Less than 24 hours before the 9/11 attacks, American Airlines First Officer Stephen Scheibner was waiting for a call to confirm he would co-pilot Flight 11 from Boston to Los Angeles on September 11, 2011.
"Saw my name penciled in for the flight, I turned to my wife and said, 'Well I'm going to Los Angeles tomorrow,' went upstairs and started to back my bags, expecting the phone to ring and it never rang," says Scheibner.
Scheibner would have been on American Airlines Flight 11 -- the first flight hit the Twin Towers. "It just hit me like a ton of bricks. I mean I was just overwhelmed. And my wife came in after a few minutes and said, 'Steve is everything alright?' And I said, 'honey you know how I packed my bags to go to Los Angeles yesterday? That was the first flight that got hijacked today."
At that moment -- Scheibner realized he cheated death. He had been given a second chance. "Words really cant describe that moment. We both kinda held each other for a little while. And even though it's been a 11 years, I'm still at a loss for words for that vacant sort of half desperate feeling you have when you realize you should have been some place but dodged that bullet."
Scheibner is using his "second chance" to inspire others. He's told his story at more than a hundred places. "Whether you've been given a second chance or not we're all kind of living on borrowed time and that's one of the things I talk about is what does it mean to make the most out of your days and live with a sense of urgency," says Scheibner. "I think the take away for most people is what are you doing with the days you've got left on this Earth?"
Scheibner will bring his story to Evansville later this month. He will be speaking at the Better Business Bureau's Business of Integrity Torch Awards and Centennial Celebration at Deaconess Hospital's Johnson Hall from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tickets for that event must be purchased by November 8 from the BBB office by calling 812-473-0202 or 1-800-359-0979. Tickets cost $25 for active or retired military, senior citizens, students and accredited business employees. Tickets for the general public are $35.
"Saw my name penciled in for the flight, I turned to my wife and said, 'Well I'm going to Los Angeles tomorrow,' went upstairs and started to back my bags, expecting the phone to ring and it never rang," says Scheibner.
Scheibner would have been on American Airlines Flight 11 -- the first flight hit the Twin Towers. "It just hit me like a ton of bricks. I mean I was just overwhelmed. And my wife came in after a few minutes and said, 'Steve is everything alright?' And I said, 'honey you know how I packed my bags to go to Los Angeles yesterday? That was the first flight that got hijacked today."
At that moment -- Scheibner realized he cheated death. He had been given a second chance. "Words really cant describe that moment. We both kinda held each other for a little while. And even though it's been a 11 years, I'm still at a loss for words for that vacant sort of half desperate feeling you have when you realize you should have been some place but dodged that bullet."
Scheibner is using his "second chance" to inspire others. He's told his story at more than a hundred places. "Whether you've been given a second chance or not we're all kind of living on borrowed time and that's one of the things I talk about is what does it mean to make the most out of your days and live with a sense of urgency," says Scheibner. "I think the take away for most people is what are you doing with the days you've got left on this Earth?"
Scheibner will bring his story to Evansville later this month. He will be speaking at the Better Business Bureau's Business of Integrity Torch Awards and Centennial Celebration at Deaconess Hospital's Johnson Hall from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tickets for that event must be purchased by November 8 from the BBB office by calling 812-473-0202 or 1-800-359-0979. Tickets cost $25 for active or retired military, senior citizens, students and accredited business employees. Tickets for the general public are $35.
