I've flown into and out of DC more times than I care to count. Most takeoffs from National (now Ron Ron) go up the Potomac between the Pentagon and the DC Mall. It would be far too easy to turn one of those babies and push the nose down. When you go by the Pentagon on a normal takeoff you may be a thousand feet up, but certainly not 1500.

It's 30 miles from Dulles to the Pentagon. At 300 miles per hour, that's six minutes. At 600 MPH it's 3 minutes. NO air force in the world can scramble a plane in that time. Takes that long to get from the ready room to the cockpit.

And what I would do if I were the terrorist would be to take over the plane as soon as the wheels were up, go up the river right over National Airport, and you are literally fifteen seconds from the Pentagon.


TEd