Notre Dame Coach Muffet McGraw Had A Ticket For United 175 But Switched Flights

Muffet McGraw was scheduled to be on United 175, which was the second plane to hit the World Trade Center.

Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw had a ticket for the hijacked United 175 flight on Sept. 11, 2001 but switched flights several days ahead of the departure date. McGraw had not spoken publicly about her experience until she shared details with Notre Dame's athletics site on the 17th anniversary of the tragedy.

United 175 was the second plane to hit the World Trade Center. It flew into the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. ET. The 65 people aboard the flight died and 2,996 people were killed in the terrorist attacks.

McGraw was scheduled to fly out from Boston to Los Angeles to visit eventual Irish commitment Courtney LaVere, but assistant coach Kevin McGuff convinced her to instead fly with him out of Providence. He was headed back to South Bend on a flight via Detroit.

"He said it would be much easier to fly out of Providence than Boston," she said. "I said, 'Yeah, but I can't go direct.' He somehow just convinced me, and I thought, 'Well, it's not that big a deal, I'll just go out of Providence.'"

McGraw and McGuff boarded their flight in Providence but then had to deplane. When they were off the plane, they saw United 175 hit the South Tower on television.

They ran into men's basketball coach Mike Brey at the airport. The three coaches got a rental car and drove back to South Bend.

McGraw said she didn't want to talk about it before. 

"It changes your perspective on things," she said. "What you care about, what's important. It all kind of changes."