I live about two miles from the Pentagon, and as you can imagine I’ve watched the rebuilding efforts with lots of interest. Virtually every week since the event happened, I’ve ridden past the damage and looked at it. I also helped write a construction bid for a very small project inside the Pentagon several years ago, so I have some familiarity with its robust internal design. I’m not gonna talk about that.
Here is a good shot of the initial damage. Whatever caused the explosion undercut the top floor of the E-ring but did not destroy it. Instead, it collapsed. That means that the Pentagon is a hell of a tough building.
Here are some graphics illustrating the extent of the damage, which is consistent with a penetration. Of course, the frogs won’t give a damn about this because the Washington Post is obviously in bed with our federal government (chuckle).
Here is an overhead shot illustrating roughly the same thing. Again, notice how the top floors did not collapse. Nevertheless, the damage underneath was extensive enough that this much of the building had to be torn down.
Here is a shot after the collapsed E-ring section was removed. You can see part of the penetration hole in the bottom of the D-ring, but it’s not very deep because the damage actually goes at an angle from right to left.
In October, after the E-ring section was removed, the tunnel-like damage was clearly visible for several days. Unfortunately, I cannot find any photos which clearly illustrate this. The one I linked directly above is the best I can do. Just gotta leave a hole for the tin hat crew to weasel into I guess.
Where was the aircrart debris? Inside the building where its momentum carried it.