Local

Charlotte radio personality reveals he was almost on Flight 93 on 9/11

All across the nation, people are remembering the tragedy of 9/11 and where they were 12 years ago.

A Charlotte radio host revealed Wednesday he was actually supposed to be on one of the ill-fated flights.

Maney from Kiss 95.1's "Drex and Maney" told viewers he was supposed to be on Flight 93, the plane that went down in Shanksville, Pa.

Channel 9 caught up with Maney at the Laps for Life blood drive at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, an annual event on 9/11 to honor first responders.

He said he was flying to California from New Jersey and had booked Flight 93, but he changed it to a later flight because he knew he would be up late the night before at a concert.

SPECIAL SECTION: Remembering 9/11

"The day was so surreal. I was stuck in (the) Newark airport all day. When I arrived there we saw the smoke, but we didn't see that it was the World Trade Center, we just saw smoke," Maney said.

Maney said that he was one of the only people with a radio to listen to the reports as passengers evacuated Newark airport.

He told viewers Wednesday that when the first building collapsed, he remembered a woman crying because her husband worked in that building.

Another interesting fact he told viewers Wednesday is that he could have avoided being at the airport altogether.

He said that while driving to the airport with his father, Maney went to turn on the radio but his dad stopped him because he wanted some quiet father-son time.

Now cities across the Charlotte area held events to remember and honor those impacted by the 9/11 attacks.