Betty Ong (February 5, 1956 - September 11, 2001), born 5th of February in San Francisco of Harry Snr and Yee-gum Oy, was a Chinese-American flight attendant on board American Airlines Flight 11 when it was flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack.
Ong, grew up in Chinatown and graduated from George Washington High School. As well-respected community members, her family owned a grocery store on Jackson Street. Betty Ong was the youngest of her surviving siblings: sisters, Cathie Ong Herrera, Gloria Ong Woo and brother Harry Ong.
Her efforts on September 11 involved relaying information about the hijacking on board by telephone to the American Airlines operations center on the ground. Ong relayed the numbers of the seats in which the hijackers had been sitting and provided other information about the progress of the hijacking during her 23-minute call. Later, the American public honoured her as a true American hero for her calmness on the flight and the fact that her phone call saved many lives as other planes were planned to be hijacked. The Chinese-American community in San Francisco, with some 200 members, gathered in a small park to pay tribute to the much loved member of their community. Mayor Willie Brown, who was present, gave a proclamation honouring the people who died in the tragedy and called September 21 "Betty Ong Day".
The tribute to Betty Ong as a true heroine of the tragic day remains and continues at the website:
www.september11victims.com/september11victims/VictimInfo.asp?ID=8
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