A Metrolink train
derailed in Oxnard on Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2015. (Credit: KTLA)
MARCH 19, 2015
Federal investigators released new details Thursday about a
deadly Metrolink derailment in Oxnard which occurred late last month when the
four-car train collided with a pickup truck that became lodged on the tracks.
At about 5:44 a.m. on Feb. 24, the driver of the Ford 450
truck with an attached utility trailer was traveling south on South Rice Avenue
approaching the intersection of East Fifth Avenue when he turned onto the
railroad right-of-way and ended up on the tracks instead, according to a preliminary
report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The crossing’s active warning system was not activated at
the time because the Los Angeles-bound Metrolink train had not yet approached
the crossing, the NTSB report said.
The driver, Jose Alejandro Sanchez-Ramirez, continued
driving while partially on the railroad for 80 feet before the truck became
stuck on the southernmost rail of the track, according to the report. He
illuminated his headlights, turned on his hazard lights and kept the
driver-side door open when he exited the lodged Ford and left the scene.
A student engineer was operating the train at the time and
began sounding the train’s horn about a quarter-of-a-mile west of the crossing
and utilized the train’s emergency braking system.
Roughly eight seconds later, the train collided with the
unoccupied truck, resulting in the derailment of the four cars, the report
said. Three of the four cars overturned and came to a rest on their sides,
while a locomotive at the rear of train did not derail.
The collision resulted in the death of the train’s engineer,
62-year-old Glenn Steele. His heart had stopped twice Wednesday following the
crash, and the veteran engineer succumbed to his injuries seven days after the
crash.
The two other crew members and 31 of the train’s 46
passengers sustained injures as a result of the derailment that ranged from
serious to minor, federal investigators said in the report.
A 1998 Toyota Camry was struck by debris from the collision
but the vehicle’s sole occupant was not injured.
Sanchez-Ramirez, who left the scene before the deadly
incident, was also uninjured. Oxnard police initially arrested the 54-year-old
Yuma, Arizona resident on suspicion of hit-and-run, but no charges have been
filed against him.
A statement from the Ventura County District Attorney’s
office released two days after the crash described his arrest as “clearly
appropriate and lawful,” but said prosecutors would wait for the conclusion of
the local and federal investigations before deciding whether to file charges.
Source: ktla.com