# @nextshark on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C_ykGh8TmOk
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/23154856-nextshark-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/d9261b6300.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-09-11T20:20:47.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NextShark (@nextshark) — https://gondola.cc/nextshark

## Caption

Meet Betty Ong, one of the forgotten heroes of 9/11.⁠
⁠
Chinese American flight attendant Betty Ong helped save lives by calling air traffic controllers to land every plane flying over U.S. airspace, avoiding any further potential similar incidents.⁠
⁠
With 81 passengers, 9 crew members and 2 pilots on board, American Airlines’ Flight 11 took off from Boston’s Logan Airport intended for Los Angeles, California.⁠
⁠
During the aircraft hijacking, Ong was able to use a telephone card to call in to American Airlines’ operations and Raleigh reservations center from the plane’s rear galley.⁠
⁠
Ong provided a detailed account of what was happening. Shortly after, the line went dead and her ground contact. No response was heard from the other line again.⁠
⁠
Hundreds of Chinese Americans in San Francisco gathered in a small park to pay tribute to Betty Ong ten days later. Willie Brown, the mayor of San Francisco at the time, gave a proclamation honoring those who lost their lives in the tragedy and called September 21 “Betty Ong Day.”⁠
⁠
“When 180,000 San Franciscans say their prayers, they can say the angel, Betty Ong, by name,” he was quoted as saying.⁠
⁠
In a formal statement for the 9/11 Commission, Gonzales, the American Airlines staff Ong came in contact with, explained:⁠
“With the assistance of her fellow crew members, Betty was able to provide us with vital information that would later prove crucial to the investigation. Betty’s selfless acts of courage and determination may have saved the lives of many others. She provided important information which ultimately led to the closing of our nation’s airspace for the first time in its history.”⁠
⁠
Betty Ong’s name is immortalized in the 9/11 Memorial dedicated on Sept. 11, 2011. She has also been memorialized at the recreation center in San Francisco’s Chinatown where she had played as a child, after the center was renamed in her honor, as the Betty Ann Ong Chinese Recreation Center.⁠
⁠
⁠
🤳Comment “email” to sign up to our daily newsletter.⁠ ⁠
📰Follow us for the latest Asian News NextShark⁠ ⁠ ⁠
⁠
⁠
#news #bettyong #911 #911heroes #chineseamerican⁠

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 12,428
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 88

## Tags

news, 911heroes, bettyong, chineseamerican, 911

---
Copyright (c) Gondola