Pink, purple monorails to be retired - new teal monorail coming

The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Walt Disney World has taken the undamaged remains of monorails pink and purple and put them together to make a new train. Out of respect for Austin Wuennenberg, who was killed in the tragic monorail accident in July, both pink and purple will be retired as monorail colors. The new train will become monorail teal.

In addition to the newly formed train, Disney also told the Sentinel that they expect to add a 12th monorail to bring the total number of trains back to the same amount as before the July accident.

Update: Three cast members suspended following monorail accident

A Walt Disney World spokesperson has confirmed to the Orlando Sentinel that three cast members have been suspended in the wake of Sunday's fatal monorail accident. A transportation manager, a maintenance worker and the other driver involved in the accident have apparently been suspended with pay.

The spokesperson adds that the suspension is not for disciplinary reasons, but part of the investigation.

NTSB releases preliminary report about monorail accident

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday released their preliminary investigation into Sunday's monorail that resulted in the death of 21-year old monorail pilot Austin Wuennenberg, reports the Orlando Sentinel.

According to the NTSB, Wuennenberg actually was attempting to put his monorail into reverse when the accident happened. The report also confirms that the accident was caused when monorail pink failed to switch to a spur line connecting the Epcot and Magic Kingdom express loops. Instead of reversing onto the spur, monorail pink reversed back onto the Epcot loop and into the path of monorail purple, piloted by Wuennenberg.

The preliminary report said investigators found no problems with any equipment or other systems, inferring the accident was a result of human error.

The Sentinel article also cites a report from a unnamed Disney employee. The employee, who apparently was familiar with the situation surrounding Sunday's accident, says the cast member who was supposed to be coordinating monorail central had gone home sick earlier in the day. A manager assumed responsibility for those duties but was not on-site and was communicating by radio when the accident happened. Even if a cast member was not physically in monorail central, say other pilots, the monorail maintenance shop, located behind the Magic Kingdom, also has monitoring capability and can execute an emergency stop. Further, cast members at the TTC are supposed to have what is called a "kill pack," which can shut down power if cast members see a monorail heading the wrong way.

The NTSB report has yet to say what errors may have caused the accident. It appears clear that human error caused this accident, and possibly several errors.

A Disney spokesperson told the Orlando Sentinel that the company will "continue to work closely with the NTSB and other agencies investigating the incident." OSHA, the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the Transportation Communications Union (union for monorail workers) are still conducting their own investigations.

Below is the complete preliminary report from NTSB:

The National Transportation Safety Board has developed the following factual information from its investigation of the collision of two trains on the monorail system at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, that occurred early Sunday morning:

At about 2 a.m. on July 5th, a Walt Disney World monorail train, designated the Pink train, backed into another monorail train, designated the Purple train, near the Ticket and Transportation Center (TTC) monorail station. The operator of the Purple train was fatally injured; the six passengers on that train were treated at the scene. The operator of the Pink train, who was transported to the hospital, treated and released, was the only one aboard that train at the time of the collision.

Prior to the accident, the Pink train had been instructed to detrain all passengers at the TTC station and then to operate without passengers past the station and a switch to a point where the train could be backed through the track switch from the Epcot loop over to the Magic Kingdom loop. The operator of the Pink train moved the train past the track switch and stopped.

The Pink train was then instructed to back through the track switch, towards the Magic Kingdom loop. At about the same time, the Purple train, which was inbound to the TTC station, was instructed to stop at the station to detrain passengers. For undetermined reasons that are currently under investigaton, the switch had not changed position needed to allow the Pink train to be routed to the Magic Kingdom loop, which resulted in the Pink train backing down the same track it had just come from, putting it on a collision course with the Purple train. The Pink train passed through the TTC station and struck the Purple train while it was outside the station.
There are indications that the operator of the Purple train had brought the train to a stop and had attempted to put the train in reverse prior to the collision. To this point in the investigation, no anomalies or malfunctions have been found with the automatic train stop system or with any mechanical components of the switch or with either of the trains.

