Albuquerque man flying out of NYC on 9/11 recounts experience

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — 20 years later and emotions are still raw. An Albuquerque man experienced the tragedy of 9/11 while he was on a flight, himself. He saw – from the air – the plane that would later hit the first tower. Then, he heard the explosion.

"It was the plane," Roberto Vasquez said. "It was coming right at us, and our plane did a jerky, really fast turn, and then I heard an explosion, and I woke my wife up and said, ‘we just had a near-miss with a plane I think.’"

Vasquez later learned that the explosion he heard was that plane crashing into the first World Trade Center Tower. He said he sometimes wishes that plane had collided with his plane because it would have saved so many lives.

Vasquez is a hairstylist from Albuquerque. He was leaving New York after working with artists including The Jackson 5, Britney Spears and NSYNC.