Author: Shoestring
Subject: 350+ Passengers Didn't Show Up for Hijacked Flights
Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2014 1:37 pm (GMT 0)
Here is my new blog article, which provides extensive evidence showing that hundreds of people who were originally booked on the four flights hijacked on 9/11 either canceled their reservations or failed to show up for their flights. It is a very long article as it includes so much important evidence. But it is unnecessary to read it all the way through if you don't want to: I summarize my key findings in the first sections of the article, before the heading "MANY PEOPLE CANCELED THEIR RESERVATIONS OR FAILED TO SHOW UP FOR FLIGHT 11."
You can see my original blog entry, with links to sources, here:
http://www.shoestring911.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/over-350-passengers-canceled-their.html
Over 350 Passengers Canceled Their Reservations or Didn't Show Up for the Hijacked 9/11 Flights
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 sport. 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.
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