As we near the 20th anniversary of the deadliest terrorist strike on U.S. soil, the memory of that fateful September morning still feels raw. Four hijacked jets, two towers that vanished in a flash, and the Pentagon ablaze—each detail still reverberates through history.
Nearly three thousand souls perished that day, yet amidst the devastation a handful of individuals escaped by a thread of sheer fortune. Below, we count down the top 10 luckiest 9/11 survivors, each with a story that reads like a script written by destiny.
top 10 luckiest survivors
10 First One Down, Last One Out: Ron DiFrancesco (South Tower, 84th Floor)
When the South Tower fell, its collapse felt even more shocking because it happened first, leaving everyone with a terrifyingly short 56‑minute window between impact and implosion. Most assumed they had more time to evacuate, but reality proved otherwise.
Ron DiFrancesco, a Euro Brokers executive, was perched on the 84th floor when United Airlines Flight 175 slammed into the building at an angle designed to maximise damage. The aircraft’s fuselage and cabin struck beneath him, while the right wing ripped through the floors just above his desk.
Trapped by fire and smoke, DiFrancesco couldn’t move up or down. He fashioned a makeshift shield from torn sheetrock and forced his way down through searing heat until a firefighter’s voice guided him past the impact zone.
Reaching street level, a rescue worker ordered everyone to exit via the basement because the plaza was littered with debris and, tragically, jumpers. By 9:59 a.m., DiFrancesco was almost out when the tower began to collapse.
He turned, caught sight of a massive fireball, and blacked out. He awoke in a hospital with severe burns and melted contact lenses, becoming the last known person to leave the South Tower alive.
9 Tied Up: Joseph Lott (Marriott Hotel)
On that September morning, Joseph Lott was staying at the Marriott Hotel nestled between the Twin Towers. He worked as a sales rep for Compaq and was slated to present at Windows on the World, the famed restaurant perched atop the North Tower.
Lott’s quirky hobby—collecting neck‑ties that featured famous paintings—would soon become his lifesaver. Before breakfast, colleague Elaine Greenberg gifted him a Monet‑themed tie, which he proudly planned to wear for his talk.
Greenberg, ever the fashion‑savvy friend, warned, “You can’t pair that red‑and‑blue tie with a green shirt.” Little did they know the gift would later keep Lott out of harm’s way.
After breakfast, Greenberg headed up to the restaurant while Lott changed his shirt. As he stepped out of his hotel room, the first plane struck. Carrying his lucky tie, Lott was among the earliest to evacuate safely, while everyone at Windows on the World—including Greenberg—perished.
8 Saved by a Squeegee: Jan Demczur & Five Others (Elevator Shaft, North Tower)
The Twin Towers boasted 198 elevators, with express lifts ferrying passengers to “sky lobbies” before local service took over. On 9/11, roughly 200 souls died inside or near elevators—some falling after cables snapped, others burned by flames racing down shafts, and many trapped in stalled lifts when the towers collapsed.
At 8:45 a.m., window‑washer Jan Demczur was transferring at the North Tower’s 44th‑floor sky lobby, waiting for an elevator to the 67‑74 range. He boarded with five companions: Shivam Iyer, John Paczkowski, George Phoenix, Colin Richardson, and an unidentified man.
Moments after their ascent began, American Airlines Flight 11 hit the tower. The lift shuddered violently, then halted. An intercom announced an explosion, prompting the group to seek their own escape. They pried open the ceiling hatch, only to find themselves between express landings—no exit, just a wall marked “50.”
Demczur knocked on the wall: it was merely sheetrock. Had it been concrete, they would have been doomed. Their only tool was Demczur’s squeegee handle, which they used to shave away the thin material inch by inch until they breached the tile layer.
Breaking through, they crawled into a bathroom, then sprinted toward the stairwell, reaching the street at 10:23 a.m.—just five minutes before the North Tower’s collapse. The squeegee that saved them now resides at the National Museum of American History.
7 Words Can’t Describe: Sheila Moody (Pentagon, E Ring)
Although shorter than the Twin Towers, the Pentagon holds the title of the world’s largest office building, thanks to its five concentric rings that emphasize girth over height—a design that, in hindsight, preserved many lives on 9/11.
Another factor that saved lives was the fact that American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon’s west side while construction was underway, leaving the area less populated than usual. Still, 184 Pentagon workers perished, and survival largely depended on which ring they occupied.
Sheila Moody, working in the outermost E Ring, was among the very few who escaped. At 9:37 a.m., she heard a whistling sound, followed by a rumble and a massive fireball that burst into her office, knocking everyone down.
Although the exit—a gaping hole created by the plane—was only yards away, thick smoke obscured it. Moody tried to call for help but realized she could barely breathe, let alone shout. Overcome, she began clapping her hands.
Staff Sergeant Chris Brahman rushed in, smothered the flames between them, and carried her to safety. Moody sustained burns across her body, including severe injuries to her hands, yet survived.
6 Grounded: Steve Scheibner (Pilot, American Airlines)
By September 2001, Steve Scheibner had logged a solid decade with American Airlines after a stint as a Navy pilot. He was the kind of aviator any passenger would trust to get them safely to their destination.
On September 10, Scheibner logged into the airline’s pilot‑assignment system, where flights could still be assigned the day before departure. He spotted a single open slot for an early‑morning Boston‑to‑Los Angeles leg and claimed it, telling his wife he’d be flying west the next day.
American Airlines’ seniority system allowed a colleague with slightly more tenure to “bump” a pilot from a slot within a half‑hour window. That very afternoon, Tom McGuinness exercised this right, overriding Scheibner’s assignment.
