On the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terror attacks, USA TODAY is republishing articles published in 2002 for the first anniversary.
Chris Young, an actor-singer-temp who worked for Marsh & McLennan insurance company, delivered a box of materials to a meeting on the 99th floor of the World Trade Center's north tower.
He made sure his boss' PowerPoint presentation was working. She said he could leave. He took an elevator down to the 78th-floor elevator lobby to transfer to an express elevator to the ground.
Young, 33, had never been alone in one of the giant express elevators, which took just 60 seconds to descend 1,000 feet. He jumped up and down to see whether it felt lighter than air. (It didn't.) He started to dance. He sang his favorite show tunes. He crooned "I, Don Quixote" from "Man of La Mancha."
Then, American Airlines Flight 11 hit the north tower at 8:46 a.m.
The elevator jerked, screeched to a halt and bounced. The lights fell from the ceiling but still worked, dangling. A gush of wind blew dust through the elevator. Young rolled into a ball on the floor.
The digital locator in the elevator showed he was in the lobby. He rang the alarm bell. Eventually, a man's voice came over the intercom. Young told him his location and elevator number. The man said someone would get him soon.
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From the archives | Disaster within disaster: World Trade Center elevators created more tragedy
When nobody had come by 9:15, Young started yelling: "Hello! Hello!" People trapped in the next elevator over yelled back. In muffled shouts, they explained their predicament. The seven in the other elevator said they had not been able to reach anyone on their intercom. Young said he would call on his.
At 9:40 a.m., a voice came over the intercom again. It sounded like a different man. He didn't seem aware that Young had already reported his situation. Young repeated his location and told him about the seven people in the neighboring elevator. "He said: 'We've got people working on it. We'll get you out, and we'll get them out, too,' " Young recalls.
Young asked whether he should try to get out of the elevator himself. The man said, "No, it's best not to try to free yourself." Young yelled to his neighbors to tell them he had made contact. No one answered. They had escaped on their own and had told firefighters about Young.
After the silence, Young decided he would try to pry open the doors. They would not budge.
A long, loud rumble began. A gush of wind filled his elevator with yellow dust. He rolled into a ball again, his shirt covering his head. The south tower had just collapsed.
Young punched the intercom button again and heard an automated recording. He began humming "The Impossible Dream."
After 20 minutes, the electricity went out. Young punched the alarm button in Morse code for "SOS." He tried the doors again. This time, they slid open easily. He was in the ground floor lobby. Young didn't realize it, but the power failure had released his elevator's doors by cutting power to the motor keeping them shut.
We've got people working on it. We'll get you out, and we'll get them out, too.
Young went to the next elevator and banged on it. Silence. He slid open the doors. It was empty.
He looked around. The lobby was deserted. He walked outside through the broken lobby windows. He was half a block away when a firefighter yelled, "Run!"
Young was the last person to escape an elevator. The north tower collapsed at 10:28.
From the archives | Trapped in Trade Center elevators on Sept. 11, they fought their way out
GRAPHICS AND PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS Veronica Bravo and Janet Loehrke/USA TODAY
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From the archives | An excruciating wait for help: He was the last to escape an elevator on 9/11 - USA TODAY
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