The Final Call of CeeCee Lyles: A Flight 93 Attendant’s Heartbreaking Message on 9/11

Some of the most powerful stories from September 11, 2001 are not about buildings or politics. They are about ordinary people trying to reach the people they loved one final time.

CeeCee Lyles was a flight attendant aboard United Airlines Flight 93, the hijacked flight that ultimately crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

During the crisis aboard the aircraft, Lyles managed to telephone her husband, Lorne. When she could not reach him directly, she left a message.

She told him that there was a problem on the plane, reassured him that she was okay at that moment, and—most importantly—told him that she loved him.

She also asked that her family be told that she loved them.

Those simple words have endured because they reveal the intensely human side of September 11.

Passengers and crew aboard Flight 93 learned that other aircraft had been used in attacks that morning. A group of passengers and crew then attempted to overcome the hijackers and regain control of the aircraft.

Flight 93 crashed in a field near Shanksville. Everyone aboard was killed.

The courage of the passengers and crew has since become an important part of the history of 9/11. But stories like Lyles' final message remind us that behind the history were husbands and wives, parents and children, friends and families.

They were people who had plans for tomorrow.

Twenty-five years later, her message still carries a painfully simple lesson: when everything else disappeared, love was what she wanted her family to remember.

🇺🇸 Do you remember hearing the final phone calls and messages from September 11?

And if your family lost someone that day, you are welcome to share their name or a memory of them below.

Please keep the conversation respectful for the victims, survivors and their families.

Never forget. 🇺🇸