Fatal monorail accident at WDW

[Minnie&Mickey]

Just heard on our local news that there was a fatal monorail accident at WDW last night. Somehow two monorails colided and one of the monorail drivers was killed. Luckily no one on the monorail was hurt. So sad...

 

[We4mickey]

Just saw this myself. Prayers for the family of the castmember that died.

 

[Shan-man]

Thank God it happened so late... can you imagine if it happened soon after MK closure on the 4th after the fireworks with a thousand standing passengers? Very sad about the CM, my prayers are with his family and friends.

Very sad to see Pink and Purple mangled too.

 

[Minnie&Mickey]

Very sad to see Pink and Purple mangled too.

Oh wow! Our local station didn't show the accident. That looks awful! There weren't many details on the news here, so I'm curious as to how this happened. Did one monorail just rear-end the other one? They can't hit head-on because they go in different directions on different tracks, right?

 

[ntsammy5]

According to CNN, one train was stopped and the other one hit it from behind. Driver was probably tired and didn't see it. The monorails are shut down now. If the trains had been full there would have been lots of injuries. What a shame.

 

[mncherokee]

So so sad. Thoughts and prayers out to everyone involved and the families.

 

[neffernie]

That poor driver's family. The drivers we have met have always been so nice.

 

[Shan-man]

According to the news reports I've read, this occurred about 2am on the track between TTC and Epcot just outside the TTC station. MK closed at Midnight (and presumably Epcot closed earlier) so there were very few guests around at the time of the accident. There were 2 pilots and 5 guests on-board the two monorails at the time of the accident, and the pilot who was killed was the only injury, though the other pilot was taken to the hospital out of an abundance of caution. I have also read that Monorail Purple was stationary and Pink ran into the rear of it (but this was a solitary report, so it may be incorrect). From the sound of the reports, the monorails remain closed this morning, so bus-borne mayhem is doubtless a huge part of the Disney experience today. Bad day to be staying in a monorail resort.

 

[loveDmouse]

I was shocked and sadened to hear about the accident. Someone posted this link.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,530102,00.html

I always thought the monarails were automated. Is that not the case?

 

[datgrt@fw]

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the Monorail Driver as well! Very thankful that no one else was hurt!

Doug / datgrt@fw

 

[Shan-man]

I don't believe there is any automation in the monorails. The times I rode up front I was surprised by the lack of technology... they are about as advanced as the boat launches! Very manual.

 

[DisneyRose&Boys]

I was shocked and sadened to hear about the accident. Someone posted this link.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,530102,00.html

I always thought the monarails were automated. Is that not the case?

That makes two of us... and I just read in one of the articles about the accident, that there's an emergency feature that stops the monorail if there aren't two "points" between monorails. It can be manually over-ridden by the driver, though.

Weird.
And terribly sad.

Rose

 

[datgrt@fw]

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the Monorail Driver as well! Very thankful that no one else was hurt!

Doug / datgrt@fw

Attached is a comment that was posted from one of the News Reports that I read about the Monorail crash!

Doug / datgrt@fw


ddphillips 5 minutes ago
As a former monorail driver I can tell you this. The people on board were Guests going back to their cars at the TTC. It was fortunate that no Guests (up to 4 allowed) were riding with the driver in the cab. Fatalities would have been higher.

It looks to me like that it was a failure of the MAPO system... The MBS (Moving Blocklight System) that keeps the trains safely separated and automatically stops the train when it gets too close to another. The trains MAPO systems are tested at least twice daily - Once when they go on line and then again in the afternoon. This is an extremely rare accident. The MAPO system can be overridden by the operator but without authorization from Monorail Central the Cast Member WILL get fired! My condolence goes out to Austin and the Wennebergh family.

 

[Shan-man]

It is reassuring to hear that there is an automated braking system (though cold-comfort for those affected by the failure to be sure). I knew that there was a block signaling panel in the cab to alert the driver as to when he could advance. Seeing inexperienced pilots stop 2-3 times at a station to properly align with the gates is why I said there seemed to be no automation. It is hard to imagine how a system which is tested twice daily could fail in conjunction with a distracted/disabled pilot (both are necessary for this accident, presumably). Again, very sad.

 

[liv luvs disney]

Just now heard about this and knew I would find out more information here. This is very sad news indeed and we'll definitely keep this family in our prayers.

 

[bouncycat]

I heard about this on local news this morning, my heart and prayers go out to the family also....just so sad. My first thought was the breaking system or the MAPO system malfunctioned. I knew they couldn't go too close to another train without it shutting down the whole train. been on there once when it was totally shut down for that reason. I'm definedly gonna keep an eye on this when there's news out from the investigation. those trains are showing their age, and malfuntion is my only thought on the 'why' of this terrible tradgedy.

 

[JPG]

Terrible. This absolutely turns my stomach. I have seen fatal accidents of one type or the other my whole career (20 plus years) but it is just so different when it happens at a place that is so "magical" and special to me and my family. You just want to believe things like this can't happen, but reality has reared it's ugly head on this one.
Very, very sad story. My heart goes out to the young CM's family, friends, and co-workers.

As a side note....I don't understand how this happened. If the MAPO system failed, how did the pilot not see the other train sitting in the station in time to react and at least have it slowed down. Those pictures indicate the train was moving at a pretty decent speed I would say.

 

[Sisdy]

My ds and dd were riding up front on Thursday night the 2nd. The driver could not see out because of condensation on the window and the defroster was not working. Also he had trouble contacting monorail central due to failure of both his walky talkies. My son videoed his ride. We didn't think too much of it, knowing WDW had a great safety record. But now, this is very troublesome to me.

 

[ntsammy5]

There appear to be some striking similarities between this and the Metro accident in DC.

 

[Shan-man]

Some more info is leaking out on other parts of the DIS and other Disney-centric websites. The killed pilot was apparently named Austin Wuennenberg. If you do a search on Facebook you can see his picture. According to video posted on ScreamScape.com, the accident happened IN the TTC on the Epcot-bound track. The video is a bit disturbing, so you may not want to view it... it is taken mere moments after the wreck and shows CMs attempting to communicate with the pilot and the clearly shaken family who was on-board. There is also a lot of buzz suggesting that one monorail overshot the station and was cleared to BACK toward the TTC by central monorail control. So the killed pilot was (if this story is true) the one sitting still in the station! That would account for the emotional distress of the uninjured pilot, which was severe enough that he (or she) was taken to the hospital. Can you imagine!? This guy was sitting in his cockpit at 2am, maybe catching 40 winks waiting for the beep that clears him to leave the station when when the approach of a familiar whine rouses him only to see a monorail careening toward him! Or the torture of the other pilot who was trapped in his cockpit outside the station, knowing that he had crashed into another train and could now do nothing as rescue workers tried to free the other pilot, and then to discover his co-worker was killed! It wouldn't have been until they cleared the scene that they could move the trains to get the other head unit into the station to recover the backing pilot. That would sure account for a ton of emotional distress! So the pics posted earlier are after they moved the trains to recover the surviving pilot, and to pick the cars off the rail with a crane. Simply awful.