Calm But Desperate Call From Flight 11

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Flight attendant Betty Ong calmly reported the stabbings of two fellow co-workers as well as the disbursement of mace in the cabin.

Following the call from Ong, operations specialist Nydia Gonzalez phoned the American Airlines operation center to relay the situation.

"The cockpit's not answering. Somebody's stabbed in business class, and I think there's mace that we can't breathe. I don't know. I think we're getting hijacked," Ong said.

While Betty was unable to identify the attackers, she was able to correctly identify their seat locations. This observation ultimately helped investigators identify the hijackers.

After contacting Air Traffic Control, the observation center confirmed that they would be handling the situation aboard Flight 11 as a "confirmed hijacking."

"Our first-class galley flight attendant and our purser's been stabbed.. and we can't get to the cockpit. The door won't open," Ong said.

Ong said that two men from first class got inside the cockpit with the pilots and the airplane was flying erratically.

Question: "Have you guys called anyone else?" Ong: "No. Somebody's calling medical and we can't …" [call ends]

Less than 20 minutes after Ong dialed that emergency call, they lost communications with her. Moments later Flight 11 hit the World Trade Center's North Tower.