Pentagon "NTSB animation" is wrong!, page 18

Originally posted by johnlear
I don't know from what database the maps were loaded. I don't understand the problem of the 'skewed orientation' of the Pentagon. Can you please explain that. (I have read all the posts and I still don't understand what the probelm is.)

I know... it can be confusing.

Basically the problem with the "NTSB" animation is this:

The little plane on the screen is shown flying at different headings and different altitudes like you would expect. But what's also shown on the screen are objects on the ground in relation to the plane on the screen.

When the plane takes off from Dulles, the plane is at the same heading that runway 30 at Dulles is -300 degrees magnetic. Now the plane flies out to Kentucky, makes its turn, and heads back towards D.C.

When the plane on the screen makes it's final run at the Pentagon, the heading on the screen dial shows 70 degrees magnetic. So far so good.

Now here's the problem.

The images on the screen on the ground, the Naval Annex, the highways, and the Pentagon itself are oriented in relation to the plane in such a way that the little plane on the screen would have to be approaching at a magnetic heading of about 80-90 degrees, not 70 degrees.

In other words, the objects in the animation on the ground are lined up with the little plane in a way that's inconsistent with the real world alignment. I'm using the runway at Dulles as a reference point because it's on the ground too. The plane on the screen lines up with the runway properly, but doesn't line up with the Naval Annex and the Pentagon properly in relation to the magnetic heading shown on the screen.

The question becomes why?

The possible answers are:

1) The animation is based on the REAL FL 77 FDR data. The REAL flight path took FL 77 north of the citgo and Naval Annex, and the altitude was too high to hit the Pentagon. The implication is that the REAL FL 77 flew over the Pentagon. The NTSB tried to fake the animation by inserting the mag heading of 70 on the screen, but screwed up by leaving the actual visual flight path unaltered.

OR

2) Somebody else tried to fake the animation to make it look like the flight path was north of the Citgo and too high to hit the Pentagon. They weren't able to keep either the csv data file, the animation, or their explanations consistent. The plane on the animation looks like it's coming in north of the Citgo, but the 70 degree mag heading makes this a physical impossibility.

OR

3) Somehow the map of the Pentagon area in the database was just innocently and mistakenly loaded at the wrong orientation, with north on the map being more closely aligned with magnetic north, i.e., rotated about 10 or so degrees counter-clockwise from true north (forgive me if I'm not using the proper terminology).

In any case, the animation is WRONG for lack of a better word. A better description might be, "The animation alleged to have originated from the NTSB shows FL 77 approaching the Pentagon with an instrument reading of 70 degrees magnetic but with a visual approach closer to 80-90 degrees magnetic." These two statements are facts and not in dispute.

Another way to think of it: The plane on the screen is shown approaching the Pentagon with a heading that should correlate to an 80-90 readout on the dial face in the animation, but the dial face shows 70 instead.

Hope that helps!