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FBI pictures reveal fiery aftermath and appalling destruction at the Pentagon on 9/11 – including remains of the plane hijacked by bin Laden’s attackers
- The FBI Vault has published images taken by investigators at the Pentagon after the 9/11 attack
- Al Qaeda’s five hijackers claimed 184 lives when they crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon
- Photographs show debris from the Boeing 757 on the ground outside the Defense Department building
- The FBI led the forensic investigation on the ground at the Pentagon. collecting tiny fragments of evidence
Smouldering with flames after being stuck by a hijacked passenger plane, these newly released images show the Pentagon right after the 9/11 attacks.
The photos, which were made public by the FBI, were taken in the hours and days after al Qaeda terrorists unleashed hell on September 11 2001.
They show apocalyptic scenes as fire crews tried to put out the blaze that gouged a hole the size of a building into the headquarters of America’s military.
Fragments of American Airlines flight 77 are seen on the floor having been torn from the aircraft as it made impact.
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On the scene: One of the images released by the FBI shows its agents alongside firefighters as flames still burns on the Pentagon grounds
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Damping down: This was the place where the hijacked plane crashed low into the Pentagon, creating a fire which swept through large parts of the complex
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Ablaze: This image captured the scene around the Pentagon while the fire was still being tackled by hundreds of firefighters
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Evidence: Among the pictures published by the FBI are images of debris showing clearly components of the American Airlines Boeing 757 which was hijacked by five al Qaeda terrorists
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Examination: The FBI deployed forensic specialists to go through the aftermath of the Pentagon attacks. Their identities were obscured in the released photographs
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Debris field: The inside of the Pentagon complex shows the damage caused by fire and the water used to bring the flames under control
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Massive impact: This FBI picture recorded the progress made by construction workers clearing their way into the damaged portion of the Pentagon – and gives some idea of how vast the hold made by the plane was
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Grim task: Sniffer dogs were employed by search and rescue workers in the hope of finding trapped survivors. Tragically there were none
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View from inside: One photograph was taken from inside the ash-filled building looking out at the recovery effort outside at night
Firemen and FBI agents shelter behind barricades as flames rip through the Pentagon, unsure if another attack is about to come.
Overhead shots show the extent of the devastation and pictures from the investigation show dozens of FBI agents picking through the debris as they collect evidence.
Some 189 people died when American Airlines flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11, when terrorists also flew planes into the World Trade Center in New York.
Of the 189 who died at the Pentagon, 125 worked at the facility, which is located a short distance from the White House in Washington D.C.
American Airlines flight 77 struck between the first and second floor of the Pentagon and created a hole around 20ft wide and 100ft deep.
It penetrated three outer rings of the building as the Boeing 757 traveled 310ft in less than a second.
The devastation was staggering and caused part of the Pentagon to collapse; it took days for firefighters to extinguish the blaze because it was so intense.
The 27 images were uploaded to the FBI website with the headline ’9/11 Attacks and Investigation Images’ and no further details.
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More plane debris: Forensics officers cordoned off the area around where part of what appears to be the plane’s fuselage in American Airlines colors was left on the lawn outside the Pentagon
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Clear evidence: The ‘c’ of American Airlines is clear in this piece of the plane’s fuselage found on the ground in the images from the Pentagon
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Burned out: A very normal office building filled with filing cabinets was reduced to twisted metal and ashes, with only the cabinets themselves left standing
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Clean-up: FBI agents and other workers had to deal with the standing water left by the effort to douse the flames from the explosion
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Part of the destruction: The attack left smaller holes in the side of the building. It is unclear if they were caused by explosions or by heat
The images have a range of titles including ’9-11 Pentagon Debris’, ’9-11 Pentagon Exterior’ and ’9-11 Pentagon Emergency Response’.
The debris photos appear to show sections of American Airlines 77 including a piece of metal that has been sheared off – one what appears to be part of the fuselage where the letter ‘c’ from American Airlines is clear.
Another shows a gold-colored piece of metal with a number on the side of it, and an American Airlines logo.
A powerful image was taken directly in front of the where the plane went in and shows the building looking black and charred. Firetrucks on both sides spray water on the smoldering structure.
Photos from the weeks after the damage show massive concrete chunks and mangled wires on the exterior of the Pentagon at the impact zone.
Shots from inside show a circular hole 15ft wide by 15ft tall that has been blasted through a brick wall.
The pictures of FBI investigators show them carrying debris with wheelbarrows and sifting by hand through piles of wood and bricks.
They are all wearing hard hats, protective goggles and gas masks because of the fumes.
Other FBI agents are in full body suits to protect them from toxic materials.
The images are likely to be seized on by conspiracy theorists, some of whom who contend that there was never actually a plane crash at the Pentagon.
A widely circulated animation which featured on Pentagonstrike.co.uk showed that windows right above the impact zone were intact, which was supposedly evidence that a missile hit the Pentagon and not a plane.
Others have raised questions over how the plane fit through such a small hole given that it had a 124ft wide wing span.
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Evidence of the scale: This picture, clearly taken some days after the attack, shows how the fire had spread from the outer ring of the Pentagon which was breached by the plane, further into the complex
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Inside the rings: This image shows the aftermath of the attacks inside one of the inter-locked rings of the Pentagon
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Remains: What appear to have been photocopiers were reduced to charried piles of metal and plastic with only their shapes giving some sense of what they were
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Debris spilled out: The first which swept through part of the Pentagon left huge amounts of debris on the ground
One of the most thorough analyses of conspiracy theories about 9/11 was by Popular Mechanics which debunked all claims which deviated from the 9/11 Commission findings.
To those who claimed that there was never any wreckage at the scene, they quoted blast expert Allyn E. Kilsheimer, who was the first structural engineer to arrive at the Pentagon after the crash.
Mr Kilsheimer, who is chief executive of KCE Structural Engineers PC in Washington, D.C. said: ‘I saw the marks of the plane wing on the face of the building. I picked up parts of the plane with the airline markings on them. I held in my hand the tail section of the plane, and I found the black box.
‘I held parts of uniforms from crew members in my hands, including body parts. Okay?’
Some of the FBI images appear to have been published on conspiracy theory and government secret websites in 2011 but were not widely circulated before the latest release.
The sections of the Pentagon that were damaged were rebuilt in 2002 and in August that year staff moved back in.
A memorial garden for the victims was completed in 2008 and is a 1.9 acre park close to the Pentagon that contains a bench for each of the victims.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the FBI for comment.
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Search under way: With the fire extinguished, FBI agents and firefighters conduct a fingertip search of the ruins
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Aftermath: Inside the Pentagon’s rings, the scale of burned-out rubble left behind is clear – and the efforts to tackle the blaze, with extinguishers left standing after being deployed.
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Inside the chaos: A photograph apparently taken from inside the Pentagon looking out shows heavy-lifting equipment operating at night after the fire was extinguished
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On the day: This was the scene as first responders and military personnel from inside the Pentagon rushed to help in the aftermath of the hijacking attack
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Extinguishing the flames: The effort by firefighters to bring the fire under control was captured on the morning of the attack
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Well ablaze: This was the scene in the hours immediately after the attack as smoke billowed over the DoD headquarters
So, where is the plane? There should be melted aluminum all over the place. Titanium parts would survive the fire. These guys do not know when to stop beating a dead horse.
Title is wrong – it should read “Shrub’s attackers”. Shrub= little Bush.