Monorail Accident

[marni1971]

Im a police officer and that crash was not a low speed crash which is weird entering a terminal with people

What`s low in monorail terms? This one would have had a combined impact speed of around 20-30 mph. A reversing train is limited to a maximum of 15mph using MAPO overide, which Pink had to do to reverse, and Purple was in a 30mph zone and decellerating to enter a 15mph zone that begins not 100ft from the point of collision.

So many procedures failed at the worst possible time.

 

[SOLISIMO]

What`s low in monorail terms? This one would have had a combined impact speed of around 20-30 mph. A reversing train is limited to a maximum of 15mph using MAPO overide, which Pink had to do to reverse, and Purple was in a 30mph zone and decellerating to enter a 15mph zone that begins not 100ft from the point of collision.

So many procedures failed at the worst possible time.

Ok thank you that proves my point

 

[DVCMBR05]

Ever since we heard the news of the monorail crash yesterday, a bunch of us on Twitter have been trying to honor Austin, the monorail operator who lost his life yesterday, by trying to get his name to appear on Trending Topics on Twitter.

If you're on Twitter, please tweet #Austin at 3:00pm EST today. Even if you read this after 3:00pm EST today, please continue to add #Austin to all your tweets.

Spread the word to your Disney tweeps on Twitter! Let's do this for Austin!

If anyone cares, we achieved our goal and the Orlando Sentinel posted a blog about it. See the link below.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/et...ail-driver-austin-wuennenberg-on-twitter.html

 

[NewfieFan]

If anyone cares, we achieved our goal and the Orlando Sentinel posted a blog about it. See the link below.

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/et...ail-driver-austin-wuennenberg-on-twitter.html

Cool! Don't know a darn thing about Twitter but it sounds cool non the less!

 

[Main Street USA]

Ok thank you that proves my point

My god, I hope you're not a police officer anywhere near where I live. I wouldn't want to be pulled over by someone with your fantastic reasoning skills.

 

[Jasonflz]

I was in Magic Kingdom the day of the crash.

The weird thing was, my monorail shut down when it reached the station. Apparently it was having magnetic issues and we were relocated onto a different one that led to the resorts.

 

[LudwigVonDrake]

I don't know if this has been mentioned and it's just a guess on my part:

Is it possible that Purple was in override (which means he had the switch pressed down) and when he saw the train coming towards him he panicked and took his hand off the switch which cancelled the override and put him in an e-stop since the other train was too close? Is that plausible?

 

[Computer Magic]

Thank you for posting this.

To remind us that a "family" as well as two other families are mourning a huge loss this day and for many days to come.

My prayers now are with not only the family of the young man who lost his life, but also with those who were also working the monorail system that night.

This was a tragic accident.

Wuennenberg's family issued a statement Sunday night.


"Austin Wuennenberg was a senior at Stetson University, studying computer science. He always enjoyed his work at Disney, and especially enjoyed his work as a monorail pilot. He has many great friends whom he has positively influenced; everyone will truly miss this dynamic young man. Austin's family would like to thank friends and well-wishers for their kind thoughts and prayers. We appreciate sensitivity and respect from the media during this difficult time."


Walt Disney World Vice President of Public Affairs Mike Griffin issued a statement on Sunday, offering condolences to the employee's family.

"Today, we mourn the loss of a fellow cast member. Our hearts go out to the family and fellow cast members who lost a co-worker and a friend. Safety of our guests and cast members is our top priority. We will work with law enforcement to determine what happened," Griffin said in the statement.

 

[Main Street USA]

I don't know if this has been mentioned and it's just a guess on my part:

Is it possible that Purple was in override (which means he had the switch pressed down) and when he saw the train coming towards him he panicked and took his hand off the switch which cancelled the override and put him in an e-stop since the other train was too close? Is that plausible?

Actually, I'd say it's very likely that purple was in override, being that central expected there to be a gap in the track ahead with the switch. I never thought of that exact scenario, but I think it makes a lot of sense.

 

[LudwigVonDrake]

But being in override would have enabled him to move the monorail if he saw Pink coming towards him, correct? Taking his hand off the button would have cancelled the override and put him in (I'm guessing) an e-stop meaning he couldn't move the monorail. It's just a guess on my part :shrug:

 

[The_CEO]

you're talking about a 50 ton train plowing into a fiberglass cab. The damage you see wouldn't require 40+ miles per hour.

Very true and was what I was about to post!! You also have to factor even if it is at 15mph, the WHOLE train seemed to continue to move beyond collision, and Fiberglass breaks much easier than other materials. Should we recap the BTMRR collision?...

 

[Gepettotrevor]

Al Gore dies:shrug:

But then who will be here to kill manbearpig (you kno, half man, half bear, and half pig). And even after manbearpig is dead, who will save the Earth from ....GLOBAL WARMING

 

[SOLISIMO]

but then who will be here to kill manbearpig (you kno, half man, half bear, and half pig). And even after manbearpig is dead, who will save the earth from ....global warming

:roflol::roflol:

 

[RiversideBunny]

What agency will actually issue an official report of the cause(s) of the accident?

OHSHA
The State of Florida
Reedy Creek
?

Disney management will probably improve some internal procdures and safe guards for the monorails but they may not be the ones that issue a report with all the details about the specific chain of events that led to the fatal crash.

Tks

 

[DznyGrlSD]

Wuennenberg's family issued a statement Sunday night.


"Austin Wuennenberg was a senior at Stetson University, studying computer science. He always enjoyed his work at Disney, and especially enjoyed his work as a monorail pilot. He has many great friends whom he has positively influenced; everyone will truly miss this dynamic young man. Austin's family would like to thank friends and well-wishers for their kind thoughts and prayers. We appreciate sensitivity and respect from the media during this difficult time."

 

[tomm4004]

One clarification:

Purple had passengers. Were these people disembarking at TTC? And was Purple holding outside the station waiting for Pink to transfer to the spur?

 

[capio]

Cast Member Cut Backs?

Very sad..A young life lost. I recently returned from Disney. I actually was staying in the Polynesion near the Ticket and Transportation center. We left early in the morning the day of the crash. I was up at 4 am. and saw the emergency lights. I just have to post this because I noticed this on our 5 day trip. Cast members seemed to be complaining. In some instances I noticed that they couldn't wait to get off work. There was a different attitude than my last visits. Has any one noticed this also? Has Disney made cutbacks that affects the quality and safety of its cast members?

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Bunny, it's my understanding that the NTSB is conducting an investigation. If they do then they will make a report and those reports are fully accessible as far as reading in their entirety. My hubby has a "thing" for airline accident investigation and aviation in general so he spends a lot of time reading.

Ludwigvondrake, I thought of that, too. It seems like I read somewhere a long time ago that if an e-stop occurs because a pilot wasn't paying attention that it's a really big deal in part because there has to be a reset of some sort to disengage it. I don't know if that's accurate or exactly what it means but my mind's eye conjurs images of a time lapse akin to rebooting your computer. That would not allow a pilot to override the e-stop in time to avoid an impending collision. Again, I don't know that for sure I'm just trying to go by what I remember reading in a long ago thread I read in the transportation section here on the board where there was detailed discussion on how the monorails operate.

 

[mkt]

What agency will actually issue an official report of the cause(s) of the accident?

OHSHA
The State of Florida
Reedy Creek

I will venture out and guess OSHA, although I am surprised NTSB hasn't gotten involved publicly (if at all).

Disney management will probably improve some internal procdures and safe guards for the monorails but they may not be the ones that issue a report with all the details about the specific chain of events that led to the fatal crash.

With my personal experience on how Disney works, they will be reactive about it, making sure to shift as much blame as possible to other parties. They will add minor safeguards to avoid another incident, visible things to put the guests and cast at ease, but nothing with real substance and nothing that I think would prevent this freak incident from happening again, should similar circumstances arise..

 

[The_CEO]

Knowing a transfer of a train was underway, am I the only person who is surprised that Tower Control didn't realize it was heading back on the same track, nor did they even throw the switch to move it over to the spur?