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American Airlines Flight 77
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==Rescue and recovery== {{quote box|align=right|width=25%|quote="In this area{{spaces}}... it's so hot that the debris is melting and dripping off the ceiling onto your skin and it would sear your skin and melt your uniform. We went a little farther, turned a corner and came into this bombed out office space that was a roaring inferno of destruction and smoke and flames and intense heat you could feel searing your face."|source= β[[Lieutenant Commander (United States)|Lieutenant Commander]] David Tarantino describing the scene near the Navy Command Center on the first floor.<ref>Goldberg et al., pp. 55β56.</ref>}} Rescue efforts began immediately after the crash. Almost all the successful rescues of survivors occurred within half an hour of the impact.<ref name="Pent51">Goldberg et al., p. 51.</ref> Initially, rescue efforts were led by the military and civilian employees within the building. Within minutes, the first fire companies arrived and found these volunteers searching near the impact site. The firefighters ordered them to leave as they were not properly equipped or trained to deal with the hazards.<ref name="Pent51" /> The [[Arlington County Fire Department]] (ACFD) assumed command of the immediate rescue operation within ten minutes of the crash. ACFD Assistant Chief James Schwartz implemented an [[incident command system]] (ICS) to coordinate response efforts among multiple agencies.<ref>Goldberg et al., p. 72.</ref> It took about an hour for the ICS structure to become fully operational.<ref>Goldberg et al., p. 77.</ref> Firefighters from [[Fort Myer]] and [[Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport|Reagan National Airport]] arrived within minutes.<ref>Goldberg et al., p. 78.</ref><ref name="acfd">{{cite web |url=http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/Fire/edu/about/docs/after_report.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927012831/http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/Fire/edu/about/docs/after_report.pdf |archive-date=September 27, 2007 |title=Arlington, Virginia After-Action Report |publisher=[[Arlington County Fire Department]] |access-date=June 10, 2008}}</ref> Rescue and firefighting efforts were impeded by rumors of additional incoming planes. Chief Schwartz ordered two evacuations during the day in response to these rumors.<ref name="Pent80">Goldberg et al., pp. 80β82.</ref> [[File:DN-SD-04-12744.JPEG|thumb|left|alt=An injured victim being loaded into an ambulance at the Pentagon|An injured victim being loaded into an ambulance at the Pentagon]] As firefighters attempted to extinguish the fires, they watched the building in fear of a structural collapse. One firefighter remarked that they "pretty much knew the building was going to collapse because it started making weird sounds and creaking."<ref name="Pent80" /> Officials saw a cornice of the building move and ordered an evacuation. Minutes later, at 10:10, the upper floors of the damaged area of the Pentagon collapsed.<ref name="Pent80" /> The collapsed area was about {{convert|95|ft|m|0}} at its widest point and {{convert|50|ft|m|0}} at its deepest.<ref name="Pent80" /> The amount of time between impact and collapse allowed everyone on the fourth and fifth levels to evacuate safely before the structure collapsed.<ref>Goldberg et al., p. 20.</ref><ref name="Pent86">Goldberg et al., pp. 86β90.</ref> After 11:00, firefighters mounted a two-pronged attack against the fires. Officials estimated temperatures of up to {{convert|2000|Β°F|Β°C}}.<ref name="Pent86" /> While progress was made against the interior fires by late afternoon, firefighters realized a flammable layer of wood under the Pentagon's slate roof had caught fire and begun to spread.<ref name="Pent91">Goldberg et al., pp. 91β95.</ref> Typical firefighting tactics were rendered useless by the reinforced structure as firefighters were unable to reach the fire to extinguish it.<ref name="Pent91" /> Firefighters instead made [[firebreak]]s in the roof on September 12 to prevent further spreading. At 18:00 on the 12th, Arlington County issued a press release stating the fire was "controlled" but not fully "extinguished". Firefighters continued to put out smaller fires that ignited in the succeeding days.<ref name="Pent91" /> Various pieces of aircraft debris were found within the wreckage at the Pentagon. While on fire and escaping from the Navy Command Center, Lt. Kevin Shaeffer observed a chunk of the aircraft's [[nose cone]] and the [[Undercarriage arrangements#Boeing|nose landing gear]] in the service road between rings B and C.