| By the way, for those unacquainted with Washington, the Washington Monument is due south of the White House, and visible from the back portico. It is close, but not "in the flight path" per se. The Pentagon is actually much farther away, southwest of the White House. That is why richie was insisting on the Interstate 395 flight path. It is the only one that would include the Pentagon and the White House as possible targets. However, the controllers describe a due east flight path. They picked up the plane slightly southwest of Dulles, but it continued due east. That would have put it roughly along Interstate 66, and made the White House the likeliest primary target, and the Pentagon a desperate fallback, because they would not be in the same trajectory. There is ample opportunity for a wide turn back to the Pentagon. On a swoop around, it is possible that the plane became visible at a point which made it appear that it was coming from the southwest before swerving into the Pentagon, and that is probably what confused his informants....... |
