“TELL THE BOYS I LOVE THEM”: A MOTHER’S FINAL WORDS BEFORE FLIGHT 93 CRASHED ON 9/11

CeeCee Ross Lyles was only 33 years old — a mother, wife, former police officer and United Airlines flight attendant. On the morning of September 11, 2001, she made a final call to her husband as Flight 93 was hijacked. Her last words were about the people she loved most.

For CeeCee Ross Lyles, September 11, 2001, began like an ordinary workday.

The 33-year-old United Airlines flight attendant had boarded Flight 93, a Boeing 757 traveling from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco.

She could not have known that the flight would become one of the defining stories of that terrible morning — or that her final moments would reveal a mother thinking of her family even as she faced unimaginable danger.

CeeCee had grown up in Fort Pierce, Florida, where she spent six years working as a police officer and detective.

In January 2001, she fulfilled a childhood dream when she completed training to become a flight attendant for United Airlines.

She was described by her husband as a strong, caring woman with deep faith.

She was also a mother of two sons and two stepsons.

“I’M ON A PLANE THAT’S BEEN HIJACKED”

At 9:47 a.m., CeeCee managed to call her husband, Lorne.

She reached his answering machine.

In the message, she calmly explained that the plane had been hijacked and that she was trying to remain composed.

Then her voice turned toward the people she loved.

According to the National Park Service’s transcript of the call, CeeCee told her husband:

“I want to tell you I love you. Please tell my children that I love them very much.”

She also told him she hoped she would be able to see his face again.

The call lasted less than a minute.

It would become one of the most haunting recordings connected to Flight 93.

A SECOND CALL — AND A DECISION TO FIGHT BACK

CeeCee called her husband again shortly before the crash.

This time, they were able to speak directly.

The situation aboard Flight 93 had changed.

Passengers and crew members had learned that other hijacked planes had already struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. They realized their aircraft was part of something much larger.

According to the National Park Service, passengers and crew collectively decided to attempt to regain control of the plane.

CeeCee told Lorne that they were preparing to act.

The couple prayed together.

Then she said words that have endured for 25 years:

“Tell the boys I love them. We’re getting ready to do it now. It’s happening!”

Those words were among the last known words spoken by CeeCee.

THE FINAL MINUTES OF FLIGHT 93

At approximately 9:57 a.m., passengers and crew began their attempt to retake the aircraft.

The struggle lasted only minutes.

At 10:03 a.m., Flight 93 crashed into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, near Shanksville.

There were no survivors.

The National Park Service records that the plane was about 18 minutes of flying time from Washington, D.C., when it crashed. Investigators concluded that the actions of the passengers and crew prevented the hijackers from reaching their intended target.

All 33 passengers and seven crew members aboard were lost, along with the four hijackers. CeeCee’s name remains among those engraved at the Flight 93 National Memorial.

A MOTHER REMEMBERED

CeeCee’s story is remembered not simply because she was aboard Flight 93.

It is remembered because of what she chose to say when she knew she might never see her family again.

She did not spend her final call talking about herself.

She told her husband she loved him.

She asked him to tell her children that she loved them.

And when the passengers and crew prepared to fight back, she faced those final moments alongside them.

More than two decades later, the Flight 93 National Memorial continues to preserve the stories of the people aboard that aircraft — including the former Fort Pierce police officer who became a flight attendant and a mother whose final thoughts were with her family.

Her last message remains painfully simple:

Tell the boys I love them.

A mother’s final words.

A family’s final message.

And a moment of courage that has never been forgotten.

CeeCee Ross Lyles — September 11, 2001.

Never forget. 🕊️