Fourth of July Monorail Incident

[EmptyCinema]

Just heard on the news about the monorail collision this morning. I hope none of our cast members here were involved in this. My thoughts go out to the family of the cast member who was killed. I do wonder how this happened.

[kurtisnelson]

The MAPO system on Pink must have failed in someway and failed in a fail-dangerous way instead of a fail-safe way.

That was my original thought, but I have been told that there were no mechanical issues, it was a series of human errors and that the system is completely safe if rules are followed. My bet is it somehow involves MAPO override. (which Zazu, is done from the cab) I think the 6 guests having a stroller in their party saved their lives.

[lady ulrike]

I am so upset, especially after I saw the video at the Sentinel site. It's bad enough that the accident happened, whatever the reason, but why were Guests allowed on the platform? As soon as anyone was made aware of what had happened (I'm not sure if the accident happened where the video was taken or if they were towed there to get the Guests off of it) the platform should've been cleared. It is so upsetting to me that more Guests than unfortunately necessary had to see that at all. I realize there were some Guests on the Monorail (according to the Sentinel, just 6) and clearly they would need to be on the platform until a Nurse could come check them out but noone else should've been allowed there and if it happened there, one of the first things that someone should've done is clear out the platform. It bothers me so much that more people than necessary had to be subjected to this incident first hand.

[Switchbeam 9]

My mom and I are in tears right now. I hope they release the name of the CM involved.

Sentential just released it: Austin Wenneberg, 21.

Personally didn't know him but looked him up on FB and saw we have a lot of mutual friends. I couldn't imagine what they're going through right now and his family.

[EmptyCinema]

Oh my God. What a tragedy. God rest the deceased's soul and be with his family.



The MAPO system on Pink must have failed in someway and failed in a fail-dangerous way instead of a fail-safe way. MAPO is supposed to stop the train when there isn't enough hold points visible (trains block the hold point signals) so this kind of thing wouldn't happen. It'll stop the train damn fast too, it uses a good bit more braking power than is used during normal operation. There is an override but the button has to be held and it only allows the train the crawl. The override is there because there are times when MAPO won't let a train go somewhere it should (switching tracks makes MAPO think there isn't enough hold points and there are times they park 2 trains on one beam in a station. It looks like Pink was moving at a decent speed when it hit Purple.

This goes to show that even safety systems that are tested at least twice a day normally can fail. They perform a MAPO test as the train is brought online and again part way through the day. I wonder if the monorails are even going to be brought online today. I'm hoping Monorail Maintenance at least gives the remaining trains a very thorough inspection before allowing them to go back into service. While a MAPO failure is only a guess right now it is a very good guess and I'm sure Disney is guessing it too.

That was my original thought, but I have been told that there were no mechanical issues, it was a series of human errors and that the system is completely safe if rules are followed. My bet is it somehow involves MAPO override. (which Zazu, is done from the cab) I think the 6 guests having a stroller in their party saved their lives.

Is it really possible to know so soon there were no mechanical issues? I mean, I get what you're saying, but things can break, and there's a lot of damage.

My first thought was the brake system -- that would affect both the driver and MAPOs ability to stop the train.

[Switchbeam 9]

I am so upset, especially after I saw the video at the Sentinel site. It's bad enough that the accident happened, whatever the reason, but why were Guests allowed on the platform? As soon as anyone was made aware of what had happened (I'm not sure if the accident happened where the video was taken or if they were towed there to get the Guests off of it) the platform should've been cleared. It is so upsetting to me that more Guests than unfortunately necessary had to see that at all. I realize there were some Guests on the Monorail (according to the Sentinel, just 6) and clearly they would need to be on the platform until a Nurse could come check them out but noone else should've been allowed there and if it happened there, one of the first things that someone should've done is clear out the platform. It bothers me so much that more people than necessary had to be subjected to this incident first hand.

Can tell you from personal experience that Concourse platform at 2am is devoid of other CMs. Not much security around TTC either that late. The video seems to be just right after it happened. Eddie must have been in shock. Feel really bad for him. Nobody is prepared for that.

[Monorail_Red]

Check out this video on YouTube from a few weeks ago: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3044-UBsJg

Skip to 5:40

You will hear the beep for the speed zone drop, and you can hear the MCU pulled back, but the train does not respond.

It sounds like that the train stopped when it got an overspeed...and a TC.

Another frozen MCU maybe? But even so there's still several other things that could have stopped the train before the TTC.

[lady ulrike]

Can tell you from personal experience that Concourse platform at 2am is devoid of other CMs. Not much security around TTC either that late. The video seems to be just right after it happened. Eddie must have been in shock. Feel really bad for him. Nobody is prepared for that.

I can see that, but doesn't that platform also have a very narrow escalator up to it? There were two CMs in the station and one could've easily blocked the escalator up.

Also, where are the Monorail Managers and Coordinators (that's your leads, right?) because I understand not all CMs would think to do that, especially newer ones, but a manager or lead or even a trainer should've thought to do that immediately. I know that was my first thought when I saw it is clear the platform. Also, once a CM was made aware of the accident, 911 should've been called and that would've gotten put out on the radio which should've brought whatever limited security there, quickly......at least that's how it should work here, not sure if you guys have similar policies, procedures, whatever you want to call it.

[Rockies1977]

Wow. Big Wallaby, thank goodness you are all right. When I heard the news on CNN, I thought I was hearing things. Then, when the news got repeated on another news channel, I was thinking about you. I feel sad that someone has died. May he rest in peace.

[StephM]

I have not been around in awhile, but as soon as my husband told me he saw this on the news, I had to check in. Glad you are okay, BW.

My prayers go out to this young man's family. What a terrible tragedy. :(