Author: Shoestring
Subject: 350+ Passengers Didn't Show Up Part 2
Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2014 1:42 pm (GMT 0)
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]
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