CNN analyst, "Frasier" scribe among hijack victims
Reuters
Sep 12 2001 2:06AM
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Industryites were among the 266 people killed aboard the four commercial planes that were hijacked in Tuesday's terrorist attacks on the United States.
Attorney and news commentator Barbara Olson was aboard the American Airlines Flight 77 en route from Washington Dulles Intl. Airport to Los Angeles that crashed into the Pentagon.
Olson placed two phone calls from the plane to her husband, U.S. solicitor general Ted Olson, telling him that hijackers armed with knives and cardboard cutters herded passengers and crew -- including the pilot -- toward the back of the plane.
"What should I tell the pilots to do?" CNN reported Olson asking her husband.
Ted Olson, who reportedly called the command center at the Justice Dept. to relay the information, told CNN that his wife planned to fly Monday, but delayed her travel because she wanted to be with him the morning of his birthday, which was Tuesday.
"She was on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon," her husband said. "She called from the plane while it was being hijacked. I wish it wasn't so but it is."
Barbara Olson was a former federal prosecutor and served as chief investigative counsel to the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, where she investigated the Clinton Administration "Travelgate" scandal.
As legal analyst and commentator, she has appeared on CNN, Fox News, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNBC and MSNBC.
Writer-producer David Angell, who co-created "Frasier" and "Wings" with partners Peter Casey and David Lee, was a passenger, along with wife Lynn, on American Airlines Flight 11 -- the L.A.-bound American Airlines flight that departed Boston and crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
A native of Rhode Island, Angell joined "Cheers" in 1983 as a staff writer; he'd been with Paramount Network Television ever since. Angell hooked up with Casey and Lee in 1985 and the trio became supervising producers on the hit comedy.
Angell, Casey and Lee then formed Grub Street Prods., which created "Wings," the NBC comedy that spent seven years on the network. After "Cheers" ended its run in 1993, the trio were tapped to create and executive produce "Frasier."
Grub Street disbanded in the late '90s after Lee opted to focus on theater; Angell and Casey had been working on new projects together.
Casey and Lee were stunned by Tuesday's news.
"David Angell was not only our partner but also our friend for the past 16 years," they said. "He was a kind and gentle man with a quiet exterior that masked one of the sharpest comedy minds ever to write for television. We join their family and other friends in mourning their passing."
Daniel C. Lewin, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Internet content delivery and streaming media company Akamai Technologies, was also on board American Airlines Flight 11.
Lewin founded Akamai in September 1998 with Tom Leighton and a group of MIT scientists and business professionals. As chief technical officer, Lewin oversaw Akamai's research and development strategy.
Reuters
Sep 12 2001 2:06AM
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Industryites were among the 266 people killed aboard the four commercial planes that were hijacked in Tuesday's terrorist attacks on the United States.
Attorney and news commentator Barbara Olson was aboard the American Airlines Flight 77 en route from Washington Dulles Intl. Airport to Los Angeles that crashed into the Pentagon.
Olson placed two phone calls from the plane to her husband, U.S. solicitor general Ted Olson, telling him that hijackers armed with knives and cardboard cutters herded passengers and crew -- including the pilot -- toward the back of the plane.
"What should I tell the pilots to do?" CNN reported Olson asking her husband.
Ted Olson, who reportedly called the command center at the Justice Dept. to relay the information, told CNN that his wife planned to fly Monday, but delayed her travel because she wanted to be with him the morning of his birthday, which was Tuesday.
"She was on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon," her husband said. "She called from the plane while it was being hijacked. I wish it wasn't so but it is."
Barbara Olson was a former federal prosecutor and served as chief investigative counsel to the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, where she investigated the Clinton Administration "Travelgate" scandal.
As legal analyst and commentator, she has appeared on CNN, Fox News, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNBC and MSNBC.
Writer-producer David Angell, who co-created "Frasier" and "Wings" with partners Peter Casey and David Lee, was a passenger, along with wife Lynn, on American Airlines Flight 11 -- the L.A.-bound American Airlines flight that departed Boston and crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
A native of Rhode Island, Angell joined "Cheers" in 1983 as a staff writer; he'd been with Paramount Network Television ever since. Angell hooked up with Casey and Lee in 1985 and the trio became supervising producers on the hit comedy.
Angell, Casey and Lee then formed Grub Street Prods., which created "Wings," the NBC comedy that spent seven years on the network. After "Cheers" ended its run in 1993, the trio were tapped to create and executive produce "Frasier."
Grub Street disbanded in the late '90s after Lee opted to focus on theater; Angell and Casey had been working on new projects together.
Casey and Lee were stunned by Tuesday's news.
"David Angell was not only our partner but also our friend for the past 16 years," they said. "He was a kind and gentle man with a quiet exterior that masked one of the sharpest comedy minds ever to write for television. We join their family and other friends in mourning their passing."
Daniel C. Lewin, the co-founder and chief technology officer of Internet content delivery and streaming media company Akamai Technologies, was also on board American Airlines Flight 11.
Lewin founded Akamai in September 1998 with Tom Leighton and a group of MIT scientists and business professionals. As chief technical officer, Lewin oversaw Akamai's research and development strategy.
