September 11, 2001 is a day that is widely regarded to have changed the world forever.
Four terrorists belonging to al-Qaida hijacked three planes and killed almost 3000 people as they crashed the air vehicles into both the North and South Towers of the World Trade Centre as well as The Pentagon.
A fourth plane was hijacked by terrorist but passengers and crew fought back and the plane crashed in a field instead of a fourth intended landmark target.
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As stories began to be told of that fateful day, people were shocked to learn how close some stars were to the tragedy and on the 21st anniversary of the disaster, Daily Star has taken a look at some of the celebrities who had near escapes.
Pete Davidson
(Image: Getty Images)
Pete lost his father, Scott Matthew Davidson on the fateful day.
The comedian was just seven year old when his NYC firefighter father died fighting the blaze where he was last seen running up the stairs of the Marriott World Trade Center just before it collapsed.
The Saturday Night Live star later got his father’s badge number, 8418, tattooed on his arm in tribute and he is set to host a comedy show on September 12 to raise money for 9/11 charities.
Michael Jackson
(Image: AFP)
In his biography, You Are Not Alone: Michael: Through a Brother’s Eyes, Jermaine Jackson recalls how Michael’s life was effectively saved by his mother.
The night before 9/11, The King Of Pop had a late night phone call with his mother Katherine Jackson and his sister Rebbie Jackson.
Michael was due to attend a meeting at the top of one of the Twin Towers in the morning of the attacks but due to the late night call he overslept.
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In the book Jermaine wrote: “Thankfully, none of us had had a clue that Michael was due at a meeting that morning at the top of one of the Twin Towers.”
“We only discovered this when Mother phoned his hotel to make sure he was okay. She, Rebbie [Jackson] and a few others had left him there around 3am.”
“Mother, I’m okay, thanks to you,” he told her. “You kept me up talking so late that I overslept and missed my appointment.”
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York
(Image: Getty Images)
Sarah was in New York at the time of 9/11.
The Duchess Of York was working for the Chances for Children offices on the 101st floor of 1 World Trade Center in the North Tower.
However, she was at a different location on that morning filming an interview for Good Morning America.
On her way back, she was just minutes away from arriving at the complex when the terror attack happened. None of her employees were killed.
She reflected on her experience in 2018, telling Hello! Magazine: “I take every minute as a blessing, I really do, and I really work hard at it.
“Because the minute you look too far forward, then you’re missing now. The minute you look back you can’t go back. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.”
Gwyneth Paltrow
(Image: Getty Images)
Gwyneth managed to accidentally save the life of a World Trade Center office worker on the day of 9/11.
The Shakespeare in Love actress encountered Lara Lundstrom Clarke in the morning, who worked on the 77th floor of the South Tower.
Laura got so star struck, she needed some moments to gather herself which made her delayed in her commute as she missed her train to work.
Gwyneth later opened up on this encounter to Reuters, as she said: “It was an extraordinary story and all I could think about is all of the people who had experiences like that that day, but aren’t able to reach out because it wasn’t a recognisable person.”
“She saw it was me so she was able to get me a message, but I think a lot of fates were changed that day obviously and I am very humbly happy to be a part in her story.”
Seth MacFarlane
(Image: Sunday Mirror)
Seth has previously recalled how he was meant to board the American Airlines Flight 11.
The creator of hit shows such as Family Guy and American Dad! was scheduled to fly back to Los Angeles from Boston.
However the night before, he celebrated with drinks after speaking at his alma mater, Rhode Island School of Design. His travel agent also gave him an incorrect departure time of 8:15am instead of 7:45am
He was sleeping off his hangover whilst waiting for a different flight, but he woke up to the sobering reactions from people who were watching scenes on the news of the first plane hitting the North Tower.
When United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower 17 minutes later, the airline confirmed the flights that were hijacked, to which Seth realised one of those was the flight he missed.
He previously noted: “I was booked on that flight and I was drinking the night before and hung over and I missed the plane by about 10 minutes. It was a very close call for me … alcohol is our friend. I think that’s the moral of that story.”
Mark Wahlberg
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Mark was due to fly on the same flight as Seth that crashed into the North Tower.
But instead of flying to the scheduled destination, he changed his mind at the last minute to attend a film festival in Toronto.
However he later drew controversy for remarks he made on the attacks when he suggested he could have stopped the terrorists if he was on board.
He told Men’s Journal: “If I was on that plane with my kids, it wouldn’t have went down like it did.”
He added: “There would have been a lot of blood in that first class cabin and then me saying, ‘Okay, we’re going to land somewhere safely, don’t worry.'”
But after one widow of a 9/11 victim claimed his words were “disrespectful”, he was forced to apologise.
He said: “I deeply apologise to the families of the victims that my answer came off as insensitive, it was certainly not my intention.”
Michael Lomonaco
(Image: Getty Images for Related)
Superstar chef Michael was saved by his poor eyesight.
The culinary expert was known for overseeing three restaurants in Manhattan which included the famous Windows of the World restaurant on the 106th and 107th floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
He initially had an appointment to get his glasses repaired at noon in the lobby but he decided to get them fixed earlier instead.
On his way back up to the restaurant, he heard a rumbling from the attack.
He previously recalled: “It was a feeling like I’ve never felt before. I couldn’t really hear anything, but this rumble was unusual. Later I would realise it was the impact of the first plane.”
All the victims that were in The Windows of the World restaurant.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
