On the morning of September 11, 2001, Michael Jackson and Seth MacFarlane were both in circumstances that later produced extraordinary stories of chance.
One involved the World Trade Center.
The other involved American Airlines Flight 11.
Michael had just performed two huge 30th Anniversary Celebration concerts at Madison Square Garden on September 7 and September 10. He was still in New York when the attacks happened the next morning. Contemporary reports confirm that the second concert had taken place only hours before the tragedy.
Years later, Michael’s brother Jermaine Jackson revealed something the public had not known.
According to Jermaine’s memoir, Michael had been scheduled for a morning meeting at the World Trade Center. But the night before, he stayed up extremely late talking with his mother Katherine and other family members.
Michael overslept.
Jermaine recalled Katherine calling Michael’s hotel to make sure he was safe. According to his account, Michael told her that the late conversation had caused him to miss the appointment.
It is an astonishing family story, although there is an important limitation: Michael himself did not publicly document the scheduled World Trade Center meeting at the time, so it is best presented as Jermaine’s recollection rather than independently confirmed fact.
Seth MacFarlane’s story is much more directly documented.
Seth MacFarlane Explains How He Missed Flight 11
MacFarlane was booked to fly from Boston to Los Angeles aboard American Airlines Flight 11.
He later explained that he had been drinking the previous night and was hungover, while his travel information also gave him the wrong departure time.
By the time he reached the gate, it had already closed.
He missed the plane by only minutes.
MacFarlane went to the airport lounge and fell asleep.
Around 45 minutes later, he woke to people gathered around television screens.
The aircraft he had been supposed to board had struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
MacFarlane has resisted describing the escape as destiny. He has said that people unknowingly avoid accidents every day simply because they leave a little earlier, arrive a little later or make one different decision.
For Michael, the aftermath took another direction.
His family was stranded in New York after flights were grounded. Jermaine later recalled the Jackson family eventually traveling away from the city by road.
Michael also became involved in the humanitarian response, later helping organize and perform at the United We Stand: What More Can I Give benefit concert.
What makes the two stories so unsettling is how ordinary the deciding moments were.
One man reportedly stayed awake too late talking to his mother.
Another had a hangover and incorrect travel information.
Neither could have known that being late that morning might become one of the most important delays of their lives.
Combined with MacFarlane’s tendency to run late, it was enough to make him miss the flight.
When he finally reached the airline counter, the gate had already closed.
MacFarlane later remembered simply accepting the situation and arranging to take a later flight.
He went into an airport lounge and fell asleep.
Then everything changed.
MacFarlane woke to commotion around him as news spread that an aircraft had struck the World Trade Center.
When authorities identified the flight, he realized it was the plane he had just missed.
American Airlines Flight 11.
The 9/11 Memorial & Museum records that Flight 11 struck floors 93 through 99 of the North Tower at 8:46 a.m.
Everyone aboard was killed.
For MacFarlane, the realization was almost impossible to process.
He later emphasized that he did not view missing the flight as proof of fate or destiny.
He had missed flights before because he was often late.
This time, however, the consequences were completely different. Michael Jackson’s story and Seth MacFarlane’s story are not identical. MacFarlane was confirmed to have been booked aboard the aircraft that became Flight 11.
Michael’s alleged World Trade Center meeting was described years afterward by his brother Jermaine.
But both stories contain the same haunting element.
Nothing dramatic stopped either man beforehand.
According to Jermaine, Michael simply stayed awake too late talking with his mother and overslept.
MacFarlane had drinks the night before, received an incorrect departure time and reached his gate too late.
Those minor changes placed both men somewhere else when the attacks began.
For Michael, September 10 had ended with thousands of people cheering as he performed at Madison Square Garden.
Hours later, New York was transformed forever.
For MacFarlane, missing another flight initially seemed like nothing more than an inconvenience.
Minutes later, he discovered that the plane he had intended to board had become part of one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in history.