Fighter jets patrolling skies after Pentagon attack
Fighter jets are patrolling the skies above Washington after a jet hijacked
by terrorists struck the Pentagon.
The West Wing of White House was evacuated after the attack on the Pentagon.
An aircraft has crashed on a helicopter landing pad near the Pentagon, and
the White House.
The Pentagon has taken a direct hit from an aircraft.
The nerve centre of the US military burst into flames and a portion of one
side of the five-sided structure collapsed when the plane struck.
Secondary explosions were reported in the aftermath of the attack and great
billows of smoke drifted skyward towards the Potomac River. Authorities
immediately began deploying troops, including a regiment of light infantry.
Meanwhile, in Pennsylvania, a large plane, believed to be a Boeing 747, has
crashed about 80 miles (130 kilometres) southeast of Pittsburgh.
The fate of those aboard is not immediately known and it is not clear if the
crash is related to the disasters elsewhere.
General Richard Myers, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says that
prior to the crash into the Pentagon, military officials had been notified
that another hijacked plane had been heading from the New York area to
Washington.
He says he assumed that hijacked plane was the one that hit the Pentagon,
though he could not be sure.