Consequently, McGuinness and co‑pilot John Ogonowski became the first victims of 9/11 when, at about 8:18 a.m., hijackers seized Flight 11’s cockpit and either killed or incapacitated them.
Just 28 minutes later, Flight 11 slammed into the North Tower. Scheibner’s close‑call is chronicled in the 2011 short film “In My Seat.”
5 Keystroke of Luck: Elise O’Kane (Flight Attendant, United Airlines)
United Airlines, like its counterpart, used a computer‑based system for flight‑assignment requests. In August, flight attendant Elise O’Kane logged in to register for her usual Boston‑to‑Los Angeles route.
Accidentally swapping two code numbers, she ended up on an unintended schedule. Over the following weeks, she swapped flights with colleagues for all her regular trips—except one: United Flight 175 on September 11.
On September 10, O’Kane attempted to request that flight, but the system froze. By the time it finally processed, she was a minute past the airline’s deadline, and her request was denied. She was forced onto a Denver‑bound flight instead.
The next morning, her Denver‑bound plane departed Logan Airport between the crashes of American Flight 11 into the North Tower and United Flight 175 into the South Tower. O’Kane later changed careers, becoming a nurse.
4 Saved by “Bandana Man”: Ling Young (South Tower, 78th Floor Sky Lobby)
Approximately 200 people crowded the South Tower’s 78th‑floor sky lobby—a transfer hub for express and local elevators—when, at 9:03 a.m., United Flight 175 tore straight through it. Only a handful survived, Ling Young among them.
“I flew from one side of the floor to the other,” Young recalled. “When I got up I had to push things off me. My glasses were filled with blood… I looked around and saw everybody lying there, not moving. It was like a flat land.”
Beside Young lay a man whose facial features had been shredded. Young herself suffered severe burns, her vision blurred by shock. Then a young man’s voice cut through the chaos.
“I found the stairs,” he shouted. “Follow me.” He was carrying a woman over his shoulder and wore a red bandana. Young followed him down, and at the 61st floor he set the woman down, urged both to continue, then vanished upward.
For months the rescuer remained anonymous, known only as “Bandana Man,” until investigators identified him as 24‑year‑old Welles Crowther, an equities trader at Sandler O’Neill and Partners.
3 Finally Freed: Genelle Guzman (North Tower, 64th Floor)
Genelle Guzman, an administrative assistant for the Port Authority, sat on the 64th floor when a thunderous crash rattled the building. She looked out to see a colossal fireball arcing toward the tower.
Inside, information was scarce; Guzman and her coworkers didn’t grasp the full scope of the disaster until the television flickered on. Most fled, but about fifteen colleagues, including Guzman, stayed because the intercom instructed everyone to remain put.
When United Flight 175 struck the opposite tower at 9:03 a.m., the situation worsened. Stairwells filled with ascending firefighters, and at 9:59 a.m., the South Tower’s collapse sent debris and smoke into the still‑standing North Tower.
The group finally reached the 13th floor, only to watch the North Tower collapse at 10:28 a.m., killing everyone inside.
Genelle, however, survived. Her head was wedged between two concrete pillars and her leg badly mangled, yet she clung to life for an astonishing 27 hours. Firefighter Paul Somin and his rescue dog finally located her on the afternoon of September 12, making her the last survivor found in the infamous “pile.”
2 The Plane Dodger: Stanley Praimnath (South Tower, 81st Floor)
In the North Tower, no one above the impact zone of American Flight 11 survived; the plane blocked every elevator and stairwell, sealing the fate of roughly 1,400 occupants on floors 93 and higher.
In the South Tower, only 18 people survived at or above the level where United Flight 175 pierced floors 78‑84. Among them was Stanley Praimnath, a Fuji Bank employee on the 81st floor.
After the first plane hit the opposite tower, Praimnath descended to the lobby. A security guard assured him the building was safe, prompting him to return to his office. While on a phone call, he glanced at the Statue of Liberty on the horizon and said, “And that was when the plane caught my eye.”
Seconds later, the jet slammed into his office, shredding the ceiling and crushing every desk—except his. A piece of the plane’s wing jammed in his office door. He was buried in rubble until Brian Clark heard his cries and, in a daring rescue, hauled him out by leaping over a searing office partition.
1 Saving Her Saved Them: Josephine Harris (North Tower, 73rd Floor)
Josephine Harris crowns this list because an entire crew of firefighters regards her as their guardian angel.
A Port Authority bookkeeper, Harris began evacuating her 73rd‑floor office after the first plane struck 20 stories above. An injured leg from a prior car accident slowed her progress, turning each step into a painful ordeal.
Meanwhile, Ladder Company Captain Jay Jonas led his team up 27 floors of the North Tower when an FDNY radio report confirmed the South Tower’s collapse, prompting an immediate descent. The firefighters rushed down seven flights—right into Josephine’s path.
They couldn’t abandon her. The descent slowed dramatically, each step a laborious effort. By the fourth floor, Harris, in excruciating pain, urged the firefighters to leave her behind and save themselves.
They refused. While waiting for her to regain strength, another tremor shook the building—this time directly overhead. The team ducked, covered, and prayed as the deafening booms of pancaking floors grew nearer, then abruptly stopped.
Mathematically, the collapse of a 110‑story structure left pockets of survivable voids within the central stairwell, creating a narrow window for those below. That very geometry saved Harris and the firefighters alike.“It was a freak of timing,” Captain Jonas reflected. “We know the people below us didn’t fare well. Above, to my knowledge, none got out. God gave us the strength and courage to save her, and unknowingly, we were saving ourselves.”