September 11, 2001 Research & Archives

Betty Ong, a flight attendant on Flight 11, tells American Airlines employees on the ground that a passenger on her plane has been stabbed and may be dead. [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 12]

Ong is on the phone with three members of staff at the American Airlines Southeastern Reservations Office in North Carolina. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/12/2001, pp. 38-41; 9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 5, 453]

Ong Names Passenger Who May Have Been 'Fatally Wounded' - One of them, Nydia Gonzalez, asks Ong if the first class section of her plane was full when the flight was hijacked. She then asks, "Do we know how the passengers up there [in first class] are doing, if any of the passengers got hurt?" [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19]

When she first reached the reservations office, Ong mentioned that somebody had been "stabbed in business class," but gave no further details about the stabbing (see 8:19 a.m. September 11, 2001). [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 3-6; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 8]

Now, Gonzalez will later recall, Ong says she has been "informed by other flight attendants that a passenger by the name of Daniel Lewin may have been fatally wounded" (see (8:20 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/12/2001, pp. 69-71]

This is "the first indication" that authorities on the ground receive "of a fatality on board" Flight 11, according to the 9/11 Commission. [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 12] Gonzalez asks, "One of our passengers is?" She then checks with Ong, "So just, you know of just one [passenger] that got stabbed?" [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19]

Gonzalez Passes on News of Fatality to Airline Operations Center - Gonzalez has been relaying the information Ong provides to Craig Marquis, the manager on duty at the American Airlines System Operations Control center in Texas, on another phone line (see (8:21 a.m.) September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 11/19/2003 pdf file; Spencer, 2008, pp. 17-18]

She immediately passes on the new information. Gonzalez tells Marquis: "They think they might have a fatality on the flight. One of our passengers, possibly on [seat] 9B, Levin or Lewin, might have been fatally stabbed." She says, "I was just asking about how [the] first class passengers were doing, and [Ong] mentioned that there might be one that they think might be fatally stabbed." Gonzalez then returns to her conversation with Ong (see 8:35 a.m.-8:36 a.m. September 11, 2001). [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19; 9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 12]