Remembering Betty Ong, the Asian American flight attendant who was the first person to alert authorities about the terrorist attacks on 9/11
This article contains the audio of Betty Ann Ong’s call from the plane that struck Tower I of the World Trade Center at 8:46 on September 11, 2001.
Betty Ann Ong was a 45-year-old Chinese American head flight attendant working aboard American Airlines Flight 11. Betty was the first person to alert authorities about the terrorist attacks on 9/11. She was working extra shifts so she could afford a vacation to Hawaii with her sister. At 8:20a on Sept. 11, 2001, Betty called ground employees saying, “The cockpit is not answering. Somebody's stabbed in business class, and, um, I think there's Mace and we can't breathe. I don't know, I think we are getting hijacked.”
Betty remained on the phone and relayed critical information for 23 minutes. It’s because of Betty’s brave call that we now know what happened on AA Flight 11. Betty and a fellow flight attendant (Madeline Sweeney) also helped identify the terrorists by providing their seat numbers.
Betty’s last words before AA Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower were, “Pray for us. Pray for us.”
🇺🇸 May we never forget Betty’s courage and bravery.
