Reported by Mark Jenkins and Heather Sorentrue
LAKE BUENA VISTA -- A Walt Disney World monorail driver was killed when two monorail trains collided early Sunday.
The trains collided at the Transportation and Ticket Center, located at the parking lot of the Magic Kingdom, as guests were leaving the park following a Fourth of July fireworks show.
Disney has shut down the entire system as investigators piece together what caused the collision.
The Orange County Sheriff's Office has interviewed all witnesses, including the driver of the other monorail.
However, they're not revealing any details of those conversations just yet.
Austin Wuennenberg, 21, was driving one of the monorails when the collision happened around 2 a.m.
A Celebration High School graduate, Wuennenberg had worked as a monorail pilot at Walt Disney World since 2008.
One tourist News 13 spoke with, who was out late celebrating the Fourth of July, said about an hour before the collision he heard about some technical difficulties.
“After coming from the park, there was a bit of a delay. So we waited patiently. We didn't quite understand what happened. But they did say they were having some troubles with the monorail at the time. At that point, we just waited patiently; they were loading people on. It was quite a bit of time,” said David Lee Serrano.
A Disney spokesperson would not address the reported problems about the transportation line or specifics about the crash that killed Wuennenberg.
“Our hearts go out to Austin and his family, especially to the co-workers that knew him and worked with him. Today we're working with the Orange County Sheriff's Office and with OSHA as they investigate the incident," said Mike Griffin, the vice president vice president of public affairs at Walt Disney World.
News 13 was told Wuennenberg was unresponsive as passengers banged on his window.
Reedy Creek firefighters spent 20 minutes digging through the wreckage before pronouncing Wuennenberg dead on the scene.
The driver of the other train escaped unharmed. He was on the opposite end of his train, but was taken to Florida Hospital Celebration as a precaution.
Of eight passengers on board, six were medically screened and released without serious injury.
Visitors were shocked that this tragedy happened at Disney.
“We're on there all the time. We've ridden in the front and I always thought it was probably the safest transportation, probably in the country, if not in the world, because it transports millions of people, you figure, every year. So you just -- I'm just completely amazed that something would even happen like this,” said Tom Kranauer from Tampa.
The wreck marks the first fatal accident in the Walt Disney World Monorail System’s nearly 38 years of operation.
Statement from Disney
Mike Griffin, vice president of public affairs at Walt Disney World, issued the following statement Sunday following the wreck:
“Today, we mourn the loss of our fellow cast member. Our hearts go out to his family and those who have lost a friend and co-worker. The safety of our guests and cast members is always our top priority. The monorail is out of service and we will continue to work closely with law enforcement to determine what happened and the appropriate next steps.”
Disney’s theme parks reopened as scheduled at 9 a.m. Sunday, but park officials told News 13 the entire monorail system will remain out of service until further notice as investigation and cleanup continues.
Officials with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office told News 13 they are assisting in the crash investigation.
Monorail System Facts
The Walt Disney World Monorail System debuted when the resort first opened in 1971 with two routes.
In 1982, the system expanded to three lines as Epcot first opened.
The entire monorail system currently comprises 14.7 miles of track, transporting about 50 million guests every year between the Magic Kingdom, Epcot and various Disney resorts.
The current trains have been in use since 1989. Each train is just over 203 feet long, consisting of six cars that can carry up to a total of 364 passengers.
Each train is driven by eight, 113-horsepower motors.
The maximum speed during normal operations is 40 mph.
Disney officials said at any given time, there must be at least two holdpoints between a given train and the train ahead of it.
When the train detects there are fewer than two holdpoints between itself and the preceding train, the emergency brakes are immediately applied and cannot be released until sufficient spacing becomes available, or the operator explicitly overrides the system.
There was no immediate word on how Sunday morning’s wreck happened.
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