At 06:09 PM 9/17/01 +0200 J. van Baardwijk wrote:
>IIRC, there is a very tall monument (do not know which one) fairly close to
>the White House. Could that not be used as a landmark to find the White
>House from the air? Or is that monument also very difficult to find from
>the air?
No, the monument is very easy to find - the only things more visible in the
DC Skyline are the Capitol Building and the Basilica of the National Shrine
of the Immaculate Conception.
As a DC Resident - and someone who has, as a matter of fact, been on the
grounds of the Washington Monument, and asked for directions to the White
House, I can tell you that getting from one to the other is not intuitive.
There is a very large park known as "The Ellipse" in the way, and you
cannot see the White House very well at all from the Washington Monument.
People forget that the White House is very literally a *house.* Above
ground, it is not all that substantial.
Nick has suggested that it would be easier from the air. I'd point out,
however, that the area of restricted air space is much larger than the
White House. Additionally, these hijackers were clearly engaged in
precision flying. On the targets that were hit, they literally aimed
their aircraft at a particular *floor* of the target.
It is not inconceivable that flying above DC, someone is not familiar with
the nieghborhood would quickly become nervous about their ability to
precisely acquire their target at the White House and decide to take "the
bird in the hand" at the Pentagon instead.
JDG
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
"Freedom itself was attacked today, and Freedom will be Defended."
-U.S. President George W. Bush, 09/11/01
