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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2009
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Disney World Monorail Crash Kills Driver

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(Newser) – Two Disney World monorail trains collided early this morning in Orlando, Fla., leaving one train operator dead, the Orlando Sentinel reports. Twenty-one-year-old Austin Wuennenberg died at the scene of the crash and another employee was taken to hospital with minor injuries. "I heard it happened at 2 a.m.," one park guest said. "Just must have been due to tiredness."

A former monorail driver says the trains are equipped with a safety system that automatically brakes when vehicles come too close together. This is the first fatal crash on Disney World’s monorail system; California’s Disneyland has seen one death on its train system. "Our heart goes out to the cast member and the family," a Disney World spokesman says. The park is open today with the monorail turned off.

Disney employees and a sign direct visitors away from the monorail station to a bus loading area at at Walt Disney World. The park's monorail transit system was shut down following a deadly crash.
Disney employees and a sign direct visitors away from the monorail station to a bus loading area at at Walt Disney World. The park's monorail transit system was shut down following a deadly crash.   (AP Photo/John Raoux)
A monorail that was parked and idle rests on the track outside the EPCOT theme park at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Sunday, July 5, 2009.
A monorail that was parked and idle rests on the track outside the EPCOT theme park at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Sunday, July 5, 2009.   (AP Photo/John Raoux)
A monorail crash today at Disney World in Orlando, Fla., left one train conductor dead.
A monorail crash today at Disney World in Orlando, Fla., left one train conductor dead.   (YouTube)
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Video from the scene of the crash.   (YouTube)
The AP's report on the crash.   (YouTube)

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4 comments
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VAZ
Jul 5, 09 4:25 PM CDT
I have mixed feelings about the cameras.Im also more stunned at how Disney World didnt have any type of response. in this case. They bend over backwards to make sure you're happy (but you pay an arm and a leg for it). It looked like nobody knew what to do here. Reply
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+3
Are_you--Nobody--Too
Jul 5, 09 5:14 PM CDT
It's weird the way Disney refers to the deceased as a "cast member." Reply
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-2
ack
Jul 5, 09 5:44 PM CDT
I love the way they quote a random park guest saying it was "tiredness." Was he there? No? Did he know something about the monorail operator? No. Does he have any reason to believe that, other than the time day? No. But heck, let's quote him. Reply
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+2
CharlesRoland
Jul 6, 09 1:29 PM CDT
Crummy story. It's as if they'd rather print anything just to fill a few paragraphs rather than get the real story. That one "Cast" member who was looking into the window of the crashed vehicle was more worried about a camera than doing something constructive. Reply
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