Question about the President's Itinerary on 9/11...

[mikelewis]

According to the Cooperative Research website....

(4:33 p.m.): Air Force One Leaves Nebraska; Heads Toward Washington
President Bush leaves Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska for Washington.

This photo of Bush speaking to Cheney shortly after leaving Offutt will later be used for Republican fundraising purposes. This photo of Bush speaking to Cheney shortly after leaving Offutt will later be used for Republican fundraising purposes.



(6:54 p.m.): Bush Returns to White House

President Bush arrives at the White House, after exiting Air Force One at 6:42 p.m. and flying across Washington in a helicopter.

This from Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England in a Town Hall speech given in Bahrain on January 22, 2007...

And that was on 9/10. And then very next morning, 9/11, we had the attack. We had the attack in New York. We had the attack in the Pentagon and we had the airplane went down in Pennsylvania. Then that night, on 9/11, we had a meeting in the Pentagon -- and I remember this well, because the president came to the Pentagon that evening, at 6:15 in the evening, and the Pentagon was still burning and CNO and I were not sure at the point how many people had been wounded and killed, because we were still trying to account for people, because you know, people were traveling and all those sorts of things.

And you could still smell the smoke in the building and you could sort of feel it, you know, in the air. You could sort of feel it on your hands. And the president came and met in the conference room right next to Secretary Rumsfeld's office. And he came and he said, "Get ready." He said, "Get ready." He said, "This is going to be a long war." He said, "And this is not going to be like removing a mole." He said, "This is like removing a cancer." He said, "This isn't going to be quick. It's going to be long, take a long, long time." He said, "It's not just the military." He said, "It's going to be military and it's going to be diplomatic and it's going to be economic." He said, "But the military's going to have to do their role, because it won't succeed without the military."


And he went around the room and he said to everybody, he said, "Never forget." He said, "Never forget what happened today." He said, "People will forget." He said, "I want the American people to go on with their lives." He said, "I will never forget and none of you can ever forget, because we are charged with the defense and the security of the United States of America and of our friends and allies." He said, "So never forget."
http://www.defenselink.mil/Transcripts/Transcript.aspx?TranscriptID=3874

The time line has the President leaving Nebraska at 4:33 p.m. and Arriving at 6:42 p.m. which would make his flight a 2 hour and 9 minute flight... which is quite impressive considering the average flight time is roughly 3 hours and 25 minutes from Omaha to D.C. However, if this persons account is factual, the President made the trip to the Pentagon in 1 hour and 30 minutes; if you shave off a minimum of 15 minutes for the ride from his landing location to the Pentagon. Since the trip from Omaha to D.C. is roughly 1000 miles, Air Force One would be required to fly at a speed of roughly 666 miles an hour. The museum of flight lists the top speed of Air Force One @ 590 mph... so how did the President get to the Pentagon so quickly?

Is Gordon England just making up stories? The President could not have made it from Omaha to D.C. in 1 hour and 30 minutes unless he was flying in an F16; yet Gordon seems to recall the time and events quite vividly. If Bush was in D.C. at 6:15 as Gordon states, why would CNN, MSNBC, and the Washington Times list him as leaving Offutt AFB at 4:33?

4:30 p.m.: The president leaves Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska aboard Air Force One to return to Washington.

****4:30-6:00 p.m.: Bush travels 1,000 miles in 1 hour and 30 minutes in a plane that can only fly at top speed of 590 mph.

****6:00 p.m.: Bush arrives from Omaha and travels to the Pentagon

****6:15 p.m.: President is in a meeting with Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England ****

6:40 p.m.: Rumsfeld, the U.S. defense secretary, holds a news conference in the Pentagon, noting the building is operational. "It will be in business tomorrow," he says.

6:54 p.m.: Bush arrives back at the White House aboard Marine One and is scheduled to address the nation at 8:30 p.m. The president earlier landed at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland with a three-fighter jet escort. CNN's John King reports Laura Bush arrived earlier by motorcade from a "secure location."
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/09/11/chronology.attack/

[wildbilln864]

1. things...

that make ya go hmmm!
:hi: