Calls deliver clues and last goodbyes

As planes were hijacked and sent hurdling into terrorist targets, many passengers called their families on cellphones to say 'goodbye.' (Reuters)

By Raja Mishra, Globe Staff, 9/13/2001

s hijacked United Air Lines Flight 93 zig-zagged through the Pennsylvania Skies, passenger Jeremy Glick called his wife in New Jersey with a bold plan: He and several other people on board would try to stop the terrorists, said family members.

The plan may have saved hundreds of lives.

''They were going to stop whoever it was from doing whatever it was they'd planned,'' Glick's brother-in-law, Douglas Hurwitt, told the Washington Post. ''He knew that stopping them was going to end all of their lives.''

Glick's was among numerous last-second cellphone calls - high-tech postcards from the edge of death - issued from the midst of the nation's worst-ever terrorist attack, the only sense the public may have of what it was like to die so unexpectedly, so tragically.

Through their cellphone conversations to loved ones, Glick and fellow passengers apparently learned about the earlier crashes into the World Trade Center. When he called his wife, she created a conference call with a 911 dispatcher, who told them about the Manhattan tragedy.

On the same plane, Thomas Burnett, a 38-year-old business executive from California, was making a series of cellphone calls to his wife, Deena. Those calls were forwarded to the FBI, and Burnett calmly gathered information about the other hijacked flights, his wife said yesterday.

''I told him in the second call about the World Trade Center and he was very curious about that and started asking questions. He wanted any information that I had to help him,'' she said.

By the third phone call, ''I could tell that he was formulating a plan and trying to figure out what to do next,'' she said. ''You could tell that he was gathering information and trying to put the puzzle together.''

In his last call, Burnett said he and some other passengers had decided to make a move.

''I told him to please sit down and not draw attention to himself and he said `no.' He said `no.'''

To Glick, 31, death seemed certain, so he told his wife, Lyzbeth, to have a good life and to take care of their 3-month-old baby girl, Hurwitt said.

It is unclear what happened next, but the plane soon smashed into a field outside Pittsburgh, killing all the passengers and crew. Unlike the scenes in New York and Washington, however, no lives were lost on the ground.

''I have no doubt that airplane was bound for some landmark and that whatever Tom did and whatever the guys who helped him did, they saved many more lives,'' Deena Burnett said.

In New York, Liz Lopez's answering machine was triggered by her husband's cellphone call from within the World Trade Center:

''Liz, it's me Dan. My building has been hit. I made it to the 78th floor. I'm OK but will remain here to help evacuate people. See you soon.''

Nothing has been heard from Daniel Lopez, 39, of New York, a World Trade Center worker, since that Tuesday morning call. Liz, his wife, began handing out MISSING flyers in desperation yesterday on the streets of the city.

Message's like Lopez's were almost last wills and testaments of people killed in a most horrific, unpredictable way. And they permit the rest of the world a glimpse into the truly terrifying: What were they thinking as they sped toward death? Did they know they would die? What happened? The answers may never come, but these frantic cellphone dispatches offer a small sense of what it might be like to face such an unexpected death.

''Something's wrong with the plane. Oh my God! They just stabbed the airline hostess!'' screamed Peter Hanson of Groton to his father from on board United Flight 175.

He was buckled in with his wife and 2-year-old daughter. As the plane began a dramatic off-course sweep into the heart of New York's skyline, Hanson managed another call. ''Don't worry about us, it's going to be quick,'' he said, according to Connecticut Post.

In minutes the plane slammed into the World Trade Center, striking the fiery second blow to the landmark.

Staff writer Cindy Rodriguez in New York City contributed to this report. Material from the Associated Press and the Washington Post also was used.

This story ran on page A6 of the Boston Globe on 9/13/2001.
© Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.