On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, American Airlines flight attendant Betty Ann Ong was the first person to sound the alarm about the tragedy that was about to unfold.
The San Francisco native was based at Logan International Airport in Massachusetts and was aboard Flight 11 bound for Los Angeles with 92 people on board when hijackers took over the plane.
“My name is Betty Ong, I’m number three on Flight 11,” Ong said in a call to the American Airlines reservation center in Raleigh, North Carolina. “The cockpit’s not answering. Somebody’s stabbed in business class and — I think there’s mace — we can’t breathe. I don’t know, I think we’re getting hijacked.”
Ong remained on the phone for 23 minutes, relaying information about what was unfolding onboard until the plane she was on careened into the World Trade Center’s North Tower at 8:46 a.m. That call led air traffic controllers to land every plane flying over the U.S.
Her bravery on that day made her a national hero. Twenty-five years later, Ong’s name and legacy lives on in San Francisco’s Chinatown where she grew up, and in the heart of her older brother, Harry Ong, who grieves for the litte sister he called “Bee.”
“It still hurts. You almost die 25 times,” Harry Ong said. “Every year you hope that America and the world won’t forget 9/11, yet you yourself want to forget 9/11.”
Harry said his wife woke him up that morning and they watched the news unfold on TV, but didn’t know Betty was on that plane.
“I didn’t know until about 7 o’clock our time. And I just called American Airlines, kept calling them for about five, six times. And finally, they acknowledged that Betty may have been on that flight,” Harry said.
Betty wasn’t supposed to be on that flight. She picked up an extra shift to earn money for an upcoming trip with her sisters, Cathie and Gloria.
“When she didn’t call back, after we’ve left messages on her cell phone to please call and contact us, and she never returned a call, our hearts were sinking fast,” Harry recalled.
Harry then had call his parents to tell deliver the heartbreaking news.
Twenty-five years later, Harry says he’s still not at peace with her passing.
“My feeling as her elder brother and the only brother in our culture was to protect her, and I had somehow had this feeling of just failing her,” he said.
Harry said the family is still proud of what she did that day, adding “she did her duty and her professionalism showed.”
Betty Ann Ong grew up in Chinatown. She worked in her parents market on Jackson Street. And, when they decided to retire in 1987, she set out to travel and see the world, and became a flight attendant.
Today, Betty’s memory is carried on through the Betty Ann Ong Foundation and at the Betty Ann Ong Chinese Recreation Center in the neighborhood her family called home and where she once played.
“This was really her playground. And she would come up here whenever she didn’t have any homework or school,” Harry said.
The center was rebuilt and renamed, and now holds year-round programs for seniors and children in the community. It also hosts three big holiday parties every year in honor of Betty. Her name is everywhere at the center, on the walls and on posters, and on a bronze plaque hanging in the entrance for all to see as they walk in.
“Just never forget, never forget Betty. Never forget all those who are lost,” Harry said. “I always remember and pray for flight attendants wherever they are, wherever they may be, and I just hope that people will never forget 9/11.”
This story originally appeared on NBCBayArea.com.
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