'I think we might have lost her.' With that heartbreaking statement, spoken by a Dallas-based American Airlines employee three years ago next month, one of the greatest tragedies in US history had begun.
It is precisely 7.59am on a radiant September morning when American Airlines Flight 11 lifts off from Boston's Logan Airport. Rising through a brilliant blue sky, they are bound for Los Angeles. On board that day are 92 people: 81 passengers, two pilots and a cabin crew of nine. Sitting in Business Class are Mohamed Atta and four fellow terrorists.
Less than 30 minutes after take-off, the Boeing 767 is deliberately flown by Atta into the North Tower of New York's World Trade Centre. A second aircraft, also hijacked by terrorists, follows soon after, hitting the South Tower. A third plane is then purposely plunged into the Pentagon. Finally, a fourth aircraft, enroute to a second terrorist-suicide attack on Washington, plummets into a rural Pennsylvania field.
By 10.30am, both towers have collapsed and the Pentagon is in flames. The terrorist attack has killed more than 3,000 people in New York and Washington, making it the greatest American catastrophe of modern times.
But for the close-knit Ong family of San Francisco, this tragedy is dreadfully personal. The 'her' referred to by American Airlines' employee Nydia Gonzalez, is Flight Attendant Betty Anne Ong - their beloved sister and daughter.
Ong is a victim of the terrorist attack. Yet she is also a genuine hero of 9/11. In fact, she is the first American hero of that fateful day.
Within five minutes of her airplane being hijacked, and despite the murderous mayhem on board, Ong courageously grabs a crew phone to coolly call colleagues on the ground. Her call comes through to Vanessa Minter, an American Airlines agent in North Carolina. Minter then conferences the call through to Nydia Gonzales in Dallas, who is responsible for dealing with security issues.