Singer Patti Austin Just Missed Flight 93

Scheduled to fly on Flight 93 on September 11th, 2001, a last minute change kept singer Patti Austin off the flight

As Grammy winner Patti Austin performed at the Hollywood Bowl Wednesday night, she was grateful for longevity, loyal fans, and to be alive.

Austin was booked on United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, from Boston to SFO. She had to change the flight to a day earlier because her mother had a stroke.

Instead of performing at the second night of a Michael Jackson tribute concert in New York City, she performed the first night.

  "That’s what saved my life," Austin recalls.

And so Austin never boarded the flight that crashed in a Pennsylvania field when passengers fought back against the terrorists.

After the tragedy, her manager made the connection.

"'He said that's the flight," recalls Austin. "Remember, you were supposed to go to the second day of the show, and you had get out first thing in the morning, and that was the only thing that left early enough in the morning to get you back into San Francisco in time to be with your mom,' and I completely lost it," says Austin.

Austin lost her mother five years later, but continues to love life and perform.

"I felt that my life had been saved for some specific reason," says Austin. "I have yet to figure that out, but I do a lot of charity work now, which I was doing before, but I do a lot more."

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