Democratic Underground - It does appear that an approach from the NW is incorrect.

Searching the 9-11 Commission site gives us a little data (very little) to work with:

At 9:29, the autopilot on American 77 was disengaged; the aircraft was at 7,000 feet and approximately 38 miles west of the Pentagon. At 9:32, controllers at the Dulles Terminal Radar Approach Control "observed a primary radar target tracking eastbound at a high rate of speed." This was later determined to have been Flight 77.

At 9:34, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport advised the Secret Service of an unknown aircraft heading in the direction of the White House. American 77 was then 5 miles west-southwest of the Pentagon and began a 330-degree turn. At the end of the turn, it was descending through 2,200 feet, pointed toward the Pentagon and downtown Washington. The hijacker pilot then advanced the throttles to maximum power and dove toward the Pentagon.

At 9:37:46, American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon, traveling at approximately 530 miles per hour. All on board, as well as many civilian and military personnel in the building, were killed.

http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report_Ch1.htm

At 9:36, the FAA's Boston Center called NEADS and relayed the discovery about the aircraft closing in on Washington, an aircraft that still had not been linked with the missing American 77. The FAA told NEADS: "Latest report. Aircraft VFR [Visual Flight Rules] six miles southeast of the White House. ... Six, southwest. Six, southwest of the White House, deviating away."

http://www.9-11commission.gov/staff_statements/staff_statement_17.pdf

For that last report related to the White House, it would appear that the person quoted initially misspoke when they said, "six miles southeast" and then corrected themselves by stating "six, southwest" twice.

I didn't use a fine tooth comb while searching for the above results - but there does not really look to be a whole lot of information concerning this on their site. Although - during one of the public hearings I seem to recall there was a video presentation that had some info regarding the flight paths of the aircraft. But if my memory serves me, it didn't have the final approach information for AA77, but I'll try to find it anyway just in case I am mistaken.

- Make7

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