More than 350 people who were originally scheduled to be on the four airliners hijacked in the 9/11 attacks either changed their plans and canceled their reservations–in many cases at the last minute–or simply failed to show up for the flights on the morning of September 11, 2001. While these individuals came from a variety of backgrounds, a remarkable number of them worked in, or had close connections to, Hollywood or other areas of the entertainment industry. Some of them were very well-known personalities.
For example, among the individuals who had reservations for American Airlines Flight 11–the first plane to be hijacked–were Seth Macfarlane, the creator of the cartoon Family Guy; actor Mark Wahlberg, the star of movies such as Boogie Nights and The Fighter; Bobby Farrelly, the writer and director of comedy movies such as Dumb & Dumber and There’s Something About Mary; and Julia Child, the renowned chef and television personality. Sam Mendes, the director of American Beauty and the latest James Bond movie, Skyfall, was originally scheduled to be on American Airlines Flight 77, the third plane to be hijacked. And Robert Redford, the world-famous actor and director, narrowly avoided being on United Airlines Flight 93, the fourth plane to be hijacked.
Interestingly, one man who was originally booked on Flight 77–Erik Nelson–was later the executive producer of a National Geographic Channel documentary that attempted to debunk claims of U.S. government involvement in the 9/11 attacks.
It is also perhaps notable that a fair number of people who were originally scheduled to be on the hijacked flights but canceled their reservations or failed to turn up for their flights worked in professional sports. These included major league baseball player Brad Thomas, ice hockey coach Bruce Boudreau, and legendary basketball coach John Thompson.
Summarized in this article are accounts found in books, news articles, FBI documents, websites, or Internet blogs, of these individuals who were originally booked on the flights hijacked on September 11, but canceled their reservations or simply failed to show up for their flights.
A few of these accounts are vague or ambiguous, so it is difficult to say with certainty that the individuals described in them were indeed originally booked on one of the hijacked flights. All the same, from an analysis of the accounts in this article, along with evidence compiled by the FBI, I have calculated that over 350 people who were originally booked on the hijacked flights canceled their reservations or failed to show up for the flights.
Furthermore, there were presumably people who canceled reservations for the hijacked flights whose accounts are as yet unreported or whose accounts I have not come across. There were therefore likely even more people who canceled their reservations or failed to turn up for the hijacked flights than the already high number described in this article.
The FBI appears to have considered the large number of people who canceled their reservations or failed to turn up for the hijacked flights to have been suspicious. In the aftermath of 9/11, its agents in fact interviewed some of these people. However, from accounts of the interviews that are available on the Internet, it appears the agency’s investigation was limited in scope. Investigators seem to have focused on determining whether these people had any connections to the alleged hijackers and their associates, and appear to have taken no action to verify the explanations that were given as to why these people canceled their reservations or missed their flights.
DID SOME PEOPLE HAVE FOREKNOWLEDGE OF THE 9/11 ATTACKS?
People who canceled their reservations or failed to show up for the flights hijacked on September 11 have offered various innocuous explanations for why they avoided being on those aircraft. The possibility needs to be investigated, though, that the real reasons they missed the flights were different to what they claimed. A person could perhaps have given a false explanation because they felt it necessary to withhold the truth about how they avoided being on one of the hijacked planes.
It is worth considering whether some of the canceled reservations and failures to show up for the hijacked flights were in truth the result of individuals having some degree of foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks. Supporting this possibility is the fact that news reports have clearly suggested some people did indeed know beforehand that it would be dangerous to travel on September 11.
For example, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, who was scheduled to fly from San Francisco to New York on the morning of September 11, was reportedly warned on the evening of September 10 that “Americans should be cautious about their air travel.” [1] Similarly, “a particularly urgent warning” was reportedly received on the night of September 10, which led some senior Pentagon officials to cancel a trip scheduled for the morning of September 11. [2]
A person with a ticket for one of the hijacked flights who canceled their reservation or failed to show up for their flight need not have had any foreknowledge of the impending terrorist attacks themselves. They could have instead perhaps changed their travel plans as a consequence of an associate of theirs, such as a friend or a work colleague, having some degree of foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks. That associate might have deliberately made arrangements that led to the person changing their plans.
As one possible example, a Los Angeles Times journalist was scheduled to be on Flight 11 but missed it due to a last-minute change of plans. The journalist, according to his ex-wife, “was in line to board [Flight 11] when the LA Times called and said, ‘We need you to go to Atlanta; do you have time to switch?’” It was therefore the decisions of this man’s bosses that led to him missing Flight 11, rather than his own decisions. [3]
Another possible example is the experience of businessman Benjamin Gordon, who was originally booked on United Airlines Flight 175–the second plane to be hijacked–but missed it, he said, because his girlfriend convinced him to switch to a flight on September 12, since September 11 was his birthday and she could cook him a birthday dinner that day before he flew out to California. [4] So, according to Gordon’s account, it was the decisions of his girlfriend, rather than his own decisions, that led to him missing Flight 175.
It is also worth keeping in mind that some of the canceled reservations and failures to show up for the hijacked flights could simply have been due to chance. No doubt, the experience of coming so close to being a victim of the 9/11 attacks would have been very upsetting for many of the individuals involved. What is most suspicious, therefore, is not any particular account, but the large number of people who canceled their reservations or failed to show up for the flights.
Furthermore, a few people have said they missed being on one of the hijacked flights because they were assigned to that flight for the return leg of a journey for which they only intended to travel one way. They bought a round-trip ticket because it was cheaper than a one-way ticket and never intended to be on the flight that was hijacked. This explanation would seem to rule out the possibility of these people receiving some kind of warning of what would happen on September 11. It would be worth investigating, though, if there was any particular reason they were assigned to the flights that were hijacked for their return journeys or if the assignments were just random.
DID PLOTTERS AIM TO INFLUENCE WHO WOULD BE ON THE HIJACKED FLIGHTS?
As well as the possibility of some individuals having foreknowledge of what would happen on September 11, other explanations for the large number of people who canceled their reservations or failed to show up for the hijacked flights need to be considered.
The 9/11 Commission stated that it found “no evidence to indicate that the hijackers manipulated the passenger loads on the aircraft they hijacked,” and added, “Financial records did not reveal the purchase of any tickets beyond those the hijackers used for themselves.” [5] But could individuals other than the men who supposedly hijacked the four airliners on September 11 have been involved? These individuals could, for example, have been rogue members of the U.S. military or intelligence services. Might these people have wanted to influence how many passengers would be on the hijacked flights and which particular individuals would be on those flights?
Certainly, what happened on September 11 would have been quite different without so many people canceling their reservations or failing to turn up for the flights that would be hijacked. Flight 11 and Flight 77 carried the same or slightly more passengers on September 11 than the average number of passengers they had carried in the previous three months, according to the 9/11 Commission Report. (Fifty-one percent of the seats on Flight 11 and 33 percent of the seats on Flight 77 were occupied that day.) [6] But without so many people canceling their reservations or missing the flights, these planes would have carried far more passengers than average and may have even been filled to capacity on September 11.
Flight 175 and Flight 93, meanwhile, were found to have carried considerably less passengers on September 11 than the average numbers of passengers they had carried in the previous three months. (Thirty-three percent of the seats on Flight 175 and 20 percent of the seats on Flight 93 were occupied that day.) [7] This would not have been the case without so many people canceling their reservations or missing the flights. These planes, too, may instead have carried far more passengers than average and perhaps even have been filled to capacity.
As well as all the people who were originally scheduled to be passengers on the hijacked flights but avoided being on the planes, numerous pilots and flight attendants who were originally going to be on these flights changed their plans and consequently avoided being killed in the 9/11 attacks.
And curiously, not only did many people who would have been on the hijacked planes miss the flights because they changed their travel plans, but also many of the pilots, flight attendants, and passengers who actually were on the hijacked flights on September 11 were only booked on those flights at the last minute. [8]
CANCELED RESERVATIONS REQUIRE FURTHER INVESTIGATION
The accounts below, of people who were booked on the flights hijacked on September 11 but missed those flights, raise many questions. Could it really just be coincidence that so many people who were scheduled to take four particular flights on the same day canceled their reservations or failed to show up for their flights, or are these accounts evidence of something more sinister? And was it just a coincidence that so many flight attendants and pilots who were originally scheduled to be on the four hijacked planes changed their plans and avoided being on those flights?
Are these accounts a reflection of some individuals having foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks, or are they perhaps evidence of a sophisticated attempt to influence how many people–and which people–would be on the hijacked aircraft?
And surely it is abnormal for so many people involved in the entertainment industry to have planned to take the same–usually quiet–flights, and to have then canceled their reservations at the last minute or failed to show up for their flights. But if this situation was something other than a coincidence, how was it achieved and what purpose did it serve?
Questions like these clearly need to be addressed as part of a thorough and unrestrained new investigation of the 9/11 attacks.
MANY PEOPLE CANCELED THEIR RESERVATIONS OR FAILED TO SHOW UP FOR FLIGHT 11
American Airlines Flight 11 was the first plane to be hijacked on September 11, 2001. The Boeing 767 took off from Logan International Airport in Boston at 7:59 a.m., bound for Los Angeles, but crashed into the World Trade Center in New York at 8:46 a.m.
The plane had a capacity of 158 passengers but had 81 on board that day. [9] However, many people who had reservations for Flight 11 had either canceled their reservations or failed to turn up for the flight. And, as previously mentioned, among these people were a striking number of individuals who worked in, or had close connections to, the entertainment industry. The most widely reported examples are Seth MacFarlane and Mark Wahlberg.
Seth MacFarlane is the creator of the Fox network cartoon sitcom Family Guy and is also well known for having hosted the 2013 Oscars. On the evening of September 10, he gave a lecture at his old college in Rhode Island, after which he went out with some faculty members and “had a few pints.” He was therefore hung over on the morning of September 11. Furthermore, MacFarlane has said that his travel agent mistakenly told him Flight 11 was scheduled to take off at 8:15 a.m., instead of 7:45 a.m. Consequently, when he arrived at Logan Airport the gate had already closed, so he exchanged his ticket for a seat on another flight later in the morning and avoided being on the hijacked plane. “I missed it by 10 minutes,” MacFarlane has commented. “It was very, very fortunate.” [10]
Curiously, Macfarlane’s account is contradicted by an FBI document that lists many passengers who canceled reservations for Flight 11. While MacFarlane suggested that he intended to take Flight 11 but arrived at the airport too late, the document states that he actually canceled his reservation at 6:34 a.m. on September 11, more than an hour before the plane was scheduled to take off. [11]
Mark Wahlberg is a Hollywood actor famous for starring in such movies as Boogie Nights, The Perfect Storm, The Fighter, and Ted. Just before 9/11, he was in Boston for a children’s charity he ran and was scheduled to return to Los Angeles on September 11 on Flight 11. But, a friend of his told the National Enquirer, “The day before, he changed his mind.” Therefore, “Instead of flying to LA on Tuesday, he decided to leave Boston Monday night, flying to New York to spend time with friends before flying back to LA.” That last-minute change of plans meant Wahlberg avoided being on the hijacked plane. [12]
Another celebrity, television personality Julie Stoffer–a former cast member of MTV’s reality show The Real World–was in Boston for a public appearance and was due to take Flight 11 to visit her boyfriend in Los Angeles. After arguing with him on the phone on September 10, though, she considered canceling the trip but then changed her mind. Stoffer called a friend on the morning of September 11 and asked to be taken to the airport, but the friend persuaded her not to go and see her boyfriend, and so she avoided taking Flight 11. [13]
Eva LaRue, who starred in the ABC soap opera All My Children and, more recently, CSI: Miami, was booked on one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center, apparently along with her then-husband, fellow actor John Callahan, as she intended to visit her family in California. (LaRue has not specified whether their plane would have been Flight 11 or Flight 175.) But on the night of September 10, the couple decided to switch to an afternoon flight. LaRue, who was pregnant at the time, has said the reason for this was simply that she “didn’t wanna get up early and fly on the 8 o’clock flight.” [14]
Actor Edward James Olmos, who’d starred in the TV show Miami Vice and the 1988 movie Stand and Deliver, was in Boston on September 10, giving a public appearance. He was due to take Flight 11 the next morning as he was scheduled to appear at the Latin Grammy Awards on the evening of September 11. But he decided to take a flight on September 10 instead as he was feeling exhausted. [15]
It is possible that actress Anne Heche, who starred in movies such as Donnie Brasco and Volcano, was originally going to be on Flight 11 along with her new husband Coley Laffoon, a freelance videographer and editor, although this hasn’t been stated explicitly. Heche had been in Massachusetts for a book signing event. She had “considered taking that very flight [i.e. Flight 11] back to Los Angeles,” a “source close to the actress” told the National Enquirer. But after the book signing in Massachusetts, Heche “was asked to do a book signing in Toronto as well.” Consequently, “Instead of heading home to California, Anne went to Toronto” on September 11. “Now she shudders at the thought of how close she came to death,” the source added. [16]
Actress Jaime Pressly also appears to have been booked on Flight 11, but canceled her reservation at the last minute. Pressly, who starred in films such as Ringmaster and Not Another Teen Movie, and, more recently, starred in the NBC comedy series My Name is Earl, told Esquire magazine she had been in North Carolina and needed to go to Los Angeles. “To get there, I had three different options, none of which were direct flights,” she said. “One of the options was Raleigh to Boston to LA.” She was apparently booked on Flight 11, as she recalled: “I canceled it last minute. And that turned out to be the first plane to hit the World Trade Center.” The reasons she canceled her reservation, she said, were, “a) I don’t want to get up that early, and b) it’s stupid to go around your ass to get to your thumb.” [17]
British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, the star of movies such as Borat and Brüno, was reportedly booked on one of the aircraft hijacked on September 11, although which one is unstated. According to the British newspaper the Sunday People, Baron Cohen “told friends how he was booked on a tragic September 11 flight, but luckily missed it.” [18]
Ventriloquist Jay Johnson, who starred in the TV shows Soap and Broken Badges, was scheduled to perform for an insurance company in Boston on September 10 and was booked to fly home to Los Angeles the next morning on Flight 11. But a week before the performance, the insurance company called and asked if he could perform for it on the morning of September 11 instead of on September 10. Johnson agreed to do so and his manager moved him to another flight. “That change in schedule saved my life,” Johnson has commented. [19]
Julia Child, the famous chef and television personality, was booked on Flight 11, along with her personal assistant Stephanie Hersh, because she was moving from Massachusetts to a retirement community in California. As they were making their final preparations for the move, Child and Hersh “already had their plane tickets, an American Airlines flight to Los Angeles, leaving from Boston’s Logan Airport on Tuesday, September 11, 2001,” Child’s biographer Bob Spitz wrote. But Geof Drummond, Child’s TV producer, had agreed to shoot a video of Child in her kitchen for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the only day all the filming crew could make it was September 11. Child therefore instructed Hersh to reschedule their flight for the end of the week. [20]
Bobby Farrelly, the writer, director, and producer of hit movies including Dumb & Dumber, There’s Something About Mary, and Me, Myself & Irene, was living in Boston and made a reservation on Flight 11 because he had to attend a test screening of his latest movie in California on the night of September 11. But on September 9, he was phoned by Tom Sherak, a partner at Revolution Studios, who invited Farrelly to attend his annual dinner benefiting the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, which would take place in Los Angeles on the night of September 10. Farrelly agreed to go, and so he called American Airlines and arranged to fly to Los Angeles on the morning of September 10 instead of September 11. This change to his schedule, Farrelly has commented, meant Sherak “saved my life.” [21]
Fridrik Thor Fridriksson, an Oscar-nominated Icelandic producer and director, was booked on Flight 11 in order to go and meet actor Keith Carradine before they started filming a movie together. Fridriksson was in Toronto at the time, but it was cheaper for him to travel to Los Angeles via Boston rather than directly from Toronto. But on September 9, he paid an extra $150 and changed his booking to take a direct flight from Toronto. The change “came purely out of necessity and not through a premonition,” Fridriksson said. [22]
Production designer Tom Duffield flew to Boston on the weekend before September 11 to scout a location for the movie The Ring and was scheduled to return to Los Angeles on Flight 11. “Luckily,” the Boston Herald reported, “he switched his plans at the last minute and extended his stay in Boston a few more days.” [23]
Steve Thompson, an assistant animator at the Walt Disney Company, had participated in the Canada-to-U.S. AIDS Vaccine Bike Trek along with a group of his friends. The ride ended in Portland, Maine, and the quickest way for the group to get from there to their homes in Los Angeles was by taking a flight from Maine to Boston and then flying from Boston to Los Angeles. After finishing the ride on September 9, Thompson and his friends intended to relax in Portland on September 10 and then fly home the following morning. Consequently, according to Rick Andreoli, now Thompson’s husband, the group planned “to fly back on American Airlines Flight 11 on September 11.” However, the pop star Madonna had, at the last minute, arranged an additional concert in Los Angeles for her Drowned World Tour that coincided with the completion of the bike ride. Therefore, in order to see “their favorite diva” in concert, Thompson and his then-boyfriend hurriedly bought tickets for the new show and changed their plans, which meant they flew to Los Angeles on September 10 and avoided being on the hijacked plane. Remarkably, everyone else in Thompson’s group also avoided being on Flight 11. Their reasons, according to Andreoli, included “oversleeping, not feeling well, [and] Madonna tickets.” [24]
Talicia Raggs, who worked for a Hollywood production company, appears to have also taken part in the AIDS Vaccine Bike Trek. In September 2001, she was reportedly “traveling … after participating in a bike-a-thon to raise funds for HIV research.” She too had a ticket for Flight 11. But she flew to Los Angeles on September 10 because her office called and said it needed her to come back a day earlier than she’d planned. [25]
Lisa Beach, a casting director for feature films and television, originally had a reservation on Flight 11. She planned to take a short trip to Massachusetts on September 6, returning to Los Angeles on September 11. But on the weekend before the trip, she was invited to a party at the home of a producer she’d just worked with on a movie and decided to cancel her trip in order to attend. “That decision saved my life,” Beach has commented. On September 11, when she heard the plane that hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center was Flight 11, Beach “raced upstairs to look at my E-ticket, which confirmed that I would have indeed been on that flight had I not changed my plans.” [26]
Lisi Harrison has recalled that she was “supposed to be on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center,” although she did not specify whether this was Flight 11 or Flight 175. But, she said, “I changed my reservation at the last minute.” [27] Harrison, now a bestselling author of young adult novels, was at the time working for MTV in New York. [28]
Tom Werner was in a meeting in Boston on the afternoon of September 10 to discuss his interest in buying the Boston Red Sox baseball team and had booked a seat on Flight 11 the next morning. [29] Werner was a partner and co-founder of Carsey-Werner-Mandabach, Hollywood’s largest independent TV studio, and is also a longtime friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton. [30] The meeting ended earlier than Werner expected, so he arranged to fly to New York to spend the evening with his girlfriend, television host Katie Couric. Consequently, according to journalist and author Seth Mnookin, instead of taking Flight 11, he flew to Los Angeles from New York on September 11. [31] However, the FBI document that lists passengers who canceled reservations for Flight 11 contradicts this account, according to which Werner changed his plans late in the afternoon of September 10. Instead, it states that Werner’s reservation on Flight 11 was canceled on the afternoon of September 6. [32]
Paris Barclay, an award-winning television producer and director who’d worked on shows such as NYPD Blue, was booked on Flight 11 along with his partner Christopher Mason, an executive in the food industry. The couple was due to return to Los Angeles on September 11 after spending a month in Boston. But at the last minute they decided to fly back early, on the night of September 10. “We thought, ‘Why hang around another day?’” Mason has recalled. [33]
PEOPLE CONNECTED TO THE MUSIC INDUSTRY NARROWLY AVOIDED BEING ON FLIGHT 11
Some individuals with connections to the music industry were booked on Flight 11, but their lives were saved due to changes to their schedules. One such person was Leighanne Littrell, the wife of Brian Littrell, a member of the Backstreet Boys, one of the most successful boy bands of all time. The Backstreet Boys were in Boston in the days before 9/11 for their Black and Blue tour. While the band was going to head on to Toronto, Leighanne was set to go to Los Angeles on September 11 on Flight 11. But on September 10, she told her husband she did not want to take the flight. She said: “I feel really, really bad about going. I don’t know what it is.” Brian told her she needed to take the flight, but, Leighanne has recalled, “Something kept telling me, ‘You can’t go.’” She finally broke down and said, “I can’t do it.” Brian therefore told her, “God, if you feel that strongly about it, cancel it,” and so, fortunately, she avoided being on the hijacked plane. [34]
The members of an up-and-coming teen R&B group called Code 5 reportedly “lived to tell about their good luck because their original travel plans to take the ill-fated American Airlines Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles were scrapped at the last minute.” To save money, Steve Salem, their manager, had switched the band to a cheaper flight out of Boston on September 11 that had a stopover in Minneapolis. [35]
The acclaimed jazz pianist and composer Danilo Pérez was scheduled to appear at the Latin Grammy Awards on the evening of September 11. He was consequently scheduled to fly to Los Angeles that morning “on one of the planes out of Logan International Airport that crashed into the World Trade Center,” according to the Boston Herald. Whether that plane would have been Flight 11 or Flight 175 is unstated. But Pérez “canceled his reservation on the Los Angeles-bound flight … a few weeks before.” [36]
A few other individuals with links to the entertainment industry were also originally booked either on Flight 11 or an unspecified one of the hijacked flights. Erica Ferencik, a real estate agent who also wrote and performed standup comedy and wrote jokes for late-night television host David Letterman, was, along with her husband, booked on “one of the planes that were hijacked by terrorists and crashed into the World Trade Center,” according to the Boston Business Journal. Whether that was Flight 11 or Flight 175 is unstated. But, “Wanting to avoid an early morning, Ferencik convinced her husband to switch their tickets to a later flight just days before September 11.” [37]
An unnamed television sound engineer told Canadian journalist Jonathan Kay, while Kay was in California working on a TV project, that he “had been booked on one of the hijacked 9/11 airliners.” (Kay has not stated which of the hijacked flights the man was booked on.) But the sound engineer missed the flight. “He was a no show, thanks to a last-minute assignment,” Kay wrote. [38]
A couple of well-known actors have said friends of theirs were booked on Flight 11 but missed the flight. Although it is not certain, there is surely a fair chance that these unnamed individuals worked in the entertainment industry. Academy Award-winning actress Helen Hunt, the star of movies such as What Women Want and As Good as it Gets, recalled, “I had a friend booked on Flight 11, but who, an hour earlier, decided to take another flight.” [39] And Tom Sizemore, who starred in Natural Born Killers and Saving Private Ryan, said, “I had a friend who was supposed to be on Flight 11, but his mother wanted him to visit her one more day,” and so he missed the doomed flight. [40]
SPORTSMEN AND JOURNALISTS WERE SCHEDULED TO TAKE FLIGHT 11
A couple of people who canceled reservations for Flight 11 worked in professional sport. Brad Thomas, a member of the New Britain Rock Cats baseball team, and his future wife, Kylie, had tickets for Flight 11, as they intended to fly home to Australia via Los Angeles at the end of the baseball season. But the Rock Cats advanced to the Eastern League finals, which were scheduled to begin on September 11, and so they no longer needed to take Flight 11. [41]
And Al Skinner, head coach of the Boston College Eagles basketball team, was scheduled to fly to Los Angeles on Flight 11 on a recruiting trip. But on the night of September 10, Bobby Jones, the player he was going to try and recruit, called and asked him if he could reschedule the trip, and so Skinner avoided being on the hijacked plane. [42]
Several reporters were also originally booked on Flight 11. Charlene Smith, a South African journalist and author, wrote that her ex-husband, who worked as a journalist for the Los Angeles Times, had been visiting relatives in Boston and was due to return to Los Angeles on Flight 11. But, Smith wrote, “He was in line to board when the LA Times called and said, ‘We need you to go to Atlanta; do you have time to switch?’” Her ex-husband therefore “stepped out of the line” and took a flight to Atlanta. [43]
Diane Pucin, a sports writer at the Los Angeles Times, has written that she “was briefly booked on American Flight 11.” She was due to fly from Boston to Los Angeles on September 10 after covering the U.S. Open tennis tournament, but on September 8 an editor called her and asked if she could stay on the East Coast for an extra day and write from a baseball game on the night of September 10. Pucin agreed and then called American Airlines to change her reservation to September 11. She was offered a morning flight–Flight 11–or an afternoon flight. She decided to take Flight 11. However, Pucin wrote, “At the very last moment, just as the agent was giving me the new itinerary, I apologized and asked if I could change to the afternoon flight.” Pucin’s reason for wanting to change flights, she wrote, was that she was “inherently not a morning person and because the precious sticker upgrade that I had gotten on Flight 11 was also available on the later flight.” The agent said Pucin could switch to the afternoon flight and changed her reservation. [44]
Ben Elkin, an editor at NPR, was staying with his girlfriend, Brooke, in Los Angeles at the start of September 2001. He wanted to go to Boston to complete a training course he was taking, so he booked a flight there on September 6; his return flight was Flight 11 on September 11. But when Elkin reminded Brooke about his planned trip a couple of days before he was scheduled to fly out, she said she didn’t want him to go. She just had a “bad feeling,” she said, but Elkin should go if he wanted to. “I thought about it for a second and decided not to.” Elkin has recalled. [45]
PEOPLE FROM VARIOUS BACKGROUNDS WERE ORIGINALLY BOOKED ON FLIGHT 11
Other people who canceled reservations for Flight 11 or kept their reservations but still missed the flight came from a variety of backgrounds.
Sheila Donnelly Theroux, the owner of a public relations firm in Hawaii, was booked on Flight 11, but reportedly changed her booking on the night of September 10 “due to a non-related development in Cape Cod, where she was staying.” [46] Sheila Donnelly Theroux is the wife of the best-selling novelist and travel writer Paul Theroux, author of more than 40 books including The Mosquito Coast and The Great Railway Bazaar. Paul Theroux has recalled that he was traveling with his wife in the week before 9/11 and arrived with her in Boston on September 9. He has not stated whether he too was originally booked on Flight 11. [47]
Elisabeth Allison was booked on Flight 11 but, for unstated reasons, “changed the booking at the last minute to the following day.” [48] Elisabeth Allison is the wife of Graham Allison, who is described as “a leading analyst of U.S. national security and defense policy with a special interest in nuclear weapons, terrorism, and decision-making.” He served as an assistant secretary of defense under President Clinton, as special adviser to the secretary of defense under President Reagan, and as a member of the Defense Policy Board. He has also been a director of the Council on Foreign Relations and was a founding member of the Trilateral Commission. [49]
Gerry Moylan, who was a popular disc jockey at major radio stations in the 1980s and co-founded a successful Internet consulting company in the 1990s, was booked on Flight 11 but, late on the afternoon of September 10, changed his reservation to a flight at 11:00 a.m. on September 11. [50]
Andy Ellis, chief security officer at Internet content delivery company Akamai Technologies, was originally booked on Flight 11. But, reportedly, “His travel arrangements were rescheduled, putting him on a September 12 flight.” [51]
A group from Arnold Worldwide, Boston’s biggest advertising agency, was scheduled to be on Flight 11 but switched to a flight on September 10, because “the client wanted them to come a day earlier.” [52]
Boston real estate developer Stephen Weiner and his wife, Roberta, were “booked to fly on one of the two California-bound flights from Boston that crashed into the World Trade Center towers on September 11,” according to publicist George Regan, but missed the flight. Regan did not say whether the Weiners were booked on Flight 11 or Flight 175. [53]
Herbert Zarkin, chairman of BJ’s Wholesale Club, had a ticket for Flight 11 but canceled it on September 8, according to CFO magazine. [54] But according to the FBI document that lists passengers who canceled their reservations for Flight 11, Zarkin did not cancel his reservation but simply failed to turn up for the flight on September 11. [55]
Tom Christo and his wife, Ellen, a pair of lawyers and longtime Republican Party activists, were scheduled to be on Flight 11. But, Christo said, “At the last moment, we rescheduled and took a flight out of Boston to Chicago instead.” [56]
Nicholas Reihner, a legal assistant, was meant to be on Flight 11 but missed the flight because he had “twisted his ankle while hiking during a vacation to Bar Harbor, Maine.” [57]
Susan Yahn, a real estate agent, and her husband Peter MacPherson, a sales manager for a software company, had planned a trip to Hawaii and intended to fly there via Los Angeles. “With three kids to take care of, they don’t fly together, just in case,” the Boston Globe reported. Yahn was therefore booked on Flight 11 and MacPherson was booked on “a United Airlines flight” on September 11. Presumably his plane was Flight 175, although this has not been stated explicitly. Fortunately, MacPherson decided to change his plans and fly on September 10, and Yahn decided to take a later flight so she could see her children off at the school bus stop on September 11. Yahn told the Boston Globe that “she felt as though both she and her husband narrowly escaped death.” [58]
Greg Miller, an information technology consultant in Los Angeles, went to New York with his wife, Meredith, and two daughters on September 8 for a family reunion. Meredith, who “always makes the flight arrangements,” had arranged for them to fly home early on the morning of September 11 via Boston. The Millers had therefore been booked on Flight 11. But Miller has recalled that he told his wife he “didn’t want to get up early on the last day of our trip” and so he “asked her to change the flight to a later time in the day.” Even though Meredith “had already booked the tickets, she took the extra effort and changed them.” [59]
Jacob Herbst, the founder and CEO of software development company FilesX, was in Boston on business and, on September 11, was booked on Flight 11 so he could visit friends in Los Angeles and then head to Silicon Valley. But on September 10, a friend of his suggested he meet with a potential employee for his company. Herbst met that man at 6:00 a.m. the next morning. However, according to Herbst, the meeting lasted longer than he’d expected and he then got delayed in traffic on the way to Logan Airport. He consequently was too late to catch Flight 11. [60]
Rick Morin, a senior consultant in the wireless telecommunications industry, was originally scheduled to be on Flight 11. But Ron Gerber, the CEO of IT event company Angelbeat, invited him to speak at a trade show in Los Angeles. Therefore, to attend the show, Morin changed his plans at the last minute and flew to Los Angeles on September 10. [61]
Gerry Zimmerman, vice president of product assurance at Raytheon, a defense and aerospace systems company, was scheduled to be on Flight 11. But, reportedly, “A last-minute change of corporate plans sent her to Florida.” [62]
Joseph Jareck, vice president and general manager of an independent distributor of electronic components, was scheduled to fly from Islip, New York, to Boston on September 10 and then take Flight 11 the following day. But “because there was wheel trouble with the flight out of Islip, the airline put Jareck in a taxi to New York’s JFK International Airport, where he flew to Los Angeles on Monday [September 10] instead.” [63]
Deborah Bernstein, a management consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, was “supposed to be on one of the LA-bound planes,” according to the Boston Globe. Whether this was Flight 11 or Flight 175 is unstated. But the meeting she was meant to attend in California “was canceled and she stayed in Boston.” [64]
Max Mandle, a product manager for workforce management software and services company Kronos Incorporated, “had tickets on one of the four flights that were hijacked” on September 11, according to Andy Wenzel, a friend and former work colleague of his. Mandle’s intended flight, according to Wenzel, was “one from Boston to LA,” although whether this was Flight 11 or Flight 175 is unstated. But, Wenzel wrote, “Max switched flights at the last minute.” This was because “some meeting details couldn’t be worked out before his trip” and so “he decided to fly out earlier” than September 11. [65]
Eric McNulty, a writer, speaker, and adviser, was scheduled to be on Flight 11 on September 11 but changed his plans and flew on September 10 instead. “My trip was moved a day because of when the Jewish holidays fell,” McNulty has written. [66]
Mike Marshall from Carlsbad, California, had gone with his baby daughter to visit relatives in Massachusetts at the start of September 2001. The two were scheduled to fly home on September 10 along with Marshall’s mother, but on September 9 the daughter came down with an ear infection. Not wanting her to fly while she was sick, Marshall booked a “backup flight,” getting tickets for himself, his daughter, and his mother on a later flight: Flight 11 on September 11. But on September 10, the daughter reportedly woke up fully recovered and so the Marshalls caught their original flight to California later that day. [67]
Craig Sanders was supposed to be on Flight 11, his father, Lewis Sanders, said, but “didn’t get on the flight because it was full.” Lewis Sanders said that when his son “got to Logan Airport and prepared to board Flight 11, he was told the flight has been oversold and all seats were taken.” (And yet, supposedly, only 51 percent of the seats on Flight 11 were taken.) Craig was instead put on a flight to New York that left shortly after Flight 11. [68]
Ally Carnes was reportedly scheduled to be on “the flight from Boston to Los Angeles … that crashed into the World Trade Center.” Whether this was Flight 11 or Flight 175 is unstated. But, she said, “I wanted to get out earlier and be in LA earlier, so I switched to a flight an hour earlier.” “My entire family thought I was dead” on September 11, she added. [69]
Los Angeles resident Craig McFarland was supposed to be on Flight 11, but he “exchanged his ticket at the last minute and saved his life.” [70]
Neil Johnson, from Mansfield, Massachusetts, was originally meant to be on Flight 11, but reportedly “changed his flight, a decision that saved his life.” [71]
Chris Olney reported that “he was booked on Flight 11 on September 11, but had his meeting canceled at the last minute.” [72]
Ernie Gerbasi originally made a reservation on Flight 11. But on September 6, he switched to Delta Air Lines Flight 1989, another flight from Boston to Los Angeles, which took off shortly after Flight 11 and Flight 175 on September 11. Gerbasi changed flights, he has written, “to preserve my air miles.” [73]
Nick Colarossi was scheduled to take Flight 11 in order to attend a business meeting in California, but changed his plans and avoided being on the doomed flight. His explanation for doing so was: “I had just gotten back from a trip. It was my wife’s birthday. It was my little one’s first full day of school and I didn’t want to miss all that. I just didn’t feel like going.” “My boss wasn’t too happy with me,” he added. [74]
Alice Seltzer was on vacation in Austria with her daughter in the days before 9/11. For her journey home she was scheduled to fly to Boston on September 10 and then take Flight 11 from there to Los Angeles the following morning. But while she was in Austria, Seltzer asked her daughter to change her September 11 flight to a flight on September 10. This was because she had decided not to spend the night of September 10 in Boston. “I didn’t want to unpack my luggage and then pack it again at the hotel,” she has explained. Consequently, on September 10, Seltzer flew from Austria to Atlanta, Georgia, and then from there to Los Angeles. [75]
Jason Greene, a firefighter from Exeter, New Hampshire, and his fiancée, Valerie, were scheduled to take Flight 11 to Los Angeles, from where they would take another flight to Las Vegas, where they planned to get married. Jason’s parents, Fred and Donna Greene, were going to travel with them. But a “last-minute change in travel plans” reportedly “saved their lives.” According to Valerie, they all switched to a flight out of Manchester, New Hampshire, after they learned it would be “not only more convenient for them, but also less expensive.” [76]
Tom Johnston and his wife, Peggy, spent the weekend before 9/11 in Massachusetts so Tom could attend his high school reunion. Tom had booked the couple on Flight 11 for their journey home, but Peggy wanted to take a later flight. “They actually got in a big fight,” their daughter, Kim Sullivan, said. “She basically wanted to spend another day with her mom” who lived in Massachusetts. Therefore, on September 9, the couple changed their return flight to one that left Logan Airport at 5:30 p.m. on September 11. [77]
John Frechette, who worked for the Los Angeles Visitors Bureau, was a frequent flier on Flight 11. He was scheduled to take the flight on September 11, but decided to cancel. He told his mother he did so because he needed a break from his exhausting routine. “He had never canceled before,” his mother has said. [78]
David Anders, from Honolulu, was booked on Flight 11, but called American Airlines and paid an extra $100 to fly out of Boston on September 8 instead of September 11. “I decided I had nothing really to keep me there,” Anders has explained. [79]
Doyin and Shola Richards, twin brothers living on the East Coast, planned to visit Los Angeles from September 11 to September 14 and were booked on Flight 11 to get there. But on September 8 Shola told his brother he wanted to fly out a day earlier than planned so they could spend an extra day in Los Angeles. Despite Doyin’s opposition to the idea, Shola paid the extra fees and changed their reservations. “We would be dead today if he didn’t change our departure date from Tuesday to Monday,” Doyin has commented. [80]
Carmen Gutierrez said her son, Manuel, who was in the Army and lived in Texas, was meant to be on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center. Whether that plane was Flight 11 or Flight 175 is unreported. But, Manuel told his mother, he made a last-minute business-related phone call before boarding and consequently, by the time he went to check in for the flight, the plane had already taken off. [81]
Ashley Ezell recalled that her uncle was “scheduled to fly on the plane that hit the first tower” of the World Trade Center, presumably referring to Flight 11. But he reportedly “missed the flight by 10 minutes.” [82]
Olivia Putihrai recalled that on September 11, her brother “was about to take a flight from Boston to LA.” Whether this was Flight 11 or Flight 175 is unstated. But, she said, “He canceled at the last minute because he broke up with his girlfriend.” A friend of her brother’s who was traveling with him reportedly “died on that flight.” [83]
Susan Kagel from Montrose, California, said that her “mother and sister were supposed to be on one of the planes” that was hijacked. That plane was reportedly one of the flights that took off from Boston, but whether it was Flight 11 or Flight 175 is unstated. But some time after the second tower of the World Trade Center was hit, Kagel “got word that her mother and sister had changed their flight.” They had reportedly switched to a later flight. [84]
Columnist Beverly Beckham wrote that the husband of her longtime friend, “Rosemary,” had been “scheduled to take Flight 11.” However, “He changed his plans” and flew out of Providence, Rhode Island, “because the airfare was cheaper.” [85]
Len Emmons, former boys’ soccer coach at Masconomet Regional High School in Topsfield, Massachusetts, recalled that on September 11, “One player, keeper David Doucette, heard from his father who was originally booked on one of the planes that were flown into the World Trade Center.” Whether that was Flight 11 or Flight 175 is unstated. Fortunately, Doucette’s father “decided to switch it up and go to a meeting in Canada.” [86]
SOME PILOTS AND FLIGHT ATTENDANTS CHANGED THEIR PLANS AND AVOIDED WORKING FLIGHT 11
Several individuals who were originally scheduled to be crew members on Flight 11 changed their plans and–like these passengers–avoided being on the doomed flight.
Walter Sorenson was going to be the pilot of Flight 11 on September 11. But, reportedly, he was replaced at the “last minute” by John Ogonowski. This was because Ogonowski “requested to fly that day” and “had seniority over Sorenson.” [87]
Flight attendant Halle Cameron was scheduled to work Flight 11. But on September 10, when she returned home after playing in a golf tournament, she felt unwell. Consequently, she called American Airlines’ automated scheduling line that night and withdrew from the flight. [88]
Ann Moreland was contacted by American Airlines on September 9 and asked to be the purser (the chief flight attendant) on Flight 11. She agreed and was therefore scheduled to work the flight on September 11. However, the airline subsequently called her again and said it had found another purser for Flight 11, so she could take a mini-leave until she was scheduled. [89]
Marilyn Gates was supposed to be a flight attendant on Flight 11. But she “switched her schedule so she could take her father to a doctor’s appointment.” [90]
And flight attendant Joyce Olver was scheduled to work Flight 11. But in April 2001, a passenger had stepped on her foot. Olver waited several months before having it checked out. Her doctor found her foot had been broken and, on September 5, told her to take time off work until she could have surgery. Olver was therefore safe at home on September 11. [91]
SEVEN PEOPLE RESERVED SEATS THROUGH A PAKISTANI TRAVEL AGENCY, THEN MISSED THE PLANE
The FBI learned, shortly after 9/11, of a particularly notable instance of people booking seats on Flight 11 but then missing the flight. Linda Emley, an employee of a company that operates an airline reservation website used by travel agencies, had noticed a suspicious occurrence of seven individuals reserving seats but then failing to turn up for the flight.
Emley found that Interavia Pakistan Ltd., a travel agency based in Karachi, had booked seven seats on Flight 11 on the night of September 10. These were for individuals with the names Mr. K. Cooper, Mrs. S. Cooper, Ms. A. Cooper, Ms. P. Cooper, Ms. O. Noris, Ms. E. Noris, and Ms. W. Noris. At the same time, reservations had been made for these seven individuals on another aircraft, TWA Flight 342, from Los Angeles to St. Louis, which was set to depart on September 11 at 7:55 a.m. Pacific Standard Time and arrive at 1:24 p.m. Central Standard Time. As this plane would have been in the air at the same time as Flight 11, the seven individuals could not possibly have made use of both of their reservations.
The FBI, which interviewed Emley, identified a number of oddities with the reservations that, it stated, required “further inquiry.” These include the fact that no first names were given for any of the seven people who made the reservations, in violation of standard American Airlines policy; no information regarding credit cards, addresses, or telephone numbers was contained in the passenger name record for any of the individuals–again against standard American Airlines practice; although the reservations were made through a Pakistani travel agency, none of the individuals had surnames normally associated with Pakistan; none of them had any previous travel history with American Airlines; and all of the tickets reserved were one-way only, without a return flight. [92]
Whether the FBI conducted any “further inquiry” into this matter and, if so, what was discovered is unknown.
THE FBI INVESTIGATED PEOPLE WHO WERE ORIGINALLY BOOKED ON FLIGHT 11 BUT MISSED THE PLANE
The FBI appears to have had suspicions about the large number of people who canceled their reservations for Flight 11 or had reservations but failed to turn up for the flight (it referred to these individuals as “no shows”). In the early stages of its investigation of the 9/11 attacks, its Dallas, Texas, office actually examined how many people canceled their reservations or were no shows for Flight 11 and tried to determine if any of these individuals had links to the alleged 9/11 hijackers or their associates.
The FBI reported that information it received from American Airlines reservation records indicated that 164 reservations were made for Flight 11. Of these, 65 individuals canceled their reservations prior to the plane departing from Logan Airport on September 11 and 17 individuals were no shows for the flight. There were 82 passengers on the plane, according to the FBI. [93] However, the 9/11 Commission later determined that there were 81 passengers on Flight 11. [94]
The Dallas FBI office compiled a database that supposedly included all the available information on the people who’d had reservations, or were noted on the manifest, for Flight 11. This list included everyone who was actually on the plane, those who canceled their reservation prior to departure, and those who were no shows.
The FBI’s list can be viewed on the Internet. [95] It shows that some individuals canceled their reservations for Flight 11 several months before September 11–a few people canceled as early as April or May 2001. Other individuals canceled their reservations later on, such as early in September or even on the morning of September 11.
While the list includes the names of some of the individuals whose accounts I have described above–such as Seth MacFarlane, Tom Werner, and Tom Duffield–most of the people it describes as having canceled their reservations or being no shows are additional to those I have mentioned. Furthermore, most of the individuals whose accounts I have described are not mentioned in the FBI’s list.
This suggests that the actual numbers of people who canceled their reservations or were no shows for Flight 11 were significantly higher than the FBI determined. The reason for this is unknown. Did American Airlines perhaps withhold information from the FBI?
Furthermore, a few individuals–such as David Angell, Antonio Montoya, and Xavier Suarez–are described as having canceled their reservations for Flight 11, even though they were on the plane on September 11. The reason for this is also unknown.
MANY PEOPLE CANCELED THEIR RESERVATIONS OR WERE ‘NO SHOWS’ FOR FLIGHT 175
United Airlines Flight 175, the second plane to be hijacked on September 11, was, like Flight 11, a Boeing 767 bound from Logan International Airport in Boston to Los Angeles. It took off from Logan Airport at 8:14 a.m. and crashed into the World Trade Center at 9:03 a.m.
The plane had a capacity of 168 passengers but had 56 on board that day. As with Flight 11, many people who had reservations for Flight 175 either canceled their reservations or failed to turn up for the flight. Nine passengers with reservations failed to turn up for Flight 175, according to the 9/11 Commission Report. [96] The accounts below describe many other individuals who also avoided being on the plane.
Numerous people who had reservations for Flight 175 but missed the flight were interviewed by the FBI as part of its investigation of the 9/11 attacks. Some of these people said they were booked on Flight 175 because they were assigned to the flight for the return leg of a journey for which they only intended to travel one way. They had bought a round-trip ticket because it was cheaper than a one-way ticket.
Emily Dunkel had a reservation on Flight 175 that was made by her mother, Patricia Dunkel. Emily only required a one-way flight from California to Massachusetts, on August 30. But her mother told the FBI she had bought a round-trip ticket as it was cheaper than a one-way flight. She said she “never expected her daughter to actually take the 9/11/2001 return flight.” [97]
Kelly Kawahara, a student from Hawaii, bought a round-trip ticket from Honolulu to Boston. She told the FBI that “the travel agent arbitrarily chose the return leg to be United Airlines Flight 175 on September 11.” She said that “she never had any intention of returning on September 11 and planned to use that portion of the ticket to return for either Thanksgiving or Christmas.” It was “merely coincidental that she was booked to fly on Flight 175 on September 11,” she said. [98]
Charles Marcus was booked on Flight 175, but, he told the FBI, he never intended to take the flight. He had to travel from Los Angeles to Boston on September 7. Although he only needed a one-way ticket, he purchased a round-trip ticket as it was significantly cheaper, which was why he had a reservation on Flight 175. Marcus told the FBI that this process, known as “inside-out” ticketing in the airline industry, “was frowned upon by the airlines, but was still a common way to save on the cost of one-way airfares.” [99]
Renee Yong purchased a round-trip ticket from Los Angeles to Boston, as she was going to start studying at a school in Boston on September 4. She bought a round-trip ticket simply because it was cheaper than a one-way ticket. She selected September 11 as her return date, but had no intention of using the return ticket, which was for Flight 175. [100]
Elizabeth Swain originally had a reservation on Flight 175 because, in early August 2001, she’d booked a round-trip ticket from Los Angeles to Boston. She’d flown to Boston on August 17 or 18 and was scheduled to return to Los Angeles on September 11 on Flight 175. However, a business client of hers called and asked if she could come to California to meet some time earlier than September 11. Swain agreed and consequently flew back to California on September 9, thereby avoiding being on the hijacked flight. Swain’s husband, Thomas, and daughter, Megan, flew to Boston with her in August and also had reservations on Flight 175, but they didn’t use these. [101] Thomas Swain told the FBI that neither he nor Megan intended to fly to Los Angeles on September 11, but they had round-trip tickets as these were cheaper than one-way tickets. They were consequently no shows for the flight on September 11. [102]
Other people who made reservations on Flight 175 but missed the flight had–at least originally–intended to take the flight on September 11.
Barry Bycoff, CEO of the security software company Netegrity, was booked on Flight 175 in order to attend a conference in California, but missed the flight due to various delays on the way to and at the airport. These included “a truck breakdown in Weymouth, a six-car accident on the Expressway at East Milton Square, and a work crew on the access road to the Ted Williams Tunnel,” Bycoff told the FBI. After he arrived at the airport, Bycoff was delayed by a security officer who wanted to check his briefcase. By the time he reached the departure gate, it had already closed. [103]
John Caney, who worked for a company that sold photographic studio lighting equipment, was scheduled to be on Flight 175 along with his wife, Deborah, as he had to meet some clients in Los Angeles. But his clients were unable to meet him until later in the week of September 11, so in the week before 9/11, he rescheduled his flight to September 13. [104]
Iain Cockburn, an economist, was scheduled to be on Flight 175 as he was set to testify at a trial in Los Angeles on behalf of Watson Pharmaceuticals. But on September 9, he received an e-mail, which stated that the lawsuit had been settled and so he was no longer needed in Los Angeles. Cockburn therefore canceled his reservation on Flight 175. [105]
Someone called Tatchui Soo, who had lived in Australia, was originally scheduled to be on Flight 175, but changed to another flight. The FBI was unable to locate Soo and find out why they’d changed their reservation. [106]
A person from Singapore called Litchen Liew had a reservation on Flight 175 but changed to another flight. The FBI was similarly apparently unable to make contact with Liew after September 11 to determine why they changed their reservation. [107]
Brad Thompson was originally scheduled to be on Flight 175 but changed to another flight. The FBI was apparently unable to locate him after September 11 to question him about this. [108]
Henry Stern was booked on Flight 175 but changed to another flight. The FBI was similarly unable to locate Stern to ask him about why he did this. [109]
And the FBI was unable to locate Lindsey Harper, who was also booked on Flight 175 but changed to another flight. [110]
Scott Lange and his friend Eddie Seileh were in Boston on vacation at the start of September 2001, and were scheduled to fly home to California on Flight 175. But Lange received a phone call from his mother and, apparently based on what she said (which is unstated), he and Seileh decided to return to California on the next available flight. They consequently avoided being on the hijacked plane. [111]
Caroline Soeung was due to take Flight 175 after visiting her parents in Rhode Island. But she woke up on September 11 with the flu, and her mother did not want her to leave so early to catch her flight while she was feeling ill. Soeung therefore changed her reservation to a flight late that afternoon. [112]
William Travers and his wife, Joanne, planned to go to a wedding in Vermont on September 8 and then meet with friends in Boston on September 10 before flying home to California on Flight 175 the following day. But on September 7, the contractor who was building their new home told Travers he intended to begin groundbreaking on the home on September 13. Travers therefore changed his plans and, with his wife, flew back to California on September 10, so he could attend the groundbreaking. [113]
Wilbert Lick traveled to Vermont around September 6 to visit his sister and was originally scheduled to return home to California on Flight 175 after visiting friends in Boston on the night of September 10. But Lick ended up visiting his friends on September 9 and so he decided to fly home a day early, on September 10. [114]
Poyi Huang flew from California to Boston to visit some friends and was originally booked on Flight 175 for his return journey, but changed to another flight. However, when questioned by the FBI after September 11, Huang appeared unclear about why he had done this. He said that he “recalled leaving the San Francisco airport on the Monday before September 11, 2001, but was unsure of the exact day he traveled.” He added that he “does not recall being scheduled for UA Flight 175, nor does he recall why he changed his return flight.” [115]
The FBI contacted Sadie Ann Herrera after September 11 because it had “information suggesting that she was scheduled on UA Flight 175 on September 11.” Herrera, though, was apparently unaware of this. She told the FBI that on September 11, she “was scheduled to travel on United Airlines Flight 174 [i.e. not Flight 175] from Los Angeles to Boston, to depart at 8:05 a.m. and arrive at 4:33 p.m.,” in order to attend a business meeting in Massachusetts on September 12. She was set to return to California on September 13, on United Airlines Flight 51. [116]
Ormande Brown was similarly apparently booked on Flight 175 but unaware of this. Brown told the FBI that on September 11 he in fact traveled on United Airlines Flight 1689, which left Boston at 8:05 a.m. for Denver, Colorado. He said he knew “nothing about having been booked on United Airlines Flight 175″ and that “he did not change his reservation.” [117]
Thomas Iandiorio was visiting the East Coast in September 2001 for his sister’s graduation and was scheduled to return to California on Flight 175, but apparently his reservation was canceled. Iandiorio explained to the FBI that when he checked in at the United Airlines ticket counter at the airport, “he was informed that he was bumped from his flight to another UA flight that left at the same time as UA Flight 175.” That flight, he said, had a stopover in Denver and arrived in Los Angeles about 20 minutes earlier than Flight 175 would have. Iandiorio told the FBI that he had “been wondering ever since September 11, 2001, why he was bumped [from Flight 175] for no reason at all.” [118]
Howard Englander was originally booked on Flight 175 but changed to another flight. Englander told the FBI he had a home in California he regularly visited and he also traveled extensively for his business, but he had no knowledge of being booked on Flight 175. A woman who said she often changed flight arrangements for Englander, but whose name is unstated, told the FBI she had canceled Englander’s reservation on Flight 175, although she apparently did not say why. With the credit from this flight, she said, she booked him on another flight with a different destination. [119]
Dennis McCarthy, a sales manager for a company that handles convenience store products, had flown to Boston to see his broker and was scheduled to take Flight 175 for his return journey. But his business with his broker finished early and so, on September 7, he changed his reservation and traveled to Los Angeles on an earlier flight. [120]
Jennifer Fisher had to go to California for a photography shoot. She was meant to attend a meeting in Massachusetts on September 10 and was scheduled to fly out on Flight 175 the following day. But the meeting was canceled, and so Fisher changed her reservation and flew to Los Angeles a day early, on September 10. [121]
Shelagh Kelly, who worked for Viant Corp., an Internet consulting company, was scheduled to travel to California on Flight 175 for a business trip. But she changed to another flight on September 10 because it was cheaper. [122]
Alfred Schwartzer and his wife, Rose Schwartzer, were booked on Flight 175 as they intended to visit their daughter in California. However, according to their son, David Schwartzer, Rose “was not ready to travel to California” at that time and so she canceled their reservations. [123]
Paul Connolly, a salesman, was scheduled to fly from Boston to Los Angeles on Flight 175 for a business trip. However, several weeks before September 11, he moved to a new home. He therefore switched to a flight out of Manchester, New Hampshire, which was nearer to his new home than Boston was. [124]
Matthew McRoberts, who worked in marketing, was booked on Flight 175 as he was meant to attend a meeting in California. However, because he needed to attend another meeting in Boston, he had to change his flight to one that departed later on September 11. [125]
Christopher Kozloski, a salesman, was booked on Flight 175 so he could attend a meeting in California on September 11. But on September 7 the meeting was rescheduled for September 10. Kozloski therefore changed to a flight on September 9. Curiously, as an “alternate flight,” Kozloski’s travel agent also made a reservation for him on Flight 11. But, according to the FBI document that lists passengers who canceled reservations for Flight 11, that reservation was canceled on August 30. [126]
Retiree Joseph Braga and his aunt, Maria Chaves, were originally booked on Flight 175. But they changed their reservations to a Southwest Airlines flight that took off from Providence, Rhode Island, on September 11 because, Braga said, the tickets were over $200 cheaper. [127]
Christie Turner was scheduled to be on Flight 175 but, she told the FBI, had to change her plans and go to Minneapolis because her father-in-law had died. She therefore took a Northwest Airlines flight to Minneapolis on September 11. [128]
Laila Partridge originally had a reservation on Flight 175 because she had to go to California for a business meeting. But she canceled her reservation, she said, because the meeting was postponed and she had other business she was attending to on the East Coast. [129]
Thomas Haugen, who worked in the trading industry, was scheduled to be on Flight 175. He told the FBI he missed the flight because a meeting he was meant to attend in Boston on the morning of September 11 “was postponed due to a client running late.” (Presumably the meeting was meant to have taken place very early, and so, had it occurred at the scheduled time, Haugen would have had time to make Flight 175 after it ended.) [130]
While the FBI investigated and, when possible, questioned the individuals described above who’d had reservations for Flight 175 but missed the flight, whether it also interviewed the individuals described below who’d had reservations for Flight 175 is unstated.
INDIVIDUALS FROM VARIOUS BACKGROUNDS WERE ORIGINALLY BOOKED ON FLIGHT 175, BUT MISSED THE FLIGHT
Martin Wilson and Angie Smith, a director and a producer who ran Soul Films, an Australian film production company, were booked on Flight 175. But, for unknown reasons, they changed their reservations and flew a day earlier than originally planned, on September 10. [131]
Arlene Burns reserved a seat on Flight 175 but canceled it a few days before September 11 in order to meet with an old friend that day. Burns is a world-class kayaker and had spent much of the decade before 9/11 working as a freelance broadcaster for ESPN, NBC, PBS, National Geographic, and other TV networks. “I may have been destined to die that day and I somehow sidestepped my own fate,” she has commented. [132]
Ruth Denison, a Buddhist elder who was one of the first teachers to bring Vipassana meditation to the West, had been teaching at the Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts and was booked on Flight 175 for her trip home to California. But she has recalled that on September 10, “She decided to delay her departure in order to do some sightseeing in Boston,” and so she “missed that plane.” [133]
Muffet McGraw, the coach of the Notre Dame women’s basketball team, was booked on Flight 175 for a recruiting trip to California. But the week before 9/11, her assistant coach Kevin McGuff convinced her to change her plans and join him on a flight out of Providence, Rhode Island. “He was pretty stubborn,” McGraw has recalled. “Had it been another assistant, I would have gotten on the plane [i.e. Flight 175].” [134]
Bruce Boudreau, head coach of the American Hockey League team the Manchester Monarchs, and assistant coach Bobby Jay were booked on Flight 175 so they could get to Los Angeles for the start of the Los Angeles Kings training camp. (The Manchester Monarchs are the Los Angeles Kings’ American Hockey League affiliate.) But Andy Murray, head coach of the Los Angeles Kings, scheduled a pre-camp meeting and dinner with all the coaches in the organization for the night of September 10. Therefore, about five days before 9/11, John Wolf, the Kings’ assistant to the general manager, switched Boudreau and Jay to a flight on September 10 so they could attend. [135]
Mary Lou Bohn, vice president of Titleist Golf Ball Marketing and Communications, was scheduled to be on Flight 175 on September 11 for a business trip to the West Coast. But she reportedly “felt she needed more time to prepare” and so she arranged to fly out to California on another day. [136]
William Fung, CEO of Li & Fung, the world’s largest sourcing company, was booked on Flight 175 but at the last minute changed his plans and boarded a plane bound for San Francisco instead. The reason, according to Fortune magazine, was that he had woken up on the morning of September 11 “with an inexplicable urge to meet his sister, who lives in San Francisco, for lunch at their favorite sushi restaurant there.” “The sushi craving saved his life,” Fortune commented. [137]
Tricia Brennan, an “intuitive counselor,” has described the experiences of one of her clients who had been booked on Flight 175 but switched to an earlier flight. Her client, “Alec” (not his real name), was a millionaire property developer who lived in California. In early September 2001, Alec was in Boston on business. On the morning of September 10, according to Brennan, while glancing over a newspaper, he became disturbed by all the violence he was reading about and concerned at how it could affect his children. Feeling the sudden urge to be with his family, he arranged to fly home to California that day, instead of on September 11, and consequently avoided being on Flight 175. [138]
Jennifer Keller, one of California’s top lawyers, was scheduled to visit Boston and had a reservation on Flight 175 for her return journey. But a trial in California she was involved with lasted longer than expected, and so she postponed her trip to Boston and thereby avoided being on the hijacked flight. [139]
Otis D. Wright, then a civil litigator in Los Angeles, was booked on Flight 175, but, by a “fluke,” changed his plans at the last minute and missed the flight. “I was in Boston defending our client’s deposition,” Wright has recalled. “The deposition started on September 10, 2001, and almost immediately became quite contentious.” Therefore, Wright said, “The plaintiff’s attorney called off the deposition and we returned to the hotel, each making reservations to fly back to LA first thing the next morning.” Wright’s reservation was on Flight 175. However, Wright and the plaintiff’s attorney ran into each other in the hotel dining room later that evening. “By then we had both cooled off,” Wright recalled. Therefore, he said, “We decided to resume the depositions and see how far we could get.” That decision, to stay in Boston and attempt to resolve the situation, meant Wright avoided taking Flight 175 the following morning. “It’s just a fluke that I didn’t get on that United Airlines flight in Boston to LA on 9/11,” he commented. [140]
Donato Tramuto, a restaurant owner in Maine, was scheduled to be on Flight 175 along with two of his friends and their adopted son. But he woke up on September 10 with a toothache and so he arranged an emergency dental appointment in Boston. While in Boston, Tramuto decided to fly to California that night and thereby avoided being on the hijacked plane the following morning. Tragically, his two friends and their adopted son died when Flight 175 hit the World Trade Center. [141]
Benjamin Gordon, the founder of 3PLex, a web-based transportation management systems company, was booked on Flight 175 as he was scheduled to give a speech at a conference in California on September 12. But a week before 9/11, his girlfriend convinced him to change to a flight a day later than he’d planned. Her reason was that September 11 was his birthday. “Stay home,” she told Gordon. “I’ll cook you a birthday dinner and you can fly out the next morning, just in time for your speech.” [142]
Robert Corrigan was booked on Flight 175 as he was scheduled to work at a trade show in San Diego in the week of September 11. But he reportedly overslept and consequently, he said, “reached the boarding gate just a few minutes after the plane pulled away from the jetway.” [143]
Michelle Wollmann, a national sales manager for a wholesale gift and home decor company, was in Boston for a trade show. Along with a friend, who was with her for the trade show, she was scheduled to leave Boston on September 11 on Flight 175. But on the night of September 10, Wollmann and her friend “had a little too much wine.” Therefore, Wollmann said, “Instead of calling for a wake-up call,” the friend “set the alarm, and when it went off in the morning, she thought she had hit [the] snooze button, but she actually turned it off.” The two women consequently “missed our flight.” [144]
Lewis Graham, a scientist and shaman, had a ticket to travel from London, England, to Los Angeles via Boston on September 11, which meant he should have been on Flight 175. However, Graham has written that when he checked in at the United Airlines counter at London’s Heathrow Airport, he “felt a spontaneous and inexplicable urge to remain in Boston–which I’ve always enjoyed–for a day or two before continuing on to LA on the 12th or 13th.” But when he asked if he could do this, he was told it would be impossible. “Then I blurted out, much to my own surprise, that I wished to skip Boston altogether and needed a direct flight from London to LA,” Graham wrote. He was allowed to have this and so avoided being on Flight 175. [145]
Monica McCarty, now the bestselling author of numerous historical romance novels, has described how her mother, who had been visiting the East Coast, originally intended to take a flight from Boston to California later in the morning of September 11 than Flight 175. But because McCarty’s sister had a problem arranging childcare, her mother was going to take the earlier Flight 175, presumably so she would be able to look after the children. “But,” McCarty wrote, “at the last minute, my sister found someone [to look after her children] and my mom kept her original flight for later that morning.” [146]
Erin Khar has written that her father was originally booked on Flight 175. She was hugely relieved on September 11 when she learned that he had, “at the very last minute, changed his flight and boarded an alternate plane the night before.” [147]
FLIGHT ATTENDANTS CHANGED THEIR PLANS AND AVOIDED WORKING FLIGHT 175
As was the case with Flight 11, a number of flight attendants who were originally scheduled to be on Flight 175 changed their plans and consequently avoided being on the hijacked plane on September 11.
Elise O’Kane would have been a flight attendant on Flight 175, but she accidentally changed her schedule for September 11. O’Kane had been “flying the Boston-to-LA route on Tuesday mornings for several years,” she has said. But on August 17, 2001, when she was signing up for her schedule for September, she reportedly “incorrectly entered her schedule code, a typo that changed her normal flights for the month.” “It’s a mistake I’d never made in nearly 20 years of flying,” O’Kane has said. On the weekend before 9/11, she went online and repeatedly tried to swap to Flight 175. However, she kept receiving an error message. This meant that instead of being on Flight 175, she was on a flight to Denver on September 11. [148]
Lauren Gurskis was scheduled to work Flight 175. But in August 2001 she switched assignments so she could drive her son to his first day of kindergarten. Her place on Flight 175 was plugged back into the airline’s scheduling computer and taken by another flight attendant. [149]
In mid-August 2001, Rebecca Tripp put in her bid to work Flight 175 on September 11. Soon afterward, though, she was called by a friend who suggested she change her bid. “United Airlines had prearranged contracts with thousands of hotels and each contract was tied to a flight,” Tripp has written. “When you chose your flight, you also chose your layover hotel.” Tripp’s friend said he had just laid over at a hotel in Santa Monica, California, that was much nicer than the hotel attached to Flight 175. He suggested that Tripp “could make it a spa weekend” at that hotel. Tripp “loved the idea” and changed her schedule so that she flew out of Boston on September 10 instead of on September 11. [150]
Barbara McFarland should have been on Flight 175, she has said. But she reportedly “decided to spend an extra day with her son,” and so she swapped shifts with another flight attendant. [151]
And Elaine Lawrence was scheduled to work Flight 175. But because she was going on vacation, she traded shifts with a colleague. [152]
MANY CANCELED THEIR RESERVATIONS OR WERE NO SHOWS FOR FLIGHT 77
American Airlines Flight 77, the third plane to be hijacked on September 11, was a Boeing 757 bound from Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC, to Los Angeles. It took off from Dulles Airport at 8:20 a.m. and reportedly crashed into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m.
Flight 77 had a capacity of 176 passengers but had 58 on board that day. [153] Like what occurred with Flights 11 and 175, many people booked on Flight 77 either canceled their reservations or failed to turn up for the flight. And as was markedly the case with Flight 11, a number of these individuals worked in the entertainment industry.
Probably the most well-known of them was Sam Mendes, who directed Skyfall, the latest James Bond movie, and won an Academy Award for best director for the 1999 movie American Beauty. Mendes was originally booked on Flight 77, but, according to the London Mail on Sunday, his “plans changed and he was not on the flight.” [154]
Television director Erik Nelson and National Park Service historian Daniel Martinez were originally scheduled to be on Flight 77. But they changed to another flight because, on September 11, they were working on the final day of filming for a Discovery Channel documentary about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Interestingly, Nelson was, in 2009, the executive producer of a National Geographic Channel documentary called 9/11: Science and Conspiracy, which supposedly debunked many of the “conspiracy theories” surrounding the 9/11 attacks. [155]
Rituparna Sengupta, a highly successful Bengali film actress, was scheduled to be on Flight 77 along with her husband, Sanjay Chakrabarty, the president and CEO of MobiApps, a U.S.- based wireless applications company. However, Sengupta recalled, “We decided against it and thought we would take the Dulles-San Diego flight that afternoon.” “It is sheer divine intervention that we are alive today,” she commented. [156]
Clare O’Shea, an actress and singer, was scheduled to be on Flight 77, but changed her reservation on September 10 and thereby avoided being on the hijacked plane. “It’s by the grace of God that I am alive,” she later commented. [157] In the 1980s, O’Shea appeared in TV shows such as Falcon Crest and Charlie’s Angels, and in blockbuster movies such as Splash and Teen Wolf. [158]
Joe Dobrow, a senior marketing executive who worked in Maryland for the website of the Discovery Channel, was scheduled to attend a meeting in Berkeley that would begin on the afternoon of September 11. His trip to California for the meeting would involve taking Flight 77 to Los Angeles and then another flight from there to San Francisco. He bought a ticket for his girlfriend, so she could accompany him. But a week or two before 9/11, it occurred to Dobrow that he might be able to fly directly to San Francisco if he flew out of Baltimore instead of Washington, DC. He found he could do this, and so canceled his and his girlfriend’s reservations on Flight 77 and booked seats on another flight. [159]
INDIVIDUALS WITH PROMINENT JOBS WERE ORIGINALLY BOOKED ON FLIGHT 77
Other individuals who canceled their reservations or were no shows for Flight 77 were unconnected to the entertainment industry, although some of them did have prominent jobs.
These include Joe Andrew, a Washington lawyer and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Brad Queisser, who worked for a governmental affairs firm and has held several positions within the Democratic National Committee. Andrew and Queisser had tickets for Flight 77 because they had to go to Los Angeles for a business meeting. But although they had spent an “enormous amount of time” preparing for the meeting, Queisser has recalled, “It was my recommendation to Joe that we needed more time to lock down the schedule.” Therefore, Queisser said, “At the last minute–late the evening before–Joe concurred and we moved the flight to somewhere early in the afternoon” of September 11. [160]
Kerri Toloczko, a public policy analyst and widely published opinion writer, was originally booked on Flight 77 so she could be in Los Angeles to appear on ABC’s Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher on the evening of September 11. She had agreed to appear on the show even though the appearance would have conflicted with a conference she was meant to be co-hosting in Washington, DC. But she subsequently decided she should be at the conference and so canceled her trip to Los Angeles. Toloczko was apparently going to be replaced on Politically Incorrect by the conservative commentator Barbara Olson, who died on Flight 77. [161]
Marianne McInerney, who was “a stickler for not paying more than $1,000 for business flights,” had booked a ticket on Flight 77. But on the Friday before 9/11, she found a less expensive flight out of Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport and switched to it. Ironically, McInerney, who was executive director of the National Business Travel Association, had “spent years advocating tighter security controls at U.S. airports,” according to the Wall Street Journal. [162]
Richard Nummi was originally booked on Flight 77. But according to the Washington Post, “He woke up early on September 11 and decided to fly to the West Coast from Baltimore” instead. Nummi was at the time a senior attorney at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and he had previously served in the U.S. Navy in naval aviation and naval intelligence. [163]
John Thompson, former head coach of the Georgetown Hoyas basketball team, was scheduled to take Flight 77 to Los Angeles so he could be interviewed on Jim Rome’s Fox Sports Net TV show. Thompson had to go to Las Vegas on September 13 for a friend’s birthday party and was determined to go to Los Angeles on September 11 so he could leave for Las Vegas on September 12. But because it was not possible for him to be interviewed on September 11, Danny Swartz, the TV show’s producer, insisted that Thompson fly to Los Angeles on September 12 and promised he would make arrangements to ensure Thompson could go straight to Las Vegas after the interview. But Thompson told Swartz: “Under no circumstances do I want to fly that day. I want to come out on the 11th.” Thompson has commented that he was “antagonistic in those days,” but as a result of Swartz’s patience and persistence, he eventually agreed to change to a September 12 flight. “If that guy had not been that persuasive,” Thompson remarked, “if we had come at each [other] the wrong way, I would have said, ‘Hell no, I’m not going to do it; I need to go the 11th.’ Damn sure I would’ve said that.” [164]
Major General Stephen Cortright, adjutant general of the Oklahoma National Guard, was in Washington, DC, on the weekend before 9/11, attending meetings, and was scheduled to take Flight 77 on September 11 to meet his wife in Los Angeles. However, he switched to another flight. “I could change to [Reagan National Airport] and fly to Philadelphia, then to LA, and I would get in LA about the same time as my wife,” Cortright has recalled. “I changed my flight because the meetings lasted until late Sunday,” he explained. “Since [Flight 77] was an 8 a.m. flight, I would’ve had to get up at 4 a.m.” [165]
Mackenzie Gregory, a retired Royal Australian Navy lieutenant commander, and his wife, Denise, had been booked on Flight 77 but missed it due to a late change of plans. The couple attended a ceremony in Washington, DC, on September 10 attended by President Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard. After the ceremony, Howard invited them to join him when he visited Arlington National Cemetery the following day and they agreed. The change of plans meant the couple would have to miss their scheduled flight to Los Angeles on September 11. “On September 12, we learned we had been booked on American Airlines Flight 77,” Gregory has recalled. “John Howard, by inviting us to visit Arlington, had caused us to be pulled off that flight and he thus saved our lives.” [166]
PEOPLE FROM VARIOUS BACKGROUNDS WERE ORIGINALLY BOOKED ON FLIGHT 77
Most of the people who were booked on Flight 77 but canceled their reservations or were no shows for the flight came from less prominent backgrounds.
