BEVERLY ECKERT, Continental Flight Victim, Was 9/11 Widow (VIDEO, SLIDESHOW)

SCROLL DOWN TO SEE A SLIDESHOW OF ECKERT

***UPDATE: 10:40am EST***
President Obama spoke about Eckert before his remarks on the economy this morning. Check out the video... and read the article from the AP below.

Speaking at an event at the White House, Obama said Friday that his prayers are with families and friends who lost loved ones. A Continental commuter plane crashed into a house in suburban Buffalo on Thursday night, killing all 49 people aboard and a person in the home.

One of the victims was Beverly Eckert, a Sept. 11 widow. 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.

Obama said Eckert was an inspiration to him and he hopes her family finds comfort in the days ahead.

---
EARLIER:

Fifty people lost their lives Thursday night when a Continental commuter flight from Newark, New Jersey crashed before landing in Buffalo, New York. Details remain scarce on whose lives were claimed. One victim confirmed dead is Beverly Eckert, a 9/11 widow who lobbied Congress to reform U.S. intelligence practices. Eckert had met with President Obama last week to discuss how his administration would be handling terror suspects. Read more about Eckert below:

The usually joyful meet-and-greet area of the Buffalo Niagara International Airport was a corridor of tears and sorrow early this morning as family and friends of those aboard Continental Express Flight 3407 filed in to get official word of their loved ones' fates.

For Sue Bourque, the wait for confirmation regarding her sister, Beverly Eckert, was all too familiar. Eckert is the widow of Sean Rooney, a Buffalo native who lost his life in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

Read more from The Buffalo News.

From the AP:

Just last week, Eckert was at the White House with Barack Obama, part of a meeting the president had with relatives of those killed in the 2001 attacks and the bombing of the USS Cole to discuss how the new administration would handle terror suspects.

"She was such an important part of all of our work," said Mary Fetchet, another 9/11 family activist. She learned Eckert was aboard the plane from another close Eckert family friend now headed to Buffalo. Officials investigating the crash have not yet confirmed she was on board the plane.

• • • • • • • Beverly Eckert holds a photograph of her husband Sean Rooney Tuesday March 5, 2002 at her home in Stamford, Conn. Sean Rooney was killed during the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center.

Eckert, center, talks with House Speaker Pelosi in 2007

Beverly Eckert holds up a sign during a rally regarding the search for human remains at the World Trade Center site Thursday, Nov. 2, 2006 in New York.

Comments

[johnjmccarthy]

04:57 PM on 02/23/2009

Beverly Eckert died in the airplane crash outside Buffalo, NY last week. What we as concerned viewers and readers were provided is irrevocable evidence that Titanium Steel wheel assemblies and engines survived the crash and ensuring fires that lasted many many hours.

http://www.chemicalelements.com/elements/ti.html

What this disaster scene shows us is that the governments conspiracy theory for 911 has huge holes in their quick deduction. Now we must ask for reopening of the Congressional Investigation on 911, spear headed by the likes of Beverly Eckert.

Why were there no Titanium wheel assemblies nor engines found at the WTC, Pentagon nor Shanksville, PA on 911????

Those Mass Murder Crime Scenes may have been obliterated but the lack of Titaniuim Steel evidence is an omission that needs to be addressed, NOW! Titanium BEGINS to melt at 3220 degrees F.

Bests,
John McCarthy
http://johnmccarthy90066.tripod.com/id472.html

[Melissa Rossi]

07:30 PM on 02/14/2009

Published December 19, 2003, USA Today
My Silence Cannot Be Bought
by Beverly Eckert

"I've chosen to go to court rather than accept a payoff from the 9/11 victims compensation fund. Instead, I want to know what went so wrong with our intelligence and security systems that a band of religious fanatics was able to turn four U.S passenger jets into an enemy force, attack our cities and kill 3,000 civilians with terrifying ease. I want to know why two 110-story skyscrapers collapsed in less than two hours and why escape and rescue options were so limited.

