Deadly Disney World Monorail Crash-Updated with NTSB Report

[Disney Hungarian]

I need to correct my last statement. From what I am to understand they can still reverse through the switches. They will now have a live spotter on the ground in radio contact with the pilot.

[Mufasa]

So then, if there are driver's seats, why do they reverse?

At the time of the accident, monorails would reverse for 2 reasons- first, in order to switch ends essentially requires rebooting the monorail (you can't just hop into the other end and drive away as the controls in the opposite cab are locked out unless you power down and restart the train). It can take up to 10 minutes to reboot/switch ends.

From the TTC (Concourse on the Epcot line), Pink would be told to drive out in forward direction to Pylon 30 and hold there which would put the rear cab of the monorail just past switches 8/9. They would wait for the switch to be thrown behind the monorail and then could proceed in reverse which would then place them on the Express (exterior lagoon) monorail beam.

They could swap ends once they get to the TTC to drive forward, but it is expected that if they switched onto the express beam it should be clear ahead (or is that behind them?)

So the instructions given at the time was to continue in reverse up to Magic Kingdom, where they can stop, power down the monorail and switch ends so they can proceed to drive forward into the monorail shop.

Technically it wasn't completely unheard of to hear of monorail trains being driven in reverse all the way up to the shop (monorail pilots then are just told to drive it slowly in reverse towards the shop and when they got into position, then shop would just cut power to that beam in the roundhouse and bring the train to a halt that way). Driving fowards into the shop, among the guides to prevent you from running into the end of the beam used to be as high tech a solution as a tennis ball hanging from a string from the ceiling that you stop the monorail when it hits the windshield.

Also the switch to the monorail shop (switches #1 and 2) links either the express beam (exterior) to shop, or resort (interior) to express. Normally, the express line runs in an anti-clockwise direction, but the switch out to shop lies between the contemporary and magic kingdom station, so running in a clockwise direction on the express beam allows a monorail train to go directly to shop (and if the switch is linking express to shop, then there would be a gap between the contemporary and magic kingdom going in an anti-clockwise direction so MAPO would bring the monorail to a halt if you tried driving in that direction since it would sense the gap ahead).

In order to run the train forward through the spur switch 8/9 a train would have to run normally all the way down to Epcot station and any following train would hold at TTC. Then the driver can switch ends at the Epcot station and drive the train "backwards" through Epcot (back the way they came) this time so they could proceed driving forwards through the spur switch and onto the Express beam and then continue around the lagoon and directly into the shop since switches 1/2 would be set to link express line to the shop spur.

The reason that wasn't done at the time of the accident was just the extra time/distance it took to have to drive all the way down to Epcot, wait to reboot the monorail and switch ends and then drive back up to take a train off and holding up any trains making the run between Epcot and TTC (as well as the surprise of seeing trains run "backwards" through Epcot as they head back towards the TTC). By driving the lead train (pink) forward enough so it could then just reverse through the switch, the thought was that the train that was following (purple) could offload it's passengers from Epcot by pulling into the TTC just as pink was transferring onto the express loop.

Alternate is to reboot while at TTC, driver switches end and drives along the Epcot loop from the rear cab in the normal direction towards Epcot (for this short section essentially driving in reverse) until they pass Pylon 30 just north of the TTC and verify that they are past the spur switch then radio and the switch is thrown and they can then drive fowards onto Express.

[Buttercup]

Thank heavens for Mufasa!
You have a great way of explaining things. I didn't realize that it was such a big deal (powering off & rebooting) to switch ends of the train so you could use the other driver's seat. Boy, it sure is a lot more complex than just riding along a track!

[Aurora]

I started reading the documents and understand why they are made public, but like sausage-making, I think there are just some things we are better off not knowing.

[Joannelet]

Wow I'm shocked that this is out there.
But as a past cast member reading through cast members statements brought me back. We are taught emergency procedures, ways of talking that will prevent guests from understanding what is going on etc. I saw some of this in the statements and files. The sad thing is that an event like this cannot be shaded from guests. It's out there in the open for everyone to see. I am actually sad that these are on the internet but I know they are public files etc......
My heart breaks for everyone that was involved during that incident because it isn't something that they will ever get over. It was a horrible accident.

[brownie]

NTSB: Disney monorail death caused by track switch

The Associated Press
Published: Monday, Oct. 31, 2011 - 4:33 pm

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- A federal agency says a monorail crash that killed a Walt Disney World worker in 2009 was caused by a failure to properly position a track switch.

The report released Monday by the National Transportation Safety Board also faulted a monorail manager for failing to verify the position of the switch.

The report says that at the time of the crash the manager was at a restaurant, remotely filling in for a monorail coordinator who had gone home sick.

Disney worker Austin Wuennenberg was killed. His mother has a filed a lawsuit against Disney.

Disney's chief safety officer says the resort has been working with NTSB officials and that the monorail has new safety procedures in place.

The crash caused $24 million in damages.

[Ed]

The National Transportation Safety Board's "Railroad Accident Brief" is also available online.

[Aurora]

Why did this take so long? The investigative reports were released over a year ago and the crash was more than two years ago.

[Ed]

Why did this take so long? The investigative reports were released over a year ago and the crash was more than two years ago.

That's not at all unusual with NTSB investigations.

A preliminary report - essentially a "Readers Digest version" is usually issued when the basics of the accident are identified, and the investigation continues. These types of investigations involve dozens, if not hundreds, of interviews of parties involved, witnesses, equipment builders, maintenance people and anyone else who might shed some light on the cause. Then there is the forensic study of the vehicles involved, maintenance records, operating instructions, company safety policies, review of other similar accidents to determine if a pattern exists and whether that pattern is a human or mechanical failure. In some cases, like this one, a reenactment done under similar conditions is scheduled and performed.

And no two cases are exactly the same.

Once the investigators are satisfied that they have covered all aspects of the event, their conclusions are scrutinized by others not directly involved in the investigation; if they concur, the case goes to agency management for review and recommendations. This includes a detailed study of the owners' safety policies and records.

NTSB is responsible for investigating accidents involving commercial and government aircraft, railroads, ships, and even pipelines.