How many times have I heard some story where the guy just misses his airplane flight, and sure enough the plane crashes. Has this actually happened? Who are these people? Or is it just a myth?
They rarely write news stories about the guy that misses his plane (happens all the time, done it myself) and the plane doesn’t crash.
Perhaps the famous plane crash that killed Buddy Holly?
People miss, or make last minute changes to, flights all the time. On the rare occasion that one crashes it is quite likely that someone who was originally booked on the flight, didn’t end up flying.
I had a college professor tell me his story about this. He was in the Navy getting ready for a flight. He got out of line for the flight to get coffee and thus ended up missing a flight that crashed with no survivors.
For 99% of flights, there’s someone who missed the departure or had to reschedule at the last minute. Oscar-nominee Mark Wahlberg was booked on one of the 9-11 flights out of Boston, but ending up chartering a plane so he could leave earlier.
Yankees infielder Enrique Wilson was scheduled to be on flight 587 that crashed in Queens two months later, but he left town earlier because the Yankees lost the World Series.
I’m sure there are countless other examples.
Excellent question.
I give up.
So, tell us: How many times have you heard such stories?
I had a friend who was scheduled to be on USAIR 427 from Chi to Pit in 1994 (crashed, no survivors). Because of rush hour traffic, he got to the airport only 20 minutes before takeoff. He was deathly afraid of flying, so he needed to have a few drinks and ended up missing the plane.
He likes to talk about how his alcoholism and fear of flying saved his life. 
There’s a few stories on Wiki regarding passengers that were meant to be on Pan Am Flight 103, including a guy who got drunk in the departure lounge and just missed the flight even though his luggage was on it - he was subsequently questioned by police, obviously.
Linky: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pan_Am_Flight_103#Flight_reservations
I always wondered from where Elmore Leonard had lifted that plot point for Get Shorty. Now, I know.
I remember reading that someone missed an 8:30 appointment at the WTC on 9/11 and his flight on the plane that crashed in Queens two months later.
If that is true, he is the luckiest person on the planet.
Seth MacFarlane, creator of Family Guy & American Dad, was booked on one of the planes that was hijacked on Sept 11, but missed his flight.
I remember that a dutch musician (I dread to call him famous, but I think most people here would recognize him) missed the Turkish Air plane that crashed in Amsterdam a couple of weeks ago.
According to Casey Casem, duo McFadden and Whitehead, missed a flight @1980, a flight that would later crash. Don’t remember which crash it was supposed to have been.
I always remember those two examples. Hardly surprising that someone survives like this, there always seems to be someone turning up late or not being allowed onto a plane on the fly on the wall documentaries on airlines.
Really? I too have a friend who missed that flight. He works for the Department of Energy out in West Virginia. He and his office mates were in Chicago for a conference. They were all returning home on a later flight, but some people rescheduled to take the earlier flight that crashed. My friend didn’t know there was even a plane crash until he got off the plane and everyone was waiting there looking to see if their loved ones got on the later flight or not.
About half his office died that day, including his boss. Strange, sad world sometimes.
In relation to the OP, think about how much THAT sucks: It’s one thing to miss a flight and thus not get into a plane crash; it’s that much worse to change your flight to the one that does crash.
Karma sucks.
You never seem to hear the stories of people who were booked on later flights but managed to bump a place on the doomed aircraft because one of the original passengers no showed.
Yep, him and about 100,000 other people. (not saying his experience isn’t true because I think it is, but you hear so many stories of someone who either was booked on one of those flights or “knew someone” who was you have to be skeptical)
Sure, if you include the people who “knew someone”. People know a heck of a lot of other people.