Pentagon to release footage of 9/11 attack

The Pentagon said tonight it planned to release video images of American Airlines Flight 77 crashing into the military headquarters building and killing 184 people in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The images, recorded by a Pentagon security camera, are to be released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by Judicial Watch, a public interest group.

The video had previously been leaked and publicly circulated, but this is the first time the US government will have officially released the footage.

The hijacked American Airlines plane slammed into the south-west side of the Pentagon at 9.38am local time, shortly after two other hijacked airlines were flown into the twin towers at the World Trade Centre in New York.

The attack set off fires in a portion of the Pentagon and killed 125 people inside, in addition to those on board the plane.

“We fought hard to obtain this video because we felt that it was very important to complete the public record with respect to the terrorist attacks of September 11,” said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch.