Albuquerque salon owner thanks the pilot that he credits with saving his life on 9/11
Roberto Vazquez was flying back to New Mexico from New York when a hijacked plane almost collided with his plane
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. —
Albuquerque hair salon owner Roberto Vazquez still has flashbacks from Sept. 11, 2001.
“I’m going to work. I see a plane go between the First National Bank landing, and it looks like it’s going to hit the tower,” Vazquez said.
In the days leading up to 9/11, Vazquez was in New York City helping out with the Jackson Five Reunion concerts.
On the morning of 9/11, Vazquez boarded TWA Flight 3. That same flight reportedly almost crashed into United Airlines Flight 175. That was the hijacked plane that struck the south tower.
“I see this shiny thing coming at us and the plane does thing thing,” Vazquez said.
Vazquez credits the pilot for taking quick action to avoid hitting the hijacked plane. Shortly after, Vazquez said he heard an explosion. It was the hijacked plane crashing into the south tower. For years, Vazquez says he has lived with guilt.
“The guilt. If the plane would have hit us instead of everybody in the tower, the second tower, so I have had to live with that,” Vazquez said.
Then, he spent years trying to find the pilot of TWA Flight 3 but had no luck.
“I would just like to thank the pilot. He was an angel because he saved me and everybody in that plane,” Vazquez said.
Then in 2012, KOAT did a story about Vazquez trying to find the pilot. His name is George Ceshker.
As fate would have it, Ceshker eventually saw the story and tracked down Vazquez and left him a voicemail in 2014. It still lives on Vasquez’s phone today.
And now, on the 25th anniversary of the tragedy, the two reconnected. We were there as Vazquez called Ceshker with tears in his eyes.
“It’s still emotional for me even though it’s been 25 years,” Ceshker said.
“It seems like it was yesterday. We are blessed because we have each other,” Vazquez answered.
Lives changed forever that day. Two men who never met in person but forever bonded by 9/11.
“That day changed our whole lives; we never went back to the America we were before 9/11,” Ceshker said.
