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The battle-scarred Pentagon
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| 13 September 2001 |
This
satellite photograph, taken by Space Imaging's IKONOS satellite on 12 September,
shows the devastation on the Pentagon's west side after American Airlines
Flight 77 was flown into it around 09.38 (EDT) on 11 September. Up to 800
Pentagon staff were initially feared dead, along with all 64 passengers
and crew on the aircraft. About one-twelfth of the building has been destroyed.
While more than 15,000 Pentagon staffers were trying to make it 'business as usual' the day after the attack, hundreds of firefighters were still working to extinguish the blaze in the roof sections around corridors 2 to 6. Built during the Second World War, the Pentagon's roof consists of a layer of masonry, topped by wood, topped by slate. Fire officials said this was contributing to what was a "very stubborn blaze" because the wood had ignited and allowed the fire to travel between the layers of slate and concrete. Firefighting experts and special equipment were brought in to deal with the blaze.
Meanwhile, commentators were saying in the aftermath of the attack that the Pentagon's current location and layout should no longer remain. The building is constantly overflown by aircraft operating out of Ronald Reagan National Airport and, on the opposite side of the building to where Flight 77 was crashed, the offices of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Army and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs are all located on top of each other.
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| Credit: spaceimaging.com Click here to open a large version of the image and compare it with a shot taken a few months before. |