Breaking News, Monorails at WDW collide

[chickie]

Very, very sad. My heart goes out for the driver and his family and friends.

 

[cdotla]

I am finding it hard to think about anything else except how the driver's family must be feeling right now.

What most of us associate with WDW are our happiest, most magical moments. Unfortunately that will not be the case for this poor family.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

In looking at the photo -- I think it's a miracle the other driver was unhurt. I'm shocked to see the deceased cast member was only 21...it seems as though most of the monorail drivers we've encountered were much older, I just always assumed being a "monorail pilot" was a position you had to work your way into after several years.

Do we know the age of the other driver involved? It seems a lot of speculation is swirling around the deceased driver due to age, inexperience, etc...however it could be an error on the part of the other driver. Or both parties might not have contributed to the accident at all -- may turn out to be 100% equipment failure of some kind.

Whatever happened, I'm sure the reason will be reported as soon as the investigation is complete and the monorail will be non-operational for awhile.

I personally feel the whole system is in need of some major refurbishment. During our last visit we rode up front and couldn't help but notice the windshield was so marred (that's the best description I can come up with) that it was actually difficult to see out of. Enough so that we decided we really didn't need to try to jockey for a position upfront anymore.

 

[tiggspring]

Decorated Dust I have to disagree. Knowing how the sytem works he could have been texting and the train still would have stopped. Here is a great description of the system. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Disney_World_Monorail_System
Lets see what happend

 

[tink576]

Just so sad

 

[LimoFam5]

My husband works for a big railroad and everytime we go on vacation to Disneyworld, my husband and I and our two girls always ride up front with the driver....NO MORE, I freaked out!
I told my hubby about this story and the first thing he said was....."was the driver texting or on the phone, or did someone miss a signal???"...I told him the story did not say, but he said those two reasons are the most common among train crashes.
It is so sad....I pray for the driver and his family.

 

[DisneyWithMyBoyz]

Earlier this morning, it was reported on one of the news sites that the deceased driver was a monorail vetran who was married and had 5 children.

Then it came out that the deceased driver was the 21 year old.

I wonder if the injured driver was the married man with 5 children then or if was all just one big rumor.

 

[fakereadhed]

While this is a terrible turn of events, it is amazing how many trips those monorails have taken without something like this ever happening. Probably a mind-boggling number of hours of operation. I hate to see people questioning their future safety before all the details are known.

 

[Blumonkeyboy]

I clicked on the still photos, that was enough (more than enough) for me to see, I can't bring myself to watch the video.

Three thoughts occurred at the same time for me when I first heard this on CNN:

1) How horrible for all involved.

2) I've got to go get on The Dis to find out more.

3) Cut-backs everywhere, shoddy maintenance, has it led to this ?

It's that third thought that haunts me the most. Disney has a way of clamping down information from all sources even in this technological age.

I suspect the video will "vanish" and that we may never know what really happened.

If the accident had occurred just a couple hours earlier, the monorail would have been packed (maybe over-packed, as often happens) and then who knows what could have happened.

All I know is my thoughts and prayers go out to the young man's family and friends.

One things for sure, that videos not going anywhere. Ive downloaded it for that very reason. So ssad

 

[andrewilley]

I have not seen any independent confirmation of this, but I've read a posting that says that monorail Purple may have been stuck in or near the station following a breakdown. How does the safety system register train positions on the track I wonder, could a power failure of Purple have caused it to not show up on the MAPO automatic system? The poor driver of Pink may not have known anything about it until too late. All supposition at this point, of course.

[Edit: on the aerial photos, it looks as though the roof escape hatches on Purple have been opened; not sure if this was before or after the crash]

Andre

 

[moburg]

In looking at the photo -- I think it's a miracle the other driver was unhurt.

Thats the front of one train, and the back of another. The other driver was at the other end of the train, not in the middle of that wreckage.


More details need to come about what happened. Did the driver fall asleep? Was there some communication failure? Brake failure?

I had the thought of what WDW would do with the policy of allowing passengers in the operator's car. If the driver just fell asleep, passengers would have prevented this accident. If other technical issues, then probably not, and the liability issue will probably shut down that passenger practice.

But too early to tell now.

 

[LimoFam5]

where can i find the video

 

[wdwfreeksince88]

With all due respect, personally, I probably would.

If I never did anything where something bad has happened I would never do anything. I recently took my nephew on one of those Power Tower drops rides, even knowing of the horrific accident where a girl lost her feet. People still go on Mission Space and RNR, they fly in airplanes and drive in cars. People still live in places where there have been earthquakes and hurricanes. What if, God forbid, the people in the back cars of that monorail had been injured, would you never ride the monorail at all again?

Will Disney allow guests to ride in front of the monorail again? I have no idea. Probably not, but if they did, I would take a ride there again.

I totally agree. Our prayers are with the family of the driver, but this would not stop me from going on the monorail or from riding up front. It would not surprise me if disney stopped rides up front but I hope they don't.

 

[moburg]

I have not seen any independent confirmation of this, but I've read a posting that says that monorail Purple may have been stuck in the station following a breakdown. How does the safety system register train positions on the track I wonder, could a power failure of Purple have caused it to not show up on the MAPO automatic system?

Andre

Based on the video, I would have to say it was the purple train that was in motion. The family was coming out of the purple train, one or two doors back from the front, and the station CM was pointing into the purple operators car saying the driver was in there.

 

[disneyholic family]

Thats the front of one train, and the back of another. The other driver was at the other end of the train, not in the middle of that wreckage.


More details need to come about what happened. Did the driver fall asleep? Was there some communication failure? Brake failure?

I had the thought of what WDW would do with the policy of allowing passengers in the operator's car. If the driver just fell asleep, passengers would have prevented this accident. If other technical issues, then probably not, and the liability issue will probably shut down that passenger practice.

But too early to tell now.

but there's apparently a safety system that's supposed to stop the monorail if it gets too close to the one in front of it....

this is from the article about the young driver:

According to a former Walt Disney World monorail driver, the vehicles were outfitted with a safety system called Mapo. The former driver, who said he drove the current Mark VI monorail trains, said as soon as the monorail train gets within two checkpoints of another train, it automatically stops.

The former driver said he believes there are about 150 to 200 feet between checkpoints. He said drivers whose monorail train had to be shut down three times were removed permanently from their position.

so i wonder if there was some kind of technical snafu.....since it sounds like it's supposed to stop automatically...

 

[angelsmith52]

This is just horribly sad news! My prayers and condolences go out to the families!!!!

 

[Stinasmom]

Wow... this is tragic. Very sad as others have said.

Wondering though...
Was the driver that was killed driving the blue monorail? Did the blue hit the front or back of the pink monorail? Was the pink one at rest?

Not sure if anyone knows the answers yet to these questions, but with all due respect, I am still a bit curious...

BTW, I heard an interview with a monorail driver on a podcast sometime ago and it sounded common that College Program CM's become monorail pilots...

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Thats the front of one train, and the back of another. The other driver was at the other end of the train, not in the middle of that wreckage.

Thank you -- the situation is much clearer for me now.

 

[moburg]

Is it really necessary to show and watch the video? I think it's rather disturbing that somebody would even post this and others would watch. What if you or a loved one died in an accident, would you like it being made available for others to watch?

I disagree. The video is news. It is your choice to watch it or not.

 

[Blumonkeyboy]

If i may, I find it interesting that whne i go to youtube, and try to find other angles to get a better outlook, several videos have been removed due to Terms of Service viotation.... Yea, a vacation video violates TOS?