<ref>{{cite news |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040730074824/http://www.hamptonroads.com/pilotonline/special/911/pentagon3.html |url=http://www.hamptonroads.com/pilotonline/special/911/pentagon3.html |author=Swift, Earl |title=Inside the Pentagon on 9/11: The Call of Duty |publisher=The Virginian-Pilot (Hampton Roads) |archive-date=July 30, 2004 |date=September 9, 2002}}</ref> Early in the morning on Friday, September 14, Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team members Carlton Burkhammer and Brian Moravitz came across an "intact seat from the plane's cockpit",<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3069699/ |title=Web Exclusive: Washington's Heroes β On the ground at the Pentagon on Sept. 11 |publisher=MSNBC |date=September 28, 2001 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100910124413/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3069699/ |archive-date=September 10, 2010}}</ref> while paramedics and firefighters located the two [[Flight recorder|black boxes]] near the punch out hole in the AβE drive,<ref>{{cite book |author1=Creed, Patrick |author2=Rick Newman |year=2008 |title=Firefight: Inside the Battle to Save the Pentagon on 9/11 |chapter=Chapter 41: A Great Find |publisher=Random House}}</ref> nearly {{convert|300|ft|m|0}} into the building.<ref name="PentPerf" /> The [[cockpit voice recorder]] was [[:File:Flight 77 CVR.jpg|too badly damaged and charred]] to retrieve any information,<ref>{{cite news |title=Pentagon plane voice recorder is too 'cooked' to aid in probe |work=The Washington Times |author=Murray, Frank J. |date=September 15, 2001}}</ref> though the flight data recorder yielded useful information.<ref name="fdr"/> Investigators also found a part of Nawaf al-Hazmi's [[Identity documents in the United States|driver's license]] in the North Parking Lot rubble pile.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/notablecases/moussaoui/exhibits/prosecution/PE00102.html |title=Prosecution Trial Exhibits β Exhibit Number PE00102 |publisher=[[United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia]] |access-date=June 19, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209101019/http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov/notablecases/moussaoui/exhibits/prosecution/PE00102.html |archive-date=February 9, 2014}}</ref> Personal effects belonging to victims were found and taken to Fort Myer.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/09/09/1031115990939.html |author=Wilkinson, Marian |title=Capital punishment |publisher=The Age (Australia) |date=September 9, 2002 |access-date=June 24, 2008 |location=Melbourne |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114061814/http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/09/09/1031115990939.html |archive-date=November 14, 2013}}</ref> ===Remains=== [[File:FirstFloor Pentagon Bodies.png|right|thumb|alt=Refer to caption|Diagram of body fragments found in the Pentagon. Most body fragments were found near the impact zone.]] Army engineers determined by 17:30 on the first day that no survivors remained in the damaged section of the building.<ref>Goldberg et al., p. 97.</ref> In the days after the crash, news reports emerged that up to 800 people had died.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,34177,00.html |title=Twin Towers Demolished, Pentagon Hit in Terrorist Attacks |date=September 12, 2001 |publisher=[[FoxNews.com|Foxnews.com]] |access-date=June 10, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501110625/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C34177%2C00.html |archive-date=May 1, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Army soldiers from [[Fort Belvoir]] were the first teams to survey the interior of the crash site and noted the presence of human remains.<ref name="Pent119">Goldberg et al., p. 119.</ref> [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] (FEMA) [[FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force|Urban Search and Rescue]] teams, including [[Urban Search and Rescue Virginia Task Force 1|Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue]] assisted the search for remains, working through the National Interagency Incident Management System (NIIMS).<ref name="Pent119" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Eversburg |first=Rudy |title=The Pentagon Attack on 9-11: Arlington County (VA) Fire Department Response |url=http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-155/issue-11/features/the-pentagon-attack-on-9-11-arlington-county-va-fire-department-response.html |work=Fire Engineering |date=November 1, 2002 |access-date=June 10, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104123657/http://www.fireengineering.com/articles/print/volume-155/issue-11/features/the-pentagon-attack-on-9-11-arlington-county-va-fire-department-response.html |archive-date=January 4, 2014}}</ref> Kevin Rimrodt, a Navy photographer surveying the Navy Command Center after the attacks, remarked that "there were so many bodies, I'd almost step on them. So I'd have to really take care to look backwards as I'm backing up in the dark, looking with a flashlight, making sure I'm not stepping on somebody."<ref>Goldberg et al., pp. 121β122.