When United Airlines Flight 93 impacted the ground in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 2001, it did so at a nearly vertical angle while traveling at an estimated speed of 563 miles per hour. Because the impact site was a former strip mine with relatively soft, reclaimed soil, the force of the crash caused the aircraft to burrow significantly into the earth. The immediate impact crater was approximately 15 feet deep and 30 feet wide; however, during the subsequent recovery and forensic investigation, excavators had to dig much deeper to recover wreckage and remains. Crews eventually excavated the site to a depth of roughly 27 to 40 feet within an 85-foot-by-85-foot area. Most of the aircraft disintegrated upon impact, with debris and sandstone fragments intermingling deep underground, while a smaller portion of the wreckage sheared off and was scattered across a 70-acre debris field in the nearby forest.