Suspended Disney monorail pilot releases statement
Distraught, surviving pilot from fatal monorail incident is under doctor’s care.
Alan Rubino, 62, piloted the reversing monorail that crashed into the train driven by 21-year-old Austin Wuennenberg, killing the young man.
Rubino’s friend Dennis Pickering read a statement from the pilot to local media.
“Alan wishes to extend to family and friends of Austin his deepest and heart-felt condolences. Given the current investigation, it would be inappropriate for Alan to comment,” said Pickering, who is also a part-time monorail pilot.
According to Pickering, Rubino was following instructions when the collision happened. He states that monorail pilots don’t take any action with the monorail unless they’ve instructed to do so.
Read the full story, with a video, at the Orlando Sentinel.
WESH: Ex-pilot says Disney monorail supervisor routinely off-site
Disney’s monorail procedures changed in years leading up to accident
Walt Disney World now requires drivers, when switching off the resort’s Epcot loop, to operate their trains from twin controls in the rear cab. This policy change comes as a result of the pilot in last weekend’s monorail collision remaining in the front cab, while attempting to make the loop switch.
The Orlando Sentinel spoke with former monorail pilots, who stated that this new policy was once the standard procedure but changed to save time. No one could pinpoint the time frame as to when this policy change occurred. Per those pilots interviewed by the Orlando Sentinel, though, the procedure the pilot followed in last Sunday’s crash has become common during the past decade.
The process of switching tracks requires the monorail pilots to manually override the automated anti-collision systems on the trains. Without this computer assisted system, pilots thus must remain extremely vigulant and cautious during the track switching operation.
Disney would not comment to the Orlando Sentinel as to why the procedure changed over the years.
The publication did receive the opinion of two monorail pilots that worked at the resort within the past five years. They believe the change occurred to ferry guests quicker along the Epcot loop.
3 Disney World monorail employees on paid leave during deadly crash investigation
Updating an earlier report from WESH 2 News, Walt Disney World has placed three Disney World monorail employees, who were working during the Sunday 2am accident, on paid leave, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
WESH 2 News quickly updated the earlier article of two Disney employees on unpaid disciplinary leave, to reflect the statements coming from Disney spokespeople.
The Orlando Sentinel quotes Disney spokeswoman Kim Prunty as stating that’s it’s “part of the investigative process” and “not a disciplinary action.”
This now calls into doubt this “source inside Disney” that WESH 2 News had cited earlier. WESH 2 News reporting style has already come under fire from some Disney Cast Members over how the news outlet showed a recreation of the monorail crash. (See Disney Cast Members express outrage over TV monorail crash re-creations using children’s toys)
Disney declined to release the names of the employees on leave. They did state that it was a monorail pilot, a worker in the monorail’s maintenance shop, and a transportation manager. When the accident occurred, these three had crucial responsibilities in two train monorail operation.
Disney Suspends 2 Employees After Monorail Crash
The on-duty manager and coordinator at the time of the deadly crash have been suspended without pay, reports WESH Orlando. Citing a source within Disney, the two Disney employees believed to be responsible for the switching of the two monorail trains during the 2am collision Sunday are facing disciplinary actions.
This action is not surprising after WESH Orlando released information that linked the on-duty manger at an off-site restaurant during the time of the fatal crash that took the life of 21-year-old monorail pilot Austin Wuennenberg.
The National Transportation Safety Board still needs to complete their investigation. So we don’t have all the facts. The federal agency did determine the crash was not the result of a mechanical failure but the NTSB still is unsure what or who is responsible. Unfortunately, it’s sounding more like human error and maybe a break down in monorail operational procedures. There are supposedly multiple people that have the ability to witness and react to these types of problems. Two people that have this ability would be the two monorail pilots involved. One of the pilots, Wuennenberg, according to the NTSB report react. He stopped his train in an attempt to reverse course.
The social networks continue the Austin tributes and discussions. Disney fans wish for Disney to erect a permanent tribute to Wuennenberg on the Walt Disney World Resort, with the hopes one of the monorails could be named after him.
Family, friends remember Austin Wuennenberg as more than a Disney monorail pilot
Most people know Austin Wuennenberg as the Walt Disney World monorail pilot who died in the Sunday 2am crash. During the Wednesday memorial service, his uncle Bill Shanahan reminded everyone that there was more to the 21-year-old than his death.
A brilliant student. A thoughtful companion. A skilled computer programmer. A devoted family man. Someone that always made his friends smile.
Click here to read the full Orlando Sentinel article about this well-loved young man and remember to celebrate the life of Austin Wuennenberg.
Full NTSB Statement On Disney Monorail Crash
Safety Board Releases Factual Findings
WESH Orlando has the National Transportation Safety Board statement on Wednesday about the Disney World monorail crash. Click here to read the full text.
The NTSB’s findings also indicate that Austin Wuennenberg, the 21-year-old monorail pilot killed in the crash attempted to reverse Monorail Purple before the crash.
In exclusive interviews Wednesday, two sources told WESH 2 News the on-duty manager over the Disney monorail was off property during the Sunday morning accident.
To read more please click over to the WESH Orlando web site.
Funeral service set for Disney monorail pilot Austin Wuennenberg
According to the Orlando Sentinel, funeral services have been set for Austin Wuennenberg, the monorail pilot killed in Sunday’s terrible crash at the Walt Disney World Resort.
