American Flight 77 smashed into the gray concrete wall of the Pentagon. The jet hit with such force that it penetrated four of the five concentric rings of corridors and offices surrounding a gazebo in the center court, long nicknamed Ground Zero.
“I saw it crash into the building,” said McGraw. “There was an explosion and a loud noise, and I felt the impact. I remember seeing a fireball come out of two windows [of the Pentagon]. I saw an explosion of fire billowing through those two windows. I remember hearing a gasp or scream from one of the other cars near me. Almost a collective gasp, it seemed.”
It was 9:37 A.M .
Nearby in another car was Aydan Kizildrgli, a student from Turkey who was just learning English. “Did you see that?” he shouted to the next car. Traffic along the highway came immediately to a halt as people jumped out of their cars and began putting their cell phones to their ears. Stunned and dazed, Kizildrgli left his car on the road and began walking aimlessly for half an hour.
Minutes later, in the Dulles Airport tower, the words of an air traffic controller at Reagan National Airport came over the loudspeaker. “Dulles, hold all of our inbound traffic,” said the voice. “The Pentagon’s been hit.”
“I remember some folks gasping,” recalled O’Brien. “I think I remember a couple of expletives.”
“It’s just like a big pit in your stomach because you weren’t able to do anything about it to stop it,” said Tom Howell. “That’s what I think hurt the most.”
At the Justice Department, Ted Olson heard on the television that an explosion had taken place at the Pentagon. Although no one identified the aircraft involved, he knew it was Flight 77, carrying his wife. “I did and I didn’t want to,” he recalled. “But I knew.” Late that night, when he finally got to bed around 1 A.M ., Olson found a note under his pillow that Barbara had left for his birthday. “I love you,” she wrote. “When you read this, I will be thinking of you and will be back on Friday.”
CHAPTER 3
CLEVELAND
Minutes after the crash, Maj. Dean Eckmann and his two fellow NORAD fighter pilots from Langley Air Force Base were approaching Washington and could see the smoke. At first Eckmann thought it might be a plane crash near Reagan National Airport. Then, about twenty miles away, he saw that it was coming from the Pentagon. “My initial thought was that it was a truck bomb,” he said. “We didn’t actually find out it was an airliner until the next day.” Then he heard an air traffic controller say, “The Secret Service is now in the building,” followed by another military message saying, “We need to protect the house.” “What I drew from that is, we need to protect the White House.” He added, “It was the first time in my career that I ever actually wanted to go out and use my airplane to kill someone.”
Thousands of feet below and only minutes before, the Secret Service had placed an emergency call to the Air National Guard unit at nearby Andrews Air Force Base. Answering the phone was Lt. Col. Marc H. Sasseville, director of operations for the 113th Air National Guard Wing. Get whatever you have in the air immediately, he was told, to protect Washington and particularly the White House.
Given that much of America had realized that the country was under attack since a few minutes after nine, it would seem logical that those aircraft should have been sent aloft well before the Pentagon was attacked. In fact, protecting the Washington, D.C., area is part of its charter: “. . . as part of its dual mission, the 113th provides capable and ready response forces for the District of Columbia in the event of a natural disaster or civil emergency.” Why there were no aircraft launched earlier has never been adequately explained.
Sasseville quickly grabbed three F-16 pilots. “I have no idea what’s going on, but we’re flying,” he told them. “Here’s our
“I saw it crash into the building,” said McGraw. “There was an explosion and a loud noise, and I felt the impact. I remember seeing a fireball come out of two windows [of the Pentagon]. I saw an explosion of fire billowing through those two windows. I remember hearing a gasp or scream from one of the other cars near me. Almost a collective gasp, it seemed.”
It was 9:37 A.M .
Nearby in another car was Aydan Kizildrgli, a student from Turkey who was just learning English. “Did you see that?” he shouted to the next car. Traffic along the highway came immediately to a halt as people jumped out of their cars and began putting their cell phones to their ears. Stunned and dazed, Kizildrgli left his car on the road and began walking aimlessly for half an hour.
Minutes later, in the Dulles Airport tower, the words of an air traffic controller at Reagan National Airport came over the loudspeaker. “Dulles, hold all of our inbound traffic,” said the voice. “The Pentagon’s been hit.”
“I remember some folks gasping,” recalled O’Brien. “I think I remember a couple of expletives.”
“It’s just like a big pit in your stomach because you weren’t able to do anything about it to stop it,” said Tom Howell. “That’s what I think hurt the most.”
At the Justice Department, Ted Olson heard on the television that an explosion had taken place at the Pentagon. Although no one identified the aircraft involved, he knew it was Flight 77, carrying his wife. “I did and I didn’t want to,” he recalled. “But I knew.” Late that night, when he finally got to bed around 1 A.M ., Olson found a note under his pillow that Barbara had left for his birthday. “I love you,” she wrote. “When you read this, I will be thinking of you and will be back on Friday.”
CHAPTER 3
CLEVELAND
Minutes after the crash, Maj. Dean Eckmann and his two fellow NORAD fighter pilots from Langley Air Force Base were approaching Washington and could see the smoke. At first Eckmann thought it might be a plane crash near Reagan National Airport. Then, about twenty miles away, he saw that it was coming from the Pentagon. “My initial thought was that it was a truck bomb,” he said. “We didn’t actually find out it was an airliner until the next day.” Then he heard an air traffic controller say, “The Secret Service is now in the building,” followed by another military message saying, “We need to protect the house.” “What I drew from that is, we need to protect the White House.” He added, “It was the first time in my career that I ever actually wanted to go out and use my airplane to kill someone.”
Thousands of feet below and only minutes before, the Secret Service had placed an emergency call to the Air National Guard unit at nearby Andrews Air Force Base. Answering the phone was Lt. Col. Marc H. Sasseville, director of operations for the 113th Air National Guard Wing. Get whatever you have in the air immediately, he was told, to protect Washington and particularly the White House.
Given that much of America had realized that the country was under attack since a few minutes after nine, it would seem logical that those aircraft should have been sent aloft well before the Pentagon was attacked. In fact, protecting the Washington, D.C., area is part of its charter: “. . . as part of its dual mission, the 113th provides capable and ready response forces for the District of Columbia in the event of a natural disaster or civil emergency.” Why there were no aircraft launched earlier has never been adequately explained.
Sasseville quickly grabbed three F-16 pilots. “I have no idea what’s going on, but we’re flying,” he told them. “Here’s our
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