Martie and George (McFly) TWA flight 3, 9/11/01 near miss story:
“I am no longer a rock.
A recent comment I made about my experience on the morning of September 11, 2001 received 1.8 million views on X, formerly Twitter. In the comment, I wrote about how I was beginning my retirement from the NYC Fire Department where I was a Lieutenant.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was onboard a TWA flight from New York bound for St. Louis. My itinerary schedule was to then board another plane to Honolulu. My brother Jim, my girlfriend Kate and I witnessed smoke coming from the Trade Center as our flight from JFK gained altitude just past 08:47 on that clear morning.
About twenty to thirty minutes later, we nearly had a mid air collision with one of the hijacked planes. After the frightening, dramatic maneuver our flight crew executed to avoid the other aircraft, we were grounded in Dayton, OH. I rented a car and went back to NY, back to work.
A NY Post reporter recently contacted me with an interest in the story. She asked if I could verify my tale. I could not. I never before had the desire or motivation to corroborate the story.
I made a few inquires and found Martie, a flight attendant who was onboard my flight with Kate, Jim and Me. Martie made the story a little more dramatic informing me that Captain George - Martie can not remember his last name - told her it was flight 93 that we nearly collided with. Flight 93 came within 500 feet, according to Captain George. Martie, working in first class, heard the proximity alarms from the flight deck as well. It was a very close call.
The search to validate my story also produced a video from an ABC News broadcast on September 12, 2001. In the clip are Captain George, a hairdresser from Albuquerque, Roberto Vasquez, and Jim, my brother. Seeing the clip was very emotional for me. My brother Jim passed away six years ago. He was my best friend. I miss him every day.
Jim, Kate and I learned the Twin Towers had collapsed and the Pentagon was hit when we got off the plane in Dayton. I needed to get back to my fire company in New York. In Dayton, I was in Fireman mode, stoic and focused. I had a mission and part of my mission was to make sure Jim and Kate were safe as well. As Kate and I were getting into our rental car to drive back to New York on the morning of the 12th, I overheard Jim and Kate talking about me.
“He’s a rock,” Kate said to Jim. “Yes he is,” replied Jim.
Today, I am no longer in Fireman mode. I am in emotional old guy mode. Beyond seeing my brother, young and strong, in this clip, I am now experiencing, perhaps for the first time, the emotional consequences of the absolutely hair raising danger we were in. I knew we had a mid flight encounter with another aircraft. Martie brought home just how close it was, five hundred feet.
But I think it was the clip of George Vasquez that somehow triggered - perhaps by modeling - an emotional reaction for me.
For weeks after 911, I worked at my job as a Lieutenant and went to funerals. In February 2002, I made it to Hawaii were I promised myself I would live with vigor and happiness. I felt gifted. “Playing with house money” was how I would often express it in my Brooklyn vernacular. And I have done just that. Life is good.
A funny phenomena has been present for me since 2001. My memories of life events prior to September 11, 2001 have been hazy. While I have a very clear memory of my post 911 life, if I want to recall details of things that happened before then, I need to look things up to jog my memory.
Up until this exercise of validating my 911 experience, and bringing up heretofore suppressed feelings, my rationalization of this memory phenomena was to simply conclude that 911 was a very dramatic event. It is normal for that event to be an anchor in memory. Now, I think there is more.
Like nearly all of us, my life has had successes and failures. I do have some regrets, or perhaps I should say, I did have some regrets. I now believe my pre 911 memories can be somewhat foggy because my actions and my comportment on September 11, 2001 were a dramatic expression of twenty years of accomplishment in service to the people of New York City. It is as if twenty years of training, working and living from the values of a New York City Firefighter and Officer culminated in dramatic cathartic actions.
It was redemption.”
Piece of the puzzle: Now you know why Bob Gale and Robert Zemekis chose “Marty” and “George” as character names in back to the future films. Something about the story above doesn’t make sense and could lead to a new 9/11 investigation, unlocking the future by going back to the past…
