New York, NY — “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’re getting hijacked, ” Flight attendant Betty Ong, described from an airfone in her jump seat on the morning of September 11, 2001. For 23 minutes, Ong calmly passed vital information about the hijackers to the American Airlines reservations desk. This led to the closing of airspace by the Federal Aviation Administration for the first time in U.S. history and probably helped to save other lives. At 8:47 am, American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into Tower 1 of New York City’s World Trade Center. “Pray for us,” were Ong’s last words.

Betty Ann Ong was not even scheduled to be on Flight 11 from Boston to New York that day. She had volunteered to take the job in order to earn extra money for a planned trip to Hawaii with her sister Cathie. The two of them were going to meet in Los Angeles later in the afternoon to discuss their plans for the upcoming trip. I never met Betty Ong, but it feels like I knew her. She was like a lot of kids I knew growing up. A second generation Chinatown girl. Sze Yup Cantonese like my father’s family. Betty had been a flight attendant for 14 years. She loved her job, and would often skip breaks in order to tend to the needs of passengers, recalled her co workers. According to her sister Cathie, Betty was fascinated by travel. The two of them would often go to San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to watch planes take off and dream about the places they would go. Like Betty, I too would often visit SFO, to watch planes and passengers and wonder about the fabulous destinations they were traveling to and from. Betty’s father never gave up hope that his youngest child was still alive. Family members stated that he would sit until late at night glued to the television, watching for any news about her. He did this until he died in 2007.

Twenty five flight attendants, eight pilots and three customer service agents were among the 2,996 people who died in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Thousands were injured and more than 2000 deaths are attributed to illnesses related to 9/11. Those deaths are expected to outnumber those who were lost in the attacks. To learn more about Betty Ong and the many other heroines and heroes of 9/11 visit the 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York City:https://www.911memorial.org/

Three years after her untimely passing, the 9/11 Commission declared Betty Ong a national hero. On July 14, 2012 the San Francisco Parks and Recreation Department dedicated its newly renovated and renamed Betty Ann Ong Chinese Recreation Center. Originally built in 1951, the Chinese Rec Center was where Ong often played as a youth. https://sfpublicworks.org/project/betty-ann-ong-recreation-center

Throughout her life, Betty loved spending time with youth and senior citizens. Thousands of youth and seniors are served every year by the rec center and the Betty Ann Ong Foundation To donate or learn more:https://www.bettyannong.com/the-foundation