Monorails collide at Walt Disney World, one dies

Two monorails at Walt Disney World collided Sunday morning killing one Disney employee. Austin Wenneberg, an operator who was piloting one of the two monorails, died at the scene of the accident. The second was rushed to Florida Hospital Celebration with minor injuries.

According to Mike Griffin, spokesperson for WDW, the collision occurred at around 2 a.m. Sunday morning on one of the last runs of the day. Six guests riding the monorail were evaluated by the Orange County Sheriff's Office, but none were seriously injured.

WDW officials are working with local law enforcement to determine how the accident happened. The Orlando Sentinel spoke with one former monorail operator who says the current Mark VI monorail trains are equipped with a system called Mapo. This system is designed so that once any two trains come within two checkpoints of one another (there is about 150 to 200 feet between checkpoints) the trains automatically stop.

This marks the first fatal accident on WDW's monorail system in its almost 38-year history.

You can watch a video of the wreck's aftermath at ClickOrlando.com. [Via The Orlando Sentinel]