Madeline Amy Sweeney’s final phone call from American Airlines Flight 11 has gained renewed attention as the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks approaches.
Sweeney, 35, was working as a flight attendant when five hijackers seized control of the Boston-to-Los Angeles flight within approximately 15 minutes of takeoff, according to investigators. She managed to reach American Airlines flight services manager Michael Woodward by phone and maintained an extraordinary composure while describing the unfolding horror.
“This plane has been hijacked,” she explained, according to an FBI report cited by the LA Times.
Sweeney told Woodward that a hijacker had cut the throat of a business-class passenger, who appeared to be dead. She described how one hijacker had just gained access to the cockpit, and noted that of the three hijackers she had originally spotted in business class, one spoke English very well.
As the aircraft rapidly lost altitude on its approach to the World Trade Center, Woodward asked Sweeney if she could determine their location.
“I see water and buildings,” she said.
The receiver then heard her final words: “Oh my God! Oh my God!”
FBI officials in Dallas, where American Airlines was based, later honored Sweeney for her remarkable calm during the crisis. “She was very, very composed, very detailed. It was impressive that she could do that,” they said in a statement.
Sweeney was not the only flight attendant whose documented final words from a hijacked plane that day have endured in the historical record.
CeeCee Lyles was serving on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into an open field in Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania, after passengers and crew attempted to regain control of the aircraft. Investigators believe that plane was headed for either the US Capitol Building or the White House in Washington, D.C.
Lyles left a voicemail for her husband as the hijacking unfolded. “You have to listen to me carefully. I’m on a plane that’s been hijacked,” she said.
“They’ve hijacked the plane, I’m trying to be calm. We’re turned around, and I’ve heard that there’s planes that’s been, been flown into the World Trade Center. I hope to be able to see your face again baby. I love you.”
Lyles made a second call to her husband in which she detailed the crew and passengers’ plan to throw boiling water at the hijackers. All 40 passengers and crew aboard Flight 93 died when the plane crashed into the empty field, but their actions are credited with diverting the aircraft from its intended target and saving numerous additional lives.
American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m. On September 11, 2001, killing everyone on board and hundreds more inside the building. The hijackers had taken control of the cockpit and deliberately steered the Boeing 767 into the tower after Sweeney’s call ended. Her conversation with Woodward provided crucial early intelligence about the nature of the attack, including the number and seating positions of hijackers and the method of gaining cockpit access.
Memorial ceremonies marking the 25th anniversary of the attacks are scheduled to take place at the World Trade Center site in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.