Thomas E. Burnett Jr.

He had spent most of six weeks travelling for the company, which made heart pumps for people waiting on transplants. He was going home to his wife and three daughters. His calls to her gave those on the ground the first clear account of what was happening and of what the passengers meant to do. She remembers him saying: we have to do something. We can't wait for the authorities. It's up to us. I think we can do it.

Killed aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which came down in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on the morning of 11 September 2001. The aircraft had left Newark forty-two minutes late, which is the only reason those aboard learned by telephone what had already happened in New York before theirs was taken. They had about thirty minutes. They voted, and they went forward at the cockpit door. The aircraft never reached what it was aimed at.