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25 years later, 9/11 call brings families together

By Sohail Khan 14 September 2026, 12:55 am

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Business News›News›International›Global Trends›9/11 first call from hijacked plane: 25 years later, Betty Ong’s family finally meets the woman who answered her historic call before Flight 11 crashed

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9/11 first call from hijacked plane: 25 years later, Betty Ong’s family finally meets the woman who answered her historic call before Flight 11 crashed
Synopsis

Twenty-five years after 9/11, Vanessa Minter, the American Airlines reservations agent who answered Betty Ong's historic call from hijacked Flight 11, finally met Ong's family. Here's what happened during the emotional reunion and why Ong's final phone call remains an important part of the history of the September 11 attacks.

Twenty-five years after the September 11 attacks, one of the most haunting phone calls from that morning has brought two families together. On Sept. 11, 2001, American Airlines flight attendant Betty Ong was aboard hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 when she made a call to an American Airlines reservations center. On the other end was reservations agent Vanessa Minter, who would become the last person Ong spoke to before the plane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Now, a quarter-century after that call, Minter has finally met Ong's family in person.

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Who was Betty Ong?

Betty Ong was an American Airlines flight attendant aboard Flight 11, which had departed Boston for Los Angeles on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. As the hijacking unfolded, Ong used an onboard phone to contact American Airlines. Her call became one of the earliest warnings that something was seriously wrong aboard the aircraft. Speaking to CBS News, Minter recalled Ong's first words: "She said, 'I think we're being hijacked,'" Minter recalled.

Minter said Ong's tone immediately told her that the situation was real. "I had to ask myself, could I have done that? Because she was literally a pillar. She knew what she was doing. She knew what information we needed, and she was all business," Minter said.

During the conversation, Ong provided critical information about what was happening aboard Flight 11. Her call ultimately contributed to the Federal Aviation Administration's decision to close U.S. airspace, according to CBS News.

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The significance of those few minutes became clearer as the morning unfolded. Flight 11 was one of four commercial airplanes hijacked during the 9/11 attacks. It crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Minter was the person who remained connected to Ong during those final moments.

Reuters

South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsing after the twin towers were hit by hijacked planes

One of the last things Ong said to her was: "Pray for us." Minter later reflected on the painful reality of being on the other end of that call. "I was the last person that she spoke to, and I couldn't make it better. I couldn't even help," she said.

The letter Minter sent to Betty Ong’s family

Three weeks after the attacks, Minter wrote a letter to Ong's family in California. She wanted them to know what she had witnessed during those final moments and how strongly Ong's courage had affected her. "I want you to know that she will always be in my heart and my prayers as I go through life," Minter wrote.

The letter was given to Ong's older brother, Harry. For Ong's family, it provided something they had not previously known: details about the call their daughter and sister had made from the hijacked aircraft. "When we listened to it, we were so proud of Betty," Harry told CBS News.

For 25 years, Minter never traveled west to meet Ong's family. That changed in 2026. Minter recently reunited with Harry at Ong's memorial at Cypress Lawn Memorial Park in Colma, California, outside San Francisco. Harry later invited Minter to his home, where he showed her some of the family's keepsakes, including Ong's identification tags and a letter from then-President George W. Bush.

Reuters

The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses after the twin towers were hit by hijacked planes during the attacks in New York City, U.S., September 11, 2001. REUTERS/Petra Beter

Minter also met Ong's mother, Gum, who is now 99 years old. The meeting carried an emotional significance that could hardly have been imagined when Minter first answered the phone 25 years ago. "You have such a brave daughter. I feel like I'm a member of this family already," Minter told Gum.

While Ong's actions have become an important part of the history of 9/11, her brother Harry said the focus should not be limited to one person. "Betty was a hero, but not — not the fact that she's the only hero, right? We envelope almost 3,000 people who have perished that day, and we have to just remember them and to say that they're all heroes, and many, many more," Harry said.

Ong's story is now part of a much larger effort to remember the people behind the numbers as America marks 25 years since the September 11 attacks. Her call lasted only minutes. But the information she provided helped authorities understand that a hijacking was underway — and ensured that her voice became one of the earliest recorded warnings of the tragedy unfolding in the skies above America.

Betty Ong died when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Her family continues to remember her at her memorial in California. CBS News reported that crews recovered a bone fragment with her DNA two blocks from Ground Zero in 2002.

Twenty-five years later, the meeting between her family and the woman who answered her final call offered a deeply personal connection to a moment that changed the United States forever.

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