9/11 survivor in iconic briefcase photo reveals how missing an elevator saved his life
Ed Fine, captured in a famous photo walking away from the Twin Towers covered in dust, reflects on the day that changed history.
Quick Look
Ed Fine, a 9/11 survivor captured in an iconic photograph leaving the World Trade Center with a black briefcase, has recounted how missing an elevator by seconds saved his life.
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Why It Matters
Ed Fine survived the September 11 attacks after stepping in for his sick son at a business appointment in the World Trade Center.
A man captured in an iconic photograph walking away from the Twin Towers with a black briefcase on 9/11 has spoken of how missing an elevator and taking the stairs saved his life.
Ed Fine was unaware that his image had become famous around the world after it was plastered on the front cover of Fortune magazine. It shows him covered head-to-toe in white dust, still in his work attire, walking through the rubble of the deadliest terrorist attack in modern times.
Speaking to The Mirror, Mr Fine says he still uses his briefcase and sees it as a “message to those who committed the attacks that they won’t win”.
Mr Fine said: "I’ve kept the briefcase and the suit I wore that day. They’ve both been cleaned but I felt it was very important that I kept them.
"We moved from a house into an apartment but there was no way we were getting rid of them. They remind me of a day when I was very lucky. I returned home from 9/11 - many people didn’t. I never forget that."
Mr Fine was one of the survivors of the September 11 attacks, which resulted in the deaths of 2,996 people, including the 19 plane hijackers and hundreds of fire service personnel. Both the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers and the Pentagon were attacked.
It was a “bizarre coincidence” that he was on the 79th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center when the Boeing 767 plane struck between the 93rd and 99th floors, Mr Fine said.
“We had just recently started an investment banking business and I had set up an appointment for my son with a firm in WTC,” he told the outlet.
"But at 10.30pm on September 10, he called to say he was sick and asked if I could go instead. The next morning I woke up early - it was a gorgeous day. I checked in at 7.52am for my appointment on the 87th floor.”
Mr Fine took the elevator to the 79th floor, where he said people had to transfer elevator. “I ran to catch the next elevator to the 87th, but I missed it by seconds,” he said.
"If I'd been on that elevator we wouldn't have been having this conversation today."
Mr Fine’s wife, Ingrid, said she “didn’t hear from Ed for a couple of hours” and “didn’t know if he was dead or alive”.
The couple have two children, Stuart and Heidi.
Open Questions
- What was the specific investment firm meeting scheduled for that morning?
