Driver killed in monorail crash....

[MouseMomx2]

I have to wonder though, if there was a family up front and the driver was falling asleep, could the family have woken him and the accident been avoided, or was the monorail system supposed to stop the train when it sensed it was getting too close?

I don't believe the family was up front with the driver. Also, we don't know that this happened because the driver fell asleep. I'm guessing that we'll find out that it was either a medical situation (heart attack, etc.) or a mechanical failure.

 

[klj27]

Oh my goodness. I am so thankful there weren't more people on board. Just last night I was feeling disappointed because we aren't at the world this July 4th. (That is when we are usually there.) This puts it into perspective.

 

[Lynn5700]

You know on our previous trips there is always something wrong with the Pink monorail, so a malfunction on the pink one does not surprise me. If that is what it was.

 

[ParrotBill]

We rode in the front a couple of times on our last trip, and I remember the driver telling us the same thing when I asked her why we had made an unexpected stop in the middle of the track. She told us that the "MaPo" (short for Mary Poppins - the movie that basically funded most of the safety system/Monorail) system automatically shuts down if one car gets too close to another. Even though we couldn't see where the car in front of us was, the tracks knew we were too close and shut out car down temporarily.

I can only think that it must have been a malfunction with the safety computer. I feel so bad for the family - what a tragedy.

There is no computer, the systems are somewhat old analog signal processing type things. And if the movie Mary Poppins funded the safety system in 1964, then Houston, we have a problem!

 

[Vickie46]

that is so sad.. I pray for his or her family...

I don't think we will ever request to sit up front again..

 

[junipertree5]

This news is so so sad to hear of. My prayers are with the family of the victim and all those that were involved.

 

[yrdlyprincess]

My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have lost.

 

[nascarcheshirecat]

Thoughts and prayers are being sent from Maine!

 

[CNYGuy]

Sad news, I feel bad for the driver, their family and the people on board.

It is an unusual feeling to hear about it, having spent many fun times at WDW and on the monorail. It's like a fatality on the street where you live, or at your old high school. It could have been any monorail at anytime and affected anyone of us.

I hope people focus on future prevention to keep CMs and visitors safe, rather than the inconvenience it may cause for a short period of time.

The safety record of the monorails is pretty impressive, but that doesn't help the CMs family feel any better...Sad day...

 

[Tinkerbelle11]

How sad. My thoughts and prayers go to the CM's family.

 

[wvdislover]

This is so sad...my thoughts and prayers are going out to the victim's family, as well as those others who were involved How tragic!

 

[disneymagicgirl]

I wonder if the driver wasn't already incapacitated already (heart attack or something). Just seems like it would be too difficult to slam into another train full-speed unless something really unusual happened...

that is what i was thinking...

 

[JerseyMamaBear]

so sad.

 

[Disneyfun1]

So very sad.

 

[DSNYGRL_JKS2006]

*OMG* I could *NOT* believe this when I saw it on CNN.com.. there were passengers.. so it had to be EMH to be running the monorail at 2am. This is just unreal and I never seen anything like this before in WDW. I couldnt imagine being there and hearing that huge crash to look up to see a monorail collided! Thoughts and Prayers go out from all of us in the Disney Family of course...

Disney World monorail crash kills driverStory Highlights
Crash occurred about 2 a.m. at monorail stop, killing a driver

Witness says one monorail train rammed into a stationary train

Family of six in one train was freed from damaged car, witness said

updated 1 hour, 54 minutes agoNext Article in U.S. »



(CNN) -- A monorail train at Walt Disney World crashed into the back of another train early Sunday, killing one driver, according to an amusement park spokesman and a witness interviewed by CNN.


A 2 a.m. ET monorail crash at Disney World killed one person, a park spokesperson said.

The crash occurred about 2 a.m. at one of the monorail stops at Disney World in Florida, said the witness, who requested anonymity.

"Today we mourn the loss of our fellow cast member," said a statement by Mike Griffin, Disney's vice president for public affairs. "Our hearts go out to his family and to those who have lost a friend and co-worker."

The statement said the monorail was shut down, "and we will continue to work closely will law enforcement to determine what happened and the appropriate next steps."

The witness said one monorail train rammed into the back of a stationary train. A photo of the crash provided by the witness showed the front car of a train badly damaged where it hit another train at a station.

According to the witness, a family of six in one train was freed from a damaged car. The witness said the family was shaken but uninjured.

 

[TheInfrequentVisitor]

Very sad. I hope nothing like this ever happens again.

 

[erinlees_mommie]

This is so sad
My thoughts and prayers go to everyone involved.

 

[disneynuts777]

My thoughts and prayers to the family of the driver. What a terrible tragedy.

 

[Thumper & Bambi]

I had posted this on another thread but since the discussion seems to be here...

If Red doesn't stop at that holdpoint? When he passes over
the transmitter at that holdpoint, and his MAPO is then only
receiving ONE signal, the train will automatically assume the
driver is insane: "Hey this idiot is tryin' ta dent my nose!"

The train puts on 85-90 psi air brakes and stops on a dime,
then you get canned. Well actually you're allowed three
"overruns" (the term for crossing the line). If however you do
something that is really dangerous, Good Bye. Three overruns is
the limit for your entire career. They never go away.[/I]

Sympathies to the family.

We were on on the trains last year when an "overrun" occurred. An alarm message came over the p.a. system telling us to hold on and the train come to an immediate stop. It threw me into the backwards facing seat in the front of the cab. Our stroller went hard into the seat as well. We thought that it was just bad driving. However, we later got to ride in the front the next day and asked the driver about the hard stop. We were told that the computer automatically stops the train when the get to close. Like most tragedies, (titanic, space shuttle, ect.) there must have been one of those multiple failures type situations to cause this. The photos on the web and cnn really show how hard an impact it was. It really breaks our hearts.

 

[idieh]

There are no words to say how sad this incident is. Our prayers and thoughts are with the CM's family.