</ref> Debris from the Pentagon was taken to the Pentagon's north parking lot for more detailed search for remains and evidence.<ref name="Wash-oct01"/> Remains recovered from the Pentagon were photographed, and turned over to the Armed Forces Medical Examiner office, located at [[Dover Air Force Base]] in [[Delaware]]. The medical examiner's office was able to identify remains belonging to 179 of the victims.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.edgewood.army.mil/hld/dl/MFM_Capstone_August_2005.pdf |title=Mass Fatality Management for Incidents Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction |publisher=U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering Command and the Office for Domestic Preparedness |date=August 2005 |access-date=June 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080802031006/http://www.edgewood.army.mil/hld/dl/MFM_Capstone_August_2005.pdf |archive-date=August 2, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Investigators eventually identified 184 of the 189 people who died in the attack.<ref>{{cite news |last=Kelly |first=Christopher |url=http://www.dcmilitary.com/dcmilitary_archives/stories/112901/12279-1.shtml |title=Forensic feat IDs nearly all Pentagon victims |work=Stripe |date=November 29, 2001 |access-date=June 27, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513132259/http://www.dcmilitary.com:80/dcmilitary_archives/stories/112901/12279-1.shtml |archive-date=May 13, 2011}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The remains of the five hijackers were identified through a process of elimination, and were turned over as evidence to the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI).<ref>{{cite news |last=Vogel |first=Steve |title=Remains Unidentified For 5 Pentagon Victims; Bodies Were Too Badly Burned, Officials Say |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=November 21, 2001}}</ref> On September 21, the ACFD relinquished control of the crime scene to the FBI. The Washington Field Office, National Capital Response Squad (NCRS), and the [[Joint Terrorism Task Force]] (JTTF) led the [[crime scene]] investigation at the Pentagon.<ref name="acfd" /> By October 2, 2001, the search for evidence and remains was complete and the site was turned over to Pentagon officials.<ref name="Wash-oct01"/> In 2002, the remains of 25 victims were buried collectively at Arlington National Cemetery, with a five-sided granite marker inscribed with the names of all the victims in the Pentagon.<ref name="Wash5">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2002/09/13/AR2006031501324.html |title=Lost and, Sometimes, Never Found |author=Steve Vogel |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 13, 2002 |access-date=February 8, 2015 |archive-date=October 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141017221543/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2002/09/13/AR2006031501324.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The ceremony also honored the five victims whose remains were never found.<ref name="Wash5" /> ===Flight recorders=== [[File:Flight 77 CVR.jpg|right|thumb|alt=The cockpit voice recorder from American Airlines Flight 77, as used in an exhibit at the Moussaoui trial|The [[cockpit voice recorder]] from American Airlines Flight{{spaces}}77, as used in an exhibit at the [[Zacarias Moussaoui#Trial and sentencing|Moussaoui trial]]]] About 03:40 on September 14, a paramedic and a firefighter who were searching through the debris of the impact site found two dark boxes, about {{convert|1.5|by|2|ft|cm}} long. They called for an FBI agent, who in turn called for someone from the [[National Transportation Safety Board]] (NTSB). The NTSB employee confirmed that these were the flight recorders ("black boxes") from American Airlines Flight{{spaces}}77.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3069699/ |title=Washington's Heroes: On the ground at the Pentagon on Sept. 11 |access-date=November 2, 2009 |last=Rosenberg |first=Debra |date=September 28, 2001 |publisher=MSNBC |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040526034459/http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3069699/ |archive-date=May 26, 2004}}</ref> Dick Bridges, deputy manager for Arlington County, Virginia, said the [[cockpit voice recorder]] was damaged on the outside and the [[flight data recorder]] was charred. Bridges said the recorders were found "right where the plane came into the building".