If the Third Plane hits the White House?

The White House would be rebuilt as quickly as possible I would imagine, but not before every bit of the rubble is scoured through looking for relics that may have survived. That would be the most tragic part of this, all of the Presidential portraits that may be lost, including Washington's. Imagine a restoration effort like never before to. A thing to discuss here is how much of the complex would be damaged in a hit? would the oval office and west wing be alright if the plane hit the residence directly?

The President would likely reside at Blair House during reconstruction, much as Truman did with the renovation.
 
The president has multiple properties, such as Camp David, Blair House, Trowbridge House, and the Presidential Townhouse.
Those are alright for when there are repairs going on, but the public expects a certain grandeur to the president's residence. And space, given how many reception areas and offices are needed. I doubt the terrorists were even aiming for the White House, the Capitol being a far larger target. If they did hit the White House though, I imagine the Eisenhower building would be a bit damaged. Might even block most of the hit actually, since the plane was being flown from the North. Or was that office building to the West?
 
Those are alright for when there are repairs going on, but the public expects a certain grandeur to the president's residence. And space, given how many reception areas and offices are needed. I doubt the terrorists were even aiming for the White House, the Capitol being a far larger target. If they did hit the White House though, I imagine the Eisenhower building would be a bit damaged. Might even block most of the hit actually, since the plane was being flown from the North. Or was that office building to the West?

that is another thing, I would imagine the white house to be surprisingly hard to hit when moving that fast. its very low to the ground and has a hefty amount of trees and other buildings in the approach to the residence.
 
... A thing to discuss here is how much of the complex would be damaged in a hit? would the oval office and west wing be alright if the plane hit the residence directly? ...

Depends on how much fuels is aboard. The energy from the aircraft impact is varied by angle of the hit. & the nature of the aircrafts structure disapates (maybe there is a better term) the energy relatively quickly. Look closely at photos of other air crashes among buildings as those may correspond more closely to conditions of a strike at the White House. Then look twin towers & Pentagon strike to see how the damage spreads or does not spread through the structures. What the fuels does is create a low order by large explosive package, with follow on damage from fire. Had the aircraft struck the twin towers with negligable fuel aboard the towers would not have fallen. It was the intense fire that caused the steel frame to fail.

The 'Bunker' under the White House. is part of a large solidly constructed basement complex that is connected to the adjacent Executive office buildings. Connecting tunnels extend some distance. Since the DC metro was built in the early 1970s I've been hearing rumors about a subway spur that serves the Executive buildings group. That may o may not be true, but the bottom line is anyone leaving the 'White House Bunker' can do so via the tunnels & emerge blocks away & transfer to surface vehicles in one of several enclosed parking/service garages or heliocopter landing sites.

There also have been rumors for decades about antiaircraft defenses for the White House & Capitol building. I regard them as strictly rumors, but they can be another variable in this.
 
White House gets rebuilt with memorial on site.

US more pissed, public gives W. more of a nod to go after terrorists.

Might mean that W. gets less flack more of a united front when he goes after Iraq.

If he is more agressive, does that mean that OBL is captured at Tora Bora?
 
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