I am suing because unlike other investigative avenues, including congressional hearings and the 9/11 commission, my lawsuit requires all testimony be given under oath and fully uses powers to compel evidence.....
By suing, I've forfeited the "$1.8 million average award" ..... Nor do I have any illusions about winning money in my suit. What I do know is I owe it to my husband, whose death I believe could have been avoided, to see that all of those responsible are held accountable.
So I say to Congress, big business and everyone who conspired to divert attention from government and private-sector failures: My husband's life was priceless, and I will not let his death be meaningless. My silence cannot be bought."

--Beverly Eckert...is the founder of Voices of September 11th, a victims advocacy group.

[amazedandoutraged]

06:33 PM on 02/14/2009

Barbara Boxer was on the 9/11 commission, but not a word from her....I wonder about that sometimes.

[babymonster]

06:03 PM on 02/14/2009

It has just happened too much. They can go to the well only so many times without being caught, but they really have arrogantly abused any speculation that it could be anything else.

[ptarantino]

03:13 PM on 02/14/2009

Trajedy+Ann Coulter= $$$$$$$

[vote-obama]

11:33 AM on 02/14/2009

RIP to all who died and i hope their families can find peace and comfort in the days and months to come.

[4Quarters]

10:21 AM on 02/14/2009

look at the signs...lobbist for the 9/11 families...well heard activist...

[2horsefeathers]

09:57 AM on 02/14/2009

I don't understand why the relatives of 9/11 victims should get preferential treatment. What about those of Oklahoma. Being a relative of a victim doesn't give one special rights

[doug108]

11:20 AM on 02/14/2009

Explain.

[2horsefeathers]

12:22 PM on 02/14/2009

since I heard of her only through this accident, and the subsequent attention to who she is, I was wondering (again) why the 9/11 victims' families are treated with such kid gloves. Because 9/11 was considered an attack by outside forces, as opposed to internal terrorists.
No-one hears about the victims' families of the Oklahoma bombing. Or is because 9/11 hit NYC and financial firms.

[DannyEastVillage]

08:32 PM on 02/15/2009

uh, where, in this story and related stories, is anybody talking about "preferential treatment" or "special rights"?

[DJS]

09:53 AM on 02/14/2009

TRAGEDY=HAPPY ANN COULTER

[comehomenow]

01:28 AM on 02/14/2009

No one is saying her death is more important than anyone else's. I see a lot of comments here that seem to express anger in that, but she has a story that stands out and should be told.

What really sickens me is that someone who stood up to our government and fought for real answers on 911 is gone. Hopefully someone else will stand up.

[Palemoon]

05:40 AM on 02/14/2009

That's a good comment and I've been searching for ways to add to it, to bring home the fact that it wasn't just an ordinary aircraft crash. I suppose it was the morbid curiousity, or even the celebrity, of the fact that she was on board this aircraft that brought alot of attention to it. On the one hand, I can understand people feeling like her death has overshadowed all others. However, chances are, if there was nobody of newsworthy note, sadly these people may have been overshadowed by the mere fact the press wouldn't have covered it in as great a detail. So on the other hand, her celebrity helped bring attention to a crash that may well have been glossed over as simply 49 mostly nameless, faceless victims. Now we know quite alot of the names and faces about these people from all walks of life who were, to be fair, were all as wonderful and special in their own ways.

I think back, for comparison purposes, to the night Princess Diana died. Early in the evening I remember flipping by CNN. I believe it was Judy Woodruff who was doing part of the coverage and she interjected "Normally we don't cover car crashes on CNN, however, due to the notoriety of the persons involved we feel it warranted special coverage". Something to that effect is as best as I can remember. So think of the crash as being like that.

[babymonster]

09:41 AM on 02/14/2009

This article is about her and not about the others. There is another article about the c rash and everybody who was involved in that c rash.

[TrotterInNY]

11:03 PM on 02/13/2009

THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED.

THIS IS IDENTICAL to an accident which occurred on 12/26/89. See United Express Flt. #2415 from Yakima, WA to Pasco, WA.

