Airplane fragment in patriotic box
Airplane fragment in patriotic box
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- Description
- Penny Elgas built a patriotic box to preserve this piece of American Airlines Flight 77, the plane that crashed into the Pentagon.
- (Detail of airplane fragment) This piece of a Boeing-757, American Airlines Flight 77, was torn from the plane as it clipped a light pole on approach to the Pentagon. All fifty-three airplane passengers, six crew members, and five hijackers were killed in the crash.
- Driving on a highway adjacent to the Pentagon on the morning of September 11, Penny Elgas stopped as she saw a passenger jet descend, clip a light pole near her, and then crash into the Pentagon. Arriving home, Elgas found this plane fragment in the back seat of her car (she theorizes that it dropped through the open sunroof). Feeling that it was her patriotic duty to preserve the fragment as a relic, she crafted a special box and lined it with red, white, and blue material.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- Airplane Fragment
- maker
- American Airlines
- Measurements
- overall: 22 1/2 in x 15 in x 3 in; 57.15 cm x 38.1 cm x 7.62 cm
- ID Number
- 2003.0059.01
- accession number
- 2003.0059
- catalog number
- 2003.0059.01
- Credit Line
- Gift of Penny Elgas and American Airlines
- September 11th Attacks
- See more items in
- Political and Military History: September 11
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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