Disney Monorail Accident Kills Driver

Investigators are looking into an accident at the Happiest Place on Earth. Early Sunday morning, a monorail at Walt Disney World in Florida killed 21-year old Austin Wuennenberg, the operator of one of the two trains that collided.

The monorail, which has operated without fatality for 38 years, is shut down until the investigation is complete. Local Fox affiliate WOFL 35 Orlando reports that the victim told a friend that he had not been given thorough training to operate the train, and had been thrown into the job. However, the system has a failsafe. At any given time, there must be two holdpoints between a train and the one ahead of it, otherwise the emergency brakes will be applied, and cannot be released unless the driver overrides or sufficient spacing becomes available. Thus yesterday’s accident should not have been possible unless the operator overrode the system or it was malfunctioning.

The control system for the monorails is amusingly called MAPO because the system was paid for with profits from the Disney classic, Mary Poppins.

The system debuted in 1971 with two routes, and expanded in 1982 to a third when Epcot first opened. The system consists of 14.7 miles of track, transporting about 50 million guests each year. The current trains, the Mark VI, were manufactured by Bombardier, and have been in use since 1989, consisting of six cars, totaling 213 feet long taken together, and can transport 364 passengers at a time. The normal maximum speed is 40mph.

According to reports, Wuennenberg’s train hit a standing train at the Ticket and Transport Center in the Magic Kingdom.

Mike Griffin, vice president of public affairs at Walt Disney World, issued the following statement Sunday following the wreck:

“Today, we mourn the loss of our fellow cast member. Our hearts go out to his family and those who have lost a friend and co-worker. The safety of our guests and cast members is always our top priority. The monorail is out of service and we will continue to work closely with law enforcement to determine what happened and the appropriate next steps.”

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