Monorail disaster

[Morrigoon]

The CMs in the station handled the incident very professionally, especially when you consider that they probably know the guy in the cabin.

Very upsetting.

[Stan4dSteph]

Mark Goldhaber has a good summary of the information so far on his MousePlanet blog. I was very sad to hear this news this morning.

[innerSpaceman]

I trust the source that refers to this as coming from a trusted source.

Originally Posted by Trusted Source

It was about 2am, Sunday 5 July. The Magic Kingdom was open until 1am, so it was not unreasonable to keep the Epcot line running, though taking off a train might have been expected about this time.

Monorail Purple was in the TTC station on the Epcot beam, preparing to take one or two families back to their cars at Epcot. Monorail Pink was a short way around the loop, ready to back down the spur line that links the Epcot loop to the Express loop, as one would expect of a train returning to the shops.

Normally, cast in the Shop operate the two switchbeams, apply power to the spur line, then radio the operator on the platform at the TTC. They in turn make sure the Express platform is clear and ready to receive a train, and radio the train (Pink in this case) that they are clear to back into the station.

Apparently these instructions were given, but the switchbeam on the Epcot line had not been operated. Because this move over the spur isn't covered by the Mapo rolling block system, Pink was run under "Mapo Override" which limited speed to 15mph.

Backing around the Epcot loop instead of the spur, it collided with Purple at the station at about 15mph, crushing the end cabs of both trains, killing the pilot of Purple, and pushing Purple about 1/3 of it's length out the south end of the station.

There were no guests on Pink as it wasn't in service. One group of five guests were on Purple, waiting to return to their car at Epcot. The guests were uninjured and released from the scene promptly. The pilot of Pink needed Reedy Creek help to exit the cab, as he was four cars north of the platform. He was taken to hospital (probably for drug testing, as he was 200 feet from the point of contact).

Questions remain about why the switchbeams didn't operate, why a clearance was given and relayed, and why the pilot of Pink didn't notice he was on the wrong beam soon enough to stop.

Monorails at WDW are out of service until further notice. The Disneyland Monorail is operating only one train today, but may resume regular operation once the control system has been cleared as a cause.

[flippyshark]

This account seems credible, though 15 mph seems slow for the level of damage that the collision did.

I wonder if this will end the practice of allowing guests to ride up in the cab.

[Morrigoon]

Well, when you consider that the larger part of the nosecone is one ginormous plexiglass window, not so surprising

[Stan4dSteph]

Originally Posted by flippyshark

I wonder if this will end the practice of allowing guests to ride up in the cab.

People were allowed to ride up front and in back at Disneyland yesterday.

[Stan4dSteph]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

I trust the source that refers to this as coming from a trusted source.

Can you please give a link? Thanks.

[wolfy999]

With only one Monorail running not much chance of an accident involving another train.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Stan4dSteph

Can you please give a link? Thanks.

I would assume that this trusted source wants to remain confidential.

At first I thought 15 mph seemed too slow but I figure these things aren't built with crumple zones in mind.

What an awful thing. I hadn't had any internet contact and a friend showed me a photo of the collision on his phone. Such a shocking image.

[Stan4dSteph]

NTSB to probe crash of Disney monorail - Chicago Tribune

The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday it will investigate the deadly collision on Walt Disney World's monorail, an unprecedented move by a federal agency best known for probing airline crashes.