James Dorney is an Australian survivor of the September 11 attacks. On September 11, 2001, Dorney was a 25-year-old employee working on the 92nd floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. He survived the collapse of the building after evacuating via the stairwells.
September 11 attacks
Dorney was working on the 92nd floor of the South Tower when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower at 8:46 a.m. He subsequently witnessed the North Tower erupt from his office window. Dorney later recalled that he initially did not understand that an aircraft had struck the building, but decided to evacuate the South Tower.
Dorney entered one of the building's stairwells and began descending. By the time United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower at 9:02:59 a.m., he had descended to approximately the 70th floor. The impact was felt violently throughout the building, despite Dorney being many floors below the point of impact. He remained in the stairwell and continued his descent with other occupants.
As the evacuation continued, Dorney became physically exhausted. According to an account reported shortly after the attacks, when he had approximately 20 floors remaining he described himself as "stuffed". He nevertheless continued down the stairs and assisted older and less physically capable people during the evacuation. His actions were subsequently noted in the Australian Senate, where his survival was cited as an example of people helping others during the disaster.
Dorney eventually reached ground level and escaped the building. During his descent he encountered firefighters travelling upwards through the stairwell toward people still trapped inside.
Later accounts
Dorney has subsequently described his experience in a number of interviews and television programs. In a 2015 episode of the SBS program Insight, he recounted witnessing the North Tower being struck while standing on the 92nd floor and described his subsequent evacuation through the South Tower.
In 2021, SBS published an interview with Dorney marking the 20th anniversary of the attacks. The interview focused particularly on his memories of the stairwell and his position at approximately the 70th floor when Flight 175 struck the South Tower.
Dorney was also interviewed for the Australian television program Under Investigation with Liz Hayes in 2021 and appeared in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation documentary series I Was Actually There, in an episode concerning Australians who experienced the September 11 attacks.
Significance of his account
Dorney's testimony is notable because he was among the occupants who had evacuated from a high floor of the South Tower before the second aircraft struck. His account provides a survivor's description of the evacuation from the upper floors, including the effects of the second impact on people already descending through the stairwells.
His experience also illustrates the importance of the time available for evacuation between the North Tower impact and the South Tower impact. By the time Flight 175 struck at 9:02:59 a.m., Dorney had descended from the 92nd floor to approximately the 70th floor. His subsequent account describes continuing down the stairwell despite exhaustion and assisting other evacuees.
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