That aircraft was also a turboprop, albeit a British Aerospace Jetstream 31. The crash occurred on their final approach to Pasco, immediately after they extended full flaps. ICE STALLED THE TAIL, and the airplane nosedived almost straight down and exploded, killing all six aboard. Because only six people died, no one at the FAA paid any real attention.

When will the airlines spend a dollar and install de-icing mechanisms on the tail of aircraft? When will the FAA will get out of the pocket of the air carriers and institute some real safety reforms?

Maybe after ANOTHER fifty people are incinerated alive. Who knows -- maybe the third time will be the charm.

One can only hope . . .

[babymonster]

10:49 AM on 02/14/2009

Why was it burning on the way down? Why did the engine sound like it was not working?

[planetfotheApes]

10:59 PM on 02/13/2009

I love how the media is already repeating the "cause" of the crash without investigation, just as they did on 9/11.

“A lie told often enough becomes truth” Vladimir Lenin.

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

11:33 PM on 02/13/2009

There should have been de-icers on the wings that kept the ice off... If these had been "malfunctioning" for "some reason or another"....then the ice would not have melted....

This would have caused the accident... But what needs to be known is what caused the ice to form... Was the de-icing equipment not working... and WHY.....

With the amount of damage, it is likely we will never know if these heaters were working or were for some reason.... NOT WORKING....

[planetfotheApes]

11:50 PM on 02/13/2009

Wouldn't the Captain have called for help in this kind of malfunction? Why was there no communication? The plane simply fell from the sky - very suspicious.

[fumes]

11:53 PM on 02/13/2009

they're not heaters

[babymonster]

10:03 AM on 02/14/2009

Good observation.

[PhilipB]

10:24 PM on 02/13/2009

My sincere condolences to all those families who lost loved ones on this crash.

The term "Conspiracy Theorist" has long been wielded as a weapon to dismiss anyone who had reasonable questions.
Considering that there were two high profile activists in this crash, one who was a spokesperson on 911 and the other on the Congo and African issues where civil war, rape and mining interests intersect means that they would be high value persons for those who would wish to silence them. That is only a reasonable, rational thought. I think that many would expect a transparent investigation, not only for these two activists, but for all the victims and their families. If it was an accident with natural causes, then the open and clear understanding of this crash will give a sense of closure for the families, and help with their grief.

[ClaraKCMO]

11:09 PM on 02/13/2009

I am sure some will think we are radical; but this was my initial thought, as well. My husband believes this is a possibility, too.

My thoughts and prayers are will all of the families.

[DannyEastVillage]

08:36 PM on 02/15/2009

what a pathetic commentary on the times--the political times--we live in that such ideas of conspiracy so easily come to mind...now why would THAT be...??

[notconfindtweenhatnboots]

11:36 PM on 02/13/2009

Garry Niewood was also a well-known saxophonist, who played with Simon and Garfunkel.... The other people on this plane deserve to know the whole truth about what happened...

[nostalgia]

10:21 PM on 02/13/2009

To mourn her death does not mean we minimize the pain felt for the other victims. Her pictures tell me she had been suffering greatly after 9/11. RIP.

[butterflywings]

09:17 PM on 02/13/2009

I live in the Buffalo area and I am beyond frustrated that the media is treating this as if there was only ONE victim in this crash. I feel terrible for Beverly dying, but there were 49 other people in this crash, who were just as important to family and friends as Beverly was to her's.

This coverage over this one woman's death while ignoring all the other victims in this crash just makes me sick!

[PhilipB]

09:33 PM on 02/13/2009

Dear butterflywings,
That is exactly what I was going to post when I came home and logged on now.
I have commented here before, but I felt I neglected to offer my condolences to the passengers families, and to the families of the crew.
Thank you for mentioning that. I think that so many people share your sorrow for all the tragic victims here, and I send them my thoughts and prayers. This is so wretched right before valentines day, a day we tell our loved ones, our spouse, our mother, parents, grandparents and those special people we love them.

[helenwheels]

12:42 PM on 02/14/2009

PeopIe who are high-profiIe get more attention. DeaI with it. The woman spent years tireIessIy fighting the system. She earned her recognition. To recognize her doesn't Iessen anyone eIse's vaIue.