Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

Fatal Disney World Monorail Crash Sparks Federal Investigation

by Terrence O'Brien on July 6, 2009 at 06:00 PM

First Fatal Monorail Crash at Disney World Sparks Federal Investigation
The 38-year-old Walt Disney World Monorail System suffered its first fatal accident on Sunday when a driver failed to stop and slammed into the back of a stationary train, killing him instantly.

The accident occurred at 2 a.m. with 21-year-old Austin Wuennenberg behind the controls, and six passengers on board. All the other passengers escaped unharmed, but Wuennenberg was not so lucky. Disney immediately closed the monorail, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is launching an investigation that could keep the famed Disney Resort transport line shuttered for quite some time while it determines if workplace safety rules were broken.

Built in 1971, the Monorail represented a futuristic vision of transportation in the 21st century. Nearly forty years later, the monorail still shuttles millions of visitors a year between Disney World's various parks and resort hotels -- but for now, it seems the crowds visiting Mickey will have to do without a ride on the iconic train. [From: Boston Herald]

Tags: accident, crash, disney, disney world, DisneyWorld, monorail, rail, safety, top, train, walt disney, walt disney world, WaltDisney, WaltDisneyWorld

Comments

3

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular