BREAKING NEWS on CNN: Monorail Accident Kills One IN WDW

[memy26]

Every time we ride the monorail my kids want to be up front. I will seriously think twice next time before letting them get in the front car.

I really don't understand why everyone keeps saying that they will not ride in the front anymore (if its still allowed) Car accidents happen everyday, and many more people get killed in them. Do you still ride in cars?

Accidents are going to happen, anytime anywhere

 

[Tina]

My husband and 3 kids had a Driver named Austin about this age he was wonderful. If a Pix comes into the Paper or TV please post it . Its amazing how connected you can feel with people you meet so briefly. He said it was his dream job and was so wonderful with my kids. Would like to let family know how special he made our kids feel if it was him. No matter who it was it is so sad

Here is a picture of him. He was a student at Stetson University and planning to graduate next Spring.

 

[Creekermom]

I think the reason many are saying that they (WDW) won't permit people to ride up front any longer is to the the possible legalities and such.

We rode up front in Sept 2007 and had planned to try to do it again since DD is now 2 years older... just sad for WDW and the negative media coverage. I am praying for the CM and their family and coworkers. Praying to that they find out what caused this.

 

[Mom2Ashli]

Oh very sad for all people involved. The family of the driver, the people who were at the station and saw this happen and the families on the monorail.

 

[Stitchfans]

The collision was actually at the Ticket and Transportation Center.

Very sad and very lucky the monorails did not have more guests on them.

Just read this while checking my emails. So sad.

 

[chell]

According to this pic, I would say it was the Blue driver.

From the look of it to me it had to be the driver of the pink monorail that was killed. But then it was confirmed later in this thread I guess anyway.

How very sad.


I'm sitting here trying to figure out how the driver could just crash into the other one. I wonder if there was a break failure or if something happened to the driver before the crash?

I wonder if something didn't happen to the driver. I think he would have known he was that close to the station and would have been slowing down. Maybe he had some sort of medical condition he was unaware of.

No matter what his family, friends and coworkers are in my thoughts and prayers, as are everyone else touched by this tragedy.

My guess is that the monorail system won't be back up this week.

 

[wdw4us2]

What a tragedy. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the deceased Monorail pilot as well as the pilot of the other Monorail. Imagine how they must feel.

On another Disney discussion board, there was "unofficial" information regarding the crash - but from a reliable source (former Monorail Pilot with contacts at WDW monorail). According to the post, the Monorail Pink was given clearance from Monorail Central to reverse into the Concourse without being aware that Monorail Purple was still in the station. Pink was cleared with MAPO override, which means the driver would have disabled the anti-collision system. Monorail Purple did not attempt to move away from Monorail Pink - which was traveling at the full 15 mph allowed during MAPO override. The poster also stated they were told the Monorail Purple Pilot was a new transfer from another department.

Whether or not turns out to be true it is a plausible explanation for what happened based upon the photos and video that have been shown. Regardless, it's a sad situation no matter what the cause ultimately is determined to be.

 

[Tina]

Lisa, I've been reading posts from Monorail drivers on another site as well. If this is the case, I can't imagine the horror of that poor driver who backed into Pink, after realizing what had happened.

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

What video is that . I missed it

It's the same one that was posted earlier on this thread. http://www.clickorlando.com/video/19956043/index.html

 

[phisigprincess]

What a tragedy. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the deceased Monorail pilot as well as the pilot of the other Monorail. Imagine how they must feel.

On another Disney discussion board, there was "unofficial" information regarding the crash - but from a reliable source (former Monorail Pilot with contacts at WDW monorail). According to the post, the Monorail Pink was given clearance from Monorail Central to reverse into the Concourse without being aware that Monorail Purple was still in the station. Pink was cleared with MAPO override, which means the driver would have disabled the anti-collision system. Monorail Purple did not attempt to move away from Monorail Pink - which was traveling at the full 15 mph allowed during MAPO override. The poster also stated they were told the Monorail Purple Pilot was a new transfer from another department.

Whether or not turns out to be true it is a plausible explanation for what happened based upon the photos and video that have been shown. Regardless, it's a sad situation no matter what the cause ultimately is determined to be.

A friend of mine is a former monorail pilot, and when I told him the news he made some calls to his former coworkers and heard the same thing. This is probably close to the truth. So very, very sad.

 

[andrewilley]

A friend of mine is a former monorail pilot, and when I told him the news he made some calls to his former coworkers and heard the same thing. This is probably close to the truth. So very, very sad.

At that time of night they might be taking trains out of service, so that could indeed be the case. Although if it was the driver of Pink that was tragically killed, as we've been told, the photos would point to Pink going forwards not backwards at the time of the accident.

I also heard some talk that Purple may have been broken down at the time?

All speculation at this stage of course.

Andre

 

[SandrA9810]

if the driver was in the pink, he would've very likely survived. But if you notice the bus area in the background that it was taken facing east. So the station was just to left. Therefor the front is on the left end of the monorail. And in the video, the cab of the pink is nearly intacted while the purple was completly crumpled. If the pink completely crumpled, maybe he would've survived.

Didn't any one read the first page? Where they said it was the pink driver that backed into purple.