Services are at 2 p.m. Wednesday at First United Methodist Church in Kissimmee, said Twis Lizasuain, a Kissimmee Police spokesperson who is acting as a spokesperson for the Wuennenberg family.
Also check out the Orlando Sentinel article, Disney visitors remember monorail pilot Austin Wuennenberg with an e-mail from Diane Cimino of Briton, Conn. whose family on a recent trip had the pleasure of meeting Wuennenberg. She shared, what is now a bitter sweet video of the monorail pilot. In the video, he shares a memorable moment Cimino’s 4-year-old grandson Christyan, giving the young boy plenty of the Pixie Dust treatment.
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.
Disney World will reopen monorail — with extra safety features
After the deadly Sunday 2am Walt Disney World monorail crash, the Orlando Sentinel is reporting that the Disney monorail has resumed operation. The publication cited a note to Walt Disney World employees this morning, stating that new safety sensors were added to monitor track switches. Per the note, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration “released” the monorail system back to the resort.
Investigators will continue their search into what caused a deadly crash early Sunday following Fourth of July fireworks shows.
The predawn collision occurred as one of the trains was being transferred off the system’s Epcot line, which ferries guests between the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, according to Disney’s note. Austin Wuennenberg, 21, was the lone fatality.
Wuennenberg described fondly his monorail pilot job on Facebook. He felt is was “running the highway in the sky.”
As the news broke Sunday morning, people rushed to social networking sites, like Twitter and Facebook, to discuss the sad event.
Austin is being remember on Twitter with people adding the hash tag #Austin to their tweets.
A Facebook Group was constructed to honor the memory for the Disney monorail driver. Click here to join.
Disney will send cruise ship back to Europe in 2010
From the Orlando Sentinel Blog:
Disney is sending its cruise ships further a field than ever before.
The company is announcing this afternoon that it will send the 2,700-passenger Disney Magic cruise ship overseas for five months in 2010, for a series of sailings that will take it from Russia to Northern Africa. The April-through-September schedule will mark the longest stretch that a Disney cruise ship has yet spent away from its home port at Port Canaveral.
Disney’s schedule includes eight 10- and 11-night tours through the Mediterranean, where the Magic spent the summer of 2007. But it will also feature the company’s first sailings in Northern Europe, with four 12-night voyages that will take the ship from Dover, England, to St. Petersburg, Russia, with stops in half a dozen other countries.
“We had a huge success when we went to the Med the first time. And there were a lot of guests who, frankly, didn’t have an opportunity to go,” said Tom McAlpin, president of the Celebration-based Disney Cruise Line. McAlpin personally toured Northern European ports in June. “Now we’re going back for an extended season.”
In addition, while it has one ship overseas, Disney plans to shift its second ship, the Disney Wonder, to slightly longer sailings out of Port Canaveral. Instead of three- and four-night Caribbean trips, the Wonder will offer four- and five-night voyages with new stops in Key West and an extra stop at Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island in the Bahamas.
McAlpin said the shift is designed to accommodate families clamoring for longer Caribbean cruises in the summer, when children are out of school. “People just want a little more time,” McAlpin said.
Disney’s return trip to Europe comes as it is having two 4,000-passenger cruise ships built in Germany. While the company has committed to basing the new vessels at Port Canaveral for the first few years after they arrive in 2011 and 2012, Disney has been silent about where it plans to send the existing ships.
Some analysts have speculated that California and Europe are the most likely destinations. And Disney’s scheduling so far — it has twice sent the Magic to California, for the summers of 2005 and 2008, and has now announced its second stint in Europe — suggests that both are strong possibilities.
McAlpin cautioned against drawing conclusions from the moves.
“I think you can read into it that we’re exploring new waters and testing the levels of demand,” he said. “But there are a lot more new frontiers.”
McAlpin said Disney expects to reveal its 2011 plans for the Magic and Wonder in the latter half of next year.
Disney’s 2010 schedule calls for the Magic to begin and end the season in the Mediterranean. Many of the ports Disney will visit remain the same from 2007 — including the gateways to Rome, Florence and Nice, France — but Disney has also added stops at the island nation of Malta; the French island of Corsica; and Tunis, the capital of Tunisia on the North African coast.
The Northern European sailings will be sandwiched in between, in June and July. Sailing out of England, each voyage will include stops in Oslo, Copenhagen, and the gateway port to Berlin, as well as either Helsinki, Finland, or Tallinn, Estonia. Each trip will also include an overnight stop in St. Petersburg, Russia, giving passengers an extended window to explore the storied city or plan a day trip to Moscow. McAlpin called the St. Petersburg stop “the gem of the itinerary.”
Disney will also offer a pair of 14-night, one-way “repositioning” cruises that will take the Magic from Port Canaveral to Barcelona and back. McAlpin said Disney is studying special themes for the transatlantic voyages in hopes of boosting their appeal.
Beyond catering to Americans looking to visit Europe, the new overseas sailings will offer Disney a chance to begin marketing its cruise line directly to European travelers. Earlier this year, Disney Cruise Line opened an office in London with about 20 employees, in part to help the company better tap into the European cruise market.
“We’re looking to explore marketing in Europe,” McAlpin said. “That’s not a primary focus. But it’s certainly an opportunity.”
