John Ogonowski

❌ John A. Ogonowski (February 24, 1951 – September 11, 2001) was a pilot and an agricultural activist. He was piloting American Airlines Flight 11 when it was hijacked and flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center as part of the 9/11 attacks. A resident of Dracut, Massachusetts, Ogonowski was a leading figure on behalf of farming in Massachusetts, particularly for immigrant farmers from Cambodia, whom he assisted as part of the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project.

Biography
He went to a school at Keith Academy, Lowell. He was a pilot in the U. S. Air Force during the Vietnam War, flying C-141 transport aircraft. From 1978 to the end of his life, Ogonowski flew airplanes for American Airlines.

He was killed on September 11, 2001, when the airplane he was flying, American Airlines Flight 11 was hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center. It is believed that he was stabbed or his throat was slit before the plane had crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Before dying, he managed to engage the aircraft's radio system to allow air traffic control to listen to the terrorists' conversations in the aircraft's cabin. His body was never found.

A remote controlled model aircraft flying field in nearby Tewksbury, Massachusetts has been dedicated to Captain Ogonowski. An alumnus of the University of Massachusetts Lowell, the institution posthumously presented him with an honorary doctorate at the 2003 commencement ceremony at Tsongas Arena. He was also a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity.

Ogonowski is survived by his wife Margaret and daughters Laura, Caroline, and Mary Katherine. His younger brother, Jim Ogonowski, who is also an agricultural activist, made an unsuccessful run for the United States House of Representatives in 2007.