Carol Mikules lived in California but had been in Virginia where a company she co-owned was located, and was scheduled to return to California on Flight 77. But, for unspecified reasons, she flew home a day early. She had reportedly “spoken with her husband several times about returning a day early, but one thing or another kept her from changing her travel plans. Finally, late in the afternoon [of September 10], she boarded a plane for the West Coast.” [167]
Bob McBride, the owner of a metal plating company in California, planned to fly to Washington, DC, on September 8 to attend an annual symposium and was scheduled to return to California on Flight 77. But his company had just installed a new line for chrome plating on aluminum that had started having some problems and he was concerned about this. Therefore, on the evening of September 7, his wife urged him to stay home. McBride finally agreed to do so and canceled his trip the following day, which meant he missed Flight 77 on September 11. [168]
Bruce Van Horn has written that he was originally “supposed to have been on American Airlines Flight 77.” But in the week before 9/11, he made a change to his schedule and consequently took a Delta Air Lines flight to Los Angeles on September 11. [169]
Vince Kelly and William Collins, the CFO and CEO respectively of Metrocall Inc., a paging services provider based in Alexandria, Virginia, were scheduled to be on Flight 77 so they could attend a conference in Los Angeles. They missed the flight, however, because at the last minute they were called out to a meeting in Baltimore. [170]
Matt Powers, a senior producer in the video games industry, flew from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, on September 9 for a meeting the following day, and had been scheduled to fly back to Los Angeles on September 11. But on September 7, he’d decided to stay an extra day in Washington “to get more work done,” so he’d rescheduled his return flight to September 12. Powers has written that he was originally scheduled to be on Flight 11, although it appears his plane would actually have been Flight 77, since he stated that it went to Los Angeles from Dulles Airport. [171]
Joe Ganley, a software engineer, was briefly booked on Flight 77, but switched to an earlier flight. Ganley has written that he was originally going to fly to California on “Sunday evening, but was called for jury duty on Monday”–presumably meaning September 10. He therefore booked a seat on Flight 77 on September 11. But Ganley wrote that he “called the recorded juror line on Monday morning and learned that I was not needed for jury duty after all.” He therefore decided to fly to California on the evening of September 10. “Had I been needed for jury duty after all, it would have been one of the last things I ever did,” Ganley commented. [172]
Mark Martinez, a professor of political science at California State University, Bakersfield, was also briefly booked on Flight 77. Martinez had been in Washington, DC, for an academic conference and was scheduled to fly home to California on September 9. But he ran into an old friend who persuaded him to stay and visit the friend’s cousin, who worked for the Pentagon and lived in the Washington area. Martinez therefore arranged to travel to Los Angeles on a later flight and was consequently booked on Flight 77. But after he had dinner, he decided he needed to get home to help look after his two young children. He therefore called the airline and switched back to his original flight, on September 9. [173]
Jason Kerben, a lawyer, “was planning to take American Airlines Flight 77 to Los Angeles for a business conference he attends every year,” according to the Washington Post. But two or three weeks before 9/11, with his wife pregnant with their second child, Kerben “got the idea that the couple should combine the business trip with a mini-vacation, using the frequent-flier tickets they had, as it turned out, on another airline.” As a result, on September 11, Kerben–along with his wife–was scheduled to take a U.S. Airways flight out of Baltimore, instead of Flight 77. “Had it not been that I wanted my wife to come with me, I would have been on the Dulles flight,” Kerben commented. [174]
Bridget Skjoldal, who worked for a public accounting firm, was scheduled to be on Flight 77 for a business trip, but at the last minute switched to a later flight. Skjoldal usually drove her own car to the airport, but made a last-minute decision to use a car service for her September 11 trip. “Because of the timing of when I could get the car service, I needed to adjust my flight time,” she recalled. “So, the day before the trip, I called the travel agent and … changed my flight to the next one, which was only 20 to 30 minutes later [than Flight 77].” [175]
Tracy Reynolds, manager of corporate affairs at the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors (NASCUS), had reserved a seat on Flight 77 so she could attend NASCUS’s annual conference in Dana Point, California, which was set to begin on September 13. But a few weeks before 9/11, she canceled her reservation and instead flew from Reagan National Airport to John Wayne Airport in Orange County on September 11. Reynolds explained why she did so, saying that while it at first seemed more convenient for her to fly to Los Angeles and then rent a car to drive down to the conference site, the more she thought about it, “the more it made sense just to fly out of National, which is much closer to my home, and into John Wayne, since that is so much closer to the site.” [176]
Darrell Fogan and 23 other members of his martial arts team were originally booked on Flight 77, but a last-minute change of schedule saved their lives. They were set to go to Beijing on September 11 for a month of intense training at a kung fu academy, and were going to take Flight 77 from Washington to Los Angeles and then another flight from Los Angeles to China. “A few days before their departure,” the Washington Post described, “one of the men had to drop out, which in turn enabled the Beijing academy to accommodate the rest of the group for an extra day of training.” Fogan’s team consequently flew out a day earlier than planned, on September 10. [177]
Randy Potts, a neighbor of Charles Burlingame, the pilot of Flight 77, in Fairfax County, Virginia, was originally booked on Flight 77 for a business trip to the West Coast. But at the last minute, he changed to a flight to Seattle via Dallas that left Dulles Airport at around the same time as Flight 77 did, from an adjacent gate. The reason he did so, according to the Washington Post, was that he “wanted additional frequent flier miles.” [178]
Dan Kammer had gone to Washington, DC, to attend a family event. He was originally scheduled to fly home to California on Flight 77. But, he has stated, “Circumstances had me leaving a day early.” [179]
Ahmed Mustafa from Webster, New York, has recalled that he was “supposed to be on the plane that went [in]to the Pentagon.” “I was actually booked on that flight,” he said. But “because of my son’s first day of school,” he said, he had canceled his reservation and booked himself on a flight on September 12. [180]
Members of the Siegert family from Hawaii were scheduled to be on Flight 77. But because their dog “needed to change planes due to quarantine laws,” the Maui Weekly reported, “the family changed planes also.” [181]
The mother and sister of Air Force Major Kathleen Cook were scheduled to be on Flight 77. But, reportedly, “A timely knee injury kept them on the ground.” [182]
In addition to these passengers, at least two people who were originally scheduled to be crew members on Flight 77 are known to have changed their plans and thereby avoided being on the hijacked plane.
Bill Cheng, a pilot with American Airlines, usually flew Flight 77. But in late August 2001, he changed his plans and applied for time off on September 11 so he could go camping. His request was accepted when another pilot signed up for the slot. [183]
And Gary Indiana, the novelist, playwright, and art critic, revealed that his brother “was supposed to have been the pilot on the plane that went into the Pentagon.” But he “changed his flight schedule” and missed Flight 77 on September 11 “because he had to move that day.” For a day, Indiana thought his brother had died in the 9/11 attacks. [184] Before becoming a commercial pilot, Indiana’s brother, whose name is unstated, was an Air Force pilot who had flown Air Force Two–the vice president’s plane–through three presidential administrations. [185]
THE FBI INVESTIGATED PEOPLE WHO WERE ORIGINALLY BOOKED ON FLIGHT 77 BUT MISSED THE PLANE
As it did with Flight 11, the FBI in Dallas looked into the apparently low number of passengers on Flight 77. It examined passengers who canceled their reservations or failed to show up for the flight, to determine whether any of them had links to the alleged hijackers and their associates.
The FBI reported that information it received from American Airlines reservation records indicated that 116 reservations were made for Flight 77. Of these, 55 individuals canceled their reservations prior to the plane departing from Dulles Airport on September 11 and three individuals were no shows for the flight. There were 59 passengers on the plane, according to the FBI. [186] However, the 9/11 Commission determined there were 58 passengers on Flight 77. [187]
As it did for Flight 11, the Dallas FBI office compiled a database that supposedly included all the available information on the people who’d had reservations, or were noted on the manifest, for Flight 77. The list included everyone who was actually on the plane, those who canceled their reservation prior to departure, and those who were no shows. [188]
The FBI’s list reveals that a couple of individuals canceled their reservations for Flight 77 several months before September 11, in April 2001. A few canceled their reservations in June or July, while others canceled their reservations later on, such as early in September or–in a few cases–on the morning of September 11.
While the list includes the name of at least one person whose account I have described above–Carol Mikules–most of the people it describes as having canceled their reservations or being no shows are additional to those I have mentioned. Since nearly all of the individuals whose accounts I have described are not mentioned in the FBI’s list, this suggests the actual numbers of cancelations and no shows for Flight 77 were significantly higher than the FBI determined.
Curiously, as is the case with Flight 11, a few individuals are listed as having canceled their reservations for Flight 77, even though they were on the plane on September 11. These include Charles Falkenberg, his wife Leslie Whittington, and their two daughters, Dana and Zoe; Norma Khan; and Ian Gray. The reason for this oddity is unknown.
MANY CANCELED THEIR RESERVATIONS OR FAILED TO SHOW UP FOR FLIGHT 93
United Airlines Flight 93, the fourth plane to be hijacked on September 11, was a Boeing 757 bound from Newark Liberty International Airport to San Francisco. It took off from Newark Airport at 8:42 a.m. and reportedly crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania at 10:03 a.m.
The plane had a capacity of 182 passengers but had 37 on board on September 11. As with the other hijacked flights, many people who had reservations for Flight 93 either canceled their reservations or failed to turn up for the flight. Five passengers with reservations failed to turn up for Flight 93, according to the 9/11 Commission Report. [189] But the accounts below describe many other people who avoided being on the hijacked plane.
Among these individuals were several people who worked in the entertainment industry. By far the most famous of them was Robert Redford, the actor and Academy Award-winning director, who starred in such classic movies as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Sting. Redford was in New York on September 10 for a business meeting. Flight 93 was “the early morning flight from Newark to San Francisco that he normally favored” when returning to the West Coast, according to his biographer, Michael Feeney Callan. But the meeting ended earlier than scheduled and so he flew back to California on September 10. “I would have been on [Flight 93] had I not finished my business,” Redford has commented. [190]
Alysia Reiner, an award-winning actress who has appeared in TV shows such as Law & Order and The Sopranos, and movies such as Sideways, may have been booked on Flight 93 but switched to an earlier flight, although this has not been stated explicitly. Reiner flew “from Newark” on September 10, the Hartford Courant reported, “changing her original plans from September 11, her intended day of departure.” [191]
Another actress, Forbes Riley, has said she was originally booked on Flight 93, although she also said the flight she was booked on was scheduled to go “from Washington, DC, to LA,” which was the intended route of Flight 77–not Flight 93–on September 11. Riley, who had appeared in TV shows such as The Pretender, The Practice, and Boy Meets World, was at an airport in New York on the night of September 10, intending to fly from there to Washington and then from Washington to California the following morning. The woman at the ticket counter asked her, “Where are you going to stay tonight?” The woman pointed out that Riley would be “on a 5 o’clock flight into DC” and asked, “Do you have a hotel?” Riley was not booked to stay at a hotel and so the woman suggested, “Why don’t I just reroute you through Denver?” “That one decision by an agent whose name I don’t even know completely saved my life,” Riley has commented. “I did not get on that flight,” she said. “And as you know, everyone who did perished.” [192]
Patti Austin, a Grammy Award-winning singer, was booked on Flight 93, but at the last minute switched to an earlier flight. Austin was supposed to attend the second night of the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration concert in New York on September 10 and then fly to San Francisco the following morning, on Flight 93. But her mother had suffered a stroke and so Austin attended the first night of the concert, on September 7, and then flew to California on September 10. [193]
Kelli Richards planned to go to New York to see the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration concert and was scheduled to return to California on Flight 93. But, she has said, because she “had a terrible feeling about going to New York,” she canceled her trip. Richards was–and still is–the CEO of The All Access Group, a company that facilitates “strategic business opportunities in digital distribution between technology companies, established artists and celebrities, film studios, record labels, and consumer brand companies.” [194]
Merl Saunders was scheduled to travel to San Francisco on Flight 93, but reportedly decided to take an earlier flight so he would be home in time to watch the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football. Saunders was a keyboardist best known for his longtime collaboration with the Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia, the band’s singer and lead guitarist. [195]
Steve Maney, a radio host in Charlotte, North Carolina, had made a reservation on Flight 93. However, he changed to a later flight because he knew he would be up late on the night of September 10 at a concert. [196]
MOST WHO HAD RESERVATIONS FOR FLIGHT 93 BUT MISSED THE PLANE WERE UNCONNECTED TO THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
As the accounts below make clear, most of the people who canceled reservations or were no shows for Flight 93 were unconnected to the entertainment industry. Several of these individuals are known to have been interviewed by the FBI as part of its investigation of the 9/11 attacks.
Yu Nakagawa from Japan had a reservation on Flight 93 but never intended to use it. He had gone to the U.S. in August 2001 to study at Drew University in New Jersey. He explained to the FBI that “when he arrived at San Francisco from Japan, a round-trip San Francisco-Newark ticket was cheaper than a one-way ticket, so he booked the round-trip reservation but did not use the September 11, 2001, return half.” [197]
Kevin Dougherty had been booked on Flight 93 but was delayed on the way to the airport and missed the plane. Dougherty explained to the FBI that while traveling to the airport, he had driven up the New Jersey Turnpike, but his truck became disabled while he was exiting the ramp at Exit 14 because a nut had been lodged in the drive shaft, causing it to snap. A tow truck came and took away his truck. Dougherty then went to the long-term parking lot for Newark Airport, where he caught a shuttle bus to the airport. However, he only arrived at the United Airlines terminal at 8:05 a.m., five minutes after the plane left its gate. [198]
George Gutierrez and his wife, Bonnie Gutierrez, had reservations on Flight 93 but traveled to San Francisco on an earlier flight. The couple had been on a cruise and their ship arrived in New York on the morning of September 10. They were supposed to travel from Newark Airport to San Francisco that afternoon, on United Airlines Flight 75, but were told this flight was delayed. After waiting for many hours, the couple decided to fly out the following morning and so they made reservations on Flight 93. However, before leaving the airport, Bonnie called the airline one more time to inquire about Flight 75, and was told the flight was still on and would likely be departing at around 7:45 p.m. The couple decided to take their original flight and so avoided being on Flight 93 the next day. [199]
Patricia Breese and her granddaughter had also been booked on Flight 75 for September 10. But when Breese was told by airline personnel that the plane was delayed and might be canceled, she made reservations for herself and her granddaughter on Flight 93 the following morning. Because Flight 75 finally arrived at Newark Airport, they were able to fly to San Francisco on the evening of September 10. Breese, however, neglected to cancel their reservations on Flight 93. [200]
Stephen Weiss, a managing director at Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers, had been booked on Flight 93. But at “virtually the last minute,” he has written, he “decided to postpone that trip and focus on pressing work at the office in Lehman’s downtown New York headquarters.” [201] Weiss was questioned by the FBI, four months after 9/11, about why he failed to show up for Flight 93. “I had never realized I was to be on that flight that day until the FBI told my family,” he has commented. [202]
Frank Andrews, a well-known psychic, said his adopted son was booked on Flight 93 so he could go and see his girlfriend in California. But Andrews planned to go away to upstate New York on the night of September 10 and so he told his adopted son to cancel his trip to California. (Andrews presumably expected his adopted son to accompany him to upstate New York.) The adopted son acceded and canceled his reservation on Flight 93. The FBI subsequently “came to the door and they wanted to know why he canceled his flight,” Andrews has recalled. [203]
MANY WHO WERE ORIGINALLY BOOKED ON FLIGHT 93 MAY NOT HAVE BEEN QUESTIONED BY THE FBI AFTER 9/11
While the FBI questioned the individuals described above who’d had reservations for Flight 93 but missed the flight, whether it also interviewed the individuals described below is unstated.
