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Flight Attendant Betty Ong Says There Is No Doctor on Flight 11 to Help the Injured

Started by Archangel, August 03, 2017, 08:29:22 PM

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Archangel

Betty Ong, a flight attendant on the hijacked Flight 11, tells American Airlines employees on the ground that there are no doctors on her plane who could help the injured crew members, and this information leads an airline manager to decide that he wants Flight 11 to land at the next available airport. [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19; Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/11/2001, pp. 49-51; 9/11 Commission, 1/27/2004 pdf file]

Ong is on the phone with employees at the American Airlines Southeastern Reservations Office in North Carolina (see 8:18 a.m. September 11, 2001). [9/11 Commission, 8/26/2004, pp. 8]

She previously told them that the "number one" flight attendant on her plane—Karen Martin—and the "number five" flight attendant—Barbara Arestegui—had been stabbed (see 8:19 a.m. September 11, 2001 and 8:21 a.m. September 11, 2001). [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 3-6]

Ong Confirms that Stabbed Flight Attendant Is on Oxygen - Nydia Gonzalez, one of the reservations office employees talking to Ong, asks, "So the number one flight attendant—the one that was stabbed—she's on oxygen right now?" [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19]

Ong says that other crew members have been "able to administer oxygen" to Martin and that Martin is "able to breathe," Gonzalez will later recall. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/12/2001, pp. 69-71; 9/11 Commission, 1/27/2004 pdf file]

Gonzalez then asks, "And the number five: that was a superficial wound, you were saying?" [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19] Ong says the number five flight attendant's injury is less serious. [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/12/2001, pp. 69-71]

Ong Says There Is No Doctor on Flight 11 - While she is on the phone with Ong, 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]

Marquis now requests that Gonzalez ask Ong a question. He says to Gonzalez: "Who's helping them? Is there a doctor on board?" Gonzalez passes on Marquis's question, asking Ong, "Is there a doctor on board, Betty, that's assisting you guys?" [American Airlines, 9/11/2001, pp. 7-19] Ong indicates that there isn't a doctor on Flight 11. [9/11 Commission, 1/27/2004 pdf file]

Marquis Wants Flight 11 to Land - Marquis will tell the FBI that because there is "no doctor on board Flight 11 to help the injured," he wants "the aircraft to land at the next available airport." Because of "the medical emergencies and the violence" on the plane, Marquis will say, he intends "for medical personnel and law enforcement to meet the aircraft as soon as it landed." [Federal Bureau of Investigation, 9/11/2001, pp. 49-51]