On Sept. 11, 2001, Mark Bingham of San Francisco, an openly gay pilot, was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 93, a Boeing 757. The Boeing, hijacked by al-Qaeda was used as a missile that ultimately crashed into the Pentagon. Mr. Brigham was employed with American Airlines as a copilot.

It is believed that Mr. Brigham was among one of several passengers who attempted to storm the cockpit in an effort to prevent the hijackers from using the plane to kill hundreds or thousands of additional victims. It was reported that just shortly before the plan went down Mr. Bingham contacted his mother, Alice Hoglan on an airphone. Mr. Brigham was a resident of Washington, DC's popular gay DuPont Circle neighborhood and a member of the National Gay Pilots Association