Walt Disney World is currently facing a wrongful death lawsuit after Austin Wuennenberg, a 21-year-old monorail driver at their Orlando theme park, died in a monorail accident on July 5, 2009. The accident occurred when another monorail backed into the one being driven by Wuennenberg. His family claims the Disney Corporation was negligent in taking the precautions necessary to avoid the fatal accident.
The wrongful death lawsuit alleges Walt Disney World’s actions were negligent in several ways:
- The monorail cockpit had “virtually no bracing or frame support whatsoever, and Disney officials knew a collision was certain to…injure or kill anyone in it.”
- On the night of the accident, the monorail operations manager was directing monorails by radio while he ate dinner at a Perkins restaurant near the resort instead of from the control tower at Disney’s Transportation and Ticket Center.
- Had the operations manager been in the control tower, he would have had access to a closed-circuit video monitor showing the track switch was in the wrong position and another computer monitor which would have confirmed this information.
- In the control tower, the manager would have also had a direct line of site, alerting him to the fact that the monorail which crashed into Wuennenberg’s was not on the right track.
- A monorail maintenance employee failed to flip the track switch, yet he informed the manager that he had done so. This error directly resulted in both monorails being on the same track.
- The automatic crash avoidance system was disengaged on both monorails so that the other driver could move his train onto a different track. Had these systems been engaged, they most likely would have prevented the accident.
- Had an employee been in the control tower, the collision could have been avoided by simply pushing a button to stop the monorails.
Any one of these actions would constitute negligence on the part of Walt Disney World. The fact that all of these negligent actions may have occurred simultaneously is inexcusable. Since the accident, Walt Disney World has altered their monorail operating procedures in order to prevent a similar accident from taking place.
If you have a wrongful death claim in the Orlando, Florida area, please contact the Orlando wrongful death lawyers at Colling, Gilbert, Wright & Carter today to schedule your free initial consultation.
