NTSB INVESTIGATORS: TRAIN ENGINEER SLAMMED ON BRAKE BEFORE TRAIN CRASH; WE DO NOT KNOW THE DISTANCE PRIOR TO THE COLLISION
February 5, 2015
VALHALLA, N.Y. (AP)
A commuter train engineer hit the emergency brake as the
train approached a crossing where an SUV had moved onto the tracks, despite warning
signals, before a deadly crash, investigators said Thursday.
A preliminary review of the Metro-North
Railroad train's data recorders also shows the train was traveling at 58 mph,
just under the 60 mph speed limit, National
Transportation Safety Board Vice Chairman Robert Sumwalt said.
The agency hasn't mapped out how far
before the Valhalla crossing the engineer hit the emergency brake on the train,
which takes about 950 feet and 30 seconds to stop, he said in the second day of
a probe into a crash that killed the SUV driver and five train passengers.
"What we have here is we have a
mosaic," Sumwalt said. "We're going to take different pieces of
information ... assemble it and see what that picture looks like" and
build "a timeline so we know exactly what happened and when."
A witness says the driver had gotten
out of her SUV after a crossing gate came down on it but then got back in and
drove forward onto the tracks as the train approached. And the train's engineer told investigators
that he saw the car moving onto the tracks, even though traffic and crossing
warning signals were working properly, Sumwalt said.
After the impact, flames enveloped the
SUV and part of the train, and the electrified third rail pierced them.
Hundreds of passengers scrambled through spreading smoke and fear, some helping
each other to escape despite their own injuries.
Trains hit cars on the tracks many
times a year, but such crashes rarely kill train riders. Investigators have
emphasized that they want to figure out why this one did, becoming the
deadliest accident in the 32-year history of one of the nation's busiest
commuter railroads.
Investigators are looking for any
elements that may have intensified the fire, which they believe was ignited by
the SUV's gas tank. The NTSB has been examining such factors as the adequacy of
emergency exits, the crashworthiness of the train cars and the third rail's
design.
The design was an unusual one, Sumwalt
said, but investigators have yet to determine whether that played any role in
allowing the rail to pierce the train cars.
Passengers returned, some with
hesitation, as service resumed Thursday on the line where the crash happened,
after workers rebuilt about 500 feet of the third rail.
Julie Garla was feeling "very
lucky and still a little scared" as she rode the Harlem Line — but not in
her usual seat. She used to prefer the front car because it's more convenient
when she gets out at Grand Central Terminal. But the front car became the death
zone in Tuesday's wreck.
"Now, I'll have to balance
everyday convenience against safety," she said.
But Bill Peterson is sticking with
riding in the front.
"I believe the Lord's going to
protect me," he said, and "the chances of it happening again are
probably tiny."
