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25 years later, family meets woman who took flight attendant's historic 9/11 call

An American Airlines reservations agent who took Betty Ong’s historic 9/11 call recalls the flight attendant’s bravery. In Cary, North Carolina, Vanessa Minter was among the first people on the ground to learn about the terror unfolding in…
One Place News   •   September 29, 2026   •   Updated September 29, 2026
25 years later, family meets woman who took flight attendant's historic 9/11 call

An American Airlines reservations agent who took Betty Ong’s historic 9/11 call recalls the flight attendant’s bravery.

In Cary, North Carolina, Vanessa Minter was among the first people on the ground to learn about the terror unfolding in the air on Sept. 11, 2001.Minter, an American Airlines reservations agent, was on the other end of a phone call with flight attendant Betty Ong, who was sitting in the back galley of hijacked American Airlines Flight 11, which had departed Boston for Los Angeles."She said, 'I think we're being hijacked,'" Minter recalled in an interview with "CBS Mornings." Minter said she knew the threat was real from the tone of Ong's voice."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 explained. Ong relayed critical information during the call that contributed to the FAA's decision to close U.S. airspace.She would be the last person Ong spoke with before the plane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Minter recalled some of Ong's final words during their conversation: "Pray for us.""I was the last person that she spoke to, and I couldn't make it better. I couldn't even help," Minter said.Three weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, Minter penned a letter to Ong's family in California. She described Ong's bravery and concern

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This One Place News story was acquired from cbsnews.com. OPN retains the source link and provenance for newsroom review.

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