WE ARE ALWAYS AT THE MERCY OF A ONE
STUPID OR RECKLESS DRIVER: PRELIMINARY
INVESTIGATION SUGGESTS GATES CAME DOWN ON TOP OF SUV VEHICLE ON VALHALLA, NY,
TRACKS; THE SUV’S FEMALE DRIVER THEN, AFTER CHECKING HER VEHICLE FOR DAMAGE, DROVE
FORWARD AND WAS STRUCK BY METRO-NORTH TRAIN.
February 4, 2014
Officials
said 8 died and 12 others were injured. The National Transportation Safety
Board was en route to the scene early Wednesday.
Twelve
people were taken to Westchester Medical Center and one to a hospital in Sleepy
Hollow, the MTA said.
The Metro-North Train 659, typically packed with more than 600 passengers at
rush hour, left Grand Central Terminal at about 5:44 p.m, MTA officials said.
At about 6:30 p.m. and nearly 26 miles north of Grand Central, the train hit a
stalled Jeep Cherokee, officials said. Witnesses described seeing a giant ball
of flames immediately after the crash.
According
to the MTA, the train struck the SUV at the Commerce Street railroad grade
crossing in Valhalla, adjacent to the Kensico Cemetery.
According
to preliminary information, the gates at the crossing came down on top of the
S.U.V., which had stopped on the tracks. The SUV driver got out of the vehicle to look
at the rear of the car, perhaps to assess the damage to her vehicle or to try
to push it, then got back in and drove forward. Then the vehicle was struck by the train,
igniting its fuel tank and creating the fiery crash.
The
crash appeared to be the S.U.V. driver’s fault, not the conductor’s, although
the safety of these crossings will most certainly be revisited. It is a matter of money and technical
complications to eliminate these crossings.
Certainly additional safety barriers or sensors should be installed.
It was
unknown how fast the train was traveling at impact, but officials said they can
reach speeds of 60 mph.
Some witness accounts
"It
basically created a fireball," said Derrick Gilliam, of Hawthorne, who
witnessed the crash.
Gilliam
said he was driving toward Commerce Street when the train struck the vehicle.
"It
was just this fireball moving along the tracks, pushing the vehicle. The whole
first car of the train was just a big ball of fire. . . . It was a direct
hit," he said. "Just a tremendous, tremendous impact."
Shauna
Marcus, 34, who had just left a rock-climbing gym near the crash scene, was
headed toward her parked car when, she said, she saw a black Jeep Cherokee get
struck by the lowering railroad bars at the crossing.
"The
woman got out . . . to look at the SUV and see what was wrong . . . like, to
assess the damage. But she was right on the tracks."
//__________________________________________________//
THE NTSB HAS DISPATCHED A TEAM TO INVESTIGATE THIS CRASH
The National Transportation Safety Board has dispatched a “go team” of investigators to the scene of Tuesday evening’s accident in Valhalla involving a Metro-North commuter train which struck a car.
The Federal agency headquartered in Washington, DC, has investigated previous Metro-North accidents. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, the casualty toll stood at leats seven people killed (some reports have the death toll at 8) and at least 12 seriously injured.
The Federal agency is charged with investigating transportation accidents, determining the Probable Cause, and making recommendations for ways to prevent repeat occurrences. An NTSB “go team” is composed of investigators having different specialties who always have their suitcases packed and are ready to travel to the scene of an accident on a moment’s notice.
The rush-hour northbound commuter train struck a vehicle at a grade-level crossing. The vehicle caught fire, which spread to the first train car. The fire gutted the first car of the train. It’s believed that a section of third rail was dislodged from track level and penetrated the traincar. Early reports said the female driver of the car was killed, as were six occupants of the first car of the train.
NTSB investigators typically will interview survivors, including those injured, as well as witnesses.
Local officials are required to preserve evidence pending arrival of NTSB investigators.
The investigators typically will carefully document the accident scene in terms physical layout, distances involved, and the presence of equipment such as signals and crossing gates.
The investigation will seek to answer questions such as whether safety equipment such as crossing gates functioned properly, whether the train was being operated within speed limitations, and what materials on board may have fueled the fire which created thick black acrid smoke which could be seen pouring out of the first car.
Investigators also typically document the emergency response and analyze its effectiveness. It can take about a year for the NTSB to assemble its final report and adopt the probable cause of an accident.
Just yesterday, February 2, 2015, the NTSB issued a Safety Recommendation to Metro-North calling on the railroad to replace the Grade 5 mounting bolts in the M-8 passenger railcar fleet with stronger bolts. That was a result of information developed during the NTSB’s investigation of a derailment on Metro-North’s New Haven line.