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That is so terrible. My heart goes out to the family...and I know it must be tough on Icarus too if he taught this kid for three years. I know how affected I would be if one of the kids I taught during student teaching were killed and I was only with them for 15 weeks. Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
So I get back to work this morning and my co-workers kept asking me if I was on the monorail. I told them yes, of course, but they didn't tell me what was going on. I didn't find out until I looked at CNN.com.
Hardly a close call, but it feels close to home to me. I guess I always assumed that the monorails were automated. I was disappointed to see that they don't even have rails, just a narrow cement "road."
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I think that is how all monorail systems work, the cement "rail" provides better stability.
I know the monorail system is far safer than even regular trains, and I wonder how the safety system was disengaged, because from everything I know it is almost impossible for this to have happened.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I do think it is a testament to the safety of the monorail that only the person at direct point of impact was injured.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
But still, when you look at the damage, it's hard to see how you could do any worse- the point of impact crumples, and the train is not in any danger of derailing, unlike any commuter train which is in danger of jumping off the tracks and transmitting the impact all the way down the train. As long as your crumple zone is sufficient to absorb the impact, it would be hard to cause many deaths in a monorail crash. Hell, even if the car was somehow hit from the side, the impact would be distributed along the rail base instead of pulling the car off the rail.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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Joe was on the news (as a part of the crowd) on the channel 9 news tonight, at the vigil.
Has anyone been following the coverage on this at a national level? Joe (and I) was wondering what the coverage said at this point, considering the new developments in the investigation.....
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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posted
I don't watch television news--I get my news from the internet instead. So I heard some people very upset about the television folks early on in the coverage implying, through their speculation, that Austin was at least partly to blame. Apparently they talked to someone who didn't know him who claimed to be a friend who suggested that Austin had had incomplete training, and there was speculation about someone as young as 21 having so much responsibility, and wondering if he were texting instead of paying attention, because he was so young and, you know, young folks always do stuff like that. There was, I'm told, speculation that his shift was too long or that he fell asleep, because as you know 21-year-old can't stay up late like 62-year-olds can. There was also the incorrect initial supposition that it was Austin's train that rammed into the other one.
I didn't really see that myself. And now all the NTSB reports make it clear that Austin was in the right place, and monorail pink was on the wrong track, that it was pink that backed into purple and not purple that hit pink, and that Austin had, thinking extremely quickly, actually succeeded in bringing his train to a stop and was attempting to back it up. As for the other stuff, neither I nor any of Austin's friends knew who this "friend" was, and Austin not only had all the requisite training, but actually had his girlfriend quiz him on the manual on a daily basis while he was in training, and his initial check out to be a pilot stood out in the tester's mind because he was uncommonly perfect.
But what I don't have the perspective to know is this. I've been following this story closely, because I'm close to it. I know, though, that a lot of times scandalous speculation is a lead story, and corrections or less shocking news is buried "on page A6," so to speak. So I'm curious to know if folks following this story at more of a distance know that not only wasn't it the fault of the 21 year old kid, but that the 21 year old kid is, in fact, the only one who carries no blame whatsoever. I wonder if people following at a distance know that this wasn't some irresponsible kid but a brilliant, dedicated kid, who made the world better while he was in it, and who would have accomplished amazing things, given enough time.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I don't watch TV news either. I only heard about this at all because someone linked to the initial story. I did wonder (not because of anything in the story, IIRC) if the driver was at fault, but that's about it. If not for the fact that you knew him, I probably would never have heard any follow-up, or really even thought about it again.
quote: I wonder if people following at a distance know that this wasn't some irresponsible kid but a brilliant, dedicated kid, who made the world better while he was in it, and who would have accomplished amazing things, given enough time.
Sadly, probably not. Have you considered writing a Letter to the Editor or an op-ed piece?
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Well the local newspapers seem, from their websites, to have done a good job with that sort of stuff. There's the video of Austin taken by a family who rode in the front cab with him a few days before the accident, and testimonials from lots of his friends and stuff. I think it's people further away who may not get all that stuff.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I have been following the story, and I did get the sense initially that it was Austin's fault. I have since learned that three other people were suspended and that the track was switched wrong, which makes it pretty obvious that the mistake wasn't Austin's. I also heard that he had tried to put his train into reverse, but this wasn't accompanied by comments of praise, it was just stated plainly.
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
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I saw the initial story that implied that Austin was to blame. I saw a headline recently that indicated two other people were suspended, but because I was getting ready to head out I didn't read the story at the time. So this is the first that I'm hearing that Austin was in fact trying to avoid the accident.
Posts: 4515 | Registered: Jul 2004
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His train was hit while it was on the right track, at the right time, heading in the right direction......and he did try to reverse his train at the last second. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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This reminds me of a modern day Casey Jones - who knows if what he did helped to save others. Brave lad. What a shame.
Posts: 1528 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I have to admit, when I first saw the story that some monorail was still going at 2 am and hit another train, I assumed the driver had been out partying. It wasn't until a friend mentioned that they always run that late shuttling folks back to their resorts from Pleasure Island that it seemed much more normal.
The article didn't make it sound like Austin had done anything wrong, but it didn't have enough context to make it not sound wrong, either. And at least here in Tallahassee, there's been zero follow up in the paper.
I'm glad Austin was doing exactly what he should have. It sounds like the world lost a great human being that night.
Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
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I admit I haven't followed the story, but...
As far as I knew about the monorail, I assumed things like this couldn't happen. I look at the Miami Metro-Rail, which is DECADES behind the Disney system technology-wise, but central control knows where every train is on the track down to the inch and can remotely stop any one of them on a dime.
I never thought these trains ran so freely. You'd think that if a train started up in reverse with another train no less than ten feet from it, not only would there be a computer system somewhere setting off air raid sirens but it would automatically prevent it from happening and shut the train down or at least alert the driver. Especially on a 300' long train with tiny rear view mirrors.
Guess I expect more technology than I should...
Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002
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Knowing that he managed to stop and reverse the train, that probably lessened the impact, which is one reason why the crumple zone was able to crumple so perfectly and do exactly what it was designed to. If he hadn't, it might have performed as well as it did-- and it might not.
I'm willing to give him credit for the "might not" and say he is a hero, for doing his job so well that while he lost his life, none of his passengers was more than shaken up.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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posted
The ONLY place there isn't an automatic safety control mechanism is right in the station. It's literally the only place where this could have happened......and it never should have. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Actually no. The safety mechanism exists everywhere, but is specifically overrided when trains switch tracks, which is what Pink was supposed to be doing. Unfortunately, while the command was given to switch the tracks, and the command was given to Pink to reverse, nobody ever actually did switch the track. Also unfortunate, the manager was "doing his job" not from onsite where he could actually look at his monitors and stuff, but from Denny's via Nextel.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
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And the safety mechanism has to be disabled when they come into the track, at least to the report I read. Not that it matters, really, I guess. Either way that manager was to blame.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Joe, no offense, but it didn't sound that way to me when I watched it. It sounded like they were trying to be VERY clear, and emphasize the fact that he had done nothing wrong.
That's what you wanted, isn't it? I actually felt BETTER about the coverage after hearing it....but YMMV.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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