View source for Social Security Death Index

Did more than 250 people really die on the hijacked 9/11 flights?

It sounds like an absurd question, but it's one that has been taken seriously in the past.

{{divbox|amber||"The SSDI Social Security Death Index, the registry of all US Social Security numbers belonging to deceased persons, is a guide to who has really died (ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com). Not many of the supposedly-dead passengers turn up on this index. Flight AA11 which supposedly crashed into the North tower, had a flight crew of eleven according to published lists, including pilot John Ogonowski and flight attendants Betty Ong and Madeleine Sweeney. The SSDI list cites only one of these eleven persons as having died on that day.  The recent 911 Commission made much of supposedly long messages from the doomed plane by Ong and Sweeney, after which ‘There was scarcely a dry eye in the Senate hearing room.’ One would like to have some official record of their demise before being moved by these messages – hardly heard of in the first two years after 911. <br>[http://web.archive.org/web/20070125132442/http://www.nineeleven.co.uk/archive/ninekeysto9-11.htm Web Archive source]}}

The implication here appears to be either that the passengers are real people who somehow survived 9/11, or perhaps were fictional characters, created as part of the story of the day.

The first wrinkle in this theory comes from the quote itself, which reveals that one of the eleven flight crew, and some of the passengers are included in the index.  There is, therefore, a record of the deaths of some of those who were on board the planes.  If it's to be claimed that these were faked, then we might ask whether it's credible that the conspirators simply "forgot" to fake the records for the others.  But if they're genuine, the only basis for suspicion would be if there are significantly less records in the SSDI than might be expected.  And that's an issue on which our article offers no evidence whatsoever.

The reality is that the SSDI is by no means a comprehensive list of everyone who dies in the US.  You only need read its own warnings to find out more.

{{divbox|amber||Common Misconceptions About The SSDI<br><br>

The Social Security Death Master File contains records of everyone who has died in the United States.

NO. Because this data was produced by the Social Security Administration, the database only concerns itself with those individuals who were involved with the Social Security program. Those who did not have cards are not in the file.

The Social Security Death Master File contains death records for everyone who possessed a Social Security card while living.

NO. Individuals were added to the file as their deaths were reported to the Administration. This often occurred when family members applied for a lump sum benefit at death. If the SSA was not informed of a person's death, then they are not on file, whether they had a Social Security Card or not.<br>http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/vital/ssdi/miscon.htm}}

Another page explains other reasons as to "Why You May Not Find Your Ancestors":

{{divbox|amber||The individual did not have a Social Security card. Especially before 1951, it is entirely possible that your ancestor did not have a Social Security number at all. The self-employed, farmers, military, government employees, some professional groups (doctors, lawyers), did not receive coverage until the 1950s and 60s. Certain members of the family may have never had the need to enroll in Social Security (retired individuals, housewives, etc.). 

The individual had a Social Security card, but his/her death was not reported to the SSA. The Death Master File only contains those deaths reported to the SSA. 

The individual is in the file, but listed under another name or another spelling. Try other spellings of the individual's name, including middle names, nicknames, initials, maiden names, other married surnames, etc. 

The individual is in the file, but original data was reported or recorded incorrectly.<br>http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/vital/ssdi/article.htm}}

{{divbox|amber||The SSDI does not include death records for everyone who has been issued a Social Security Number (card). Common reasons for exclusion include the following:

The death was not reported to the Social Security Administration (SSA). 

The death occurred before the Death Master File was maintained in a computer database. About 98 percent of the deaths in this database occurred between 1962 and the present. 

The person did not participate in the Social Security program. 

Survivor death benefits were (are) being paid to dependents or spouse. 

A recent death may not be indexed yet. 
Human error. (Before you give up, read the section titled "Missing Entries in the SSDI.") <br>http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ssdi/index.html}}

{{divbox|amber||Reasons you might not find someone in the SSDI

Prior to the 1960s, farmers, housewives, government employees, non-employed individuals, and those with a separate retirement plan might not have had a Social Security number. It was not until 1988 that all children had to have Social Security numbers. <br>http://www.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/lesson10.htm}}

It's very clear that this is not an exhaustive or complete database. It may be true that fewer relatives than usual reported the deaths to the SSA, but then these weren't ordinary deaths. Is it really so surprising that the paperwork wasn't completed in all cases? And as Ancestry.com points out, "many funeral directors will notify the SSA as a service to families of the deceased" (http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/vital/ssdi/miscon.htm), but if you don't have a funeral then it'll only happen if you remember to do it yourself.