We do also have somebody to talk with us who was an eyewitness to the actual crash. He was watch from Arlington, Virginia, which is a suburb. His name is Tim Timmerman.

Mr. Timmerman, are you with us right now?

TIM TIMMERMAN, EYEWITNESS: I sure am.

FRANKEN: You are a pilot. Tell us what you saw.

TIMMERMAN: 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 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.

FRANKEN: What can you tell us about the plane itself?

TIMMERMAN: It was a Boeing 757, American Airlines, no question.

FRANKEN: You say that it was a Boeing, and you say it was a 757 or 767?

TIMMERMAN: 7-5-7.

FRANKEN: 757, which, of course...

TIMMERMAN: American Airlines.

FRANKEN: American Airlines, one of the new generation of jets.

TIMMERMAN: Right. It was so close to me it was like looking out my window and looking at a helicopter. It was just right there.

FRANKEN: We were told that it was flying so low that it clipped off a couple of light poles as it was coming in.

TIMMERMAN: That might have happened behind the apartments that occluded my view.

And 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.

FRANKEN: So there was a fireball that you saw?

TIMMERMAN: Absolutely. And the building shook, and it was quite a tremendous explosion.

FRANKEN: What did you see after that?

TIMMERMAN: Nothing but the flames. I sat here, and I took a few pictures out of my window, and I noticed the fire trucks and the responses was just wonderful. Fire trucks were there quickly. I saw the area; the building didn't look very damaged initially, but I do see now, looking out my window, there's quite a chunk in it.

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.

FRANKEN: There is, of course -- we heard some discussion about the fact that it could have been worse had it actually gone a little bit higher and gone into what is the called the ring, the center ring...

(CROSSTALK)

FRANKEN: This is a five-sided building.

TIMMERMAN: As you know, the rings are A, B, C, D, E. It is just across the E ring on the outside, and that's why I felt it didn't look as damaged as it could be. It looked like on the helipad, which is on that side.

FRANKEN: Did you see any people being removed, any injured being removed, that type of thing?

TIMMERMAN: No, sir. I am up about a quarter a mile -- it may be a little bit closer -- and at that point, I saw nothing like that.

FRANKEN: Tim Timmerman, thank you very much -- an eyewitness, Judy, to the crash.

I have some difficulty with the idea that a plane going right past your window at about 400 mph, could be in any way reminiscent of a helicopter, but I'll let that pass, because there are more important issues to explore with this
account. If a statement is not truthful, a clue will usually be revealed by inconsistencies in fine details. In this case the fine details relate to placement - where the witness was, the flight path, where he saw it, and where he lost it behind the building, and how he describes his view. And a close analysis of these factors makes this account impossible to believe. You'll need a map of Arlington and the surrounding areas to follow this. If you don't have a hard copy map, I found a number of online maps, which in combination are adequate. This one
http://www.realestatemapsmdva.com/virginia/arlington/index.html
I will refer to as map 1.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/graphics/pentagonmap_091301.htm
(map 2) and
http://www.holidayinnwashingtondc.com/downtown.html
(map 3)
http://www.kurumi.com/roads/3di/dc.html
(map 4 ).
 
Note: These maps do not state their orientation. I have assumed it to be due east- west, from right to left. If it is not, this will create inaccuracies in my description of directions. However, this will make no difference to the analysis, because the importance of any direction stated is purely in the context of it's relativity to other directions.

First lets work out where Timmerman's apartment is. Look at map 1 to get a basic overview of the area. Timmerman's apartment is somewhere around the edge of the residential area which borders the south western corner of the yellow area which is the Arlington Cemetery/Pentagon complex. In a moment you'll see how I worked this out. Maps 3 and 4 are also basic overview maps. On map 4, Timmerman is somewhere around the junction of 244 with the circular road around the Arlington cemetery complex. Take a note of where Washington National Airport is, south and slightly east of the Pentagon. Now let's zoom in a bit. Go to map 5 and see where 244 (Columbia Pike) runs behind the southern perimeter of the Navy Annex and then bends to run the eastern perimeter. Note where 244 meets Southgate Rd. Since this map has a scale on it, you can work out that this junction is about 600 yards from the Pentagon west wall if you take a line due east from the junction. Now refer back to map 1, find this junction by looking for the bend in 244, and this gives you an overview of how much open space there is in the semi circle around the Pentagon. Close to a 1000 yards in general. Go to map 2 which is a closer view of the Pentagon. It doesn't go out to the junction of 244 and Southgate, but it also has a scale which puts the western edge of Washington Boulevard about 250 yards from the Pentagon. If you go back to map 5, you'll find that the two maps disagree a bit in scale. On map 5, I made this distance about 400 yards. We can't expect pinpoint accuracy with this method, nor do we need it for this exercise. I suspect from what else I've read in the
eyewitness reports that the distances on map 5 are a little exaggerated, but the discrepancies will not affect this analysis. If we take the scale of map 2 as being more accurate, the junction of 244 and Southgate is more like 450 yards
and the clear circle around the Pentagon about 650- 700 in most areas. According to other eyewitness reports, the eastern edge of Washington Boulevard is about 100 yards from the west wall. Timmerman says his apartment is about 1/4 mile from the Pentagon, maybe a little closer. About 400 - 450 yards. That doesn't seem possible from these maps, because it would place him well inside the cemetery. Looking at maps 1 and 5, it's difficult to place him closer than about 600 yards. We can forgive him an error of judgment and also take into account probable inaccuracy of the maps and the inaccuracy of measuring the distance on a computer screen. What it tells us however, is that his apartment must be one of the very closest to the Pentagon. It must be right at the edge of that circle of open ground around the Pentagon, the circle which includes the cemetery. This is supported by this statement.

