The Disney World Monorail Incident | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror - video Dailymotion

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"On the 5th of July, 2009, at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, two ride trains collided, resulting in the death of one staff member..."   As always, THANK YOU to all my Patreon patrons: you make this channel possible. https://www.patreon.com/fascinatinghorror  SOCIAL MEDIA: ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/TrueHorrorTales ► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fascinatinghorror ► Suggestions: hello@fascinatinghorror.co.uk  MUSIC: ► "Glass Pond" by Public Memory  ​​​​​​​#Documentary​​​​ #History​​​​​​​​​ #TrueStories​

Transcript

00:00On the 5th of July 2009 at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida two

00:17ride trains collided, resulting in the death of one staff member. This fatal

00:23crash, however, did not take place on a roller coaster or other thrill ride, but

00:29instead on the resort's monorail system, designed to transport guests around and

00:35between the parks. The monorail system at Walt Disney World was installed in 1971

00:43and expanded several times during the 1970s and 1980s. By the end of 1988 it

00:51consisted of three loops with a total of six stations along the way, a

00:56configuration that has remained unchanged ever since. Two of these loops

01:02are dedicated to the Magic Kingdom section of the resort. One of these

01:07carries an express service that ferries guests between Central Transportation

01:12and Ticket Hub and the Magic Kingdom itself. The other is a resort line which

01:18stops at several locations around the Magic Kingdom. The third loop is separate

01:24from these two lines and serves the Epcot section of the resort. As a

01:30passenger if you wish to go from the Epcot loop to either of the Magic

01:34Kingdom loops you must disboard and change trains through the Transportation

01:38and Ticket Center. However, for the purposes of managing the system it is

01:43possible to move trains between the loops. This is done on a routine basis

01:48using a switch in the track and a joining spur between the different lines.

01:52A number of parties are responsible for managing these track switches. On board

01:59each monorail train is a pilot who is, of course, responsible for driving the train.

02:04A supervisor based in a central control room is responsible for providing the

02:09pilot with instructions, and a panel operator in another control room is

02:14responsible for switching on and off power in the track and activating the

02:18track switches. All parties are in constant radio contact. The incident took

02:26place at 2 a.m. on the 5th of July 2009. While most parts of the park were

02:33generally closed by this time of night the monorails continued to run in order

02:38to allow guests to get back to their hotels. Three trains were in operation on

02:43the Epcot line at the time. Monorail Pink, Monorail Purple, and Monorail Coral.

02:51Monorail Pink was ready to be taken out of service for the night. To be able to

02:56get back to the maintenance area, where trains were usually parked when not in

03:00use, it would need to move from the Epcot line to the Magic Kingdom Express line.

03:05The first part of this operation went smoothly. Monorail Pink moved past the

03:12spur track joining the two lines and came to a complete halt, then reported

03:17in to the supervisor that it had done so. The supervisor in turn contacted the

03:22panel operator and asked them to switch the track so that Monorail Pink could

03:27back up onto the spur line. This is where something went wrong. The panel operator

03:33cut power to the Epcot line, ready to make the switch, but was then distracted

03:38by two almost-simultaneous radio calls relating to other trains. After dealing

03:45with these the panel operator returned power to the Epcot line, incorrectly

03:49thinking that he had already made the switch. He had not. The panel operator

03:56contacted the supervisor. The supervisor contacted Monorail Pink and cleared the

04:01pilot to back up onto the spur line. The pilot of Monorail Pink began to back up.

04:07Of course, since the track had not actually been switched, the train didn't

04:13back up onto the spur track, but instead moved back along the Epcot line. Running

04:20along the Epcot line in a conflicting direction was Monorail Purple, which had

04:25a single pilot and six passengers on board. The pilot of this train would not

04:31have had long to react, but in the few moments he did have he put the train

04:35into reverse. His final act was clearly intended to protect the passengers on

04:41board from danger. At 2 a.m. the trains collided and came to a halt, partially

04:48inside the ticket and transportation center. The rearmost cab of Monorail Pink

04:54and the front cab of Monorail Purple were crushed and entangled, trapping the

04:59pilot of Monorail Purple. Despite the best efforts of passengers and staff he

05:05could not be saved. The victim of this incident was 21-year-old Austin

05:11Wennenberg. He was a popular and well-liked young man, described by those

05:16who knew him as a genius and a perfect son. Following his death he was remembered

05:22fondly by family, colleagues, and even by hundreds of guests who had the pleasure

05:27of meeting him during their time at Walt Disney World.

05:32Disney were quick to determine that no part of the ride system was

05:36malfunctioning. The monorail was up and running again the very next day, even as

05:43an investigation took place. The National Transportation Safety Board compiled a

05:49report noting that there were many things which could, and perhaps should,

05:53have prevented the collision. For example, the monorail was, like many attractions,

06:00fitted with a computerized blocking system which would prevent two trains

06:05from entering the same block of track. However, this system routinely had to be

06:10deactivated when reversing a train onto the spur track between loops, and so

06:15could not prevent this accident from taking place. Equally, the supervisor

06:20might have been able to determine that the switch had not gone as planned, had

06:25they been in the control room at the time of the accident. Unfortunately they

06:30had been out of the room, possibly at a nearby food outlet, and had been relying

06:35on radio contact only to manage the few trains on the system. Perhaps the pilot

06:42of Monorail Pink might have noticed that they were on the wrong track, but the two

06:47tracks were visually very similar. Combined with partially fogged up

06:52windows and low ambient light it was determined that it would have been very

06:57difficult for the Monorail Pink pilot to realize that they were on the wrong

07:02track. Even then guidance existed stating that before backing up a monorail train

07:09pilots should move from the cab at the front end of the train to the cab at the

07:14rear. However, this was not a practice that was typically required or requested

07:20by supervisors, even though it was technically on the books. Accordingly it

07:26was not done on this occasion. Finally, the panel operator might have noticed

07:33that they had not correctly switched the track, as they had access to a video feed

07:38of the switch. However, it was established practice to check this only before

07:44making the switch to ensure that no train was in the way. The panel operator

07:49had never been briefed to check the video feed after making the switch to

07:54ensure that they had done so correctly. At every stage there was an opportunity

08:00to avert disaster, and at every stage this opportunity was narrowly missed. A

08:07slew of changes were made by Disney in the aftermath of the accident. A spotter

08:13is now required to be present in the rear-facing cab whenever a monorail

08:18train reverses. All staff receive extra training, window defoggers are used, more

08:25live video feeds covering switches have been installed, and a second shop panel

08:30operator must verify each switch visually before the go-ahead can be

08:35given for a pilot to move. As a precaution the practice of allowing

08:39guests to ride in the front cab of the monorail has also been discontinued. All

08:46these changes, and more besides, make the monorail at Walt Disney World safer than

08:52it ever has been. Interestingly, only a small portion of each train involved was

08:59destroyed in the incident. The undamaged portions were repurposed, becoming

09:04Monorail Teal and Monorail Peach, both of which remain in service to this day.

09:11Since the 5th of July 2009 the system has transported almost 150,000 people

09:18per year without another deadly incident.

09:24That's the story of the one fatal crash in the Walt Disney World monorail's

09:29history. Compared to other attractions within the resort the monorail seems

09:34like a relatively simple and unassuming machine. There are no sharp gradients, no

09:40special effects, only moderate speeds, and a very simple route. But this

09:46simplicity is deceiving. Even the most basic ride is in fact an incredibly

09:52complicated network of procedures and systems... systems which must, as this

09:58incident demonstrates, be as carefully managed as any other.

10:10you

The Disney World Monorail Incident | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror

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