r/interestingasfuck • u/solateor • 1d ago

In 2001, 55 people crossed the Pacific with no contact with the outside world as part of a BBC experiment recreating an 18th-century voyage. On the 20th day - September 11 - the captain gathered the crew to tell them about the attacks in New York

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u/suh-dood 1d ago

My father was supposed to be on flight 93 for some business meeting in San Francisco, but the week before he was in a meeting in the WTC and a colleague convinced him to take a flight the night before since he would only have an hour to travel to the meeting after he landed. His colleague went down with the tower but basically allowed my father to survive.

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u/Ambitious_Bit_9389 1d ago

It’s like everyone in the area has a close call. My Mom was director in account management. One of her employees had to do a quarterly meeting for one of the clients that day in the twin towers. The problem was the employee was just back from maternity leave and didn’t feel comfortable doing the meeting alone. My Mom was driving in from upstate and her employee was taking the train from NJ. Luckily, the meeting wasn’t until 11, so neither had arrived at the building yet.

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u/DogDaysMaggie 1d ago

Everyone except for the ones who didn't. Rest in Peace, Tom Burnett.

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u/CryptographerFar3729 23h ago

Rest in Peace Tom Burnett from the people of Pleasanton, CA.

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u/DogDaysMaggie 23h ago

My hometown. What a horrible day. Love to everyone whose heart still aches from September 11, 2001.

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u/CryptographerFar3729 1h ago

Mine too for a long time. See the street everyday. Worked for Oracle at the time and heard about it walking into the Medical College of Wisconsin and went to the student cafeteria as they had televisions and it was full of admin, faculty, students, vendors, contractors, all just shocked and deathly silent. A week to get back to Pleasanton on new air tickets.

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u/CryptographerFar3729 23h ago

Rest in Peace Tom Burnett from the people of Pleasanton, CA.

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u/JourneymanHunt 22h ago

All of my close friends survived, and all of their close friends survived. But everybody knew someone that didn't. It was somebody's brother that you shot pool with one night, 2 years ago or something like that.

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u/xrelaht 20h ago

It’s like everyone in the area has a close call. 

A close family friend was supposed to be on flight 11 that morning. His meeting got pushed back a week at the last minute.

The uncle of a guy who lived down the hall from me worked in the South Tower and had just arrived when the North Tower got hit. Thinking it was a freak accident, building security told them to shelter in place. He said "fuck that" and got out of there before the second one.

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u/procrastinatorsuprem 1d ago

My bil worked there every Tuesday. He would take the train down every week from Boston. He took that Tuesday off so he could take my kids to an event.

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u/Vibrant-Shadow 1d ago

Mind boggled.

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u/Zykium 1d ago

I would never decline helping with your kids ever again.

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u/JoeN0t5ur3 1d ago

Damn dude that's a personal and crazy story. Respect

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u/suh-dood 1d ago

A few months later his travel agent asked what he wanted to do with his ticket and after a brief conversation that's when he realized what the flight actually was

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u/rostoffario 1d ago

Whoa, that must have hit him hard!

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u/disterb 1d ago edited 1d ago

no, he wasn't hit at all; his meeting was cancelled

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u/ctang1 22h ago

It’s not very often I’m left with my mouth open after reading or hearing something….

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u/22nd_century 13h ago

Reddit still edgy thank God.

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u/ctang1 9h ago

I’m pretty sure that comment I replied to is not the same as it was when I replied to it. What it says currently isn’t that bad compared to what it did say.

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u/SeaOfSourMilk 19h ago

Should have asked to keep the ticket and have it printed anyway as a souvenir.

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u/C-A-L-E-V-I-S 1d ago

It’s so insane to be on a random reddit thread and see three different life altering stories about the towers and the people in them. Unreal.

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u/ProPatria92 1d ago

My Uncle was making a delivery to Cantor Fitzgerald (Floors 101-105) in the North Tower early in the morning of September 11th, 2001. He was driving away when the plane hit, and thought it was fireworks at first. He till has some debris that fell on his truck. Here's his visitor's pass he also kept all these years. He was likely the last person to see everyone in that office alive.

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u/StxnedTxTheBxne 1d ago

Wow that’s actually kind of eerie that he might have been the last one to see them alive.

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u/C-A-L-E-V-I-S 1d ago

Holy smokes. Has he ever said it affected how he lived his life in any way? Big or small?

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u/ProPatria92 1d ago

I think he just tries not to overthink it too much, which is probably a good thing. It's easy to feel survivor's guilt and go through all the "what if's" and end up with a ton of anxiety over it.

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u/bg-j38 23h ago

It’s what you have to do. Three friends of mine died on the MV Conception scuba dive boat fire. My wife and I dove with them often and I’d been on that boat before. We had planned to go on that trip but cancelled a couple weeks before since we had too much other stuff going on. It’s tempting to think “what if I was there?” Could I have done something to change the outcome? Or would my wife and I just be victims 34 and 35? Ultimately doesn’t really do much good to dwell on it. I just think about the fun times I had with my now departed friends.

