noel Sepulveda...left Bolling Air Force Base, D.C., that morning enroute to a meeting
at the Pentagon...
Sepulveda walked back to his motorcycle and saw a Commercial Airliner coming from the direction of
Henderson Hall, adjacent to the Pentagon and where the Marine Corps has its headquarters. He said he noticed the Airplane
was not following the Potomac River, the normal flight path to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
He saw the Plane fly above a nearby hotel and drop its landing gear. The Plane's right wheel struck
a light pole, causing it to fly at a 45-degree angle, he said. The Plane tried to recover, but hit a second light pole and
continue flying at an angle. "You could hear the Engines being revved up even higher," Sepulveda said.
The Plane dipped its Nose and crashed into the southwest side of the Pentagon.
"The right Engine hit high, the left Engine hit low," Sepulveda said.
"For a brief moment, you could see the body of the Plane sticking out from the side of the Building.
Then a Ball of Fire came from behind it."
An explosion followed, sending Sepulveda flying against a light pole.
"Pentagon hero receives Purple Heart, Airman's Medal," by Master Sgt. Dorothy Goepel, Air
Force Print News, 4/15/02
"Pentagon hero receives Purple Heart, Airman's medal," by Master Sgt. Dorothy Goepel, Air
Force Print News, 4/15/02
"Resolution: Recognition of Master Sergeant Noel Sepulveda, League of United Latin American
Citizens, 6/29/02
71. SHEUERMAN, PHILIP
Philip Sheuerman...was exiting the freeway, turning into the parking lot of the Pentagon, when he
noticed a Passenger Plane -- American Airlines Flight 77 -- descend at increasing speed with its wheels up.
"Special Issue: Alumni Bear Witness to Tragedy - At least one dead, one missing after attacks,"
by Jose' L. Rodriguez and Eddy Ramirez, Rerkeleyan Online, 9/20/01
72. 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
73. SKARLET
As I came up along the Pentagon I saw Helicopters...
Then I saw the Plane. There were only a few Cars on the road, we all stopped. I know I wanted to
believe that Plane was making a low descent into National Airport, but it was nearly on the road. And it was headed straight
for the Building. It made no sense. The Pilot didn't seem to be planning to pull up anytime soon.
It was there. A huge Jet. Then it was gone. A Massive hole in the side of the Pentagon gushed smoke.
The noise was beyond description. The smell seemed to single the inside of my nose....
I called my Boss...."Something hit the Pentagon. It must have been a Helicopter." I knew that wasn't
true, but I heard myself say it. I heard myself believe it, if only for a minute.
"Buildings don't eat Planes. That Plane, it just vanished. There should have been parts on the ground.
It should have rained parts on my Car. The Airplane didn't crash. Where are the parts?" That's the conversation I had with
myself on the way to work....
I spent an eternity in my car. I couldn't roll up the windows, the Car smelled like the Inferno.
Concrete dust coats the outside of the Car, turning it a weird color....
...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
74. SLATER, MIKE
...Mike Slater, a Former Marine..."It sounded like a roar," said Mr. Slater, who was 500 yards away
from where the Jet slammed into the Pentagon's west side....
As soon as Mr. Slater stepped outside, he saw and smelled something uncomfortably familiar. "I saw
a mass of oily smoke and thought of the oil fields of Kuwait," he said.
"A Hijacked Boeing 757 Slams Into the Pentagon," by Don van Natta and Lizette Alvarez, New
York Times/ObituaryRegistry.com, 9/11/01
75. SNAVELY, DEWEY
SGT Dewey Snavely was driving along Arlington's Quaker Lane when the radio blasted the morning's
first harrowing reports, then warned that a third Plane was heading his way. Minutes later, Jet Engines rumbled overhead.
"The guy I was with looked up and said: 'What the hell is that Plane doing?' Then we heard an explosion
and the truck rocked back and forth." Snavely, a Member of the Engr. Co. on transition leave, knew deep in his gut that the
Pentagon was under attack.
"Aftermath: Rescue at the Pentagon," by Beth Reece, Soldiers Online, October 2001
76. SUTHERLAND, JIM
Jim Sutherland, a Mortgage Broker, was on his way to the Pentagon at 9:40 a.m. when he saw a 737
Airplane 50 feet over Interstate 395 heading in a straight line into the side of the Pentagon. The Fireball Explosion that
followed rocked his Car.
"A day of horror in the capital," by Jessica Wehrman, Scripps Howard News Service/The Cincinnati
Post, 9/11/01
77. STEPHENS, LEVI
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. Personnel
working in the Navy Annex, over which the Airliner flew, said they heard the distinct whine of Jet Engines as the Airliner
approached. "I was driving away from the Pentagon in the South Pentagon lot when I hear this huge rumble, the ground started
shaking...
I saw this {Plane} come flying over the Navy Annex. It flew over the van and I looked back and I
saw this huge explosion, black smoke everywhere."
