Some remains of 9/11 dead may have ended up in landfill

Partial remains of several victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States were incinerated by a military contractor and sent to a landfill, a government report said Tuesday in the latest of a series of revelations about the Pentagon's main mortuary for the war dead.

The surprise disclosure was mentioned only briefly, with little detail, in a report by an independent panel that studied underlying management flaws at Dover Air Force Base mortuary in Delaware. A 2011 probe found "gross mismanagement'' there, but until Tuesday there had been no mention of Dover's role in handling remains of victims from the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York and the attack on the Pentagon in suburban Washington.

Air Force leaders, asked about the Sept. 11 matter at a news conference, said they had been unaware of it until the head of the independent panel, retired Army Gen. John Abizaid, held a Pentagon news conference Tuesday to explain his panel's findings.

"This is new information to me," Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said.

He said it was unclear whether the matter would be investigated further.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's press secretary, George Little, said Panetta "never would have supported" the disposal of remains in a landfill. "He understands why families would have serious concerns about such a policy."

Debra Burlingame, sister of Charles Burlingame, pilot of the passenger plane that was flown into the Pentagon by terrorist hijackers, said she was confused by the report. She said she attended a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery at which unidentified 9/11 remains were buried in an engraved casket.

"They were treated with great respect and great ceremony," Burlingame said. "The Department of Defense was exceedingly sensitive and treated those unidentified remains with great respect. ... I would want to know more."

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