9/11 widow among dead in plane crash

One of the victims of the Buffalo plane crash was the widow of a man who died in the September 11 attacks, the local newspaper reported.

Beverly Eckert was flying to the city for a celebration of what would have been her husband Sean Rooney’s 58th birthday.

Her sister Sue Bourque told the Buffalo News: “We know she was on that plane and now she’s with him.”

She said the family had not yet received official confirmation of her sister’s fate, but the reality was setting in.

Mr Rooney, who was 50 when he died, was working in the World Trade Centre in the New York when terrorists flew two planes into the twin towers.

He left a message on his wife’s voicemail saying: “There has been an explosion in World Trade One – that’s the other building.

“It looks like a plane struck it. It’s on fire at about the 90th floor. And it’s, it’s – it’s horrible. Bye.”

Ms Eckert became co-chairwoman of the group Voices of September 11.