DXing From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (3 years 10 months 2 weeks 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 1722 times:
I would have thought that the station in front of the monorail would have to be clear before it would be allowed to leave the station it was in. Shame it cost a life.
CheetahC From South Africa, joined Apr 2009, 69 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (3 years 10 months 2 weeks 4 days 12 hours ago) and read 1631 times:
Well it was 4th of July and I'm sure it was really, really packed. Things tend to run much tighter at these times and everyone is trying to get out after the fireworks display.
Sunking737 From United States of America, joined Feb 2005, 1930 posts, RR: 9 Reply 2, posted (3 years 10 months 2 weeks 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 1602 times:
Silver1SWA From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 4536 posts, RR: 26 Reply 3, posted (3 years 10 months 2 weeks 4 days 10 hours ago) and read 1578 times:
Wow, after seeing the photos, it's a good thing it happened so late at night and it wasn't packed full of people. Especially the front and rear cabs...they often let guests ride in the front with the driver. I used to love doing that when I was a kid. I wonder if Disney will stop allowing that now.
ALL views, opinions expressed are mine ONLY and are NOT representative of those shared by Southwest Airlines Co.
Lincoln From United States of America, joined Nov 2004, 3887 posts, RR: 8 Reply 4, posted (3 years 10 months 2 weeks 4 days 10 hours ago) and read 1558 times:
Quoting DXing (Thread starter): I would have thought that the station in front of the monorail would have to be clear before it would be allowed to leave the station it was in. Shame it cost a life.
Some reports I've read indicate that the "front" monorail was reversing at the time of the incident (it's unclear from those sources if the "rear" monorail was stopped or pulling into the station at the time). The idea that seems most plausable so far is that the "front" monorail was suposed to reverse onto a switch beam to be taken out of service/into the garage for the night but the switch wasn't properly set. and the driver ended up unaware [remember 2am, dark, few if any visual cues, and not very good rear vision from the front cab] that he was backing onto the live track.
Normally, again from what I've read, the system is protected by the "MAPO" (Mary Poppins, sposedly the profits from that film funded development)/Moving Blocklight System (MBS), however, it is possible to manually override this system, and, in fact it is necessary to do so when reversing onto a switch beam.
Quoting DXing (Thread starter): Does the NTSB get involved in cases like this as it would on a commuter train crash or subway incident?
You know... My first thougth was "absolutely" as it's transportation that's open to the public and for aviation, NTSB requires a report for any accident ( "...defined as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft that takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers death or serious injury, or in which the aircraft receives substantial damage") but a quick search of the NTSB site didn't turn up anything useful... so its a question (is a monorail a "raliroad" or a "highway safety" item? It the entire monorail track exists on private property and is operated by the owner of that property does that change anything? (The NTSB doesn't investigate elevator/vertical transportaiton incidents, for example)
Lincoln
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MCO2BRS From United Kingdom, joined Jan 2007, 519 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (3 years 10 months 2 weeks 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 1458 times:
Hey Guys
A friend called and told me what happened this morning, I live about 2 miles from WDW, and have many friends who are cast members in various capacities across the resort. I got a call around lunch time from an old friend from High School, who told me that the monorail pilot who was killed was someone we all went to school with, he was only 21. We weren't friends by a long shot, but we knew of each other and if I ever saw him out, we'd say hi, that kind of thing. I last saw him about 3 weeks ago at the TTC working the station.
At first I'd thought that it could have been an older person, who maybe became incapacitated at some point, and was unable to stop the monorail. I don't know how the monorail system works, but I have been told by those who have worked with it, that for this to happen, the system would have to be manually overridden.
After finding out that it was Austin, this really makes the circumstances of this tragic accident a lot more hard to comprehend, and of course more personal. He was a really cool guy, and I know some of my friends were a lot closer to him than I was.
I was thinking about who would be involved in the investigation, of course WDW will be extremely tight lipped on this, I would presume the NTSB would be involved as the monorail is almost no different than a subway car or locomotive.
Please keep Austin and his family in your thoughts.
