Deadly Disney World Monorail Crash-Updated with NTSB Report

[Captain_Nemo]

I wonder if it crashed right outside the building, but then they had to carefully move the trains in to get everyone off, since the video shows them getting off at the TTC

if you youtube it, the CNN coverage has an eyewitnesss stating that pink collided into purple right outside TTC. the trains were slowly moved into TTC to get people out and it is easier being level for the rescue effort, aswell as putting the horrific seen out of veiw of media and guests. ex. roof covers it from news choppers.

[brownie]

Just saw the post-crash video. What was disturbing to me was the CM shooing away the video camera. That won't play well in the larger media. The CM should have been more interested in penetrating the car to do do some CPR or something. He just made it look like there was something to hide.

He wasn't equipped to get into that mess, and the last thing you want is someone filling any victims of something like that. He really should have been moving all the guests in the area away from the scene of the crash.

[Ian]

He wasn't equipped to get into that mess, and the last thing you want is someone filling any victims of something like that. He really should have been moving all the guests in the area away from the scene of the crash.

I think the poster was speaking strictly from an appearance and PR standpoint.

While I agree with you that the CM did what he should have done, the poster was right in that it won't play well in the general public ... especially if it turns out Disney was somehow at fault.

[nicster]

Accidents very rarely have a single cause. Most often they are caused by an "error chain" (yes that's a technical term) -- some combination of factors including failures of humans, machines and pure dumb luck.
Most likely we're going to find out this accident was a result of a "perfect storm" of several factors -- a one-in-a-million thing. And WDW will certainly correct whatever needs to be corrected to make sure it never happens again.

Very insightful, I agree. If Disney could have foreseen this as even a remote possibility, they would have had safety measures in place, & I am sure the info that they get from this tragedy will give them the ability to insure against a repeat.

[garthbarth1]

Ok, so a quick question as I am a little confused on what exactly happened? The driver im the front of the pink monorail crashed into the driver in the back of the purple monorail? Or were there two drivers in the pink one and not any in the purple? I thought there was only one driver, and that it is driven from the front, not from the back? Sorry for the confusion... Prayers to the family in this hard time.

[Ed]

Ok, so a quick question as I am a little confused on what exactly happened? The driver im the front of the pink monorail crashed into the driver in the back of the purple monorail? Or were there two drivers in the pink one and not any in the purple? I thought there was only one driver, and that it is driven from the front, not from the back? Sorry for the confusion... Prayers to the family in this hard time.

That still has not been definitively answered, but most reports indicate that Pink was totally stopped in the TTC station and Purple slammed into the rear of Pink. The driver of Purple was alone in the front car of his train and died from his injuries. Presumably, the driver of Pink was at the far end of his train, and was only taken to the hospital "as a precaution".

[Maryln8]

Just saw the post-crash video. What was disturbing to me was the CM shooing away the video camera. That won't play well in the larger media. The CM should have been more interested in penetrating the car to do do some CPR or something. He just made it look like there was something to hide.

It appeared to me that the CMs were confused and disorientated and when they realized someone was taping they jumped into action. It was disrespectful for someone to videotape that. The camerman was doing NOTHING to help anyone or the situation. The only one helping was the man in the dark blue striped shirt, he was asking if anyone was hurt , he went from car to car and then finally in some other pictures you can see he opened the door to the cockpit. EMS wasn't even present yet. It doesn't appear to me anyone was tring to hide anything but some poor dying soul.

[Wayne]

I think the poster was speaking strictly from an appearance and PR standpoint.

While I agree with you that the CM did what he should have done, the poster was right in that it won't play well in the general public ... especially if it turns out Disney was somehow at fault.

Who really gives a hoot what the general public thinks. This video shows what has just happened in a terrible accident with CMs on the scene probably in shock over what had just occurred.

It appeared to me that the CMs were confused and disorientated and when they realized someone was taping they jumped into action. It was disrespectful for someone to videotape that. The camerman was doing NOTHING to help anyone or the situation. The only one helping was the man in the dark blue striped shirt, he was asking if anyone was hurt , he went from car to car and then finally in some other pictures you can see he opened the door to the cockpit. EMS wasn't even present yet. It doesn't appear to me anyone was tring to hide anything but some poor dying soul.

And although the clip may be "newsworthy", I have to wonder why a site that pride's itself on being "family friendly" feels a need to provide the link.

[Ian]

Everyone needs to remember that that video was taken before anyone knew for sure how serious the situation was.

There was nothing "disrespectful" about shooting the video as the cameraman was not aware that there had been a fatality.

[Marker]

As hard as it is to avoid, speculation about an accident like this usually does more harm than good. First someone says "I can't believe it could have been X so it must have been Y," then others head off in many directions and pretty soon we have full-blown conspiracy theories and nightmare scenarios for which there is no evidence at all.

Accidents very rarely have a single cause. Most often they are caused by an "error chain" (yes that's a technical term) -- some combination of factors including failures of humans, machines and pure dumb luck. Until a full investigation is done, we're not going to know what really happened. Until we know what really happened, it's not useful to speculate about the accident itself nor about the implications (will they let guests in the front car in the future, will I ever go on the monorail again, etc. etc. etc.)

Most likely we're going to find out this accident was a result of a "perfect storm" of several factors -- a one-in-a-million thing. And WDW will certainly correct whatever needs to be corrected to make sure it never happens again.

