The heartbreaking way Pete Davidson discovered his father had died on 9/11

Many of you may know that Pete Davidson’s dad tragically passed away on 9/11 - having become a key theme of his semi-autobiographical film The King of Staten Island – but he’s also previously spoken out about the heartbreaking way he found out.

Pete, 29, lost his 33-year-old firefighter father Scott in the 9/11 attacks in New York, which saw terrorists crash two commercial aircrafts into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

A third plane also crashed into the Pentagon, while a fourth – United Airlines Flight 93 – crashed in Pennsylvania after the passengers fought back.

The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people, injuring tons more.

Among the fatalities was Pete’s father, who was on duty on 11 September 2001 when the call came in.

According to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, he responded to the call after a second hijacked airliner struck the World Trade Center.

“Scott’s acts of heroism are not surprising,” its website says.

“He was a brave and fearless man and a devout patriot. He was a friend to many‚ and will be sorely missed by us all.”

National Fallen Firefighters Foundation

It adds: “Materialistic things were not of importance to Scott. The most important things to Scott were his two children‚ his son Peter‚ 8 years old‚ and his daughter Casey‚ 4 years old.

"He was very proud of them‚ and he was happiest while coaching them‚ having a catch or watching a dance recital.

"He coached his son Peter in football and baseball‚ and his daughter Casey was certainly a ‘Daddy’s Girl.’ He loved his children above all things.”

It’s believed Scott was last seen running up the World Trade Center’s stairs, just before it collapsed.

But his son didn’t actually find out about his father’s death straightaway.

Speaking about what happened on Jon Bernthal’s Real Ones podcast earlier this year, Pete said his dad was supposed to pick him up from somewhere that fateful day.

"I got picked up by my mum,” he explained.

“She didn't tell me what was going on for like three days. She kept telling me dad's at work, I had no idea."

Instagram/@petedavidson

Pete continued: "My mum's like, 'You're just grounded, you're not allowed to watch TV'. I was like, 'What? I didn't do anything'. And then one night I turn on the TV and I saw my dad on TV. They're like, 'These are all the fireman who are dead'."

The comedian said it was a ‘weird time’ for his family, as they simply didn’t know what had happened to Scott – especially amid news of people being pulled from the rubble by rescuers after the attack.

"There was just some sort of hope and it was just up and down and nobody knew the right way to deal with it," he said, adding: "That's why, as I get older, I'm like, 'Man, my mom was awesome'."