Brother of hero flight attendant Betty Ong who made first 9/11 call responds to her final words 25 years later

Betty Ong, was one of the flight attendants onboard American Airlines Flight 11 on September 11 2001, which tragically didn't make it to its final destination.

Ong, who was 45-years-old at the time of 9/11, is remembered for her heroic actions a quarter of a century later, sounded the alarm, placing a call to American Airlines shortly after hijakers took over the plane.

"I think we're getting hijacked," she told the American Airlines representatives, who she stayed on the phone with for 23 minutes.

“The cockpit is not answering. Somebody's stabbed in business class, and, um, I think there's Mace and we can't breathe. I don't know, I think we are getting hijacked," she said.

The information Ong provided - on where the terrorists were seated - later helped authorities to identify the man.

Ong's final words were asking the people on the other end of the line to 'pray for us' before the plane crashed into the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. Her family, including her brother, Harry Ong, remember something else she said.

"Betty, at the end of the recording, she mentioned quite a few times. 'Are you there?'" Harry mentioned.

"And certainly, I can tell you Betty that we're here for you," he told AB7 Eyewitness News.

Flight attendant Betty Ong responded with courage and professionalism on the morning of 9/11 (9/11 Memorial Museum)

Harry said he still gets anxious every year, as the anniversary of the attacks approach.

"It still hurts. You almost die 25 times," Harry told NBC Bay Area. "Every year you hope that America and the world won't forget 9/11, yet you yourself want to forget 9/11."

When he woke up to watch the news on the morning of September 11, Harry was unaware that his sister was on the plane," he recalled to the outlet,

"I didn't know until about 7 o'clock our time. And I just called American Airlines, kept calling them for about five, six times," he said.

It was then they acknowledged that his sister may be on the flight. Tragically, she wasn't meant to be on the flight, but picked up an extra shift so she could save up for a trip with her sisters.

Ong's call to the North Carolina-based center also helped the Air Traffic Control (ATC) to alert other airlines about the situation, which is thought to have saved hundreds more lives.

In a transcript of the audio, American Airlines manager Craig Marquis could be heard saying: "We contacted Air Traffic Control, they are going to handle this as a confirmed hijacking, so they're moving all the traffic out of this aircraft's way."

In the first time in the history of the United States, the ATC ordered all planes flying over the country to land, which was sparked by the flight attendant's call.

Her family later met with the 9/11 Memorial Museum curators, where they chose to donate items which represented her dedication to her career as an airline hostess.

With this, they gifted one of her uniforms, and several photographs.

The Betty Ann Ong Foundation has also been set up to 'empower youth and senior citizens in the communities we serve by enabling positive physical and emotional lifestyle changes for a healthier, brighter future'.

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