On this day 23 years ago, the world watched in horror as the 9/11 attacks claimed the lives of 2,977 innocent people.
Panic swept across the United States as 19 terrorists hijacked four planes on September 11, 2001 - crashing two into each of the towers of the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon. The final plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
Today marks the 23rd anniversary of 9/11. Credit: Michael Orso / GettyAs survivor stories emerged in the wake of the tragedy, six well-known celebrities came very close to losing their lives that fateful day.
Below, we take a look at the strange twists of fate that saved the lives of some Hollywood's biggest A-listers.
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson missed a meeting taking place on top of the World Trade Center on the morning of the 9/11 attacks, according to his older brother.
Per The Independent, the 'Billie Jean' singer had been due at the Twin Towers on the morning of September 11, but overslept after staying up late into the night talking to his mom, Katherine, and his sister, Rebbie.
Per The Independent, the 'Billie Jean' singer had been due at the Twin Towers on the morning of September 11, but overslept after staying up late into the night talking to his mom, Katherine, and his sister, Rebbie.
Jackson's brother says he was supposed to have a meeting at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Credit: Carlo Allegri/Getty
Looking back on the near-miss, Michael's brother Jermaine Jackson, wrote in his autobiography You Are Not Alone Michael: Through a Brother’s Eyes: "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 once Mother phoned his hotel to make sure he was okay."
He went on: "She, Rebbie, 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.'"
Jackson lived for another eight years before dying at age 50.
On the morning of that fateful day, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, was running 20 minutes late to her charity office.
The royal - who shares two daughters with Prince Andrew - was due at her charity office Chances for Children, which was located on the 101st floor of the North Tower that morning.
Sarah Ferguson has shared her 9/11 story. Credit: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis / Getty
But Fergie, now 64, found herself in heavy traffic on New York's streets after an interview with Matt Lauer at NBC's nearby studios.
Reflecting on the "near-death experience", the Duchess told Hello! Magazine: "I take every minute as a blessing."
"Because the minute you look too far forward, then you’re missing now. The minute you look back...you can’t go back," she added.
The charity mascot which sat on Fergie's desk, a rag doll affectionately called Little Red, was later found amid the rubble of the Twin Towers.
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg was due to take the American Airlines Flight 11 which terrorists crashed into the North Tower on September 11.
But at the last minute, the actor and his friends decided to change plans and chartered a plane to Toronto, Canada, to attend a film festival instead.
Looking back on the near-miss, Michael's brother Jermaine Jackson, wrote in his autobiography You Are Not Alone Michael: Through a Brother’s Eyes: "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 once Mother phoned his hotel to make sure he was okay."
He went on: "She, Rebbie, 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.'"
Jackson lived for another eight years before dying at age 50.
On the morning of that fateful day, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, was running 20 minutes late to her charity office.
The royal - who shares two daughters with Prince Andrew - was due at her charity office Chances for Children, which was located on the 101st floor of the North Tower that morning.
Sarah Ferguson has shared her 9/11 story. Credit: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis / GettyBut Fergie, now 64, found herself in heavy traffic on New York's streets after an interview with Matt Lauer at NBC's nearby studios.
Reflecting on the "near-death experience", the Duchess told Hello! Magazine: "I take every minute as a blessing."
"Because the minute you look too far forward, then you’re missing now. The minute you look back...you can’t go back," she added.
The charity mascot which sat on Fergie's desk, a rag doll affectionately called Little Red, was later found amid the rubble of the Twin Towers.
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg was due to take the American Airlines Flight 11 which terrorists crashed into the North Tower on September 11.
But at the last minute, the actor and his friends decided to change plans and chartered a plane to Toronto, Canada, to attend a film festival instead.
Mark Wahlberg had to apologize for his emotionally-charged comments. Credit: Greg Doherty / Getty
The actor was later slammed by critics for suggesting he could have stopped the terrorists if he'd been 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.
"There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then me saying, ‘OK, we’re going to land somewhere safely, don't worry."
Later, Wahlberg apologized for his insensitive comments.
"To speculate about such a situation is ridiculous to begin with, and to suggest I would have done anything differently than the passengers on that plane was irresponsible," he said.
"I deeply apologize to the families of the victims that my answer came off as insensitive, it was certainly not my intention."
As Rob Lowe sat on a flight 11 days before the attacks, he had no idea that he was on board the terrorists' dry run for 9/11, per CTV News.
Lowe recalled nothing seeming unusual as he boarded his standard flight from Washington DC to Los Angeles after filming for The West Wing.
Rob Lowe found himself on the same plane as several of the terroists. Credit: Tom Cooper / Getty
But it later transpired the terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks were also onboard and had used the flight as a dummy run 11 days prior to 9/11.
The same plane was later used by the terrorists to attack The Pentagon. Rob Lowe later recalled: "I flew with the 9/11 hijackers on the dry run without realizing.
