Driver killed in monorail crash....

[chell]

I hope he did not see it....I hope he did not suffer.

Same here.

 

[BoardWalkBelle]

<<Does Disney not allow CM's to bring cell phones on stage at all or can they bring them, but not have them out and use them? >>
Well.it may depend on the "role". But i know in my role (i am a cm) we are not to have cell phones on our person while onstage.
I would hope the policy would be the same for roles such as transportation where lives can depend on a CM NOT using or being tempted to use a cell phone if they have one with them.

 

[Stepharia]

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family of the CM. It is such a sad story. Whatever the reasoning, it was God's will. I will also keep the family in the other car and the driver of the other monorail in my prayers because I can only begin to imagine how they are coping with what happened.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

In reading I see I am not alone, but I would not hesitate to get in the driver area or a ride again. I have always felt very safe on the monerails and still will in the future. As sad and tragic as this is, and I believe it is, accidents happen all the time (cars, planes, bikes, etc), Disney has done an amazing job keeping the monerails safe for 38 years. Very few accidents and this was the first fatality. I believe Disney will find out what happened and correct it, I would expect nothing less from Disney. I trust them, this does not change that.

Thoughts an prayers go out to the driver's family who was lost, the driver and the family of the pink operator and to the family who was on the train and those who were on the scene as I sure this was scary and tragic for all involved.

 

[BostonRob]

Try over a billion. It's a simple math problem. I'd rather ride a monorail at WDW than cross the road in front of my house as far as safety is still concerned.

I'd agree with you, except for the front car. After seeing the picture of the two trains, there's no way I'd ever let my family ride in the front car, though I doubt any family will ever have that opportunity again. Based on that picture, it seems clear that those trains weren't engineered to give much protection to the front car. If it happened once, it can happen again.
My guesses (based on what has been reported here as the sequence of events leading up to the collision), are that Disney already knows exactly what happened and they will put additional safety measures or protocols in place to attempt to avoid another accident like this. My additional guess (in no way educated and based on very little) is that they'll have the monorail up and running within a week.

 

[ppony]

I wasn't going to post because I didn't want to make the thread any longer with my just adding my identical feelings about the sadness. There are probably hundreds if not thousands reading and just feeling sad and wishing the family peace and strength. BUT as the day went on, and I was reading more and thinking more about it... I just couldn't help but feel the extraordinary sadness that has come from this tragedy. Cast Members are the reason we all LOVE WDW and keep coming back. They are the light of the place and make the true "magic" happen so when one is lost like this, it's just a remarkable sadness. Like a family member lost.

I just wanted to say to all CMs out there past, present and future, THANK YOU for doing what you do. Prayers for your safety and happiness and prayers of strength of course for the family of the dear one lost.

 

[Pooh&OurHunny]

Very sad news...prayers to the driver and his family/friends.

 

[MelanieC]

How sad - this is awful. I'm so glad a family wasn't riding in the front. My prayers go out to his family. He was so young.

 

[Maverick Mike]

My thoughts go out to all involved in this tragedy.. All involved will be in our thoughts and prayers..

 

[Canyon girl]

Our thoughts and prayers go to those involved in this incident! While some have posted that their "contacts" have said that one monorail backed into the other, we really need to wait for official word about what happened. According to the Orlando Sentinel, eyewitnesses noted that monorail purple was coming towards the station at a faster than normal speed. These tales contradict each other! Before pointing fingers, let's wait for an official report rather than relying on hearsay.

 

[mrsksomeday]

Cast Members are the reason we all LOVE WDW and keep coming back. They are the light of the place and make the true "magic" happen so when one is lost like this, it's just a remarkable sadness. Like a family member lost.

I just wanted to say to all CMs out there past, present and future, THANK YOU for doing what you do. Prayers for your safety and happiness and prayers of strength of course for the family of the dear one lost.

You are so right. CM's are one of the many reasons we go to WDW as much as we can, they bring magic every day we are there. I have been reading this thread all day, you said things better than I ever could, this is so very sad . My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved.

 

[blinkangel44]

Somewhere within these 24 pages, the mods asked that we don't link to the video... I know you're not doing it on purpose or anything. I just think you should remove the link.

 

[joy13]

A note from the Theme Parks board moderators:

At this sad time, we felt it was best to delete the thread linking to the crash video. We ask that all posters show respect for all parties involved in this terrible tragedy and not repost the link here. Thank you.

Just as a reminder - it got buried.

 

[SandrA9810]

I know it's been asked to not be posted, but even news casts are using it's footage for thier reports. But blowing other things completly out of proportions. I'd like to smack the idiot who lived near the guy, that said that he didn't recieve proper training, they just stuck him on there.... errr. ignorant people....