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.

So regardless of the exact distance that the circle of open ground represents, we know that Timmerman is very close to the edge of it. Now that we've worked out his probable distance from the Pentagon, lets work out his direction. We were given two clues.

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 went by the Sheraton Hotel...

and

It was so close to me it was like looking out my window and looking at a helicopter. It was just right there.

So we know he's close to the airport and close to 395 and close to Columbia Pike and the Sheraton Hotel. Go back to map 5 to narrow down the possibilities. We saw from map 4 that he can't be too close to the airport, because then he wouldn't have an angle from which it is possible to see the damaged wall. That's the west wall which faces the cemetery. So his most likely location is either hard up against the junction of 395 and Army drive, around Nash or Lynne St, which is still placing him on quite a tight angle of vision to the west wall, or on the other side of 395, close to the junction of 27. He says it went "by" the Sheraton Hotel rather than behind it or over it, suggesting that he's probably to the right of the Sheraton. This is slightly ambiguous however, and doesn't completely rule out the possibility that he's to the left of it, which would be more consistent with the impression that he has an excellent view of the west wall. If this is the case his only possible location is in an area roughly bounded by 2nd St, Southgate Rd and Washington Boulevard. This is because McPherson St and Patton Drive form the boundary of the Arlington Cemetery. We can work that out from
this map.

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/interactive_map/interactivemap_big.html

This map is a little confusing at first because it's left to right orientation is not the same as the others. You have to turn the top part of the map (McPherson Drive) to the left to get the orientation to match with map 5.

What's the flight path? To come right up 395 and over Columbia Pike, it must have gone right of the Sheraton and passed over the Navy Annex. (See map5 ) So it either passed right over the top of the Navy Annex and then turned sharply right to fly almost due east towards the helipad, or else it started to veer right as it passed the Sheraton, bringing it over the south-eastern corner of the Annex and from there took a fairly straight line north-east to the helipad. If it took the first of these options, then it flew to the collision point across the southern boundary of the cemetery. If it took the second option, it flew fractionally to the south of the cemetery boundary. Go back to map 1 to get an overview of what it's flying across here. Open country. No residential development. What did Timmerman see? When he first became aware of the plane he looked back to the south west, down 395 and had a clear enough view of
it to identify it as a AA 757 "no question." Obviously he does have quite a panorama, because at this point he is looking back to an area with a substantial amount of high rise development. Even though he is a pilot, and would therefore recognize the plane quicker than most, he would still need a view of it for at least a few seconds to make such a positive identification. So he saw it for at least 2 seconds, probably longer, before it got to Columbia Pike. This means he had an unbroken view of it for at least 400 yards as it flew through a heavily built up area. He could still see it as it flew past the Sheraton and over Columbia Pike, which means over the Navy Annex. Then he lost it behind a building until just
before impact. What building ? It had just emerged out of the built up area and it's next 400-500 yards of flight is across clear ground. All the maps confirm this. And if you want to see photos of what this stretch of the flight path looks like go to

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/images/above_scenes/index.htm

where you'll find a gallery of 55 Arial photos of Arlington cemetery. In photo 31, you can see the Pentagon in the background. This one demonstrates that the clear area extends right to the Pentagon's perimeter. Photos 46, 50 and 51
also provide good perspectives. Photo 55 shows the south-east corner of the cemetery with an unimpeded view across to the Pentagon. According to Timmerman's account, the view in this photo would be almost the exact path of the plane after it flew over Columbia Pike. So there could not have been any building eastwards of the Navy Annex which could have obstructed Timmerman's view across the last 400 -500 yards of the alleged flight path. He only lost it once, and we know could still see it as it was going over the Annex. And we know that he's talking about an apartment block, because in response to the suggestion that it may have knocked over poles on it's way in, he replies

"That might have happened behind the apartments that occluded my view. "

What apartments? These poles are at the foot of the western wall of the Pentagon, a place which we were led to believe that Timmerman could clearly see from his apartment. He doesn't say exactly where he lost it, but it was obviously for a substantial time, 2 seconds at least, otherwise he would not have given it such significance in his description. 2 seconds
is about 400 yards of flight. So he lost it for almost the entire flight after Columbia Pike when there was nothing in the area to obstruct his view. This is very difficult to believe, but if it is any way possible, the offending apartments could only have been within the residential area. Since we know that he must be very close to the edge of the residential area, any apartment in front of him which blocked his view would have to be very close to him. In order to have enough elevation to block his view of the flight path and of the poles at the foot of the Pentagon it would therefore have to be at least about the same height as Timmerman's apartment - about 15 stories. Any building this tall would have to be 60 - 100 ft wide to have structural integrity. So Timmerman has a 60 - 100ft wide building very close to him, blocking
his view of the west wall of the Pentagon. Not such a panorama after all. And yet he's told us that he can see the helipad and the damaged section of the wall, which is just to the north of the helipad, and in another part of the interview, gave detailed descriptions of what he could see in that area, in terms of response crews. He's also told us that he can see the Sheraton and an area of Columbia Pike, which we have deduced as being around the Navy Annex area. He didn't lose it behind the Navy Annex, because he saw it fly over that area, and anyway he said that it was a block of apartments which obscured his view.

 

CONTINUE