Catherine Patterson who worked for McCann New York, a leading advertising agency, was reportedly booked on Flight 93, “but she developed strep throat and had to cancel.” [204]
Bernard Whalen, a senior manager in the financial services industry, was apparently originally booked on Flight 93 but changed his plans and flew on another plane on September 11. He has written that on September 11, his wife thought “that I was dead because she thought I was on a United flight when I had changed my itinerary and landed safely on a flight in Pittsburgh, instead of crashing near it in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.” [205]
Michael Prinz zu Salm-Salm, founder and managing partner of Salm-Salm & Partner, an investment and real estate consulting company, was originally booked on Flight 93, but changed his plans and flew to Chicago on September 11. He was in New York on September 10 attending the German Wine Information Bureau’s annual vintage tasting of German wines. He originally intended to go to San Francisco on September 11 to attend a similar event on September 13, and his secretary had booked him on Flight 93 to get there. However, a convention of the Christian Democratic Union party, of which he was the chairman in his district, was being held in his home town on September 15 and he needed to attend this. Prinz zu Salm-Salm felt it would be running things too close if he attended the event in San Francisco and then had to make his way back to Germany for the convention afterward. Therefore, in mid-August, he asked his secretary to change his schedule. Instead of flying to San Francisco, he would go to Chicago to visit some customers on September 11. He has said that he only learned he had originally been booked on Flight 93 when he arrived back in Germany after 9/11. [206]
Curtis Smolar and his wife Rebecca Eisenberg, a pair of San Francisco lawyers, were supposed to be on Flight 93 but switched to a flight on September 10. The couple had been staying with Smolar’s father, who had recently been diagnosed with cancer, and planned to travel home to San Francisco on Flight 93. But Smolar’s father insisted that they fly home a day early. “I want you guys to go back and live your lives,” he told them. [207]
Frank Robertazzi, vice president of worldwide distribution sales at test and measurement firm Agilent Technologies Inc., was scheduled to travel on Flight 93 because he had to attend a meeting at his company’s headquarters in San Francisco, but at the last minute he switched to a later flight. The reason, he said, was that his “five-year-old daughter was just starting kindergarten and he was having so much fun with her, he made a decision to take another flight.” He booked himself on a 9:30 a.m. flight so he could have breakfast with his daughter and take her to kindergarten, and thereby avoided being on Flight 93. [208]
Alan Brigish, an online publishing entrepreneur and documentary photographer, was booked on Flight 93 for a business trip. But on September 10, he has recalled, “I changed my reservation to American Airlines for no reason other than I had a mileage plan with American.” [209]
Daniel Belardinelli, a lawyer and artist, was scheduled to be on Flight 93 along with his uncle, so they could visit Yosemite National Park in California. However, Belardinelli has said that a week before 9/11, “Something came up that I just could not juggle.” He therefore had to back out of the trip. His uncle, William Cashman, unfortunately died on Flight 93. [210]
Heather Ross Ogle was booked on Flight 93 but overslept and missed the plane. Ogle, a staff physician at Stanford Hospital, had gone to the East Coast to attend a friend’s wedding on September 9, and then went to stay with her parents just outside New York. She was meant to travel home on Flight 93 but stayed up late on the night of September 10, and so her father was unable to get her out of bed the following morning to go to the airport. When he tried to get her up, she said, “The heck with it, I’m not going to take that flight.” [211]
Marge Kranzfelder had gone to the East Coast on business and was scheduled to travel home to California on Flight 93. But, for unspecified reasons, she missed the flight and was at her hotel near Newark Airport when the 9/11 attacks occurred. [212]
Donald Rubbo, a pioneer in mind-body medicine, was supposed to be on Flight 93 but switched to an earlier flight. Rubbo went to New York in early September 2001 to be with his mother while she underwent surgery. “A few days later,” he wrote, “she was well enough … that I felt confident about my mother’s health.” He therefore asked his wife to arrange for him to fly home earlier than planned. She changed his ticket and he consequently flew back to San Francisco on September 8 instead of September 11. [213]
Leah Stone, a professional musician and vocal coach, appears to have been briefly booked on Flight 93 before switching to another flight. Stone had made a late decision to visit New York to see the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration concert. She used her father’s air miles when she was booking her flights and her father had told her to use his United Airlines air miles. But, “As I was in the process of booking my flight with United Flight 93″ to bring her home from the East Coast, she has written, “my father was inspired to tell me to change my ticket and use his Continental [Airlines air] miles instead.” On September 11, when Stone called members of her family, she found they were “an emotional wreck, unaware if I was alive or on a hijacked flight.” [214]
Mikey Koffman, who works in the fashion industry, had a ticket for Flight 93. However, when she arrived at Newark Airport on September 11 along with her partner, Raquel Castaneda, she reportedly “discovered that Raquel could not get on because the flight was oversold.” (However, only 20 percent of the seats on Flight 93 were supposedly taken.) Koffman and Castaneda therefore avoided taking the doomed flight. But Koffman has said she “lost $30,000 of samples,” which were loaded onto Flight 93, “because my bags had already been checked in.” [215]
Brian Backus had gone to New York to attend a business conference and was originally scheduled to travel back to San Francisco on Flight 93. However, he has written, he had “rescheduled a few days before [September 11] so I could go to a dinner party and not have to get up too early.” [216]
John Grieves, a top executive at the multinational consumer goods company Unilever, was supposed to be on Flight 93, but changed his plans at the last minute. The hijacked plane, Grieves has said, “was my flight, which I canceled to be at a [school] parents’ evening.” [217]
Jiri Kulik, who worked in marketing, was scheduled to be on Flight 93, but changed his booking to another flight about five days before 9/11. Kulik regularly flew from Newark to San Francisco because his company’s offices were in New Jersey and he was working with a company in San Francisco at that time. But, Kulik has written, “A company from Bethesda, Maryland, gave me [a] better offer and I decided to go with them, and for that reason I changed my flight.” Therefore, instead of taking Flight 93, he went to visit that company, E-centives, on September 11. [218]
Nelly Reifler, a novelist and short story writer, needed to book a flight to California after she learned, on September 9, that a friend in Oakland had been murdered. She wanted to join other friends in California to mourn with them. Because a hurricane was predicted for September 10, Reifler decided she would fly out on September 11 and consequently made a reservation on Flight 93. She then called a friend in San Francisco who would be collecting her from the airport. Reifler has written that her friend “reminded me that there was an airport in Oakland.” Reifler “could tell that it would be better for her if I landed there.” She found there was a cheap JetBlue Airways flight going to Oakland, but when she called the airline, she was told no seats were available. But Reifler “called the JetBlue toll-free number over and over” until, at around 7:00 p.m. on September 10, “a family of three let go of their seats on an early morning flight to Oakland” on September 11. Reifler took one of the seats and was then able to cancel her reservation on Flight 93. [219]
Brian Harrington, who worked in sports marketing, was scheduled to be on Flight 93 in order to go and meet with a client. But on September 7, the client called and canceled the meeting, and so Harrington avoided being on the hijacked plane. [220]
Sylvana Joseph was booked on Flight 93 as she had to go to the West Coast to attend a business conference. But she decided to go and see some old friends in New Orleans before she headed to the conference, and consequently, a few days before September 11, switched to another flight. [221]
James Canton, a renowned futurist and business adviser, was in New York in the days before 9/11 to speak to a group of CEOs, and had a reservation to fly home to San Francisco on Flight 93. But Canton has written that he “decided at the last minute to leave early.” He therefore changed his reservation and flew home on September 10. [222] Canton runs the Institute for Global Futures, a think tank that advises government leaders and many Fortune 1000 companies about the key trends that will shape the future. [223]
Dave Mandelkern, executive vice president and chief technology officer of Docent, a company that provided e-learning software, has written that his “colleague”–who he did not name–”had a boarding pass for United Flight 93 with his name on it.” But the colleague missed the doomed flight because Mandelkern “had persuaded him to take a later flight” so he could attend a business meeting in Manhattan, along with Mandelkern, on the morning of September 11. [224]
John Talley flew to the East Coast on September 9 to begin testing oil skimmers for the Navy at a facility in New Jersey and was originally scheduled to return to California on September 14. But after he finished work on September 10, he decided to fly home early because of ill health. He therefore made a reservation on Flight 93 so he could go home the following morning. But Talley has written that late on the night of September 10, “My colleague called me and convinced me to cancel my flight and work one more day.” [225]
Elaine Taylor, a travel agent in Morristown, New Jersey, was scheduled to be on Flight 93. But, for unspecified reasons, she “changed her plans and rescheduled the trip to September 12.” [226]
Evelyn Brooks, a ticket sales agent for United Airlines in Mexico City, spent the weekend before 9/11 in New York and had been booked on Flight 93. However, United Airlines requested that she return to Mexico a day earlier than planned. This meant she had to fly out of Newark on September 10 instead of September 11. [227]
Cholene Espinoza, a pilot with United Airlines who lived in New York, was scheduled to be a passenger on Flight 93. She was set to pilot a plane out of San Francisco on September 12 and planned to take Flight 93 to get her to the city. But, she recalled, “A few days before September 11 the crew desk called me and said, ‘Your trip has been changed because you flew too much this week, so we’ll just start you off in Chicago.’” It was therefore unnecessary for Espinoza to travel to San Francisco on Flight 93. [228]
Michael Jones, a chef in Carmel Valley, California, was in New York on September 10 for his brother’s funeral and was scheduled to return to California the next day on Flight 93. But after the funeral, Jones brought the guests back to the hotel he was staying at, and then stayed up late and got “drunk on good Champagne and great Calvados.” As a result, he overslept and missed Flight 93 the following morning. [229]
Thomas Soohoo from New York was apparently scheduled to be on Flight 93 but arrived at Newark Airport early, and so he took United Airlines Flight 81–which also went to San Francisco–instead. He stated that he would have been on Flight 93 if he hadn’t made “some last-minute chance decisions.” A man called Anthony Soohoo, who is presumably Thomas Soohoo’s brother, has confirmed that Thomas Soohoo was supposed to have been on Flight 93. He wrote on Twitter that his brother “was about to board Flight 93, but changed his plans at the airport.” Flight 81, which took off at 7:00 a.m., was the flight immediately before Flight 93, according to Thomas Soohoo. “Luck played a major role in my fate,” he commented. “I got to the gate at 6:50 a.m. I was the last passenger to board and just minutes away from having the plane leave without me.” “I would have been on Flight 93 for sure if I had taken any longer to get to the airport,” he added. Curiously, Thomas Soohoo stated: “There were numberous stories, including my own, of folks who ended up on the 7 a.m. flight [i.e. Flight 81] by chance. There were so many of us who would have been on that ill-fated flight [i.e. Flight 93] if we hadn’t made some last-minute chance decisions.” [230]
Donna Garton appears to have been one of the people who also ended up on Flight 81 “by chance.” Garton, a development officer at Stanford University, had gone to the East Coast to help her daughter, who was starting university, and had a ticket for Flight 93 for her journey back to California. But she had trouble sleeping on the night of September 10 and so she headed to the airport early the next morning. At the check-in counter, Garton was told there were seats available on a flight leaving at 7:00 a.m., an hour earlier than Flight 93 was scheduled to depart. She reportedly “knew the change wasn’t going to save her any time, because she was still going to have to sit in San Francisco and wait for the same flight to Sacramento.” She “considered staying in Newark and having a relaxed breakfast before getting on Flight 93.” But according to her husband, Michael, “For some reason, she decided to come a little bit closer to home” and accepted a seat on the earlier flight. [231]
A couple of individuals who narrowly avoided taking Flight 93 have posted descriptions of their experiences at the September 11 Digital Archive website. Eric Clamage had a ticket for Flight 93. However, on September 7, his boss called and asked if he could get to California to be at work a day earlier than planned. Clamage could, and so he flew out from Newark on September 10 instead of September 11. [232] Michelle Mahler from Oakland, California, flew out on September 1 for a vacation. She initially spent a week with her family in Pennsylvania. She had made plans to fly on to Washington, DC, on September 7 for a few days of sightseeing and was scheduled to return to California four days later on Flight 93. But while she was in Pennsylvania, she had a major argument over the phone with her husband about her being away for so long. “Instead of being the hard-headed bitch I normally can be when he tries to tell me what to do,” Mahler has written, “I attempted to keep the peace and changed my return flight to the 7th from Pittsburgh, and skipped going to Washington altogether.” This meant she avoided taking Flight 93 on September 11. [233]
Several individuals have described how relatives of theirs narrowly avoided being passengers on Flight 93.
Anne Stub Civitano recalled that her husband, Tony, had gone from California to New York for a business trip and was originally scheduled to travel home on Flight 93. Tony, however, avoided the doomed flight because he “returned a day early.” [234]
Michelle Dennedy, a lawyer working for Sun Microsystems at the time of the 9/11 attacks, recalled how her mother narrowly avoided being on Flight 93. Dennedy had a baby shortly before September 11. “I had also booked my mom who lives in Princeton, New Jersey, on Flight 93 to come out and help us with the new baby,” she has written. The baby, though, had been born later than expected, and so Dennedy phoned her mother and said, “You know, don’t come on the Tuesday, Mom; why don’t you come on the Friday, and don’t come on September 11.” Dennedy’s mother therefore postponed her trip and missed Flight 93. [235]
Shevaughn Cash recalled that her mother, too, “was supposed to be on Flight 93,” in order to see her husband in California. But Cash’s mother “wanted to stay an extra day in Newark” and so she decided not to fly on September 11. [236]
Colson Andrews wrote that his father “had a ticket for, and was scheduled to board, Flight 93.” “It was only because of the cancelation of a meeting that he was to have had that day in San Francisco,” Andrews continued, “that he was able to miss that flight.” [237]
Thomas McGann wrote that on September 11, his brother, Kevin, “was to travel from Newark International to San Francisco.” After being unable to contact Kevin for hours, the McGann family finally “received a call that he had missed his flight (93) and had landed safely in Detroit.” “God had truly answered our prayers,” Thomas McGann commented. [238]
Kelly-Ann Speers from Quebec, Canada, has written that her younger brother, a businessman, was supposed to be on Flight 93 but canceled his reservation on the night of September 10. He had done so, he said, because “he just had a feeling.” [239]
Jeannette Sacman wrote that her sister had been in New Jersey on business at the time of the 9/11 attacks and was “supposed to be on Flight 93.” But, according to Sacman, “Her project was delayed and she had to spend an extra day or two in New Jersey.” [240]
Juliana Mathews wrote that on September 11, her sister, who had been “working a trade show in New York City,” was “scheduled to return on Flight 93.” But fortunately, “Some blessed delay caused her to change to a later flight.” [241]
An unnamed officer in the U.S. Army was originally scheduled to be on Flight 93. But according to his uncle, Thomas Bucher, “A miracle happened: he had to change his flight because he had to attend a meeting.” [242]
PILOTS AND FLIGHT ATTENDANTS AVOIDED WORKING FLIGHT 93 DUE TO CHANGES IN THEIR PLANS
Numerous individuals who were originally scheduled to be crew members on Flight 93 changed their plans and consequently avoided being on the hijacked plane.
Edward Sarkisian, a captain with United Airlines, was reportedly going to be a pilot on Flight 93. But “at the last minute” he decided to take a later flight, “so he could first drop his son at school” on September 11. [243]
Colleen Kerins said her uncle was also scheduled to be a pilot on Flight 93, but he got a phone call on the night of September 10, asking him to switch to another flight. [244]
Flight attendant Richard Harris was scheduled to work Flight 93, but, for unspecified reasons, he changed his schedule to work another flight. [245]
Flight attendant Diane McCusker was scheduled to work Flight 93, but she had been tired after a family trip and asked to take the day of September 11 off. Another flight attendant therefore took her place on Flight 93. [246]
Kim Stroka had been assigned to be a flight attendant on Flight 93. On September 6, though, she requested that she be given September 11 off because her ex-husband was working that day and so she needed to be able to collect her daughter from school. Stroka’s request was granted and she therefore avoided being on the hijacked flight. [247]
Tina Mosier was scheduled to be a flight attendant on Flight 93, but a friend had encouraged her to take a couple of days off work after she learned that a dog she had rescued and nursed back to health six months earlier had died. Mosier therefore called in sick and missed Flight 93. [248]
And Sina Lewis, another flight attendant who was scheduled to work Flight 93, missed the flight because she wanted a couple of days off work so she could go shopping with her mother. She had therefore persuaded her roommate to switch flights with her. [249]
As previously mentioned, it is likely there were other passengers and crew members who were originally scheduled to be on the flights hijacked on September 11 but missed the planes beyond those whose accounts are described above. Their accounts are either unreported or I simply have not discovered them. But the number of passengers and crew members whose accounts are described in this article is still so high as to appear very suspicious. The need for this matter to be properly investigated is therefore already obvious.
NOTES
[1] Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross, “Willie Brown Got Low-Key Early Warning About Air Travel.” San Francisco Chronicle, September 12, 2001.
[2] Michael Hirsh, “‘We’ve Hit the Targets.’” Newsweek, September 13, 2001; Mark Hosenball, “Bush: ‘We’re at War.’” Newsweek, September 24, 2001.
[3] Charlene Smith, “My Story About September 11, 2001–What is Yours?” Finding America, September 10, 2011.
[4] Adam Taxin, “BGSA CEO Ben Gordon Recounts His Recent FDNY-Tribute Flight Experience.” Examiner.com, September 12, 2011.
[5] 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004, p. 452.
[6] 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 452; Staff Report: The Four Flights. 9/11 Commission, August 26, 2004, pp. 6-7, 28.
[7] 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 452; Staff Report: The Four Flights, pp. 19, 36.
[8] For more information, see “Last-Minute Pilots, Passengers, and Flight Attendants: The Unexplained Oddity of 9/11.” Shoestring 9/11, March 31, 2008; “New Evidence Reveals Half of Pilots Were Only Assigned to 9/11 Flights at the Last Minute.” Shoestring 9/11, February 10, 2012.
[9] 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, pp. 4, 7; Staff Report: The Four Flights, pp. 6-7, 15.
[10] Matt Chayes, “All in the Family Guy: MacFarlane Tells All.” Pipe Dream, September 19, 2003; Bernard Weinraub, “The Young Guy of ‘Family Guy’; A 30-Year-Old’s Cartoon Hit Makes an Unexpected Comeback.” New York Times, July 7, 2004; Katie McLaughlin, “MacFarlane: Angry Jon Stewart Call an ‘Odd Hollywood Moment.’” CNN, October 7, 2011.
[11] “AA Group: On List and Cancelations for Flights 11 and 77.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, October 2, 2001.
[12] Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa, “Anthony Perkins’ Widow Was on Doomed Flight 11.” Boston Herald, September 13, 2001; Michael Glynn, John South, and Patricia Towle, “Terrorism Touches Hollywood.” National Enquirer, September 19, 2001; Nancy Dillon, “Mark Wahlberg Apologizes for Suggesting he Could Have Prevented 9/11 Attack, Landed Flight Safely.” New York Daily News, January 18, 2012.
[13] Scott Williams, “MTV Celebrity Skips Doomed Flight.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, September 15, 2001; “Ex-Real World Cast Member Nearly Took Doomed Flight.” Associated Press, September 17, 2001.
[14] Eva LaRue, Twitter post, September 11, 2011; “MyFox Los Angeles With Maria Quiban.” FOX 11, October 10, 2012.
[15] Elaine Hernandez Soto, “Olmos Captivates Crowd With Speech.” Seguin Gazette-Enterprise, September 20, 2001; “With One Voice.” People, September 24, 2001; Nora Mai, “EJO at FPCC.” Casa Mai, n.d.