 

[CLR4321]

The most logical reason would be he just did not see it.
He was stopped and may have not even been looking in that direction.
Other train came in reverse and out of the dark. Never expected.

I agree, it is likely he wasn't even looking, or by the time he did realize the train was coming towards him in his track that he only had a second or 2 before impact. Anyone that's ever been in car accident knows just how fast things like this happen. By the time your brain is telling you to "jump", the impact is there and it is too late. He could have been tying his shoe or staring at his signal to move forward, or looking out the window. If he was not driving, he likely wasn't focused on the tracks in front of him.

As for riding in the front, I can see why they would say "no more guests up front". On the other hand, I don't believe that Disney would put their CM's in that place either if they didn't think it was safe enough for a guest to be up there too. I think they will just take measures to prevent this from happening in the future, so it is safe for CM's and guests both.

 

[erinch]

one thing that is stunning about Disney is how very quickly they adapt to crises, and the need to adopt new protocols. When our Ds was age 3 -- and we weren't experienced in which door of a bus you're supposed to get on -- we boarded a bus through the open second door towards the rear of the bus.

The bus driver saw us getting on, and started screaming and swearing, and shut the door literally on our son. His father was able to push him back out through the door, and then the driver drove away and left him there. Passengers started yelling at the driver and he stopped and let us off; with him still yelling at us.

We, of course, reported it immediately. Our son had a giant Mickey waiting for him by the time we got back to the room half an hour later.

But two hours later, when we decided to board a bus again, there was a sign in every single bus window telling passengers to only board at the front, and the message the drivers gave over the mike had been changed, in a 2 hour framework. We were stunned at how quickly they pulled off a major change.

 

[Lynn5700]

I'm all caught up. So sad the kid was only 21!! Poor guy. God bless him. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family.

And really whoever the sicko is who has the video of the accident is just horrible. Sorry.

 

[DVCPAT]

However, there are a number of situations where the MAPO system needs to be turned off, and for that, there's a "MAPO override" button on the console, which allows the driver to do just that. When MAPO override is active, the train is limited to 15 mph, and the driver has to continue to hold the button down to keep the system overridden. Some examples of when the system needs to be overridden are when trains are on any of the spurlines (since they have no MAPO transmitters), or when trains are being switched between beams.
.

Does the MAPO override communicate with the other monorails online? I would think the system would be integrated so if one monorail was in override, a second monorail safety system would be monitoring it’s movement and deactivate the entire drive circuit before a collision would occur. The system software could be programmed to prevent two monorail safety systems from being in override at the same time, eliminating the possibility of a collision.

 

[stitchrulz]

<<Does Disney not allow CM's to bring cell phones on stage at all or can they bring them, but not have them out and use them? >>
Well.it may depend on the "role". But i know in my role (i am a cm) we are not to have cell phones on our person while onstage.
I would hope the policy would be the same for roles such as transportation where lives can depend on a CM NOT using or being tempted to use a cell phone if they have one with them.

My DH is a locomotive engineer, and they must keep ALL electronic devices turned off and packed in their grips while the train is in motion. This is a Federal Railroad Administration rule that went into effect soon after the tragic CA train accident. And, they do spot check and issue very large fines if you violate. I'd bet Disney has similar rules even though they may not fall under FRA jurisdiction.

We often don't think about the actual responsibility these folks have hauling us around while we're busy enjoying ourselves. Maybe we should all remember to take a moment to thank the transportation CM's next time we visit.

Prayers and deepest sympathy to family and friends. This is so sad.

 

[WaltD4Me]

Apparently, according to this from WESH TV in Orlando, the monorails have black boxes. If true, maybe they will be able to find out exactly what happened.

======== From WESH =======================================
WESH 2 News spoke with a former monorail driver who was employed by Disney in the '90s. Mike Gemeli, who is also a WESH 2 photographer, said he's shocked by Saturday night's crash.

"It's like, impossible, impossible to happen on its own," he said. "The training that I went through. it would be impossible to happen. The monorail operates on a, it's called a vehicle on board controller, VOBC, and it's a computer that's a vital part of all the safety and operations on the monorail. So you have these different steps -- there's a dead man's switch; you always have to have your hand on the throttle. If you were to let go, the monorail would come to a stop. Along the beamway route there's different speeds that you have to maintain, and also the monorail will slow you down if you exceed the speed limits."

Gemeli also said that he's anxious to hear what investigators will learn from the black box on board each monorail. He said he's certain that the black box will reveal exactly how the crash.
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