78. THOMPSON, CARLA
"I glanced up just at the point where the Plane was going into the Building," said Carla Thompson,
who works in an Arlington, Va., Office Building about 1,000 yards from the crash.
"I saw an indentation in the Building and then it was just blown-up -- red, everything red,"
she said. "Everybody was just starting to go crazy. I was petrified."
"Terrorists Attack New York, Pentagon," by Matea Gold and Maggie Farley, Los Angeles Times,
9/12/01
79. THOMPSON, PHILLIP
...on my way to work Sept. 11, I saw an American Airlines Jet come overhead and slam into the Pentagon,...
I was sitting in heavy traffic in the I-395 HOV Lanes about 9:45 a.m., directly across from the Navy
Annex. I could see the roof of the Pentagon and, in the distance, the Washington Monument.
I heard the scream of a Jet Engine and, turning to look, saw my driver's side window filled with
the fuselage of the doomed Airliner. It was flying only a couple of hundred feet off the ground -- I could see the passenger
windows glide by. The Plane looked as if it were coming in for a landing -- cruising at a shallow angle, wings level, very
steady. But, strangely, the landing gear was up and the flaps weren't down.
...The Fireball that erupted upon impact blossomed skyward, and the blast hit us in a wave. I don't
remember hearing a sound.
It was so eerily similar to another experience during the Gulf War...
"COMMENTARY: Familiar feelings as the unimaginable unfolds," by Phiooip Thompson, Military.com,
9/11/02
80. TICKNOR, HENRY
Henry Ticknor, Intern Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, Virginia, was driving
to Church that Tuesday morning when American Airlines Flight 77 came in fast and low over his Car and struck the Pentagon.
"There was a puff of white smoke and then a huge billowing black cloud," he said.
"'Hell on Earth' - Ministers Bring a Blessing to Ground Zero," by Donald E. Skinner, UU World,
Jan/Feb 2002
81. TIMMERMAN, TIM
A Pilot who saw the impact, Tim Timmerman, said it had been an American Airways 757. "It added power
on its way in," he said. "The Nose hit, and the wings came forward and it went up in a Fireball."
Smoke and Flames poured out of a large hole punched into the side of the Pentagon....A piece of twisted
Aircraft fuselage lay nearby.
"'Everyone was screaming, crying, running. It's like a war zone'," by Julian Borger, Duncan
Campbell, Charlie Porter and Stuart Millar, The Guardian, 9/12/01
I was looking out the window; I live on the 16th floor, overlooking the Pentagon, in a corner apartment,
so I have quite a panorama. And being next to National Airport, I hear Jets all the time, but this Jet Engine was way too
loud. I looked out to the southwest, and it came right down 395, right over Colombia Pike, and as is {sic} went by the Sheraton
Hotel, the Pilot added power to the Engines. I heard it pull up a little bit more, and then I lost it behind a Building.
And then it came out, and 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....
It was a Boeing 757, American Airlines, no question.
...It was so close to me it was like looking out my window and looking at a Helicopter. It was just
right there.
...when it reappeared, it was right before impact, and like I said, it was right before impact, and
I saw the Airplane just disintegrate and blow up into a Huge Ball of Flames....
...But I think the blessing here might have been that the Airplane hit before it hit the Building,
it hit the ground, and a lot of energy might have gone that way. That's what it appeared like.
"America Under Attack: Eyewitness Discusses Pentagon Plane Crash," by Bob Franken, CNN, 9/11/01
82. WALLACE, ALAN
Minutes later, Wallace and his buddy Mark Skipper looked up and saw the gleam of a Silver Jetliner.
But it was flying too low. Maybe less than 25 feet off the ground. And it was heading right at them.
"I yelled to Mark, 'Let's go!'"
He bolted to the right, and a second later felt the searing heat of the blast behind him. He hit
the ground and rolled under a parked van as a fire engulfed his Fire Truck, then blew through the Firehouse.
Wallace got back to his feet, saw Skepper had escaped, then rushed to the scorched Fire Truck to
see if it would run, but the truck only belched fire. It wouldn't move. So Wallace switched on the truck's radio.
"Foam 61 to Fort Myer," he said. "We have had a Commercial Carrier crash into the west side of the
Pentagon at the Heliport, Washington Boulevard side. The crew is OK. The Airplane was a 757 Boeing or a 320 Airbus." ...
With bits of cloth and fiberglass still raining down outside the blackened section of the Pentagon,
Alan Wallace's instincts focused on trying to help somehow. The truck was useless. So he dashed for his gear inside the torched
firehouse. His boots were filled with debris. His suspenders were on fire.
Wallace and two other Firefighters rushed to a window, where Pentagon Employees were crammed together,
frantic to escape the darkness.
Fire burst through the windows above them. The ground burned near Wallace with heat so hot he thought
several times that his pants were on fire.
"9/11 Remembered - Anniversary of Agony," by Ryan Alessi and M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Scripps Howard
News Service/SanAngeloStandardTimes.com, 9/11/02
83. WALTER, MIKE
Washington, Mike Walter, USA Today, on the road when a Jet slammed into the pentagon:
"I was sitting in the northbound on 27 and the traffic was, you know, typical rush-hour -- it had
ground to a standstill. I looked out my window and I saw this Plane, this Jet, an American Airlines Jet, coming.
And I thought, 'This doesn't add up, it's really low.'
"And I saw it. I mean it was like a Cruise Missile with wings. It went right there and slammed right
into the Pentagon.
"Huge explosion, Great Ball of Fire, smoke started billowing out.
"Witnesses to the moment: Workers' voices," by Porter Anderson, CNN, 9/11/01
84. WHEELHOUSE, KEITH
Her Brother, {Keith} Wheelhouse, of Virginia Beach, spotted the Planes first. The second Plane looked
similar to a C-130 Transport Plane, he said.
He believes it flew directly above the American Airlines Jet, as if to prevent two Planes from appearing
on radar while at the same time guiding the Jet toward the pentagon.
As the hijacked Jet started its descent, "it's like it stepped on its gas pedal," Wheelhouse said.
"As soon as he did that, the second Plane banked off to the west."
Wheelhouse's account of a second Plane is unlike everything else that has been reported about the
attack. Some initial reports on television said a second Airliner might be headed for the Pentagon, but authorities later
dismissed that.
"'Horrific' Image Still Haunts Surry Woman - Disaster Viewed From Arlington," by Terry
Scanton, The Daily Press, 9/14/01
85. WINSLOW, DAVE
AP Reporter Dave Winslow also saw the crash. He said, "I saw the tail of a Large Airliner....It ploughed
right into the Pentagon."
"'Everyone was screaming, crying, running. It's like a war zone,'," by Julian Borger, Duncan
Campbell, Charlie Porter and Stuart Millar, The Guardian, 9/12/01
86. WYATT, IAN
Ian Wyatt glanced into the sky just as a Commercial Airplane roared by about 100 yards off the ground.
"I was so scared I thought it was coming after me and just ducked for cover," said Wyatt, a 1999
Graduate of Mary Washington College who was walking to his Federal Job when Terrorists struck at the Heart of the Nation's
defense yesterday morning.
"It was going so fast and it was so low," he said, standing on Army-Navy Drive. "The only intelligent
thought that came into my head was, 'Oh my God, they hit the Pentagon.' I could then hear Cars squealing all around and People
were just stunned."
After the Plane struck the west side of the Famed five-sided Building, thick black smoke billowed
from a huge crater as fire raged within.
"Terrorists strike heart of nation's defense," by Elizabeth Pezzullo and Janet Marshall, The
Free Lance-Star, 9/12/01
87. ZAKHEM, MADELYN
Madelyn Zakhem, Executive Secretary at the STC, had just stepped outside for a break and was seated
on a bench when she heard what she thought was a jet Fighter directly overhead. It wasn't. It was an Airliner coming straight
up Columbia Pike at tree-top level. "It was huge! It was Silver. It was low -- unbelievable! I could see the cockpit. I fell
to the ground....I was crying and scared," Zakhem recalls.
"Northern Va. Braced for Another Attack!," The Friday Report, 9/21/01
NEWSCASTS ON 9/11:
CBS News
Radar shows Flight 77 did a downward spiral, Turning almost a complete circle and dropping the last
7,000 feet in two-and-a-half minutes. The steep turn was so smooth, the sources say, it's clear there was no fight for control
going on. And the complex maneuver suggests the Hijackers had better flying skills than many investigators first believed.
The Jetliner disappeared from radar at 9:37 and less than a minute later it clipped the tops of street
lights and powed into the Pentagon at 460 mph.
"Primary Target - THE PENTAGON, CBSNews.com, 9/21/01
MARYLAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Since the time of Plane impact at the pentagon had often been reported with large scatter, the United
States Army contacted us to inquire whether we could obtain an accurate time of the Pentagon attack on September 11, 2001
based upon our Seismic Network. We analyzed Seismic Records from five station in the northeastern United States, ranging from
63 to 350 km from the Pentagon. Despite detailed analysis of the data, we could not find a clear Seismic Signal. Even the
closest station (Delta = 62.8 km) at Soldier's Delight, Baltimore County, Maryland (SDMD) did not record the impact. We concluded
that the Plane impact to the Pentagon generated relatively Weak Seismic Signals.
However, we positively identified Seismic Signals associated with United Airlines Flight 93 that
crashed near Shanksville, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. The time of the Plane Crash was 10:06:05 +/-5 (EDT).
"Seismic Observations during September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attack," by Won-Young Kim (Lamont-Doherty
Earth Observatory of Columbia University) and Gerald R. Baum (Environmental Geology and Mineral Resources Program, Maryland
Geological Survey)
PATRIOT RESOURCE
The Fire was so hot that Firefighters could not aproach the impact point itself until approximately
1 P.M. The collapse and roof fires left the inner courtyard visible from outside through a gaping hole. 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"
