Buffalo, NY- September 9, 2009- This Friday’s anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 carries special significance for one of the ‘Families of Continental Flight 3407’, as Beverly Eckert, one of the passengers on the plane and a prominent 9/11 activist, had lost her husband, Sean Rooney, in one of the towers of the World Trade Center.
Now two of Beverly’s sisters, Karen Eckert and Susan Bourque, continue their sister’s quest to prevent a tragedy from repeating itself, as they push for aviation safety initiatives in the wake of the tragic plane crash. They and other group members will make their ninth trip to the Nation’s Capitol this week, in the hopes of pushing through safety measures that have been introduced in both the House and the Senate which seek to address a wide range of deficiencies in regional airline operations revealed at the NTSB hearings held this past May.
“As devastating as this tragedy has been for our family, it is truly unthinkable that a family like the Eckert’s would have to suffer through two heartbreaking losses like this,” stated John Kausner of Clarence Center, New York, who lost his twenty-four year old daughter Elly. “It truly is amazing what Karen and Susan have done in Washington, using their sister’s experience and connections to guide our group through this lobbying process and I am sure that Beverly and all our loved ones are looking down proudly on what they and we are all doing.”
After their meetings in Washington, Karen and Susan will head up to New York City to accept an award for Beverly, as she is posthumously presented with the ‘Building Bridges Award’ by the ‘Voices of September 11th’ group that she helped found.