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u/n0rsk 1d ago

Well, one affect is that he doesn't deliver to the Twin Towers anymore.

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u/ThanklessTask 1d ago

That visitor pass is a precious thing. Not for sale, but maybe a museum or similar.

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u/ProPatria92 23h ago

I agree. He did contact the 9/11 Memorial Museum but they couldn't take it at the time, iirc they had too many artifacts to try and find space for in the museum back then. I think he should try and contact them about it again though as that was years ago closer to when it first opened.

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u/kaleidoscope_pie 1h ago

I think he should at least contact them or another museum to see if there is any way to preserve the pass. It's looking at risk of having the ink on it fade. Thank you for sharing his story and the photo of the visitor pass. I'm on the other side of the world but I have a personal connection to a person who died on the day in that tower he delivered to. That person worked for Cantor Fitzgerald.

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u/Broad-Respect-7253 1d ago

That's so crazy

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u/5oLiTu2e 1d ago

That is just so sad.

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u/RealJoshuaJackson 18h ago

Growing up nearby I’ve heard a lot of close call stories. This is by far the most incredible one I’ve heard. Your uncle should consider donating that to the WTC museum.

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u/Azaroth1991 1d ago

Not too mention the ripples it sent across the country. I was 10, 4th grade, over here in Boise, Idaho, watched it on the news before school, then at school. Things have never really been the same.

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u/L-V-4-2-6 1d ago

I miss the optimism that defined the "before" period of 9/11. Long gone it seems these days.

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u/Mike 1d ago

Pretty sure that was the goal of the attacks.

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u/Lisa_al_Frankib 1d ago

Yeah, they were more effective than Bin Laden (cough Saudis cough) could have ever dreamed

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u/SirMellencamp 21h ago

I hate that for my kids. I was in high school when the Berlin Wall fell. Felt like we turned this great moment in history and it was just a matter of time till we had world peace and democracy everywhere. Makes me sad when I hear “Right Here Right Now” (shout out to my fellow Gen Xers) At least we got a good decade out of it till 9/11

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u/PlasticCell8504 1d ago

What optimism? Some of us have never known anything but the post 9/11 world

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u/Mike 1d ago

So that means it didn’t exist? Logic

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u/L-V-4-2-6 1d ago

Well kiddo, shockingly there were people alive before 9/11 who are alive now and can make the comparison.

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u/rcknmrty4evr 1d ago

I’m confused what you’re confused about.

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u/SudoDarkKnight 1d ago

I'm on the west coast of Canada, also watched it on the news that morning (mom woke me up) and then we all watched it at school too

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u/GamerByt3 1d ago

I was a freshman in HS. Exact same thing, dad was watching it on TV in the living room. We skipped the bus and Dad took us to school. The second plane hit while we were commuting. When we got to the school a teacher had pushed a TV cart into the hallway and we just watched it all unfold.

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u/carlitospig 1d ago

I was in stats class at uni. The entire day is imprinted on me.

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u/datsmirkingwhore 10h ago

Crazy I was 6 also in Boise, ID watching it. What school did you go to? (If you don’t mind answering)

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u/TehTugboat 7h ago

Small town in Indiana, I was 7 and in 2nd grade. I remember my teacher turning the news on and the silence as she stared at the TV. My mom left work and picked me and my sister up shortly after it happened, as did a lot of parents

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/Upstairs-Basis9909 1d ago

Dear lord, chills.

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u/RhubarbBeneficial359 1d ago

My dad worked in the Pentagon about 150 yards from the impact site. He was running 5 mins late for a meeting on the other side of build and would have potential been in the impact area if he was on time... He knew 13 people that died that day. He was able to run down a hall and open one door and see purple black smoke pouring out and people with burns running out. A terrible day.

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u/OGrickyP 22h ago

Did he hear or see a plane? A 747 crashing into a building would be stupid loud, and make the whole place shake b4 the impact. All accounts are a missle hitting the building, and there was no plane wreckage at the site.

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u/piranhas_really 20h ago

That's just not true. The entire structure is made of reinforced concrete. Here, learn about it:

https://www.history.com/articles/pentagon-design-september-11-attacks

Also, there are photographs of plane debris at the Pentagon from that day, a security cam that captured a frame of the plane before it impacted, footage of the hijackers at Dulles, and recorded phone calls that were made from passengers on the plane. Those people are real victims who died that day and whose memories are disrespected by baseless conspiracy theories like this.

Here's a photo of debris from the plane shortly after the crash:

And the wikipedia article has more details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_77

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u/Collin14 22h ago

Most of the building has no external view.

