Animation (military) of American Airlines flight 77

1 year ago
95

Another interesting animation of the last moments of American Airlines flight 77 on September 11, 2001.

Released to the public by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), it made it into the U.S. National Archives and can be found there under the Identifier NAID: 7596189, or alternatively : 1 AWA 714 Pentagon_more2.mpg, with unrestricted use.

The STK logo (bottom left) tells us that it was apparently produced under use of an UK made 'AGI - software to model, analyze and visualize space, defense and intelligence systems.' The data source itself remains a mystery.

Please note : The last 6 seconds of that flight into the Pentagon, roughly the last mile, have NOT been recorded by any radar antenna. This was technically impossible. Even the nearest antenna, the one at Reagan National Airport, cannot detect any radar target to the west / northwest below 325 feet MSL. This is due to terrain and the skyline of Crystal City, Arlington, VA.

Consequently, the very last primary target of that flight was acquired just prior to reaching and crossing the Washington Blvd., south of the Sheraton Hotel, approx 6 seconds from impact. At approx 28 seconds of the video runtime. Viewers may interpret this NORAD animation at their discretion.

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