Buzz
Have you ever spilled coffee on yourself, causing you to leave late for work, only to later discover a major accident on the highway that you narrowly avoided by being delayed?
Or perhaps you overslept on your first day at a new job, arriving late only to find everyone standing outside because a fire had broken out in the office building?
Sometimes, a delay can turn out to be a blessing. In some cases, it might even save your life. The stories shared here illustrate just how true this can be.
10. Admiral Richard E. Byrd Missed His Train
In August 1921, Richard Byrd was on his way to join the crew of the ZR-2, a massive 695-foot (212-meter) long Navy airship that was set to depart from Howden, England. Unfortunately, Byrd missed his train the day before, which caused him to arrive too late at the airfield. As a result, he was removed from the crew list and could only watch the airship take flight the next day.
Byrd later reflected on this missed opportunity with a sense of relief, likely due to the tragic outcome that followed. In his 1928 memoir, he described the airship's majestic appearance as the morning sun lit up its sides. However, the day after the airship's flight, Byrd learned that it had tragically broken apart mid-air, exploded, and crashed into the Humber River, resulting in the loss of 44 lives, including British and American crew members, and even a black cat named Snowball.
At the time, the ZR-2 was the largest airship ever built and marked the beginning of a series of catastrophic airship disasters. Richard Byrd would later become a famous aviator and the first person to fly over the South Pole. He passed away in 1957 at the age of 68, peacefully in his bed.
9. Adriano Assis Was Late to Check In
On August 9, 2024, Adriano Assis, a hospital worker from Rio de Janeiro, had booked a flight on Voepass Flight 2283. However, a mix-up at the airport led Assis to enjoy a leisurely coffee instead of checking in on time. Believing he still had plenty of time, he lost track and realized too late that he had missed the check-in deadline.
Arguing with the airline employee didn’t change anything, and Assis was denied boarding. But his anger quickly turned to relief when he learned that the plane he was supposed to board had crashed into a gated community in Vinhedo, with no survivors.
Now, Assis credits the airline worker for ‘doing his job’ and ultimately saving his life.
8. James Stefurak Was Late for No Apparent Reason
James Stefurak followed a consistent morning routine that included a trip to the World Trade Center before heading to work. He’d take the subway into the Trade Center, grab a coffee and newspaper, then leave through the glass doors. He often saw a homeless man holding the doors open for commuters each morning before walking the block that led to his office in the Trinity Building.
Stefurak had to be in the office by 9 a.m. every day to work in stock trading. However, on September 11, he couldn't get moving. Though he didn’t know why, he ended up 20 minutes behind schedule. Being late, he switched on the TV, only to see smoke rising from the World Trade Center.
Stefurak’s apartment building had a rooftop deck that looked out over the towers. He immediately went up to the roof and watched as the buildings collapsed. If he had not run late, he would have been inside the Trade Center just when the first plane hit.
7. Deadmau5 Missed His Flight by Minutes
On August 20, 2008, Joel Zimmerman (aka Deadmau5) and his tour manager ran through the Barcelona-El Prat Airport to catch their connecting flight. They arrived at the gate only minutes after the door was closed. With nothing else to do but catch the next flight, Zimmerman watched as the plane they were supposed to be on took off. As he stared at it through the airport window, Spanair JK5022 crashed due to mechanical issues. There were 172 people on board, of which only 18 survived.
Zimmerman recalled how at least 1,000 people in the airport held their breath as they witnessed the crash. It was Spain’s deadliest plane crash since the Avianca Flight 011 tragedy of 1983. It was discovered that the plane crashed because the pilot failed to deploy the flaps and slats needed for take-off.
6. Kevin Dougherty’s Truck Broke Down
In 2001, Kevin Dougherty had booked a flight from Philadelphia to San Francisco for September 11, with a layover in Chicago. The trip was meant to be a leisurely visit to his vacation home in Lake Tahoe, where his wife had already arrived a week earlier. Just before his flight, Dougherty noticed that a flight from Newark (Flight Number 93) was $150 cheaper, so he decided to switch.
On the morning of September 11, as Dougherty drove to the airport, his truck unexpectedly broke down as he exited the ramp at Exit 14 of the New Jersey Turnpike. Unbeknownst to him, a nut had become lodged in the drive shaft, causing it to snap. Luckily, Dougherty broke down near the New Jersey State Police Barracks, and officers helped him, with a tow truck arriving soon after.
After Dougherty finally made it to Newark Airport, he discovered that the plane had already left five minutes earlier. He booked the next flight to San Francisco, scheduled for 11 a.m., but that flight was also canceled due to the attacks on the World Trade Center. Still shaken, he rented a car and returned home. Dougherty eventually reached Lake Tahoe on Friday, where he was reunited with his wife.