My guess is something happened to pink for it to come off the safety system. The tow car was already in place on it's way out to tow pink back to the shop. That's how the crash happened outside the station, and then was pulled into station so fast before reedy creek got there.
The monorail has to be certain distance back in order for the spur (track switch) to work. And I'm guessing that pink was too far forward and needed to reverse. And if it was going 15mph like some sites have said, there wasn't enough time for the purple driver react.
I don't think cellphones or medical condition played a part in this accident. I think a major part has to be played to the managers controlling where the trains were. I've been in the cab when the manager told the driver to over-ride mapo and pull as far forward to the TTC while the train in front was being moved to Epcot line. Once the train was on epcot line, he was in station unloading before the spur was back into place. And it was his MANAGER telling him to do this. And the entire time, we were crawling along the track, with a horrible beep coming from the console.

It won't stop me from riding in the front.

 

[S. C.]

Very sad!

 

[minnie56]

Here is a picture of him. He was a student at Stetson University and planning to graduate next Spring.

God Bless him

 

[TomLovesBecky]

A few thoughts...

My heart goes out to the driver's family, no matter how the accident happened (operator error or mechanical failure). And I thank God that more people weren't on the train and that the baby in that stroller I saw getting pulled out wasn't injured, especially.

As for the reporting, I did not hear about this at all until I signed on a few minutes ago. I am thinking we are blowing this up in proportion due to the fact that almost all of us on these boards have been there, done that (ridden the monorail) and it's a favorite place for many of us. Yes, it is national news, but it's not BIG news to most of the country. One person died and there were many more serious accidents that occurred this weekend, especially since it was the 4th and that is always a deadly weekend (check any ER's numbers)! Not saying it's not important, but that intensive national reporting is probably not really called for in this case. This isn't going to get nearly the press we'd like it to (yes, me included).

 

[Angelhalo]

A few thoughts...

My heart goes out to the driver's family, no matter how the accident happened (operator error or mechanical failure). And I thank God that more people weren't on the train and that the baby in that stroller I saw getting pulled out wasn't injured, especially.

As for the reporting, I did not hear about this at all until I signed on a few minutes ago. I am thinking we are blowing this up in proportion due to the fact that almost all of us on these boards have been there, done that (ridden the monorail) and it's a favorite place for many of us. Yes, it is national news, but it's not BIG news to most of the country. One person died and there were many more serious accidents that occurred this weekend, especially since it was the 4th and that is always a deadly weekend (check any ER's numbers)! Not saying it's not important, but that intensive national reporting is probably not really called for in this case. This isn't going to get nearly the press we'd like it to (yes, me included).

It's been on the front page of CNN all day, and DH and I have seen it on several news outlets.....

My thoughts and prayers go out to all no matter what the cause of the accident. This would be a terrible tragedy no matter where it happened.

 

[Aimeedyan]

What a good looking young man he was. How terribly sad for his family.

That video made me tear up. *sniff*

 

[brunette8706]

What info would need to come out?

Is there any possible scenario where it's NOT Disney's fault and they don't need to make some serious changes?

I'm a huge supporter of Disney, both emotionally and financially, but I'm not going to let them sweep stuff like this under the carpet. They need to be called onto the carpet, not swept under it.

***

First of all this incident happened hours ago. This is not being "swept" under the rug. This requires more "investigation" and informatoin that happened hours ago. I wouldn't expect Disney to make a statement with solid conclusions until they know the answers/facts of what really happened. Secondly, they immediately shut the monorail system down that's the obvious first step. What would you expect them to do in less than 15 hours that they haven't already done. I dont' think you can expect Disney to be perfect. As long as they're operators for equipment there will be accidents. I definitely agree with the other person to wait and see what the answers are. Let's wait until we have all the facts instead of making assumptions.

Very tragic.

 

[Feralpeg]

Here are some stats posted on the local news of of prior monorail incidents. Not too bad for 38 years.

1974 - There was a collision of two monorail trains. The driver and two guests were injured.

June 26, 1895 - There was a fire aboard one car of the monorail. The monorail was carrying 240 passengers. There were 40 passengers in the car that caught fire. The passengers kicked out the windows and climbed to the top of the car. Seven guests were hospitalized.

Aug 30, 1991 - Two cast members were injured when the monorail collided with a maintenance tractor during the filming of a commercial.

Aug 12 1996 - There was an electrical fire on a monorail train. The driver and five passengers were not injured.

 

[Nancy]

A few thoughts...

My heart goes out to the driver's family, no matter how the accident happened (operator error or mechanical failure). And I thank God that more people weren't on the train and that the baby in that stroller I saw getting pulled out wasn't injured, especially.

As for the reporting, I did not hear about this at all until I signed on a few minutes ago. I am thinking we are blowing this up in proportion due to the fact that almost all of us on these boards have been there, done that (ridden the monorail) and it's a favorite place for many of us. Yes, it is national news, but it's not BIG news to most of the country. One person died and there were many more serious accidents that occurred this weekend, especially since it was the 4th and that is always a deadly weekend (check any ER's numbers)! Not saying it's not important, but that intensive national reporting is probably not really called for in this case. This isn't going to get nearly the press we'd like it to (yes, me included).

It's been on the national news all day.

Also there are people that just love to make an issue about it because it is Disney and we all know that Disney just loves to hush everything up and sweep it under the carpet.

Whether it was mechanical or human error, or a combination of both, it is above all else a sad thing that happened in that a young man is dead.

The article I just read had a woman stating that she will never feel safe on the monorail again...to me that is going a bit extreme.