The on-scene phase of the investigation is expected to continue for several days. The parties to the investigation are Walt Disney World, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Orange County Sherriff's Office, and the Transportation and Communications International Union.

NTSB to investigate monorail accident

In what may be a first for private transportation systems, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) announced they are launching a full investigation of Sunday morning's fatal monorail accident.

According to a report by the Orlando Sentinel, Disney has confirmed that the accident happened while one monorail (pink) was in the process of switching from the Epcot loop to a spur connected to the Magic Kingdom express loop. Apparently the track switch never took place and the pink monorail driver put the monorail in reverse, thinking they were on the spur to the Magic Kingdom express loop. Instead, pink monorail reversed back on the Epcot loop, striking purple monorail, killing driver Austin Wuennenberg.

"We'll be going on scene and working with Disney there. We understand that OSHA is already involved," NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson told the Sentinel. "We'll be looking at operating control systems, and their [Disney's] procedures, and the different procedures they use on the monorail to position trains."

When asked why the NTSB was taking the unprecedented step of investigating a private transportation system, Knudson replied, "it is a widely used transportation system that is used by the public."

Disney told the Sentinel they will fully cooperate with the NTSB investigation.

Monorail reopens to guests today

OSHA has cleared the Walt Disney World monorail for public use once again. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Disney will return the monorail to service, with added safety features.

"We have completed a thorough safety inspection and system checks to verify that it is safe to operate the monorail for our guests and cast," Disney informed employees in a note this morning. "We've added additional verifications of these track switch positions, supplemented our safety procedures and protocols for these operations, and communicated these changes to our Transportation partners."

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the note to employees also indicated the incident happened while one monorail was being transferred off the Epcot line. So far, there is no further word on what may have caused the deadly accident early Sunday morning.

Tragedy at Walt Disney World

In a place where magic lives year-round, an unexpected tragedy has cast a dark cloud over Walt Disney World.

Early this morning (approximately 2 a.m.), two monorail trains collided, killing one Disney cast member, who was driving one of the monorails (based on photos from Local 6, it appears to be pink and purple monorails). There were about six guests on one of the monorails. No one else, including the driver of the other monorail, was seriously injured. Orange County authorities have identified the monorail driver as 21-year old Austin Wuennenberg.

The monorails collided near the Transportation and Ticket Center. According to local authorities, one monorail ran into the back of another monorail parked at the TTC. The monorail was transporting a handful of guests to the TTC from Epcot. According to local news reports, this is the first fatal accident in the history of monorail service at Walt Disney World, which opened in 1971.

A former Walt Disney World monorail driver told the Orlando Sentinel today that the monorail trains use a safety system called Mapo. According to the driver, when a monorail train approaches within two checkpoints of another train, it automatically stops. "The former driver said he believes there are about 150 to 200 feet between checkpoints," the Sentinel reported.

"Today, we mourn the loss of our fellow cast member. Our hearts go out to his family and to 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 approximate next steps," said Mike Griffin, Walt Disney World Vice President of Public Affairs in a statement released after the incident.

Both Disney and local authorities are still investigating the accident and the monorail system remains closed. As for how this happened, other Disney fan sites have former monorail drivers give their thoughts about what might have caused this accident. While there is no official report on the cause, I will not include reports from fan sites providing such wild speculation. If you want to read their thoughts, you are welcome to do so. When some official reports are released, then I'll post that. Until then, how about we let Disney, the Orange County and Reedy Creek officials and OSHA do their jobs without our armchair quarterbacking.

My thoughts and prayers are with the family of the fallen driver, with all Disney cast members and with the entire Disney community as we mourn this tragic accident.

More coverage from CNN.com , MSNBC.com, the Orlando Sentinel and WESH.com. Additional details about Austin Wuennenberg from Orlando Attractions Magazine.

Related article from the Orange County Register: Disneyland monorail runs as usual after Florida crash.