Tom Burnett (Flight 93 passenger)
Thomas Edward Burnett Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 29, 1963 Bloomington, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | September 11, 2001 (aged 38) Stonycreek Township, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation | Business executive |
| Known for | Vice president and COO of Thoratec Corporation; passenger on United Airlines Flight 93 during September 11 attacks |
Thomas Edward Burnett Jr. (May 29, 1963 – September 11, 2001) was an American business leader who held the roles of vice president and chief operating officer at Thoratec Corporation, a medical device manufacturer headquartered in Pleasanton, California. He resided in the nearby city of San Ramon, California. On September 11, 2001, Burnett was aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked during the September 11 attacks. He played a pivotal role in leading passengers to resist the hijackers, ultimately preventing them from reaching their planned destination in Washington, D.C.. This resistance caused the aircraft to crash in Stonycreek Township, close to Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Early life
Born on May 29, 1963, Thomas Edward Burnett Jr. was the son of Thomas Burnett Sr. and Beverly Burnett. His childhood was spent in Bloomington, Minnesota, where he attended Ridgeview Elementary and Olson Middle School. As the starting quarterback for the Jaguars at Thomas Jefferson Senior High School, he led his team to the state finals in 1980 before graduating in 1981.
Burnett pursued an undergraduate degree in Economics at Saint John's University in Minnesota while playing quarterback for their football team until an injury ended his sports career. Subsequently, he transferred to the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, where he held the position of president within the Alpha Kappa Psi fraternity and earned a Bachelor of Science degree specializing in Finance. He furthered his education by obtaining an MBA from Pepperdine University.
Career
Burnett began working at Thoratec Corporation, a company specializing in medical devices, in 1996 as vice president of sales and marketing. By November 1999, he had been promoted to senior vice president and chief operating officer.
Personal life
In 1985, Burnett fathered a daughter named Mariah Mills Jacobsen with a female classmate; she was placed for adoption. In July 1989, he met Deena in Atlanta, shortly after she completed her flight attendant training with Delta Air Lines. The couple married in April 1992 and had three daughters together. They settled in San Ramon, California, where Deena became a stay-at-home mother beginning in 1995. In the year preceding September 11, Burnett attended daily mass, sharing a sense of unease with his wife. His office contained busts of historical figures including Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill. In January 2004, Jacobsen obtained her birth certificate and connected with Burnett’s family, developing strong bonds with both his widow Deena and his sisters.
United Airlines Flight 93
On September 11, 2001, Burnett boarded United Airlines Flight 93 to return home to San Ramon following a business trip. Seated beside passenger Mark Bingham, he made multiple phone calls to his wife Deena after hijackers seized control of the aircraft. During these conversations, he reported a bomb threat and described how one passenger had been stabbed; he suspected that the bomb threat was a deception. At one point during a call, he learned about the attacks on the World Trade Center and recognized that the hijackers intended a suicide mission. He shared information relayed from Deena with other passengers nearby before ending the call.
Although Deena advised him to stay silent, Burnett informed her that he and fellow passengers Mark Bingham, Todd Beamer, and Jeremy Glick were planning to reclaim control of the plane. His final words were reassuring: "Don't worry, we're going to do something." Together with others, Burnett charged the cockpit and disrupted the hijackers’ scheme to crash into either the White House or Capitol Building. To avoid losing command of the plane during this struggle, the hijackers deliberately crashed it into a field in Pennsylvania, resulting in the deaths of all 44 individuals on board.
Legacy
Tom Burnett was laid to rest at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minnesota, with his funeral taking place on May 24, 2002.
On September 14, 2001, the Jefferson High School football squad paid tribute by displaying Burnett’s number 10 on their helmets. In March 2002, a nearby street to Thoratec Corp.’s Pleasanton headquarters—Burnett’s workplace—was renamed Tom Burnett Lane.
The Mall of America unveiled the Tom Burnett 9/11 Memorial in Bloomington, Minnesota, on September 11, 2002. That same year, Burnett and fellow passengers Beamer, Bingham, and Glick were posthumously honored with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Additionally, a post office in Bloomington was designated as the Thomas E. Burnett Jr. Post Office.
Oak Grove Middle School commemorates an annual Thomas Burnett Day of Service. Jefferson High School retired his jersey number in 2002 and created a memorial along with a scholarship bearing his name. At Saint Edward's Catholic Church in Bloomington, a white oak tree was planted accompanied by an inscribed fieldstone.
In 2004, Burnett’s biological daughter, Mariah Mills, discovered her lineage and developed a relationship with Deena Burnett and her half-sisters. Deena shared an unfinished letter from Burnett dated back to 1987 with Mills.
The University of Minnesota launched the Tom Burnett Advanced Leadership Program in 2006 to promote courageous leadership and active citizenship; since its inception, over 200 students have taken part. In 2008, Thoratec Europe named its United Kingdom headquarters Burnett House.
Deena Burnett moved to Little Rock, Arkansas in 2002 and remarried in 2006. She co-wrote Fighting Back: Living Life Beyond Ourselves, which recounts the difficulties encountered while seeking Flight 93 cockpit voice recordings and offers insights on heroism.
In 2003, California dedicated a San Ramon overpass as the Thomas E. Burnett Jr. Memorial Bridge.
At the National 9/11 Memorial, Burnett is honored on Panel S-68 of the South Pool alongside other passengers from Flight 93.
Following the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011, Deena Burnett expressed that it brought a sense of closure; this sentiment was also echoed by Burnett’s mother.
On September 11, 2011, the Bloomington Crime Prevention Association held the first Tom Burnett Jr. Hometown Heroes Celebration featuring Senator Amy Klobuchar and presenting the Tom Burnett Jr. Remember Award recognizing leadership and community contributions. This event also included the dedication of Hero's Garden at Pepperdine University's Graziadio School of Business and Management, where Burnett studied.
In popular culture
Tom Burnett has been portrayed by American actors such as Greg Benson in the documentary The Flight That Fought Back, Jeffrey Nordling in the 2006 television movie Flight 93, and Christian Clemenson in the feature film United 93 released in 2006.
External links
- Pages with script errors
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1963 births
- 2001 deaths
- People from Bloomington, Minnesota
- United Airlines Flight 93 victims
- College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University alumni
- Carlson School of Management alumni
- Pepperdine University alumni
- People from San Ramon, California
- Burials at Fort Snelling National Cemetery
- American chief operating officers
- Players of American football from Minnesota
- Saint John's Johnnies football players
- American football quarterbacks