Attempt to switch tracks may have caused Disney monorail crash
National Transportation Safety Board to investigate incident
On Monday in an unprecedented move, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) stated it will investigate the fatal crash of two Walt Disney World monorail. The federal agency is best known for probing airline crashes.
Initial reports from other investigators Sunday, indicated that the accident occurred from a track switch that never happened.
An Orlando Sentinel article from last night outlines the timeline of the collision.
The 2 a.m. Sunday collision occurred as one of Disney’s trains was supposed to utilize a transfer spur to move from the resort’s Epcot line to a Magic Kingdom line so it could return to the system’s maintenance bay for the night.
Instead the switch didn’t occurr and the train apparently moved in reverse back down the Epcot line. The onboard collision-avoidance system likely was set on override. The train slammed into a second train with a handful of passengers on board.
Austin Wuennenberg, 21, a monorail pilot on the second train was killed. He is being remembered fondly on various social networks, such as Twitter and Facebook. Disney has stated that none of the guests were injured. The pilot of the other monorail, who has yet to be identified, was not seriously injured.