"I was shooting The West Wing in DC at the time and I always took the flight that leaves [Washington] Dulles to Los Angeles that they eventually put into the Pentagon."
He went on: "I made the flight a lot and I didn’t think anything of it. I got on the flight and it was a packed, small plane.
"Looked around the cabin, [I] don’t remember anything in particular, nobody looked scary, nobody looked like a terrorist. It looked like an absolutely normal flight."
Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane was due to catch the same American Airlines plane as Mark Wahlberg, which terrorists ultimately hijacked.
But the Family Guy creator narrowly avoided boarding the flight due to a booking mix-up and a hangover.
The actor was later slammed by critics for suggesting he could have stopped the terrorists if he'd been 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.
"There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then me saying, ‘OK, we’re going to land somewhere safely, don't worry."
Later, Wahlberg apologized for his insensitive comments.
"To speculate about such a situation is ridiculous to begin with, and to suggest I would have done anything differently than the passengers on that plane was irresponsible," he said.
"I deeply apologize to the families of the victims that my answer came off as insensitive, it was certainly not my intention."
As Rob Lowe sat on a flight 11 days before the attacks, he had no idea that he was on board the terrorists' dry run for 9/11, per CTV News.
Lowe recalled nothing seeming unusual as he boarded his standard flight from Washington DC to Los Angeles after filming for The West Wing.
Rob Lowe found himself on the same plane as several of the terroists. Credit: Tom Cooper / GettyBut it later transpired the terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks were also onboard and had used the flight as a dummy run 11 days prior to 9/11.
The same plane was later used by the terrorists to attack The Pentagon. Rob Lowe later recalled: "I flew with the 9/11 hijackers on the dry run without realizing.
"I was shooting The West Wing in DC at the time and I always took the flight that leaves [Washington] Dulles to Los Angeles that they eventually put into the Pentagon."
He went on: "I made the flight a lot and I didn’t think anything of it. I got on the flight and it was a packed, small plane.
"Looked around the cabin, [I] don’t remember anything in particular, nobody looked scary, nobody looked like a terrorist. It looked like an absolutely normal flight."
Seth MacFarlane
Seth MacFarlane was due to catch the same American Airlines plane as Mark Wahlberg, which terrorists ultimately hijacked.
But the Family Guy creator narrowly avoided boarding the flight due to a booking mix-up and a hangover.
Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane also narrowly avoided the tragedy. Credit: Kevin Winter / Getty
MacFarlane's travel agent had told him the 7.45 AM flight was due to leave at 8.15 AM, so when a hungover MacFarlane arrived at the airport late, he found that boarding had already closed.
He missed the flight by 10 minutes.
"I was booked on that flight and I was drinking the night before and hungover and I missed the plane by about 10 minutes. It was a very close call for me," he said, per CNN.
Although Gwyneth Paltrow was not due at the World Trade Center on 9/11, a fan of hers was.
On September 11, Paltrow was making her way home after an early morning yoga class when a woman jaywalked in front of her car.
Remembering the fateful day 10 years later, the Marvel actor told Reuters: "I was on the way home and it was the morning of September 11 - not that I knew at the time what that meant - and a girl was jaywalking across the street and we kind of both stopped at the same time and waited a really long time."
Gwyneth Paltrow has also shared her story. Credit: Stefanie Keenan/ Getty
The girl was Lara Lundstrom Clark, who was rushing to her desk on the 77th floor of the south tower at the World Trade Center.
But when she saw the actress, Lara stopped, starstruck, in front of her car.
According to Lara, the encounter meant she missed her train to the World Trade Center, a delay that saved her life.
Gwyneth recounted: "Ten years later I got a letter from her saying that she had been late for work and we had that thing and she went down to the Christopher Street station to catch her train to go down to the World Trade Center where she worked on the 77th floor of the South Tower and the train was just pulling out.
"So had we not had that interaction she feels like her life would've taken a much different course."
"It was an extraordinary story and all I could think about is all of the people who had experiences like that day, but aren’t able to reach out because it wasn’t a recognizable person," she added.
The girl was Lara Lundstrom Clark, who was rushing to her desk on the 77th floor of the south tower at the World Trade Center.
But when she saw the actress, Lara stopped, starstruck, in front of her car.
According to Lara, the encounter meant she missed her train to the World Trade Center, a delay that saved her life.
Gwyneth recounted: "Ten years later I got a letter from her saying that she had been late for work and we had that thing and she went down to the Christopher Street station to catch her train to go down to the World Trade Center where she worked on the 77th floor of the South Tower and the train was just pulling out.
"So had we not had that interaction she feels like her life would've taken a much different course."
"It was an extraordinary story and all I could think about is all of the people who had experiences like that day, but aren’t able to reach out because it wasn’t a recognizable person," she added.
