Deadly Monorail Crash

[whatwasithinkin]

My thoughts and condolences go out to the family of the person who died.



Something realy out of the ordinary had to have happened to cause that tragedy. Many years ago while hoping on the monorail at the Contemporary a CM asked for any single riders to show hands, which I thought was odd for the monorail. Anyway myself and a few others waiting raised our hands and 3 of us got pulled up to the line for the drivers car....okay, well wasnt a biggie on my to do list, ussualy that car is saved for families willing to ask to ride up there. But still cool all the same.

Im not sure if this had anything to do with why adults were taken up there, but once inside we found that there was an older CM training a very young looking CM how to drive the monorail. The young one was at the controls, was very nervous and had the look of complete fear in his eyes. Anyway we leave and the older CM is walking the newb threw the motions and explaining the do's and dont's.

At one point just as we were close to MK all heck broke loose as we were coming up behind another train to fast and there were alarms and warnings going off and the kid hit the brake hard. I sort of felt as if the older CM did that on purpose, just to show the kid what happens. Because the kid was following every order to the nth degree. But then the kid paniced and slammed on the brakes. But as this happened we were still a long ways away from the train ahead of us. So after witnessing just that small part of what happens "if", it realy make me wonder what happend?

And to think if the same thing had happend at the height of the day with 2 full trains? Loaded with people i would guess would add upwards of 50000 pounds extra weight each. Im thinking that the moving train wouldnt have stopped as easily as it did.

[JRZDisneyGirl]

I have been heartsick all day since hearing this. My heart breaks for the family not only of the driver, but also for the cast members who witnessed the incident. This is a traumatic thing they will have to deal with.

It's times like these when I appreciate even more this wonderful community of Disney fans--people who understand and appreciate what a tragedy this is and who come together in support of those who are hurt.

As with everyone else, I send my sincerest prayers and thoughts to all those affected, and second the motion for a segment on the monorail and its drivers.

[disneyfanatic101]

I third the motion for a segment.

I agree with you JRZDisneyGirl, I have been having a sad heart all day after I saw and heard the news.

It's now even on top of the news network, HLN, and the top of my AT&T Yahoo news.

[wdfan]

read this:

Monorail Crash Kills Driver Stuns Passengers At Disney World - MiceChat

[GIOny]

so sad, so very very sad. Prayers go out to Austin and his family and all others involved

[lizardlynn92]

i dont know if this was posted yet or not but my mom was reading somewhere that the front cars of the monrails are designed to crush incase of a crash. The drivers are told before training that if there was to be a crash, they probably would die on impact and are given the opportunity to opt out of training. Anyway, the rest of the monorail (where passangers are) are made of steel and made to withstand a crash, unlike the front car (where the driver sits), which is made to crash and be crushed on impact, softening the blow. does anyone know if this is true??

[Finkelstein]

This is just a horrible tragedy and I feel for the CM's family, friends and fellow CM's.

Plus I want to personally thank everyone for focusing on what counts in this story. On another board I frequent some chose to blame it on cost cutting. That's neither here nor there at the moment, so again thank you for keeping things in perspective.

I too would echo that, here in the UK our main Disney forum is overwhelmed with expressions of condolence and here at wdw radio it is the same......sadly another Disney forum I use has descended into baseless and tasteless speculation and innuendo.

Poor Austin. I was listening to an old Lou podcast regarding the wonder of Disney and how ultimately it is the CM's that go so far to make our trips special.....If ever we took them for granted then we should appreciate that Disney is not actually magic but is the result of efforts by people such as Austin

I am crying as I type this and rarely am I as affected in the way that this tragedy has.

Gordon

[bety]

This is horrible!

[Disney2000]

VERY sad. That is a picture I hope no one ever gets to see in real life again. My family's thoughts and prayers go out to all who were involved.

[donaldfduck]

I was completely shocked to hear about this tragedy! My thought and prayers go out the CM's family!

[TromboneKing]

We were at Disney in June and one evening, we were allowed to ride in the front car with the driver of the monorail. After this tragedy, do you think Disney will discontinue that practice?

[pigletfan]

I was shocked and saddened to hear this news today! What a sad, sad, accident. And the driver was only 21? Thoughts and prayers to the CM's family.....

[lorilovestigger]

After watching the one video I started crying uncontrollably. Just to watch the video that was shoot moments after it had happens is, well, no words can describe it.
My heart is breaking for Austin's family tonight. But we must also remember the guests that were on the monorail when it happened too. They are in WDW to have a wonderful vacation and make memories and now this may be the only memory they have from this trip. We need to keep eveyone in pur prayers tonight.

[MayBWeRMnt2B]

This is the first horrible monorail accident in over 30 years at WDW. It's the first fatal one, so please remember that the monorails are STILL safe. I am sure that there is a full investigation and we will figure out what happened. My thoughts and prayers do go out to Austin's family and his fellow coworkers, especially the one who was there trying to get him out and their family. They did everything in their power that they could to get him out.

[bob74]

First, my heart and prayers go out to the CM family, friends, co-workers and everyone that witness the accident. It is a memory they will have forever.

I have been in emergency services for 17 years, first in fire/ems and know a police supervisor and seen a lot of death and destruction. I will not say its easy seeing death, but for the most part it dose not effect me.

But in this case, I can't get it off my mind. My heart is heavy and I come close to crying. I watched the video and can not get the sounds and images out of my head. This is something that just dose not happen.

I am too thankful for this and some other Disney community that are taking the higher road. I think a story on the show about the monorail system will be a great tribute to Austin and all the CM.