On September 11, 2001, Betty Ong and Amy Sweeney became two of the first people to alert authorities that America was under attack.
American Airlines Flight 11 was flying from Boston to Los Angeles when terrorists hijacked the Boeing 767. After crew members were attacked and the cockpit was taken over, flight attendants Ong and Sweeney made critical calls from the aircraft, providing ground officials with vital information about the hijacking.
Ong, the purser and a 14-year American Airlines veteran, called from her jump seat using the Airfone. She reported that crew members had been stabbed and that two men had forced their way into the cockpit. Her calm communication helped authorities understand the unfolding emergency in real time.
Sweeney also contacted American Airlines personnel, relaying information about the attackers and the situation aboard the aircraft.
Neither woman survived. All 87 people aboard Flight 11 were killed when the aircraft was deliberately flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
The crew also included pilots John Ogonowski and Thomas McGuinness Jr., along with flight attendants Karen Martin, Kathleen Nicosia, Dianne Snyder, Barbara Arestegui, Jeffrey Collman, Sara Low and Jean Roger.
For their fellow flight attendants, Ong and Sweeney represented the responsibility and courage carried by aviation crews every day: protecting passengers even in the most unimaginable circumstances.
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in the September 11 attacks, including 25 flight attendants and eight pilots. Their names are remembered at the 9/11 Memorial in New York.
Betty Ong’s legacy continues through a recreation center and foundation named in her honor in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
More than two decades later, their courage remains a powerful reminder of the bravery shown by aviation professionals on one of the darkest days in American history.