Meanwhile, the best use of our energy is to keep the drivers' families, and the unlucky guests who were there when it happened, in our thoughts and prayers.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! My thoughts exactly. Speculation and a conspiracy hunts really serve no good purpose.

In my opinion, let's leave the determination of what happened to those in a position to have the factual information. A bad situation is not helped by the spread of hasty, inaccurate, conclusions.

[DisneyAggies]

Everyone needs to remember that that video was taken before anyone knew for sure how serious the situation was.

There was nothing "disrespectful" about shooting the video as the cameraman was not aware that there had been a fatality.

Yes, but is it disrespectful to post a link to it AFTER we do know it was fatal?

I think that's the issue people have with the link.

[Dixie Springs]

Please hold the flames. As Ian said (and the point I was writing from), nobody knew there was a fatality when the video was taken. Let's dispense with the moral issue of filming a mortality. I'm terribly sorry for the driver and his loved ones, but the 'videographer' was not in the way whatsoever. The fact that the CM interrupted his (understandably) confused rescue attempt to chase away a camera was disturbing to me. It looked like he suddenly recalled a company policy to obscure any footage of an on-site accident. It looked like castmember safety took a back-seat to PR. Sorry.

[disneygeek84]

How terribly horrible. My prayers go out to his family and friends.

The only thing that bothers me about the video is the sudden reaction of the family and hearing the little girls start crying. That's almost more chilling than anything. And I think the CM handled everything as best as he could. They aren't trained for something like this.

[John]

Folks - I personally made the decision to link to the video. That being said - if you choose not to view it, don't click thru on the link.

For me, it not only was news and provided some insight on how and where the trains collided, but showed how folks reacted - both cast and normal people. Even with the horrible tradegy, I was also glad to see normal folks jump in ready to help and try and rescue - even if the wdw employees (it looked) decided to hold them back.

It was a tough call for me - but I stand by posting the link. I also respect everyone's individial choice on whether they want to view it or not. I have added a disclaimer.

[JDisney]

We are seeing more and more of this lately, the California train crash, the DC crash not too long ago. With all this automation operators are getting complacent. Sure 99.9999999% of the time they aren't even needed but that one sliver of percentage they need to be paying attention to hit the brakes they are day dreaming or texting their girl friend.

[John]

We are seeing more and more of this lately, the California train crash, the DC crash not too long ago. With all this automation operators are getting complacent. Sure 99.9999999% of the time they aren't even needed but that one sliver of percentage they need to be paying attention to hit the brakes they are day dreaming or texting their girl friend.

Pure speculation here (So take it as such) but is it possible that the front train was actually backing in the station to eventually move forward and then switch tracks - and that the driver was in the train already in the station, and just couldn't react quick enough to get the train out of the station or out of the cab?

In that state, does the driver of the monorail backing up actually switch ends to drive, or do they control the train from the front?

I am not a monorail expert so I have no clue.

[crazypoohbear]

Folks - I personally made the decision to link to the video. That being said - if you choose not to view it, don't click thru on the link.

For me, it not only was news and provided some insight on how and where the trains collided, but showed how folks reacted - both cast and normal people. Even with the horrible tradegy, I was also glad to see normal folks jump in ready to help and try and rescue - even if the wdw employees (it looked) decided to hold them back.

It was a tough call for me - but I stand by posting the link. I also respect everyone's individial choice on whether they want to view it or not. I have added a disclaimer.

Well said John,
I personally think it does show human nature at work. the cast member was doing his job. that could have been his friend in there and he could have been trying to sheild the public from seeing anything that would be upsetting.
I'm sure he did not have extensive (if any) 1st aid training and did the right thing. If you know you can't help the injured DON'T TRY! Moving an injured person could do more harm than good.
Also, I wish to send my condolences to the family, friends and co workers of this young man.
May God rest his soul and provide comfort to his loved ones.
God bless you young man

[Marker]

We are seeing more and more of this lately, the California train crash, the DC crash not too long ago. With all this automation operators are getting complacent. Sure 99.9999999% of the time they aren't even needed but that one sliver of percentage they need to be paying attention to hit the brakes they are day dreaming or texting their girl friend.

To my knowledge, there has been no publicly announced cause of his tragic accident. Therefore, any speculation that anyone was "day dreaming or texting their girl friend" has absolutely no basis in fact, and in my opinion serves no useful purpose at all and it totally not fair to any of the people involved.

[Goof42]

we'll have no speculation...

dunno about backing up but it would make more sense if he was backing up and was not in the back of the train because then he wouldn't necessarily have seen the other one...

wait, i'm speculating...

not sure why speculation bothers some people...it helps me try to comprehend things better and work through it. I wonder if the same people concerned about speculation here have their TVs tuned to CNNHN and TMZ which is doing nothing but speculating about MJ for the last week...wait, i'm speculating again...oh well can't win.

[iheartdisney]

Important things to remember:

1 - This is the FIRST and only accident involving a death on the WDW monorail system since it was implemented almost 38 years ago.

2 - According to the info Melanears posted, one of the very, very, very few accidents involving injury of ANY kind.

3 - The CM's family and anyone who witnessed this tragic accident. May they all have courage and comfort during this difficult time.