[16] Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa, “Anthony Perkins’ Widow Was on Doomed Flight 11″; Michael Glynn, John South, and Patricia Towle, “Terrorism Touches Hollywood.”
[17] Mike Sager, “What I’ve Learned: Jaime Pressly.” Esquire, February 20, 2007.
[18] Sean O’Brien, “Hot People: Sacha Baron-Cohen.” Sunday People, January 5, 2003.
[19] Jay K. Johnson, “September 11 Remembered …” The World is a Stage, September 11, 2008.
[20] Bob Spitz, Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child. New York: Knopf, 2012, p. 520; Devra First, “‘Dearie,’ the Julia Child Biography by Bob Spitz.” Boston Globe, August 11, 2012.
[21] Bobby Farrelly, “Bobby Farrelly: I Was Supposed to be on 9/11 Flight.” Variety, February 4, 2014.
[22] “Icelandic Filmmaker Had Been Booked on Hijacked Flight.” Nordic Business Report, September 13, 2001; Cynthia Ellis, “Icelandic Director Fridrik Thor Fridriksson: ‘Filmmaking is the Greatest Strip-Tease of All.’” Huffington Post, September 16, 2010.
[23] Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa, “Hollywood Brass Ring off on $60M Film in Hub.” Boston Herald, September 24, 2001; Rebecca Ascher-Walsh, “Vicious Circle.” Entertainment Weekly, November 1, 2002.
[24] Rick Andreoli, “A Gay 9/11 Story … Starring Madonna.” Gay.net, September 11, 2011.
[25] “Thankful Tell Tales of Lives Spared.” Northwest Indiana Times, September 13, 2001; Alison Skertic, “‘Amazing’ Siblings Vie for $1 Million.” Northwest Indiana Times, September 21, 2002.
[26] Stacey Collins, “Member Profile: Lisa Beach ’80.” Harvardwood Highlights, May 2008; “9/11: Where Were You? Readers Share Their Stories.” Los Angeles Times, April 26, 2013.
[27] “YALLFest Author Interview: Lisi Harrison.” Books and Swoons, October 11, 2013.
[28] Joanna Clay, “Hard to Write in Beautiful Laguna, but Write She Does.” Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot, April 14, 2011; “About.” Lisi Harrison, n.d.
[29] Susanne Ault, “The Lucky One.” Broadcasting & Cable, September 16, 2001; Seth Mnookin, Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006, p. 101.
[30] Alex Ben Block, “Tom Werner Joins Board of Legendary Entertainment.” Hollywood Reporter, September 12, 2013.
[31] Seth Mnookin, Feeding the Monster, p. 101.
[32] “AA Group: On List and Cancelations for Flights 11 and 77.”
[33] Anne Stockwell, “Love Stories: Paris Barclay and Christopher Mason.” The Advocate, October 8, 2008; “A Conversation With Paris Barclay ’74.” La Lumiére Magazine, Fall 2010.
[34] Rich Copley, “Backstreet Boy Feels Victims’ Families’ Pain.” Lexington Herald-Leader, September 10, 2006; “Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell Talks Vow Renewal.” OK!, September 27, 2010.
[35] Kay Lazar and Robin Washington, “Luck Was With Those Who Narrowly Escaped Death.” Boston Herald, September 13, 2001.
[36] Bob Young, “Life Lessons Play Into Perez’s Music.” Boston Herald, October 3, 2003.
[37] Portland Helmich, “Gone Are the Days of Planning for a Care-Free Summer.” Boston Business Journal, July 1, 2002; “About.” Erica Ferencik, n.d.
[38] Jonathan Kay, “We All Have Something to Hide From Big Brother, We Just Don’t Know it Yet.” National Post, June 14, 2013.
[39] Evan Henerson, “After the Fall; With ‘The Guys,’ the First Dramatic Piece About 9/11, Tim Robbins and Helen Hunt Seek to Help Audiences Heal.” Los Angeles Daily News, July 9, 2002.
[40] Joan Tarshis, “Tom Sizemore is Huge!” Smoke, Spring 2002.
[41] Joe Christensen, “Fortune, Cuddyer Kept Former Twin off Flight 11.” Minneapolis Star Tribune, September 11, 2011; Ian Casselberry, “Brad Thomas: Michael Cuddyer ‘Saved Our Lives’ on 9/11.” Yahoo! Sports, September 11, 2011.
[42] Wayne Coffey, “Amid Horror, NY Sports World Finds Reason to Believe.” New York Daily News, September 16, 2001.
[43] Charlene Smith, “My Story About September 11, 2001–What is Yours?”
[44] Diane Pucin, “Terrorism Can’t Defeat Heroism.” Los Angeles Times, September 16, 2001; Diane Pucin, “Changing Plane Reservation at the U.S. Open.” Los Angeles Times, September 12, 2009; Dan Weber, “We All Have Our 9/11 Heroes Today.” TrojanSports.com, September 11, 2010.
[45] “Commentary: A Reason to Hope.” Tavis Smiley Show, NPR, September 11, 2003.
[46] Dave Donnelly, “Close to Home.” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, September 13, 2001; Dave Donnelly, “PR Can be Perilous, Traveling Localites Find.” Honolulu Star-Bulletin, September 18, 2001.
[47] Paul Theroux, “9/11 Ten Years On.” The Telegraph, September 11, 2011.
[48] James F. Smith, “It’s Time for Diplomacy.” Harvard Gazette, September 7, 2011.
[49] “Graham Allison.” Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, n.d.
[50] “Cheating Death on 9/11.” RadioBDC, September 11, 2012; Gerry Moylan, “The Second Chance That Almost Wasn’t.” Home to Phillip, April 24, 2014.
[51] Bill Brenner, “9/11 Anniversary: Danny Lewin’s Life and Legacy.” Akamai Blog, September 10, 2013.
[52] John Koch, “Tom Lawson, a Managing Partner of Boston’s Biggest Ad Agency, Arnold Worldwide.” Boston Globe, October 21, 2001.
[53] Jules Crittenden and Dana Bisbee, “Bullet Sails Into Black-Tie Hub Gala.” Boston Herald, May 11, 2002.
[54] Tim Reason, “What Works When Disaster Strikes.” CFO, November 1, 2001.
[55] “AA Group: On List and Cancelations for Flights 11 and 77.”
[56] Sheila Tanguay, “Rudy Giuliani Visits Hampton Falls.” Hampton Union, April 6, 2007; Mark Ouellette, “Freshmen Get Lesson in Civics.” Milford Cabinet, December 27, 2007.
[57] Robert Tomsho, Barbara Carton, and Jerry Guidera, “For Some, Avoiding Tragedy Seemed Like Pure Chance.” Wall Street Journal, September 13, 2001.
[58] Michael Paulson, “Couple Altered Itinerary.” Boston Globe, September 12, 2001.
[59] Dean E. Murphy, September 11: An Oral History. New York: Doubleday, 2002, pp. 197-198.
[60] Joseph F. Kovar, “Last-Minute Breakfast Meeting Saves Storage Exec’s Life.” CRN, September 12, 2001; Arlene Uslander, “Jacob! Jacob! Reborn September 11, 2001.” Jewish Magazine, May 2004.
[61] “Show Attendees React to America’s Tragedy.” Wireless Week, September 17, 2001; Rick Morin, “Fairwell to Yankee Stadium.” The Mind of Brian Charlson, October 3, 2008.
[62] Jaime Ferris, “State 9/11 Exhibit in Brookfield.” Litchfield County Times, September 10, 2009.
[63] Corinne Bernstein, “For Some, Hand of Fate Intervened.” EE Times, September 17, 2001.
[64] Kathleen Burge, “Healing Wounds in Paradise.” Boston Globe, June 12, 2008.
[65] Andy Wenzel, “Another Max …” PinkFloyd/TropicHunt’s Blog …, May 8, 2008.
[66] “Your Sept. 11 Stories.” WBUR, September 4, 2011; Eric McNulty, “Remembering 9/11.” Eric J. McNulty: Leadership & Resilience Catalyst, September 11, 2011.
[67] Deanne Goodman, “9/11 Reminds Carlsbad Man to Treasure Each Day.” Carlsbad Patch, September 1, 2011; “Local Family Shares Miraculous Story of Love and Luck.” CBS 8, September 12, 2011.
[68] Lohr McKinstry, “Ticonderoga Native Misses Flight 11 but Sees it Crash.” Plattsburgh Press-Republican, September 12, 2001.
[69] “Woman Would Have Been on Hijacked Flight.” Michigan Daily, September 11, 2001.
[70] “I Was Due on Doomed Towers Flight.” Daily Record, September 12, 2001; Steve LeBlanc, “Sept. 11 Attacks Cast Long Shadow Across Mass.” Associated Press, September 10, 2011.
[71] “A Day to Remember.” Wicked Local Mansfield, September 9, 2011.
[72] “Class Notes.” The Archon, Spring 2002.
[73] Ernie Gerbasi, “Ernie Gerbasi: Eyewitness to 9/11.” Ernie’s Albums, September 11, 2001; Ernie Gerbasi, “Sept. 11: Time Line.” Ernie’s Albums, September 30, 2001.
[74] Joe McGonegal, “For Catholic Memorial Director, ‘The Guys’ Takes on Added Meaning.” Roslindale Transcript, December 2, 2010; Sarah Phelan, “Catholic Memorial Play Has Special Meaning for Drama Director.” Saugus Advertiser, December 29, 2010.
[75] Ana Facio Contreras, “3,000 Miles Away, but Too Close to Home.” Costa Mesa Daily Pilot, September 10, 2006.
[76] Karen Dandurant, “Attack Alters Wedding Plans.” Seacoast Online, September 28, 2001.
[77] Brad Smith, “Spat Saves TO Couple From Doomed Flight.” Ventura County Star, September 14, 2001.
[78] “Realizing the Weight of Simple Decisions.” Cape Cod Times, October 7, 2001.
[79] Ibid.
[80] Doyin Richards, “Achieving Happy.” Culver City Patch, August 23, 2012; “Destiny and Fate.” Smita Photography, October 24, 2012.
[81] Eric Gorski and Anslee Willett, “Ripples of Tragedy Reach Relatives, Friends Living in Colorado.” Colorado Springs Gazette, September 13, 2001.
[82] Mark Dent, “Plano Swimmers Inspired to Serve Country: Trio Heading to State Meet, Different Military Academies.” Dallas Morning News, February 20, 2012.
[83] “September 11: Horror Changes Perspectives on Security.” Singapore American School Islander, 2002.
[84] Mary O’Keefe, “9/11 Remembered in CV.” Crescenta Valley Weekly, September 11, 2011.
[85] Beverly Beckham, “Sheer Luck is All That Saved Some of Us.” Boston Herald, September 12, 2001; Beverly Beckham, “Friend’s Love Cannot Calm a Mother’s Fear.” Boston Globe, May 7, 2006.
[86] Joshua Boyd, “‘Don’t Worry About This Football Thing’: North Shore High School Sports on 9/11.” Wicked Local Amesbury, September 8, 2011.
[87] Sally Applegate, “Flight 11 Crew Not Forgotten.” Georgetown Record, September 18, 2003; “A Time to Reflect.” Georgetown Record, September 7, 2005.
[88] Halle Cameron, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, September 12, 2001; Eric Moskowitz, “Little Noted or Known, They Bear Scars of That Day.” Boston Globe, September 6, 2011.
[89] Ann Moreland, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, September 11, 2001; Marian Rizzo, “Tragedy Changes People’s Lives.” Ocala Star-Banner, September 11, 2002; Joe Callahan, “Amid the Death and Destruction, Life Went on–and a Little Girl Was Born.” Ocala Star-Banner, September 10, 2011.
[90] “Realizing the Weight of Simple Decisions”; “Fremont Woman Dies in Car Crash.” Associated Press, March 29, 2006.
[91] Patrick Lair, “Spared on 9/11: Amid Tragedy, Faith Swells.” Corvallis Gazette-Times, April 13, 2006; Lisa Britton, “Flight Attendant Was Scheduled to Fly on Sept. 11.” Baker City Herald, September 10, 2006.
[92] Linda Emley, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, September 15, 2001; “For Informational Purposes and to Set Lead for Chicago Division Legat Islamabad.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, October 2, 2001.
[93] “For Informational Purposes and to Set Lead for Chicago Division Legat Islamabad.”
[94] 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 4; Staff Report: The Four Flights, p. 6.
[95] See “AA Group: On List and Cancelations for Flights 11 and 77.”
[96] 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, pp. 7-8, 454; Staff Report: The Four Flights, pp. 18-19, 24.
[97] Patricia Dunkel, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, September 26, 2001.
[98] Kelly Kawahara, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, November 19, 2001; “To Report Coverage of Lead.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, November 27, 2001.
[99] Charles Marcus, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, October 2, 2001.
[100] Fai Hung Yong, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, October 9, 2001.
[101] “Report Coverage of the Following Leads, All of Which Are Related to the Interview of Thomas and Megan Swain.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, September 28, 2001; Elizabeth Swain, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, October 25, 2001.
[102] Thomas Swain, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, October 9, 2001.
[103] Liz Kowalczyk and Beth Healy, “After Tragedy, Executives Feel Invincible no More.” Boston Globe, September 13, 2001; John Fontana, “Tragedy Claims High-Tech Executives.” Network World, September 17, 2001; Barry Bycoff, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, September 26, 2001.
[104] John Caney, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, October 1, 2001.
[105] Iain Cockburn, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, October 2, 2001.
[106] “To Request Listed Previously Scheduled United Airlines Passengers From Flight 175 on September 11, 2001 be Interviewed.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, January 16, 2002; “To Respond to Lead Requesting Interview of Tatchui Soo.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, February 1, 2002.
[107] Acting Legal Attaché, American Embassy, Singapore, letter. Federal Bureau of Investigation, May 14, 2004; Assistant Legal Attaché, American Embassy, Singapore, letter. Federal Bureau of Investigation, May 14, 2004; Assistant Legal Attaché, American Embassy, Singapore, letter. Federal Bureau of Investigation, May 14, 2004.
[108] “To Request Listed Previously Scheduled United Airlines Passengers From Flight 175 on September 11, 2001 be Interviewed”; “Lead 3 Covered; Lead 11 Investigation Continuing.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, May 23, 2002.
[109] “Los Angeles Covers Lead in Captioned Investigation.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, March 18, 2002.
[110] Ibid.
[111] Scott K. Lange, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, January 30, 2002.
[112] Caroline Soeung, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, February 15, 2002.
[113] William B. Travers, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, March 14, 2002.
[114] Wilbert James Lick, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, March 20, 2002.
[115] Poyi Huang, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, March 28, 2002.
[116] Sadie Ann Herrera, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, April 1, 2002.
[117] Ormande Lincoln Brown, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, May 21, 2002.
[118] Thomas Iandiorio, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, April 2-3, 2002.
[119] Howard Englander, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, March 29, 2002.
[120] Dennis McCarthy, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, May 17, 2002.
[121] Jennifer Fisher, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, May 21, 2002.
[122] Jeanne Kelly, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, May 21, 2002.
[123] David Schwartzer, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, May 21, 2002.
[124] Paul E. Connolly, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, May 21, 2002.
[125] Matthew McRoberts, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, May 21, 2002.
[126] “AA Group: On List and Cancelations for Flights 11 and 77″; Christopher Kozloski, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, May 22, 2002.
[127] Joseph E. Braga, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, May 23, 2002.
[128] “Lead 6659.1 Covered at SD.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, June 24, 2002.
[129] Laila Partridge, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, December 19, 2002.
[130] Thomas Haugen, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, February 6, 2003.
[131] “Narrow Escape Gives Film-Makers Focus.” Australasian Business Intelligence, October 14, 2001; David King and Belinda Hickman, “Spared by Fate, Soul Mates Now on a Roll.” The Australian, June 5, 2003; “Martin Wilson.” Soul Films, n.d.
[132] “The Indecision of a Lifetime.” Hood River News, September 10, 2002.
[133] Sandy Boucher, Dancing in the Dharma: The Life and Teachings of Ruth Denison. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2005, pp. 225-226.
[134] Mike Lopresti, “Notre Dame Coach McGraw’s Twist of Fate on Sept. 11.” USA Today, September 6, 2011; “Near-Miss for Notre Dame Coach.” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 16, 2001.
[135] Bruce Boudreau and Tim Leone, Gabby: Confessions of a Hockey Lifer. Dulles, VA: Potomac Books, 2009, p. 79; Stephen Whyno, “For Boudreau, a Life-Saving Flight Change.” Washington Times, September 8, 2011; Mike Wise, “John Thompson, Bruce Boudreau Share Harrowing Sept. 11 Memories.” Washington Post, September 8, 2011.
[136] Jim McCabe, “Johnson in a Scramble, With Exemption the Prize.” Boston Globe, October 10, 2001.
[137] Suzanne Kapner, “The Unstoppable Fung Brothers.” Fortune, December 9, 2009.
[138] Tricia Brennan, Looking Beyond the Mirror: Twelve Steps to Overcoming Self-Doubt. Sydney: New Holland, 2005, pp. 41-42.
[139] Stuart Pfeifer and Jack Leonard, “Law School Deceived Students, Jury Says.” Los Angeles Times, September 25, 2001; “Robert Blake Gets New Lawyers for Trial on Charges of Killing His Wife.” Associated Press, November 26, 2002.
[140] “Former LA Partner Sees ‘Public Service’ as His New Calling in Life.” Wemedia, Winter 2006; “Bush Nominates Judges to Central District.” Metropolitan News-Enterprise, September 7, 2006; “Alumni Q&A With Hon. Otis D. Wright II ’80.” Southwestern Law School, n.d.