<ref name="usatoday30-atoday-blackboxes">{{cite news |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001/09/14/pentagon-fire.htm |title=Searchers find Pentagon black boxes |agency=Associated Press |work=USA Today |date=September 14, 2001 |access-date=February 8, 2015 |archive-date=November 8, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108113519/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001/09/14/pentagon-fire.htm |url-status=live}}</ref> The cockpit voice recorder was transported to the NTSB lab in Washington, D.C., to see what data was salvageable. In its report, the NTSB identified the unit as an L-3 Communications, Fairchild Aviation Recorders model A-100A cockpit voice recorder{{snd}}a device which records on [[magnetic tape]]. There were several loose pieces of magnetic tape that were found lying inside of the tape enclosure. No usable segments of tape were found inside the recorder; according to the NTSB's report, "[t]he majority of the recording tape was fused into a solid block of charred plastic".<ref>{{cite web |title=Specialist's Factual Report of Investigation: Cockpit Voice Recorder |date=April 30, 2002 |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/14780831/T8-B18-NTSB-Documents-1-of-3-Fdr-CVR-Cockpit-Voice-Recorder-Reports-AA-77-and-UA-93-Paperclipped-Together260 |work=National Transportation Safety Board |access-date=November 2, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140411193816/http://www.scribd.com/doc/14780831/T8-B18-NTSB-Documents-1-of-3-Fdr-CVR-Cockpit-Voice-Recorder-Reports-AA-77-and-UA-93-Paperclipped-Together260 |archive-date=April 11, 2014}}</ref> On the other hand, all the data from the flight data recorder, which used a [[solid-state drive]], was recovered.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/foia/9_11/AAL77_fdr.pdf |title=Specialist's Factual Report of Investigation: Digital Flight Data Recorder |date=January 31, 2002 |access-date=February 28, 2014 |publisher=[[NTSB]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010093205/https://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/foia/9_11/AAL77_fdr.pdf |archive-date=October 10, 2012}}</ref> ===Continuity of operations=== At the moment of impact, [[United States Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]] [[Donald Rumsfeld]] was in his office on the other side of the Pentagon, away from the crash site. He ran to the site and assisted the injured.<ref>{{cite news |last=Vobejda |first=Barbara |title='Extensive Casualties' in Wake of Pentagon Attack |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/daily/sep01/attack.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=September 11, 2001 |access-date=June 20, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110425115144/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/metro/daily/sep01/attack.html |archive-date=April 25, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Rumsfeld returned to his office, and went to a conference room in the Executive Support Center where he joined a secure videoteleconference with Vice President [[Dick Cheney]] and other officials.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Creed, Patrick |author2=Rick Newman |title=Firefight: Inside the Battle to Save the Pentagon on 9/11 |year=2008 |publisher=Presidio Press |isbn=978-0891419051 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/firefightinsideb00cree/page/276 276β277] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/firefightinsideb00cree/page/276}}</ref> On the day of the attacks, DoD officials considered moving their command operations to [[Site R]], a backup facility in [[Pennsylvania]]. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld insisted he remain at the Pentagon, and sent Deputy Secretary [[Paul Wolfowitz]] to Site R. The [[National Military Command Center]] (NMCC) continued to operate at the Pentagon, even as smoke entered the facility.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90696597&ft=1&f=1012 |title=Battling the Pentagon Blaze After 9/11 |publisher=NPR/WHYY β Fresh Air |date=May 22, 2008 |access-date=June 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227180849/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90696597&ft=1&f=1012 |archive-date=February 27, 2014}}</ref> Engineers and building managers manipulated the ventilation and other building systems that still functioned to draw smoke out of the NMCC and bring in fresh air.<ref>Creed and Newman, p. 278</ref> During a press conference held inside the Pentagon at 18:42, Rumsfeld announced, "The Pentagon's functioning. It will be in business tomorrow."<ref>{{cite web |title=DoD News Briefing on Pentagon Attack |url=http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=1613 |publisher=United States Department of Defense |date=September 11, 2001 |access-date=June 24, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080607170533/http://www.defenselink.mil/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=1613 |archive-date=June 7, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> Pentagon employees returned the next day to offices in mostly unaffected areas of the building. By the end of September, more workers returned to the lightly damaged areas of the Pentagon.<ref name="Wash-oct01">{{cite news |author=Vogel, Steve |title=Search for Remains Ends at Pentagon |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 3, 2001}}</ref>
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