MKJo
07-09-2009, 16:02
Moments before another train traveling backward slammed into the front of his vehicle and killed him, Walt Disney World monorail pilot Austin Wuennenberg apparently attempted to avoid the collision by throwing his train into reverse, according to the federal agency investigating the crash.
"There are indications that [Wuennenberg] ... had brought the train to a stop and had attempted to put the train in reverse prior to the collision," the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report released Wednesday evening.
The NTSB's findings confirmed that Sunday's fatal crash was the result of a failed attempt to transfer a train between tracks, though the agency said it has not yet determined what errors caused the accident. But it also said it has found no "anomalies or malfunctions" with any track-switch components or with the automatic anti-collision system onboard all of Disney's trains, suggesting the tragedy was the result of human error.
One potential contributing factor: The "monorail central" coordinator, who oversees the entire system and signals trains when to begin moving, was not at the central console at the time of the accident, according to a Disney employee familiar with the events.
The console has a display grid that the coordinator can use to ensure that a track switch has been realigned before instructing a train to begin transferring to the other line. It also has a red, mushroom-shaped emergency-shutdown switch that can be used to stop all trains.
The Disney employee, would spoke to the Orlando Sentinel only on condition of anonymity, said the monorail-central coordinator who had been working that night went home sick and had handed responsibility for the system to an on-duty manager. But that manager was off site and communicating by radio when the accident occurred, the person said.
A spokeswoman for Disney World said Wednesday that the resort will "continue to work closely with the NTSB and other agencies investigating the incident." The other agencies include the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the Transportation Communications Union, which represents monorail employees.
Not having someone at the central console would not be enough to cause the accident by itself, according to former monorail pilots. For instance, workers in the monorails' maintenance shop, who are supposed to activate track switches upon request from the coordinator, have their own display grids as well as monitors linked to video cameras that overlook the track switches -- and emergency-shutdown switches.
Former pilots said there also would likely have been multiple clues for the unidentified pilot of the second train that his vehicle had not shifted onto the spur line and was instead moving back down the Epcot line. And at least one individual on the Transportation and Ticket Center platform, near where the trains collided, should have had a portable "kill pack" that could have shut down the electrically powered monorail track had the person realized a train was coming from the wrong direction.
The roughly 400-word NTSB report offers the first official account of how the two trains collided. It was the first fatal accident in the 38-year history of Disney World's monorail.
With workers preparing to shut down for the night after the end of the busy Fourth of July holiday, Disney's "pink" train -- each train is identified by a colored stripe along its side -- was instructed to drop all of its remaining passengers off at the Transportation and Ticket Center. Its pilot was then told to advance along the Epcot line until just beyond a switch for the spur leading to a Magic Kingdom loop; there the train was to wait until the track was realigned and it could take the spur to return to the system's maintenance bay for the night.
The train was then instructed to begin traveling in reverse -- even though the track's switch had not changed position.
At the same time, Wuennenberg, who was piloting the "purple" train farther back on the Epcot line, was instructed to advance into the Transportation and Ticket Center so he could drop off his six passengers.
Before he reached the station, Wuennenberg apparently realized the pink train was backing toward him. That is where the NTSB said it appears he stopped his train and attempted to shift into reverse -- and where the pink train smashed into him.
All six passengers aboard Wuennenberg's train were unhurt.
[source: Orlando Sentinel (http://www.orlandosentinel.com)]
"There are indications that [Wuennenberg] ... had brought the train to a stop and had attempted to put the train in reverse prior to the collision," the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report released Wednesday evening.
The NTSB's findings confirmed that Sunday's fatal crash was the result of a failed attempt to transfer a train between tracks, though the agency said it has not yet determined what errors caused the accident. But it also said it has found no "anomalies or malfunctions" with any track-switch components or with the automatic anti-collision system onboard all of Disney's trains, suggesting the tragedy was the result of human error.
One potential contributing factor: The "monorail central" coordinator, who oversees the entire system and signals trains when to begin moving, was not at the central console at the time of the accident, according to a Disney employee familiar with the events.
The console has a display grid that the coordinator can use to ensure that a track switch has been realigned before instructing a train to begin transferring to the other line. It also has a red, mushroom-shaped emergency-shutdown switch that can be used to stop all trains.
The Disney employee, would spoke to the Orlando Sentinel only on condition of anonymity, said the monorail-central coordinator who had been working that night went home sick and had handed responsibility for the system to an on-duty manager. But that manager was off site and communicating by radio when the accident occurred, the person said.
A spokeswoman for Disney World said Wednesday that the resort will "continue to work closely with the NTSB and other agencies investigating the incident." The other agencies include the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Orange County Sheriff's Office and the Transportation Communications Union, which represents monorail employees.
Not having someone at the central console would not be enough to cause the accident by itself, according to former monorail pilots. For instance, workers in the monorails' maintenance shop, who are supposed to activate track switches upon request from the coordinator, have their own display grids as well as monitors linked to video cameras that overlook the track switches -- and emergency-shutdown switches.
Former pilots said there also would likely have been multiple clues for the unidentified pilot of the second train that his vehicle had not shifted onto the spur line and was instead moving back down the Epcot line. And at least one individual on the Transportation and Ticket Center platform, near where the trains collided, should have had a portable "kill pack" that could have shut down the electrically powered monorail track had the person realized a train was coming from the wrong direction.
The roughly 400-word NTSB report offers the first official account of how the two trains collided. It was the first fatal accident in the 38-year history of Disney World's monorail.
With workers preparing to shut down for the night after the end of the busy Fourth of July holiday, Disney's "pink" train -- each train is identified by a colored stripe along its side -- was instructed to drop all of its remaining passengers off at the Transportation and Ticket Center. Its pilot was then told to advance along the Epcot line until just beyond a switch for the spur leading to a Magic Kingdom loop; there the train was to wait until the track was realigned and it could take the spur to return to the system's maintenance bay for the night.
The train was then instructed to begin traveling in reverse -- even though the track's switch had not changed position.
At the same time, Wuennenberg, who was piloting the "purple" train farther back on the Epcot line, was instructed to advance into the Transportation and Ticket Center so he could drop off his six passengers.
Before he reached the station, Wuennenberg apparently realized the pink train was backing toward him. That is where the NTSB said it appears he stopped his train and attempted to shift into reverse -- and where the pink train smashed into him.
All six passengers aboard Wuennenberg's train were unhurt.
[source: Orlando Sentinel (http://www.orlandosentinel.com)]