Fourth of July Monorail Incident

[SandrA9810]

I just got off the contemporary's escalators and saw two maintenance guys sitting in the cab with the driver. I had a small ray of hope when I saw two heads sitting there, but as i past the window I noticed the costumes.
I did not see any one else. But there's no official Disney announcement. I also noticed a chain blocking the waiting area.

A lot of the monorail cast were also wearing black/maroon ribbons above their wings.

[turkeyham]

I saw guests in the front cabin and back cabin on the monorails today. Monorail Blue and Orange were running. I hope Disney will stop the front cabin/back cabin rides. I remember several years back when no one was allowed to go in the front nor the back. I hope they do that again. I would feel safer if they did this.

I was at my parent's house this evening and I sat down with my mom. She was upset and was concerned about the crew. I told her that I know BW and I was texted a message that morning about the accident. The first thing I thought, it was one of a few friends who worked with the resort monorail crew.

I have to work tomorrow. I will not be there. Give everyone a hug for me. :(

[February]

I'm going to hold off mailing both cards until Thursday to give more people time to submit their usernames from here to put on the list.

Since I want to make it from everyone here on the forum I've decided I will only be using usernames and not indicating whether or not anyone is a CM for privacy's sake (even if they chose to disclose such info when they asked to sign the card)

I hope to scan it too so you can all see the one we picked. it's really pretty but it's what it says that really made us cry when we read it.

So feel free to PM me until tomorrow evening if you want me to sign your name along with ours. I know we can fill it up...

I didn't get to start on the blanket tonight, I still need the daylight since I'm working with the one eye. I hope to begin tomorrow...will keep you all posted.

hugs
bru

[turkeyham]

Bru,

I have to meet up with you all next year. I think it would be great. Shorty82 and BW will need the hugs. I need to get another klenex.
I know Shorty82 was crying last night. Ok, now I am crying. It must be a chain re-action along all of us friends. I will wear purple on my name tag at work and keep purple monorail in memory.

It's a turkey leg and it tastes like ham.

[Goofyernmost]

I saw guests in the front cabin and back cabin on the monorails today. Monorail Blue and Orange were running. I hope Disney will stop the front cabin/back cabin rides. I remember several years back when no one was allowed to go in the front nor the back. I hope they do that again. I would feel safer if they did this.

Just curious...why would you feel safer if no one was allowed to ride in the front or back? I don't understand the logic. If you don't want to ride in the front or back you don't have too. Ask yourself this...millions of people have been killed in auto accidents. Do you still ride in a car? Thousands have died in plane crashes. Do you still fly? More thousands have been killed or maimed crossing the street. Do you still cross streets?

The word accident is used here because it was an accident. It wasn't an everyday occurrence. It's a natural knee jerk reaction to over do in our quest to make the world a perfectly safe place to live. Alas, it isn't and it never will be. I would rather die in a freak accident then spend my life cowering away from anything that might possibly be dangerous. That is an early death, in my opinion.

I hope and actually expect that the front will be back in use within the next few days. Having dealt with transportation tragedies in the past, I can tell you that my sympathies go out to the remaining monorail drivers. They are on those rails every day, all day. Theirs is not a fleeting moment of remembering but one that takes a while to decrease and return to normal. It will return guys, so hang in there and remember that stuff happens and if looked at properly, it can be a learning experience that helps prevent it from ever happening again. Do your best, work through your sorrow...the public needs the reassurance that only you folks can give them.

[GuestJockey]

Just curious...why would you feel safer if no one was allowed to ride in the front or back? I don't understand the logic. If you don't want to ride in the front or back you don't have too. Ask yourself this...millions of people have been killed in auto accidents. Do you still ride in a car? Thousands have died in plane crashes. Do you still fly? More thousands have been killed or maimed crossing the street. Do you still cross streets?

The word accident is used here because it was an accident. It wasn't an everyday occurrence. It's a natural knee jerk reaction to over do in our quest to make the world a perfectly safe place to live. Alas, it isn't and it never will be. I would rather die in a freak accident then spend my life cowering away from anything that might possibly be dangerous. That is an early death, in my opinion.

I hope and actually expect that the front will be back in use within the next few days. Having dealt with transportation tragedies in the past, I can tell you that my sympathies go out to the remaining monorail drivers. They are on those rails every day, all day. Theirs is not a fleeting moment of remembering but one that takes a while to decrease and return to normal. It will return guys, so hang in there and remember that stuff happens and if looked at properly, it can be a learning experience that helps prevent it from ever happening again. Do your best, work through your sorrow...the public needs the reassurance that only you folks can give them.

Eloquently put, and agreed 100%.

[Zazu]

The word accident is used here because it was an accident. It wasn't an everyday occurrence.

With respect, those of us in the railroad industry -- and I should think this includes monorails -- don't use the word "accident". We use the word "wreck".

"Accident" suggests that someone made an innocent mistake, and it's unlikely to happen again. "Wreck" carries no such false baggage, and focuses on causes and results.

A "Wreck" is the result of a combination of failures, and these can come in several forms:
* System design failure,
* Operating procedure failure,
* Mechanical failure, and
* Human failure.

It would appear that the failures in this case were a combination of Human failure and either Operating procedure failure or System design failure. Robust systems do not permit a single Human failure to trigger a wreck.

If some element of the operation is susceptible to that, then one needs to either modify the system design to provide a mechanical or electronic safety system to back up the humans, or a change in the operating procedure so that more than one simultaneous human failure is required for a wreck to happen.

From the speed with which the system was put back in service and some details in the Disney press releases, it would appear that the Company modified the OG to provide another layer of human checks. Let us all pray that this proves sufficient for now, and that the NTSB report calls for changes in the system design in the longer term.


Sorry if some of my posts here seem angry -- I am. Safety is not that complicated, but it does require a commitment from both the front-line operators and their entire management to make sure it happens. As we used to say on the railroad, "Safe operation is no accident." No, it's the result of starting with a safe mind-set, and following through.

[hobie16]

A friend, who is now the chief pilot for SWA at Phoenix, told me there is never a single cause for an accident/wreck/collision. This was just after he almost nailed a Cessna on final approach into Phoenix. Root mean cause was a combination of student pilot and a student air traffic controller. It was a real sphincter tightner.

[joanna71985]

Just curious...why would you feel safer if no one was allowed to ride in the front or back? I don't understand the logic. If you don't want to ride in the front or back you don't have too. Ask yourself this...millions of people have been killed in auto accidents. Do you still ride in a car? Thousands have died in plane crashes. Do you still fly? More thousands have been killed or maimed crossing the street. Do you still cross streets?

The word accident is used here because it was an accident. It wasn't an everyday occurrence. It's a natural knee jerk reaction to over do in our quest to make the world a perfectly safe place to live. Alas, it isn't and it never will be. I would rather die in a freak accident then spend my life cowering away from anything that might possibly be dangerous. That is an early death, in my opinion.

I hope and actually expect that the front will be back in use within the next few days. Having dealt with transportation tragedies in the past, I can tell you that my sympathies go out to the remaining monorail drivers. They are on those rails every day, all day. Theirs is not a fleeting moment of remembering but one that takes a while to decrease and return to normal. It will return guys, so hang in there and remember that stuff happens and if looked at properly, it can be a learning experience that helps prevent it from ever happening again. Do your best, work through your sorrow...the public needs the reassurance that only you folks can give them.

Hear, hear!! :)

Even though I didn't know him in a way Austin and I were family in that we were both Cast Members (a large family of over 60,000 people but a family still).

Yeah, I feel the same way. I think the CM family is a great family to be a part of.

[Shorty82]

All Cast Members be advised: The NTSB has issued an order making it illegal for CMs to talk to anyone outside of the company about the incident. This includes friends, family, and most definitely the press.