Remembering 9/11 Hero Betty Ong, the Flight Attendant That Alerted the World to the Events on Flight 11

On September 11, 2001 at approximately 8:20 am, Betty Ann Ong spoke in a hushed voice on an Airfone from the back of American Airlines Flight 11. In a calm manner, she told employees on the ground, “The cockpit’s not answering. Somebody’s stabbed in business class — and I think there’s mace…I think we’re getting hijacked.”

Betty, 45, was working an extra shift on Flight 11 in order to join her sister on vacation. But 14 minutes after the plane took off, it made an abrupt U-turn and headed towards New York City. Together with fellow flight attendant Madeline Sweeney, Betty relayed the seat numbers of the five hijackers, allowing authorities to quickly identify them.

Because of their bravery, the world knows the events that took place on Flight 11, how the hijackers took over the plane, and the identity of the hijackers. Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower at 8:46 a.m. Betty’s last words: “Pray for us. Pray for us.”

Betty, whose mother emigrated from China, was born in San Francisco and was the youngest of four siblings. When her family heard the story about a brave flight attendant who had provided information from the plane, they knew that it had to be Betty.

They eventually spoke with Nydia Gonzalez, the American Airlines employee that Betty had spoken to on the ground and learned the details of her heroic actions. Cathie Ong-Herrera, one of Betty’s older sisters, told the New York Post that her sister “gave her life for her country.”

In 2004, the Ong family created a foundation in Betty’s honor. It funds summer camp for kids and social programs for seniors at the Betty Ann Ong Chinese Recreation Center in San Francisco. “We continue to keep her legacy alive by the work we’re doing,” Cathie said. “We want to mirror who Betty was.”