6:54 a.m. Fourth cell phone call to Tom to Deena
Deena: Tom?
Tom: Hi. Anything new?
Deena: No
Tom: Where are the kids?
Deena: They’re fine. They’re sitting at the table having breakfast. They’re asking to talk to you.
Tom: Tell them I’ll talk to them later.
Deena: I called your parents. They know your plane has been hijacked.
Tom: Oh…you shouldn’t have worried them. How are they doing?
Deena: They’re O.K.. Mary and Martha are with them.
Tom: Good.
(a long quiet pause)
Tom: We’re waiting until we’re over a rural area. We’re going to take back the airplane.
Deena: No! Sit down, be still, be quiet, and don’t draw attention to yourself! (The exact words taught to me by Delta Airlines Flight Attendant Training).
Tom: Deena! If they’re going to crash this plane into the ground, we’re going to have do something!
Deena: What about the authorities?
Tom: We can’t wait for the authorities. I don’t know what they could do anyway. It’s up to us. I think we can do it.
Deena: What do you want me to do?
Tom: Pray, Deena, just pray.
(after a long pause)
Deena: I love you.
Tom: Don’t worry, we’re going to do something…”
“Tom Burnett, along with three additional passengers, Mark Bingham, Todd Beamer and Jeremy Glick, created a plan to take back control of the aircraft,” writes Love What Matters. “They were leading additional passengers to put this plan into action. As the group stormed the cockpit, they thwarted the terrorists and their plan to crash the plane into the Capitol Building or the White House. Burnett was recorded on the cockpit voice recorder yelling, ‘Roll it!’ Potentially in reference to using the food and beverage cart. The hijackers then crashed the plane into a Pennsylvania field.”
Find out more about the Tom Burnett Foundation by visiting here.
