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The impact left a crater eight to ten feet deep and 30 to 50 feet wide
en.m.wikipedia.org...
www.seattlepi.com...
www.nps.gov...
11. What happened during the investigation at the site? The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was in charge of the investigation. Evidence recovery teams combed the area in thorough, systematic sweeps. Heavy equipment excavated the crater to an area measuring about 85' x 85' and 27' to 40' deep to recover debris and evidence. Soil removed from the crater during the investigation was raked and sifted by hand and machine to remove debris, then returned to the crater. More than one thousand persons representing more than 70 state, federal, and local agencies had credentials to work on the site.
The large body of investigators and the Pennsylvania State Police who were securing the perimeter left the site after thirteen days, on September 24, 2001. The crater was backfilled between October 1 and October 3, 2001. A six inch layer of topsoil was spread over the backfilled crater area and seeded with grass and wildflowers.
www.nps.gov...
The wreckage around and inside the crater consisted of largely unrecognizable pieces of twisted metal, pieces of the landing gear of the plane, a tire, the frames of some of the seats, bits of charred paper, and remnants of luggage and clothing. Most of the pieces of wreckage were quite small, the size of a notebook or smaller. Many more pieces of wreckage, also quite small, were recovered during the investigation when the crater was excavated. Extensive searches through the wooded area south of the crash site, and even arborists in the tree tops found more debris from the crash. A pond about 900 feet southwest of the crater was partially drained to recover debris. Debris was collected from the yards of nearby homes, farmer's fields, and from around a nearby residential lake. The largest and heaviest pieces recovered were parts of the plane's two engines and a piece of fuselage with several window openings. This fuselage piece measured about six feet by seven feet and was found near the woods south of the crater. Lightweight paper items were found as far away as New Baltimore, eight miles away.
Kelly Leverknight, a local resident, was watching news of the attacks when she heard the plane. "I heard the plane going over and I went out the front door and I saw the plane going down. It was headed toward the school, which panicked me, because all three of my kids were there. Then you heard the explosion and felt the blast and saw the fire and smoke."
en.m.wikipedia.org...
www.sptimes.com...
Another witness, Eric Peterson, looked up when he heard the plane, "It was low enough, I thought you could probably count the rivets. You could see more of the roof of the plane than you could the belly. It was on its side. There was a great explosion and you could see the flames. It was a massive, massive explosion. Flames and then smoke and then a massive, massive mushroom cloud
en.m.wikipedia.org...-81
en.m.wikipedia.org...
Jet crashes near Somerset; passenger reported hijacking in phone call
Tuesday, September 11, 2001
The Associated Press
SHANKSVILLE, Pa. -- A passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 called on his cell phone from a locked bathroom and delivered a chilling message. "We are being hijacked, we are being hijacked!" Minutes later the jetliner crashed in western Pennsylvania with 45 people aboard, the last of four closely timed terror attacks across the country.
www.nps.gov...
9. How big was the crash site and what did the wreckage look like? The first responders described the crater as about 15 feet deep and about 30 feet across. It was irregularly shaped. The wreckage around and inside the crater consisted of largely unrecognizable pieces of twisted metal, pieces of the landing gear of the plane, a tire, the frames of some of the seats, bits of charred paper, and remnants of luggage and clothing. Most of the pieces of wreckage were quite small, the size of a notebook or smaller. Many more pieces of wreckage, also quite small, were recovered during the investigation when the crater was excavated. Extensive searches through the wooded area south of the crash site, and even arborists in the tree tops found more debris from the crash. A pond about 900 feet southwest of the crater was partially drained to recover debris. Debris was collected from the yards of nearby homes, farmer's fields, and from around a nearby residential lake. The largest and heaviest pieces recovered were parts of the plane's two engines and a piece of fuselage with several window openings. This fuselage piece measured about six feet by seven feet and was found near the woods south of the crater. Lightweight paper items were found as far away as New Baltimore, eight miles away.
10. Did they find the plane's black boxes here? Yes. Both of the plane's recorders, the so-called "black boxes" (which actually are orange), were found in the crash site crater. The flight data recorder was recovered on Thursday, September 13 at 4:20 pm at a depth of 15 feet. On September 14, at 8:30 pm, the cockpit voice recorder was found at a depth of 25 feet. Both were turned over to the National Transportation Safety Board for analysis. (None of the black boxes from Flight 11 and Flight 175 were recovered in the rubble of the World Trade Center. At the Pentagon, only the Flight Data Recorder from Flight 77 yielded information.)
11. What happened during the investigation at the site? The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was in charge of the investigation. Evidence recovery teams combed the area in thorough, systematic sweeps. Heavy equipment excavated the crater to an area measuring about 85' x 85' and 27' to 40' deep to recover debris and evidence. Soil removed from the crater during the investigation was raked and sifted by hand and machine to remove debris, then returned to the crater. More than one thousand persons representing more than 70 state, federal, and local agencies had credentials to work on the site.
The large body of investigators and the Pennsylvania State Police who were securing the perimeter left the site after thirteen days, on September 24, 2001. The crater was backfilled between October 1 and October 3, 2001. A six inch layer of topsoil was spread over the backfilled crater area and seeded with grass and wildflowers.