Widow Defies Fear of Flight

The widow of one of the passengers who fought back against the hijackers Sept. 11 took the same Newark-to-San Francisco flight Friday to make a statement against fear.

A pregnant Lisa Beamer flew on United’s newly renamed Flight 81 to meet some of the business associates her husband was on his way to see.

She was greeted by about 15 clapping United employees when she arrived in San Francisco. She said she retraced her husband’s planned journey as a way to show it is safe to travel again.

“If I had said no to the trip, it would have simply been out of fear. The terrorists have already taken so much control of our country and they have tried to take so much control of my life, and I refuse to be held captive and I will not be fearful,” she told ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America.”

Her husband, Todd, 32, was one of several passengers aboard United Flight 93 who made phone calls to relatives or authorities, alerting them that a hijacking was taking place and was making plans to fight back. He ended his conversation with an operator by dropping his phone and saying, “Let’s roll.”

Shortly afterward, the plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pa., killing all 44 people on board. Authorities suspect the hijackers had planned to crash it in Washington but were thwarted by the passengers.

Friday, before leaving Newark, N.J., Beamer’s widow said she expected the flight to summon painful memories. “I’ll be thinking through what happened there and what he was thinking, but I’ve had six weeks to get ready for this,” she said.