Beverly Eckert, Widow of 9/11 Victim, Sean Rooney, was Aboard Continental Flight 3407

Derek Gee / Buffalo News file photo

When it rains, it really pours. Sometimes adversity hits you when you least expect it to. Well, Beverly Eckert went through a lot of heart-ache and pain when her husband Sean Rooney, a Buffalo native, lost his life in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Ms. Eckert was traveling to Buffalo for a weekend celebration of what would have been her husband’s 58th birthday. She also had planned to take part in presentation of a scholarship award at Canisius High School that she established in honor of her late husband.

Her sister, Sue Bourque said, in an interview with the Buffalo News, that while the family had not yet received official confirmation of her sister’s fate, the reality was settling in. “We know she was on that plane,” Bourque said, “and now she’s with him.”

Eckert, Rooney’s high school sweetheart, continued to live in their home in Stamford, Conn., after the terrorists’ attacks of 2001. As co-chairwoman of Voices of Sept. 11, she pushed for a formal commission to investigate intelligence failures and for a proper memorial to the victims.

This is indeed a very tragic event and my thoughts and prayers go out to all the families of the victims. Ms. Eckert died doing the very thing that meant a lot to her, the scholarship program she established in her husband’s honor. She died serving and that was not in vain. She was just at the White House last week with Obama as part of a meeting he had with relatives of those killed in the 2001 attacks and the bombing of the USS Cole. My these families find solace in their hour of grief.

Filed under: Beverly Eckert, Buffalo, Canisius High School, Clarence Center, Sean Rooney, September 11 Terrorist Attacks, Sue Bourque, World Trade Center

Continental Airlines Flight 3407 Crashes into Home in Clarence Center, New York, Killing all 49 Passengers, One Person in Home

My thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the victims of Continental Airlines flight 3407 that crashed into a home in Clarence Center, near Buffalo, New York. All 49 passengers on board were killed, according to New York State police. The police also said that one person in the home was killed and four people were injured at the crash site, including a mother and daughter inside the house that was hit. They suffered minor injuries and were treated and released, said a spokeswoman at Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital in Williamsville. Two firefighters also were brought in for treatment of smoke inhalation and minor injuries.

Continental Connection Flight 3407, a Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 74-seat turboprop, which was operated by Colgan Air, was en route from Newark, New Jersey, to Buffalo when it went down at around 10:20 p.m. ET. The crash occurred about seven miles from Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

This is truly a sad turn of events and I pray for the families of the victims.

Filed under: Buffalo, Casualties, Clarence Center, Continental Airlines, Flight 3407, New York State