On December 19 , 2003 , Eckert published her famous manifesto , " My Silence Can not be Bought : " I 've chosen to go to court rather than accept a payoff from the 9/11 victims compensation fund . Instead , I want to know what went so wrong with our intelligence and security systems that a band of religious fanatics was able to turn four U.S passenger jets into an enemy force , attack our cities and kill 3,000 civilians with terrifying ease . I want to know why two 110-story skyscrapers collapsed in less than two hours and why escape and rescue options were so limited . . . . The victims fund was not created in a spirit of compassion . Rather , it was a tacit acknowledgement by Congress that it tampered with our civil justice system in an unprecedented way . . . . So I say to Congress , big business and everyone who conspired to divert attention from government and private-sector failures : My husband 's life was priceless , and I will not let his death be meaningless . My silence can not be bought . Eckert was killed on February 12 , 2009 , in the crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407 outside of Buffalo , New York . She was traveling to Buffalo for a gathering with her family to mark what would have been Rooney 's 58th birthday on February 15 . A ceremony had also been scheduled at Canisius High School in which she was to award a student with a memorial scholarship in Rooney 's honor
Colgan Air Flight 3407
Colgan Air Flight 3407
Beverly Eckert