Piece of Flight 77 in Smithsonian?

If the flaps were deployed on flight 77, they would have been ripped off and torn apart. They can only be deployed below certain speeds. If you deploy the landing gear, or flaps above a certain speed you're risking major damage, or even ripping them off completely.

Originally posted by Zaphod58
If the flaps were deployed on flight 77, they would have been ripped off and torn apart. They can only be deployed below certain speeds. If you deploy the landing gear, or flaps above a certain speed you're risking major damage, or even ripping them off completely.

Thanx- That's what I would have thought also but I'm not an expert. It does seem logical, that even a slight mechanical variance would be compounded at such speeds. NASCAR/ ETC. "COAX" their cars around the track at the highest possible speeds. They exist in a very narrow window from crashing to wining. One slip & that's the ballgame. . . As does every high speed enthusiast seeking to push the envelope. Thanx again Zaphod-

Bad spelling

[edit on 14-9-2006 by 2PacSade]
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So you would subscribe to the flight approaching without much pilot assistance at that point a couple of seconds from the target?

[edit on 14-9-2006 by 2PacSade]

I got a response back from the Smithsonian. A director there e-mailed me back and stated that to the best of his knowledge there was NO investigation don't on this piece. It was accepted because of it's "altar like" remembrance of 911. He also said if I was trying to revive to "NO PLANE" theory they didn't want to have any part of that.

Again, I think I've ID where the artifact came from, and I don't believe this woman went out to the nearest commercial jet boneyard & hacked off a piece of a B757-223 to get her 15 minutes of fame. Do you? The e-mail is at work, but I will post it ASAP. I'm still gonna contact AA to ask their opinion.

But I guess a bigger question would be what other items are we paying money to see that are of questionable origin at the 12/13? museums controlled by the Smithsonian? Doesn't this raise an eyebrow about their verification policies with anyone here?

really bad spelling

[edit on 15-9-2006 by 2PacSade]

As I said before (but forget where), picking up souveniers is a big thing at plane crashes, so she probably DID take it from the Pentagon, she just got scared of being prosecuted for it and came up with the story of how it fell into her car. I really doubt she got it from anywhere else.

Good work on finding that out from the Smithsonian. I'm starting the new job on Wednesday of next week, and I'm gonna be gone a lot once I do. But I'll be interested to see if you get an answer from AA on this.

I will definately U2U you with any response from AA. Good luck on the new job! I'm sure that you'll will be involved!

Originally posted by 2PacSade
I got a response back from the Smithsonian. . .

I don't know if anyone is still interested, but here is the e-mail that I received from the Smithsonian;

I am unaware of any research undertaken by the Smithsonian to determine from what area of the plane the museum's fragment of flight 77 originated. We
don't suggest that it was from the tail section although I guess that is possible. The provenance of the artifact is quite strong so there seems little doubt about what it is. We have spoken to American Airlines about the fragment but they did not ask to have it returned (they retain the majority of the flight 77 debris.) We have not contacted Boeing and there is no reason for the NTSB to be involved. The FBI handled the majority of the investigation of the crime scene.

The collecting curator for the fragment was Bill yeingst who can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]. I doubt he has more information to pass along. The artifact is held by the Division of Military and Diplomacy. You can contact the Division through Cedric Yeh ([email protected]) or Jennifer Jones ([email protected].)

I am a bit mystified by the your query unless you are trying revive the conspiracy theory that the plane was not Flight 77. If so the Smithsonian is not interested interested in participating in such a line of inquiry. The reason the piece was collected by the Smithsonian was because of its altar like preservation by Penny Elgas. It is an interesting example of public reaction to the events of September 11 and provides insight into the construction of public memory and commemoration.

Thank you for your interest in the National Collections.


Peter Liebhold
Chair, Division of Work and Industry
National Museum of American History
Washington, DC
[email protected]

I have not heard back from AA yet.

Have you responded that you are indeed not trying to revive the no plane theory and was just curious if the piece had been verified? If not, I think you should. It might set something off about how the Smithsonian just accepts pieces without further investigation.

Also, you might want to e-mail the response to some news stations and papers. I think they might be interested to know that the Smithsonian is charging money to see something that has not been verified. That's what is peeing me off about this story....not if there was a plane or not that hit the pentagon.

[edit on 9/18/2006 by Griff]

Originally posted by Griff
Have you responded that you are indeed not trying to revive the no plane theory and was just curious if the piece had been verified? If not, I think you should. It might set something off about how the Smithsonian just accepts pieces without further investigation.

Also, you might want to e-mail the response to some news stations and papers. I think they might be interested to know that the Smithsonian is charging money to see something that has not been verified. That's what is peeing me off about this story....not if there was a plane or not that hit the pentagon.

[edit on 9/18/2006 by Griff]

Obviously by the response this person was quite mystified by my inital query. YES, I did tell him that I thought that the piece was from the wing fairing (cone?).

I even supplied him a photo of a B757-223 with the cones totally visible for him to look at, and told him I thought it was dislodged from striking a light pole. Which from all the evidence present, I have to believe. ( Even though Penny Elgas said the plane was @ 80' in the air, if she can't recognize that a @ 2lb piece of fiberglass entered her vehice at 530mph then I guess she could mistake the height, mis state that it was from the tail, and that the Smithsonian would obviously just yake her word on it. . . WOAH!

No, I didn't mention the fact that I thought it was a little "bazaar" that they obviously didn't verify the piece. That they just accepted it w/o any chain of custody, and on the word of one woman's testimony, and that I'm kinda pissed also that they accept pieces under these ridiculous protocols! Depending on what happens with this. I may sent an anonymous letter to someone that could expose this practice to the masses. . . So that they may change their practices. . .

Again, like I stated before, she left her vehicle for a few moments, and has no idea how this 22"x15" piece of fiberglass go into her vehicle. Could someone have planted it? I guess yes. . . Could that be the real truth? I doubt it. . .

Is it a piece of AA flight 77? Yes, I believe it is. Like I stated before, I don't think she got it at a boneyard, and as Zaphod pointed out, many people collect souveniers of plane crashes, and don't report how they truthfully got the piece. . .
Could this have happened, I guess the answer , given the facts, is that yes, I guess it could have. . .

I'm still hoping to hear back from AA on the issue. I'm sure they could beyond a shadow of a doubt prove the piece genuine. . . It's funny they didn't request to do so when the Smithsonian alerted them to it's presence. It's their plane. . .

Again I will keep you all informed about the issue. Thanx for the support Griff-

[edit on 18-9-2006 by 2PacSade]

[edit on 18-9-2006 by 2PacSade]