ABC NEWS
9/11: Flight Attendant on Hijacked Plane Seems Calm
Wed Jan 28 14:34:38 2004
64.140.158.141

Flight Attendant on Hijacked Plane Seems Calm in Recording Played for Panel Investigating 9/11
http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20040128_629.html

WASHINGTON Jan. 28 — The flight attendant aboard American Airlines Flight 11 seemed calm and professional beyond reason as she reported a ghastly scenario during a 23-minute telephone call just before the plane slammed into one of the World Trade Center towers. A hijacking was under way, she knew three people had been stabbed and she couldn't tell what was happening in the cockpit.

The Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States heard portions of flight attendant Betty Ong's 23-minute conversation with the operations center on the second of a two-day hearing Tuesday.

"The cockpit is not answering their phone," Ong told the American Airlines operations center. "There's somebody stabbed in business class, and we can't breathe in business. Um, I think there is some Mace or something. We can't breathe.

"I don't know, but I think we're getting hijacked."

Ong, 45, known as "Bee," of Andover, Mass., was working coach class on the American Airlines Boeing 767 flying from Boston to Los Angeles on Sept. 11, 2001, before suspected 9/11 ringleader Mohammed Atta and four others took over the plane and crashed it into the North Tower of the Trade Center.

Nydia Gonzalez, on duty at the operations center that morning, told the panel how she received Ong's call at about 8:20 a.m.

"Several media accounts of what occurred on Flight 11 claimed that Betty was `hysterical with fear,' `shrieking' and `gasping for air,'" Gonzalez said. "Those accounts were wrong."

"In a very calm, professional and poised demeanor, Betty Ong relayed to us detailed information of the events unfolding on Flight 11," Gonzalez added.

In the conversation, Ong tells the operations center her flight and seat number and describes the scene on board.

"I'm sitting in the back. Somebody's coming back from business. If you can hold on for one second here, they're coming back.

"Our No. 1 (flight attendant) got stabbed. Our purser is stabbed. Nobody knows who stabbed who. We can't even get up to business class right now, because nobody can breathe. Uh, our No. 1 is stabbed right now.

"Our No. 5, our first class passenger, er, our first class galley flight attendant and our purser have been stabbed. And we can't get into the cockpit. The door won't open."

"We can't even get into the cockpit. We don't know who's there," Ong says, before the call ends in a dial tone.

The Boeing 767 rammed into the World Trade Center's north tower at 8:46 a.m.

On the Net:

National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States:
http://www.9-11commission.gov/
================================================

The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission), an independent, bipartisan commission created by congressional legislation and the signature of President George W. Bush in late 2002, is chartered to prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including preparedness for and the immediate response to the attacks. The Commission is also mandated to provide recommendations designed to guard against future attacks.

The Commission held its seventh public hearing January 26-27, 2004
http://www.9-11commission.gov/hearings/hearing7.htm

National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States
Tel: 202-331-4060 info@9-11Commission.gov Fax: 202-296-5545

APFN 9/11 INFO AND LINKS:
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/wtc.htm 

• More Phoney Baloney — The Webfairy, Wed Jan 28 18:45
• Real Calls from Hijacked Planes? The Definitive Test — Tono Cobo, Wed Jan 28 17:58