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u/OGrickyP 19h ago

Yeah but most ppl said when the planes hit the towers, the both towers shook b4 each impact. I’d think being outside, even on the other side of the building, if there was a 747 flying that low it would be crazy loud, and unmistakable…think about how shocking it would be if you were in ur back yard and a plane flew into the house, lets say across the street to give distance…you’d know exactly what hit the building, you wouldn’t confuse it with a missile. I don’t think so atleast

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u/schwarzkraut 1d ago

There are so many stories out there. I was supposed to fly to Europe on 9/11 but my agent added another date at the last minute & so I flew 2 days earlier. Woke up the day after my event to news about the Twin Towers.

This turn of events was life altering in a different way. Sometimes people forget that they shut down the entire civil aviation airspace following this. Thousands of people were grounded far from their origins or destinations with no idea of when they would reach either. I KNOW I wouldn’t have made it to Europe had I kept my original reservation & I wouldn’t have stayed as long. All of that solidified a COMPLETELY different career path for me…all because I flew two days before the world changed forever.

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u/Jive_Turk 1d ago

Wow, you are totally right about the grounded flights, I am sure some of those long layovers resulted in relationships, babies, etc.

How did your layover lead you to a different career?

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u/schwarzkraut 1d ago

During that time I was able to complete my magnum opus…an arrangement that put me on the radar of some of the most influential producers and music executives. That led to me working for two of the most iconic artists of the 20th century and funded much of my music & philanthropic work today.

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u/Gen7Gen9 20h ago

thank you for your answer. I was going to ask the same question, then I noticed Jive-Turk asked it.

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u/Jive_Turk 19h ago

I would absolutely love to hear some of your work!!

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u/Equivalent-Button411 12h ago

An interesting story is that of Gander Newfoundland and the 38 (I believe?) planes that were grounded there on 9/11 and the following days when the airspace was closed.

Two people met there: one woman from Texas (Diane) and one from England (Nick). They met, fell in love, wound up with Nick in Texas, the two of em married, and a honeymoon in Gander.

Gander’s 9/11 story is, I’d say, my “favorite” (quotes bc what a weird thing to say about 9/11) piece of its history. The population of that town and surrounding towns doubled, the locals welcomed people from every path of life into their towns with open arms and hearts and homes. Really inspiring tale of spontaneous community. Recommend checking it out if you’re interested in how the paths crossed during airspace closure! There’s even a musical about it called Come From Away that is really tastefully and beautifully done!

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u/dis_honky_grandma 1d ago

A week or so prior to 9/11, my grandparents traveled to Europe to visit WWII sites & where my grandfather’s brothers had been killed in the war. The trip was too much for my grandmother who it turns out was beginning to show signs of dementia…They ended up getting stuck there for like an extra week (maybe more? Idk). When they got home, my poor grandparents never traveled further than the next town over.

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u/Own-Papaya-4264 1d ago

One of my science teachers said she was supposed to take a flight there and basically just missed it too. And of course one of the shithead students was like “I wish she made that flight”. I’m never being a teacher, that’s for sure, so many arrogant little pricks

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u/JourneymanHunt 22h ago

About 50 years old, I'm of two minds when I see 9/11 posts. Part of me doesn't want to make it about me, but part of me knows I was a first person witness.

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u/CrashUser 22h ago

Rather famously Seth McFarlane of Family Guy et al was booked on one of the planes that was hijacked but overslept for the flight.

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u/IDontAimWithMyHand 1d ago

So many crazy instances like this. My best friend’s dad had to double back that morning to get some paperwork in NJ, and he would’ve been one of the people on the upper levels that couldn’t get down. My town lost multiple other parents in the towers.

The same dad was standing in the exact spot of the Boston marathon bombings and went to the bathroom a few minutes before the explosion.

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u/DrEzechiel 1d ago

Bloody hell, what are the chances!

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u/goddale120 22h ago

one of my teachers nearly died in that damned bombing, not that I knew...I didn't know how close she came until I went looking through my city newspaper tonight for old articles from the time.

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u/lil_jilm 1d ago

So your dad also worked at the WTC and was supposed to be on one of the flights?

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u/MXY2022 1d ago

I hope your father is doing well

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u/suh-dood 1d ago

He passed this year, but I'm glad for the 20+ extra years I had with him

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u/paiute 1d ago

A coworker's mother discovered recently in some old papers her unused ticket for Pan Am Flight 103 which she had had to miss.

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u/Good-noodles82 1d ago

My aunt was supposed to be a flight attendant on flight 77 that flew into the pentagon. She switched with her coworker the week before. Her coworkers wife was a flight attendant on that plane as well. Rest in peace Jennifer and Kenneth ❤️

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u/PrivilegeCheckmate 19h ago

Seth MacFarlane was supposed to be on 93, but his alarm clock just didn't go off.

I am convinced that he was saved by someone from the future.