[MissLou]

Did anyone read the article on CNN about 2 monorails colliding? Apparently one of the drivers was killed, and some people were injured. The article says it happened at 2am, so I guess there weren't many people on board.

[WishUponAStar]

Oh my gosh... no! I haven't seen that yet.

[mousemom]

I just heard about it on Fox news. How tragic.

[mousemom]

LAKE BUENA VISTA -- News 13 has learned a driver of the Walt Disney World Monorail System was killed when two monorail trains collided early Sunday.
Witnesses who called the News 13 newsroom said the trains collided at the Epcot station around 2 a.m. Sunday as guests were leaving the park after a Fourth of July fireworks show.
The Reedy Creek Fire Department told News 13 the driver was pronounced dead on the the scene, and another driver was taken to the hospital.
There was no immediate word on what caused the wreck.
According to witnesses, one monorail train slammed into the back of the other.
Crews had to cut the driver who died out of the train.
There has been no word of any other injuries, or how many people were aboard the trains at the time of the wreck.
Sunday’s wreck marks the first fatal accident in the Walt Disney World Monorail System’s 38 years of operation

[missymouse]

DH just saw this on a news site. I just hope that those who survived are okay today, and my heart goes out to the monorail driver's family. So sad.

[PhilliesFan]

That is horrible! Here is another article from an Orlando news station.
Disney Monorail Crash Kills One - News Story - WFTV Orlando

[mickeyspal]

How tragic and scary. My heart goes out to the family of the cast member who was lost. You just never know.

[MissLou]

Here is an update I found:

"(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."

[pixeemom]

Originally Posted by MissLou

Did anyone read the article on CNN about 2 monorails colliding? Apparently one of the drivers was killed, and some people were injured. The article says it happened at 2am, so I guess there weren't many people on board.

I just heard about it this morning, and posted the same thing... sad!!

[fjs08]

Amazing. I remember years ago when our kids were little we were riding in the front cab and I asked the driver what keeps the monorails apart so what happened last nite doesn't happen. I remember he told me that the monorails run on "electric" impulse and there is a built in shut off when one monorail gets "to close." Obviously that isn't true and it was a very long time ago <G>. I think they can go 35mph, which isn't that fast but I don't know the physics of hows long it would take one to stop if power were just shut off. Inertia, etc, etc.
Sad event. My condolences to the family.
BTW, they were having some degree of problems when we were there over Memorial Day. We had to take a bus from TTC to Epcot. We were just there last week (Mon-Thurs) and I believe it was running.
Frank
Frank

[tinkfans]

how tragic!!!
DH's uncle was a monorail operator for years and saved a boy one time from being hit by one.

[DisneyTeacher]

Oh no!

Looking at the pictures, it's a wonder there weren't more people killed or seriously hurt.

[Captgoodguy]

I just can't imagine how this happened. We've had the opportunity to ride up front with the driver before and were told there are computer checks in place to activate the emergency brake if one monorail gets too close to another. As a matter of fact, one of the rules to being a driver is if the computer activates more than a certain number of times, they lose their job. This must have been a combination of things to be able to take place. No way the driver wouldn't have seen what was happening. Maybe it was a health issue, but I'm not sure how the computer failed.

Our prayers to the CM's family.

[WishUponAStar]

OMG, that is horrible. That photo makes me want to cry. I can't imagine how it happened either, I mean I've never even seen 2 monorails in station at once EVER. One is usually stopped far away if another is in station.

[bribren]

Sometimes its a numbers game. So many thousands of trips, somethings going to fail at some point. The silver lining here is that it was not at a super busy time.

Disney's standards are so high, I wonder often why there are not more accidents with the millions of people going through there each year.