Former New York Mets pitcher Al Leiter has recounted a personal story from the morning of 11 September 2001, when he secretly flew from Pittsburgh to New York to attend his daughter's first day of school before returning to pitch that evening. Speaking on OutKick's "The Craig Carton Show" decades later, Leiter described how his quiet, unauthorised trip coincided with the terrorist attacks, turning an ordinary act of fatherly devotion into a frightening ordeal as the scale of the tragedy unfolded around him. The account matters as one of many personal recollections marking the attacks' anniversary, offering a first-hand perspective from someone whose plans were directly disrupted by the day's events.

Leiter described sitting on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport when reports emerged of what was initially described as a helicopter near the World Trade Center, before the airport was evacuated and New York's airspace closed. Still hoping to reach Pittsburgh, he took a taxi towards Philadelphia, witnessing the towers burning from the Triborough Bridge, before rerouting north as the city shut down and hearing on the radio that the Pentagon had been hit. He then called Mets general manager Steve Phillips, who told him the game would not go ahead. Leiter also used the interview to push back against what he called attempts to alter the historical narrative of 11 September, insisting the attacks killed roughly 3,000 people, including almost 400 firefighters.