Walt Disney World Monorail Crash Kills Driver

Two Walt Disney World monorail trains collided early Sunday morning, killing the operator of one of the trains. According to reports, the crash happened at about 2 AM Sunday morning, on one of the monorails' last runs of the day.

This Walt Disney World monorail crash is the first fatal accident in the system's almost 38-year history. Austin Wenneberg, 21, the driver of one train, died at the scene of the accident. One other employee was transported to Florida Hospital Celebration. The driver of the other monorail was not seriously injured.

In the wake of the crash, the monorail has been closed. Walt Disney World vice president of public affairs Mike Griffin issued a statement:

"Today, we mourn the loss of a fellow cast member. Our hearts go out to the family and fellow cast members who lost a coworker and a friend. Safety of our guests and cast members is our top priority. We will work with law enforcement to determine what happened."

According to the Orlando Sentinel, the monorails are fitted with an automated system that should prevent such a crash. How in fact, did it happen, then? Without such an automated system, and based on recent history around the country, the first thing that comes to mind is text messaging while operating the monorail.

Of course, we don't want to cast aspersions before the full investigation is in, but based on event such as the Metrolink train disaster of last year, it's an obvious first thought, but still too early, as the investigation has just begun.