{"id":458649,"date":"2026-09-09T22:02:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T22:02:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/458649\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T22:02:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T22:02:11","slug":"american-airlines-flight-attendant-betty-ong-was-the-first-to-report-a-9-11-hijacking-shes-remembered-as-a-hero-25-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/458649\/","title":{"rendered":"American Airlines flight attendant Betty Ong was the first to report a 9\/11 hijacking, she’s remembered as a hero 25 years later"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — 25 years later, Harry Ong still gets anxious as the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks approaches.<\/p>\n

“As September 11th approaches each and every year, the tension just builds up and the stress, sometimes debilitation. We never forget,” said Ong.<\/p>\n

Harry Ong is the oldest brother of Betty Ong, who was a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane hijacked by terrorists that fateful day.<\/p>\n

RELATED: One attack, many Americas: Why 9\/11 and its many griefs land differently 25 years later<\/a><\/p>\n

20 minutes after Flight 11 left Boston Logan International Airport, Betty Ong called the American Airlines reservation desk to report someone was stabbed in business class and the cockpit was not answering.<\/p>\n

Air traffic controllers suspected something was wrong on the flight when the plane veered off course.<\/p>\n

Betty Ong was the first to report what was happening.<\/p>\n

“I think we’re getting hijacked,” she said. Ong stayed on the phone with American Airlines representatives for 23 minutes.<\/p>\n

She provided crucial information on where the terrorists were seated, which helped authorities identify the men.<\/p>\n

The call ended when Flight 11 hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center.<\/p>\n

“We’re very proud of Betty and what she did,” said Harry Ong.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Meet the New York City chefs who kept Ground Zero workers fueled after the 9\/11 attacks<\/a><\/p>\n

Six months after the attacks, Betty Ong’s thigh bone was found two blocks away from the World Trade Center.<\/p>\n

The bone was cremated, and her ashes were interred in the Ong family plot in Colma.<\/p>\n

“About 40% of the families have not received any remains of their loved ones,” said Harry Ong. “It’s very, very meaningful to have her home, even though it’s just a knee bone, but she’s home.”<\/p>\n

Betty Ong grew up in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Several members of her family still live in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Every year around the anniversary of the attacks, her family goes on a retreat in her memory, but that’s only a part of what they do to honor her memory.<\/p>\n

“It still hurts and the pain and anguish is still there, but we try to move on and be more positive, helping other people through the community and volunteering work,” said Ong.<\/p>\n

The family has adopted the Chinese Recreation Center, which was renamed to honor Betty Ong.<\/p>\n

RELATED: NYC opens 9\/11 records portal, revealing new details about toxic conditions at Ground Zero<\/a><\/p>\n

They sponsor programs and throw parties for kids throughout the year.<\/p>\n

They also created the Betty Ann Ong Foundation, which provides summer camps and free shoe programs for youth in Bakersfield, where one of Betty’s sisters lives.<\/p>\n

“It’s just a good feeling and to know that we try to promote Betty’s legacy continually,” said Ong.<\/p>\n

Betty Ong is considered a hero for the composure she displayed while reporting the plane’s hijacking.<\/p>\n

But her brother remembers something she asked on that phone call that the family has spent a quarter century answering.<\/p>\n

“Betty, at the end of the recording, she mentioned quite a few times. ‘Are you there?’ And certainly, I can tell you Betty that we’re here for you.”<\/p>\n

\"Now<\/a>
<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2026 KGO-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — 25 years later, Harry Ong still gets anxious as the anniversary of the September…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458650,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[180925,180924,180921,180923,101,103,102,104,106,105,180922],"class_list":["post-458649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-180925","tag-9-11-hijacking","tag-9-11-terrorist-attacks","tag-american-airlines-flight-11","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news","tag-which-planes-hit-the-world-trade-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}