Goldenshield From United States of America, joined Jan 2001, 5418 posts, RR: 13 Reply 6, posted (3 years 10 months 2 weeks 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 1441 times:
What interests me is that, like all train systems, there has to be a dispatcher (can't think of Disney's term right now) working the monorail tracks at all times that it is operating. If one train was reversing, that dispatcher would have issued a stop order to the inbound monorail. I'm wondering if Disney records all radio transmissions and instructions.
Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.
PROSA From United States of America, joined Oct 2001, 5439 posts, RR: 5 Reply 7, posted (3 years 10 months 2 weeks 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 1312 times:
Quoting Lincoln (Reply 4): a quick search of the NTSB site didn't turn up anything useful... so its a question (is a monorail a "raliroad" or a "highway safety" item? It the entire monorail track exists on private property and is operated by the owner of that property does that change anything? (The NTSB doesn't investigate elevator/vertical transportaiton incidents, for example)
The NTSB did not investigate the accident on the JFK Airtrain that resulted in an operator's death. That was before the system had opened to the public, so perhaps that is the reason for lack of NTSB involvement.
"Let me think about it" = the coward's way of saying "no"
Goldenshield From United States of America, joined Jan 2001, 5418 posts, RR: 13 Reply 8, posted (3 years 10 months 2 weeks 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 1213 times:
Here's a Youtube video I found on this accident that gives an explanation. I can't verify its validity, though.
Ikramerica From United States of America, joined May 2005, 21025 posts, RR: 60 Reply 9, posted (3 years 10 months 2 weeks 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 1206 times:
Quoting Goldenshield (Reply 6): What interests me is that, like all train systems, there has to be a dispatcher (can't think of Disney's term right now) working the monorail tracks at all times that it is operating. If one train was reversing, that dispatcher would have issued a stop order to the inbound monorail. I'm wondering if Disney records all radio transmissions and instructions.
I'm sure they do.
Obviously, something tragic like this will be scrutinized fully and procedures changed so it can never happen again. One such change would be that all other trains must be held stationary while any train is going backward to be taken out of service.
Of all the things to worry about... the Wookie has no pants.
Goldenshield From United States of America, joined Jan 2001, 5418 posts, RR: 13 Reply 10, posted (3 years 10 months 2 weeks 2 days 2 hours ago) and read 1201 times:
Quoting Ikramerica (Reply 9): One such change would be that all other trains must be held stationary while any train is going backward to be taken out of service.
According to the video, the train that was hit was holding at the station. The inbound train was reversing on the wrong track.
Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.
Luv2cattlecall From United States of America, joined Sep 2007, 1648 posts, RR: 2 Reply 11, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 6 days 2 hours ago) and read 1094 times:
Looking at the crash pictures... I have to wonder: Are those monorails built with any sort of collision dampening structure? It looks to me like they are basically a chassis with an eggshell bolted on top.. a design that implies the Imagineers figured there is a 0% chance of a collision-type accident.
Does anyone know how Disney is handling the lost capacity, since I'm assuming two trainsets are out of service?
When you have to breaststroke to your connecting flight...it's a crash!
Goldenshield From United States of America, joined Jan 2001, 5418 posts, RR: 13 Reply 12, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 5 days 19 hours ago) and read 1063 times:
Quoting Luv2cattlecall (Reply 11): Does anyone know how Disney is handling the lost capacity, since I'm assuming two trainsets are out of service?
From what I can gather, the entire system was shutdown so that training and insitution of new procedures can occur while the NTSB is investigating.
Two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.
Silver1SWA From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 4536 posts, RR: 26 Reply 13, posted (3 years 10 months 1 week 5 days 18 hours ago) and read 1057 times:
Quoting Goldenshield (Reply 12): Does anyone know how Disney is handling the lost capacity, since I'm assuming two trainsets are out of service?
From what I can gather, the entire system was shutdown so that training and insitution of new procedures can occur while the NTSB is investigating.
Last I read, the monorail system remained down on Sunday but reopened on Monday.
ALL views, opinions expressed are mine ONLY and are NOT representative of those shared by Southwest Airlines Co.
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