5. Jerome Kern’s Alarm Clock Didn’t Go Off
Jerome Kern, widely regarded as the creator of the modern ballad, wrote the iconic song “They Didn’t Believe Me” for The Girl from Utah, a Broadway production that premiered in 1914. Born on Mozart’s birthday, it seemed inevitable that Kern would compose music. His legacy includes timeless love songs like “All the Things You Are,” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” and “The Way You Look Tonight.”
Had Jerome Kern’s alarm clock not malfunctioned, we might never have had his timeless music in our cultural repertoire. On May 1, 1915, Kern was set to join producer Charles Frohman for an Atlantic crossing. However, his alarm didn’t go off, and he overslept, causing him to miss the boat. The boat, as it turned out, was actually a ship—the Lusitania, which was tragically sunk by a German submarine just six days later, taking the lives of most passengers on board.
At just 30 years old, Kern’s life was spared by the faulty alarm clock, and he went on to live another 30 years before passing away from a cerebral hemorrhage in 1945.
4. Lara Lundstrum Clarke Had a Surprising Encounter with a Celebrity
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Lara Lundstrum Clarke experienced two life-changing events: an unexpected celebrity encounter and a brush with death. Clarke was crossing the street when a Mercedes SUV almost struck her. Both she and the driver stopped, each waiting for the other to move first.
The awkward stand-off continued until Clarke made eye contact with the driver, who turned out to be none other than Gwyneth Paltrow. Paltrow gave a casual hand wave to signal Clarke to proceed, and the starstruck Clarke moved on. She missed the subway by a few seconds and had to wait for the next one. When she finally arrived at the World Trade Center stop at 8:47 a.m., the first plane had just hit the North Tower.
Had Lara Lundstrum Clarke not missed that subway train due to her encounter with Gwyneth Paltrow, she would have been at her desk when the second plane struck the South Tower. Tragically, four of her colleagues died that day, along with nearly 3,000 others.
3. Anna Williams Was Reluctant to Leave
Being late doesn't always mean avoiding a crash, an attack, or a disaster. Sometimes, being late means evading pure evil.
On April 28, 1979, Anna Williams was running late, but not for anything urgent. Instead of heading home at her usual time, she stayed out later. At 63 years old, Williams was in the mood for square dancing, and that’s exactly what she did with her friends that evening.
After finally returning home (after a visit to her daughter), Williams was frustrated to find that someone had broken into her house and cut her phone lines. She cautiously searched the house, but found no one. It wasn’t until two months later that Williams realized she had narrowly escaped danger when she received a letter from the infamous BTK killer, Dennis Rader. The letter contained a poem titled, “‘Oh Anna, Why Didn’t You Appear?’
While Anna Williams was out that night, Dennis Rader, the BTK killer, broke into her house and severed the phone lines. He had been watching her for months and could no longer wait. He even selected souvenirs to take home after he planned to murder Williams. However, when she didn’t return home as expected, Rader grew bored and left, never to return or attempt another attack.
2. Robert Corrigan Overslept and Missed His Flight
On another close call during 9/11, Robert Corrigan had a seat booked on United Airlines Flight 175. He had intended to wake up early to make sure he had plenty of time to board, but he overslept and missed his flight by just a few minutes. By the time he reached the gate, the plane had already left the jetway. He managed to find a standby flight to Los Angeles, but by then, the devastating news of the terrorist attacks at the Trade Center was breaking.
Many of Corrigan’s friends and neighbors assumed he was on the flight and gathered outside his house that evening, only to be relieved when they found out he wasn’t aboard.
As the tragic events of the day unfolded on TVs around the world, Corrigan couldn’t help but reflect on how fortunate he was. He kept his United Airlines ticket as a reminder of the different, terrible fate he narrowly escaped.
1. Antonis Mavropoulos Was Just Two Minutes Too Late
Two minutes might seem insignificant—whether you're enduring a brief commercial or waiting for a text reply. In the grand scheme, they’re almost imperceptible. But for Antonis Mavropoulos, those two minutes marked the line between survival and tragedy.
On March 10, 2019, Antonis Mavropoulos was determined to make his connecting flight in Ethiopia. He skipped luggage and rushed to be the first off his plane, sprinting through the airport in hopes of boarding Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. Despite his efforts, he arrived too late, missing the flight by just two minutes. Though frustrated at the time, he could never have imagined the significance of that delay.
Hours later, Mavropoulos discovered that Flight 302 had tragically crashed en route to Nairobi, killing all passengers onboard. He had been so vocal about being denied boarding that airport security had escorted him to the police station. After learning of the crash, the weight of the situation hit him: had he boarded, he would have been passenger 150—almost certainly among the casualties.
Mavropoulos later caught a different flight, arriving safely in Nairobi hours after the crash.
