On September 10, 2001, American Airlines First Officer Steve Scheibner had his suitcase all packed, waiting for the phone call finalizing his assignment to fly AA flight 11, from Boston to Los Angeles. Scheibner’s name had already been penciled in for that flight.
But the call never came because Tom McGuinness, a pilot more senior than Scheibner, wanted the slot.
And so Schneibner was bumped off Flight 11.
McGuinness, a husband and father, had just celebrated his birthday on September 10.
American Airlines Flight 11 was the first Boeing 767 to fly into one of the buildings at the World Trade Center on 9/11.
At the 6:30 mark in this video is the audio of flight attendant Betty Ong’s desperate but calm appeal to American Airlines for help. Haunting….
But it wasn’t just Tom McGuinness who had died so that Steve Scheibner may live. Make sure you watch the longish video to the end.
H/t beloved fellow Lady Wendy.
~Eowyn