[141] Samantha Stephens, “‘Why Wasn’t it Me?’” Seacoast Online, September 8, 2011; Edward D. Murphy, “Work Inspired by 9/11 Recognized.” Portland Press Herald, October 2, 2011; “Story.” Tramuto Foundation, n.d.
[142] Adam Taxin, “BGSA CEO Ben Gordon Recounts His Recent FDNY-Tribute Flight Experience.”
[143] Bill Forry, “Narrow Escape; Clam Point’s Bobby Corrigan Missed Deadly Flight.” Dorchester Reporter, September 18, 2001.
[144] Michelle Wollmann, interview by Ray Soltis. Solatech Newsletter, June 9, 2011.
[145] Mark Grant, A Tale of Two Synchronicities. 2nd ed., CreateSpace, 2013, pp. ii-iii.
[146] Monica McCarty, “Remembering.” Romancing the Highlander, September 11, 2011.
[147] Erin Khar, “I Wasn’t Sure I Wanted to Write This …” RarelyWrongErin, September 8, 2011.
[148] Mike LaBella, “The Flight She Never Made: Series of Events Kept Attendant off 9/11 Flight, Saved Her Life.” North Andover Eagle-Tribune, September 11, 2006; Madison Park, “Small Choices, Saved Lives: Near Misses of 9/11.” CNN, September 5, 2011; Sheldon Gardner, “Elise O’Kane Gets Saved by a Typo.” St. Augustine Record, September 11, 2011.
[149] Joseph P. Kahn, “The Flight not Taken.” Boston Globe, September 8, 2002.
[150] Rebecca Tripp with Bryna René, Secrets of a Metaphysical Flight Attendant. Bloomington, IN: Balboa Press, 2014, p. 213.
[151] Meg Murphy, “Flight Workers: ‘It Could Have Been Any of Us.’” Cape Cod Times, September 14, 2001; Meg Murphy, “Three Cape Flight Attendants Reflect on Returning to Air.” Cape Cod Times, March 10, 2002.
[152] Michael Taylor, “Airline Passengers Keeping Eyes Peeled.” San Francisco Chronicle, October 23, 2001.
[153] 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, pp. 8, 10; Staff Report: The Four Flights, pp. 28-29, 34.
[154] Miles Goslett, “Kate Winslet and Sam Mendes Never Fly Together for Fear of Crash That Would Orphan Their Children.” Mail on Sunday, January 24, 2009.
[155] Ed Rampell, “Remembering the Arizona.” Tucson Weekly, December 6, 2001; Maxine Shen, “The Story Behind 9/11: Hit or Myth?” New York Post, August 28, 2009.
[156] “Actress’ Providential Escape.” Chandigarh Tribune, September 14, 2001.
[157] “9/11 Ten Years Later.” Chesapeake Current, September 22, 2011.
[158] Jonathan Pugh, “Local Singer to Audition for ‘America’s Got Talent.’” Chesapeake Current, November 4, 2010. Note that O’Shea appeared in these productions under the name Clare Peck.
[159] Joe Dobrow, “The Most Inexplicable Thing That’s Ever Happened.” Product of Our Times, 2010.
[160] Robert Tomsho, Barbara Carton, and Jerry Guidera, “For Some, Avoiding Tragedy Seemed Like Pure Chance”; “Andrew, Queisser Make Sense of Sept. 11.” Howey Political Report, September 6, 2002; Zachary A. Goldfarb, “What Ever Happened to … Joseph J. Andrew?” Washington Post, March 7, 2006.
[161] Kerri Toloczko, “The Promise of 9/11 is Within Each of Us.” Breitbart.com, September 12, 2011.
[162] Robert Tomsho, Barbara Carton, and Jerry Guidera, “For Some, Avoiding Tragedy Seemed Like Pure Chance”; Harry Stoffer, “AIADA President Brings Wide Range of Experience.” Automotive News, April 14, 2003.
[163] “Living on the Edge.” Washington Post, October 30, 2001; “Executive Profile: Richard M. Nummi Esq.” Bloomberg Businessweek, n.d.
[164] Mike Wise, “John Thompson, Bruce Boudreau Share Harrowing Sept. 11 Memories”; “Thompson Was Talked out of 9/11 Flight.” Fox Sports, September 12, 2011.
[165] D. R. Stewart, “TSA Officers Help Secure the Air.” Tulsa World, August 21, 2011.
[166] Lorna Edwards, “A New Life in the Deep.” The Age, September 21, 2009; Sarah Collerton, “John Howard ‘Saved My Life on 9/11.’” Australian Broadcasting Corporation, September 7, 2011; Mackenzie J. Gregory, “It is Better to be Lucky Than Rich.” United States Naval Academy Alumni Association and Foundation, n.d.
[167] Neil Schmidt, “McGaughey Back to Derby With ‘Right Horse.’” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 4, 2002; “Saved From Tragedy: How One Mount Family is Giving Back.” Mount Magazine, Winter 2002.
[168] Tim Pennington, “10 Years After Sept. 11: Platers Recall Tragic Day.” Products Finishing, September 1, 2011.
[169] Bruce Van Horn, “September 11, 2001: Strong Memories 11 Years Later.” Bruce Van Horn, September 11, 2012; Bruce Van Horn, “LifeThought: Don’t Let the Miracles That Haven’t Happened Yet Blind You to the Ones That Already Have!” Bruce Van Horn, February 24, 2014.
[170] Cynthia L. Webb and Yuki Noguchi, “When Phones Failed, New Technology Filled the Void.” Washington Post, September 13, 2001; “Staffers Remember COO Killed in Attack.” Washington Times, September 17, 2001.
[171] Matt Powers, “Oh! The Places I’ve Been!” Gamasutra, April 1, 2014.
[172] Joe Ganley, “My 9/11.” Joe Ganley, September 23, 2004.
[173] Mark Martinez, “No More Bad Days … My 9/11 Moment.” Mark Martinez’ Blog, September 1, 2011; Mark Martinez, “My 9/11 Thoughts …” Mark Martinez’ Blog, September 10, 2013.
[174] Donna St. George, “Lives Spared Through Mysterious Good Fortune.” Washington Post, September 15, 2001.
[175] Dianne Ryder, “Defense Logistics Agency Employee Reflects on Near-Miss on 9/11.” Belvoir Eagle, September 16, 2010.
[176] “Credit Union Association Employee Almost Took Hijacked Plane.” Credit Union Times, September 11, 2002.
[177] Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt, “Looking at Ourselves.” B’nai Tzedek, 2002; Tamara Jones, “Darrell Fogan Learned From 9/11. He’ll be Ready Next Time.” Washington Post, September 10, 2002.
[178] Stephen C. Fehr, “Neighborhood Finds Close Connection in Airline Pilot’s Death.” Washington Post, September 5, 2002.
[179] Chris Kirkham and Lauren DeFrank, “Never Forget September 11: A Retrospective.” Clear Creek HiLife, September 10, 2009.
[180] “Local 9/11 Responder’s Story–With a Big Twist.” Rochester Homepage, September 11, 2008.
[181] “Poi Dog Contest Winners.” Maui Weekly, June 24, 2010.
[182] Kayley Mendenhall, “Standing up for Freedom.” Bozeman Daily Chronicle, September 8, 2002.
[183] Elaine Sciolino and John H. Cushman Jr., “A Route out of Washington, Horribly Changed.” New York Times, September 13, 2001.
[184] Karen Finley, The Reality Shows. New York: Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 2011, p. 30.
[185] Charlotte Innes, “His Gift is Finding the Bad in Everything.” Los Angeles Times, August 10, 1997; M. H. Miller, “Sleep When I’m Dead: Gary Indiana Might be out of Print, but He’s Still Going Strong.” Gallerist, April 22, 2014.
[186] “For Informational Purposes and to Set Lead for Chicago Division Legat Islamabad.”
[187] 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, p. 8; Staff Report: The Four Flights, p. 28.
[188] The FBI’s list can be viewed on the Internet. See: “AA Group: On List and Cancelations for Flights 11 and 77.”
[189] 9/11 Commission, The 9/11 Commission Report, pp. 10, 14, 456; Staff Report: The Four Flights, pp. 35-36, 46.
[190] Jeffrey Zaslow, “Interview: Robert Redford.” USA Weekend, November 25, 2001; Michael Feeney Callan, Robert Redford: The Biography. New York: Knopf, 2011, p. 382; Jeff Dawson, “Reeling in Redford.” Sunday Times, June 5, 2011.
[191] Patricia Seremet, “West Hartford’s Basche Plays Hero in ‘United 93.’” Hartford Courant, April 28, 2006.
[192] Judyth Piazza, “Forbes Riley Tells Judyth Piazza ‘I Was Supposed to be on United Flight 93.’” theSOP, February 16, 2012; “Forbes Riley.” EntrepreneurOnFire, January 11, 2013; Paula S. Fogarty,”Who is Forbes Riley?” South, June/July 2014.
[193] Mary-Jayne McKay, “Following in Ella’s Footsteps.” CBS News, January 14, 2003; Beverly White and Julie Brayton, “Singer Patti Austin Just Missed Flight 93.” NBC Bay Area, September 8, 2011.
[194] Kelli Richards, “The Gifts of the Digital Age: Remember 9/11.” All Access Group, September 11, 2011; Kelli Richards, “Life and the Love We Make.” Kelli Connects, March 2012.
[195] Joel Selvin, “Silenced by a Stroke, Merl Saunders is Grateful to be Grooving. His Son Tony Has Helped Him Find a New Voice.” San Francisco Chronicle, September 1, 2004; John Clarke, “Former Grateful Dead Keyboardist Merl Saunders Dies.” Rolling Stone, October 24, 2008; Joel Selvin, “Star Keyboardist Merl Saunders Dies.” San Francisco Chronicle, October 25, 2008.
[196] “We’ll Always Remember and Never Forget: 9/11/2001.” Kiss 95.1, September 11, 2013; “Charlotte Radio Personality Reveals He Was Almost on Flight 93 on 9/11.” WSOC-TV, September 11, 2013.
[197] “Cover Lead.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, October 4, 2001; Yu Nakagawa, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, March 8, 2002.
[198] Kevin Dougherty, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, September 28, 2001.
[199] George Gutierrez, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, September 27, 2001.
[200] Patricia Breese, interview by the FBI. Federal Bureau of Investigation, September 28, 2001.
[201] Stephen L. Weiss, The Billion Dollar Mistake: Learning the Art of Investing Through the Missteps of Legendary Investors. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons, 2010, p. 5.
[202] “One Wall Streeter: Why I Won’t Trade on Bin Laden.” CNBC, May 3, 2011.
[203] Meital Dohan, “Frank Andrews Interview Part 2.” Starpulse.com, May 19, 2011.
[204] Kiran Aditham, “Joyce King Thomas Quits McCann.” AgencySpy, May 28, 2010.
[205] Troy Onink, “Are You Alive? One Family’s 9/11 Reflections.” Forbes, September 10, 2011.
[206] Bruce Sanderson, “German Wine Institute Executive Dies in Hijacked Plane Crash.” Wine Spectator, September 18, 2001; Michael zu Salm-Salm, “Wie Ich ’9/11′ Erlebte.” Die Welt, September 10, 2011.
[207] Julia Prodis Sulek, “Spared Death, Air Travelers Face Life With New Outlook.” Knight Ridder, January 22, 2002.
[208] Corinne Bernstein, “For Some, Hand of Fate Intervened”; “9/11 Twists of Fate.” ABC News, January 30, 2006; “Some Phrases and Quotes Are Supported by True Stories.” Suffolk News-Herald, February 3, 2006.
[209] Jack Shea, “The World Through a Wide-Angle Lens.” Martha’s Vineyard Times, May 28, 2009.
[210] Leslie Hoffman, “Self-Taught Artist’s Childlike Works Convey Brutal Honesty.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 16, 2003; “9/11 Twists of Fate”; “Break From Routine Saved Their Lives.” Press Trust of India, September 11, 2011.
[211] Ruthann Richter, “Stanford Physician Misses Hijacked Flight.” Stanford Report, September 19, 2001; “9/11 Twists of Fate.”
[212] Ian Thompson, “Suisun City a Piece of Paper Away From Getting WTC Artifacts.” Fairfield Daily Republic, August 26, 2011; David DeBolt, “Eyewitness to 9/11 Attack Shares Her Account at Suisun Ceremony.” Fairfield Daily Republic, September 11, 2011.
[213] Donald Rubbo,”Thanks and Prayers at Flight 93 National Memorial.” Rubbo Art of Energy, March 25, 2013.
[214] Leah Stone, “A Day to Remember: Justice for America.” A Bicycle Built for Two, May 1, 2011.
[215] Romy Ribitzky, “A Real Lesson in Entrepreneurship.” Upstart Business Journal, September 23, 2010; “Runway Rockstar.” Style by Design, March 21, 2012.
[216] Heidi Swillinger, “Part 1: How Did Sept. 11 Affect Your Life?” San Francisco Chronicle, September 9, 2006.
[217] “I Was Due on Flight to Terror.” Shields Gazette, n.d.
[218] Jack Neff, “Can Digital Marketing Rekindle Growth at Reckitt Benckiser?” Advertising Age, February 27, 2011; Jiri Kulik, “I Live Second Life: I Was Booked on the UA Flight …” CNN, September 11, 2011.
[219] Nelly Reifler, “Leaps of Faith.” Tablet, November 9, 2006; Nelly Reifler, “Blue Spark, Part II.” The Weeklings, September 20, 2013.
[220] “Five Squash Student-Athletes Honored at Ninth Annual Breakfast for Champions.” Fordham University Athletics, March 14, 2012; Melanie Grayce West, “Providing for Sick Children in Pain.” Wall Street Journal, August 10, 2012.
[221] Rebecca Webber, “Habits of Lucky People.” Woman’s Day, January 16, 2012.
[222] James Canton, The Extreme Future: The Top Trends That Will Reshape the World for the Next 5, 10, and 20 Years. New York: Dutton, 2006, p. 214.
[223] Ibid. p. 3; “Dr. James Canton Ph.D.” Institute for Global Futures, n.d.
[224] Dave Mandelkern, “Let’s Try This AGAIN–Triathlon at Pacific Grove.” Exercise With Purpose, September 7, 2011.
[225] John Talley, “An Unused Flight 93 Ticket.” Ventura County Star, September 10, 2011.
[226] “Fate Kept Travel Agent off Flight 93.” Morris County Daily Record, March 30, 2009.
[227] Sonia Harmon, “DC Designers: Evelyn Brooks.” Washingtonian, December 29, 2008; Evelyn Brooks, “The Significance of Perseverance.” Latina Style, 2011; Evelyn Brooks, “My Story About Social Responsibility.” Two Worlds One Chica, September 11, 2013.
[228] “Book Expo 2006–Books of Inspiration: Cholene Espinoza.” Beyond the Book, 2006; Lisa Belkin, “From a Dark Past, a Spirit Renewed.” New York Times, August 13, 2006; Ellen Ratner, “A Lesson From United Flight 93.” WorldNetDaily, September 11, 2011.
[229] Mark C. Anderson, “Michael Jones’ Mercurial Personality Feels Larger Than Life–Just Like His Food.” Monterey County Weekly, September 25, 2008; Michael Jones, “Let’s Roll …” Cachagua Store, February 2, 2013.
[230] “9/11 Stories.” San Francisco Chronicle, September 4, 2002; Anthony Soohoo, Twitter post, September 11, 2011.
[231] “Touched by Tragedy.” Stanford Magazine, November 2001; Jerry Adler, “Rites of Comfort.” Newsweek, November 26, 2001; Shannon Carroll, “Ten Years Ago, Everything Changed.” Granite Bay Gazette, September 16, 2011.
[232] Eric Clamage, Story #7487. September 11 Digital Archive, September 15, 2002.
[233] Michelle Mahler, Story #10626. September 11 Digital Archive, May 31, 2004.
[234] Anne Stub Civitano, “Ten Years Later, 9/11/11.” Winston-Salem Journal, September 11, 2011.
[235] Michelle Dennedy, “Baking Privacy Into Product Design.” Zurb, n.d.
[236] Pete Bridge, “Point Park Community Gathers in Silence, Respect of 9/11 Victims.” Point Park News Service, September 12, 2012.
[237] Colson Andrews, “Faith Paper.” Episcopal Academy, November 20, 2012.
[238] Thomas McGann, “President’s Message.” Newsletter of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Division 4 of Montgomery County, PA, September 2011.
[239] “Kelly-Ann Speers, Hull, Quebec.” Postmedia News, September 11, 2011.
[240] Jeannette Sacman, “9/11: A Day of Remembrance.” Insurance Maven, September 11, 2009.
[241] Juliana Mathews, “My September 11 Silver Linings.” Yahoo! News, August 30, 2011.
[242] “Where Were You on 9/11?” South Bend Tribune, September 3, 2011.
[243] “United We Stand.” Brigade Air newsletter, Spring 2014.
[244] “La Salle Community Reflects on 9/11.” La Salle Collegian, September 13, 2006.
[245] Mike D’Onofrio, “11 Years After 9/11: ‘Essex County Remembers.’” West Orange Patch, September 11, 2012.
[246] “Attendant Missed Fatal Flight.” Centre Daily Times, September 12, 2011.
[247] “No 9/11 Compensation for Flight Attendant.” Associated Press, November 27, 2003; Michael L. Diamond, “Post-Crash Trauma Grounds United Flight Attendant.” Asbury Park Press, September 2, 2006; “Stroka v. United Airlines.” FindLaw, n.d.
[248] Tracie Simer, “West Tennesseans Survived, Helped Respond to Terror Attacks at the Pentagon, Ground Zero.” Jackson Sun, September 13, 2011.
[249] E. L. Gold, “Luck Keeps Residents’ Loved Ones From Becoming Victims.” Kentucky New Era, September 14, 2001.
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