David Emil’s son saved his life.
Emil, owner and operator of Windows on the World and Wild Blue atop in the north tower, “normally would’ve been there [when the planes hit], but I took my son to his first day of school early in the morning,” he recalled.
The next thing he remembers, his sister was on the phone telling him to turn on the TV. He would later learn that more than 114 people attending a morning conference hosted by British finance company Risk Waters and over 70 of his employees were missing and presumed dead.
“We have almost 500 employees, so we don’t know who of them our managers scheduled for the event because all of our records have been destroyed,” he said.
Emil said he and his staff already know that his talented pastry chef, Heather Ho, was lost in the carnage.
Executive chef Michael Lomanoco escaped the north tower.
Emil has set up a hot line, (877) 226-5170, for employees and their relatives to check in.