FATAL CRASH BETWEEN TRAIN CARS AND TRACTOR IN LAKESHORE, ONTARIO, CANADA

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

LAKESHORE, ONTARIO, CANADA

One person was killed Friday afternoon in a rural workplace accident involving a tractor and several stationary railcars.

Emergency crews were on scene in the 400 block of Elmstead Road in Lakeshore at what neighbours describe as an oil recycling facility, where workers convert cooking oil into fuel.

Ken Knapp, the owner of Ken Knapp Ford in Essex, confirmed the dead man is his nephew Shane Knapp.

“It’s just a tragedy,” said Knapp from Fort Myers, Fla. Knapp said his son called to tell him about the death.

Shane is the son of Knapp’s brother Bill, and said the two ran a company together collecting and refining cooking and other oils.

“All I know is they did well at it,” said Knapp.

Knapp said he didn’t know the circumstances of how Shane died.

“He was a hard working fellow,” said Knapp, who said Shane had a toddler-aged son. “He was just a very witty, smart kid, although he’s not a kid.”

Ontario Provincial Police would not confirm details about how the accident occurred, but residents who spoke to workers say a young man was somehow pinned between the tractor and a row of tanker cars that were stretched along a shunting track next to the refinery.

The Knapps were using the tractor to move the railcars when the son jumped off the tractor and became pinned, one resident explained.

“They were moving the trains back, so they could either empty one or fill one,” said Gary Mazzali, who lives across the road from the work site. “When the tractor stopped, he jumped down. When he jumped down, the tractor jerked and he got pinned.”

Mazzali heard the details from a worker who left the site shortly after the arrival of emergency responders, including the OPP, Lakeshore Fire Service and Essex County Emergency Services.

All Mazzali could do was watch. Standing on Elmstead with another neighbour, he could see emergency crews working around the red tractor that still sat closely to a line of the black tanker cars.

The cars were stretched along a shunting track that runs parallel to CP track. The investigation by OPP and CP police went into the evening, but no further details are expected to be released until possibly Saturday morning.

Residents in the area say the business, which doesn’t have an official name other than a corporate number, has been there for at least 12 years. Some of them know the Knapps well and expressed their sympathies as they looked on from their homes.

“It’s absolutely tragic,” said Beverley Lesperance. “They’re a hard working family, just really good people.”

FATAL TRAFFIC HEAD-ON COLLISION ON HWY 58 AT MP 5 IN LANE COUNTY, OREGON

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

PLEASANT HILL, OREGON

Troopers from the Springfield Area Command of the Oregon State Police (OSP) are continuing the investigation into this evenings two-vehicle, head-on crash on Highway 58 near milepost 5 in Lane County. 

Preliminary information indicates that on February 26, at approximately 6:15 p.m., a white, 2003 Toyota pickup operated by 66-year old, GLEN D. PRATER, of Pleasant Hill, was traveling eastbound on highway 58 when for unknown reasons it drove into oncoming westbound traffic. 

PRATER'S vehicle collided head-on with a blue, 2011 Chevy Silverado , injuring its driver, 34-year-old, RYAN E. HARTMAN, and his wife, 32-year-old, JENNIFER L. HARTMAN and their 8 year old son; all residents of Malin, Oregon. 

PRATER was pronounced deceased by medics at the scene.  The HARTMAN family was transported to Riverbend Hospital where they were treated for minor injuries.

Investigators are working to determine if a semi-truck may have also been involved in the incident which was reported to have lost a wheel however, that is still undetermined.  The crash remains under investigation.
Preliminary information indicates all involved were wearing safety belts. Highway 58 was down to a single lane for approximately four hours.
OSP was assisted by Pleasant Hill Fire, Dexter Fire and ODOT.
Original Release:
Oregon State Police ( OSP ) are on the scene of a fatal traffic crash on HWY 58 at MP 5 in Lane County. Motorists traveling in the area are advised to use alternate routes or expect delays as early information indicates the road is blocked. More information will be released when it becomes available. For closure updates go to www.tripcheck.com.

Rail fractures and undetected rail defects led to October 2013 derailment and fire involving a CN train in Gainford, Alberta

Edmonton, Alberta, 24 February 2015

 In its investigation report (R13E0142) released today, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) determined that numerous rail fractures led to the October 2013 derailment and fire involving a Canadian National (CN) train in Gainford, Alberta.

On 19 October 2013, a CN freight train, travelling from Edmonton, Alberta to Vancouver, British Columbia, derailed 13 cars, including 4 DOT 111 tank cars containing petroleum crude oil and 9 DOT 112 tank cars containing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in the siding at Gainford, Alberta. Two LPG tank cars were breached during the derailment and caught fire, and a third LPG car released product from its safety valve which ignited. About 600 feet of track was destroyed and a house located directly north of the derailment site was damaged by the fire. A total of 106 homes in the vicinity of the occurrence were evacuated. There were no injuries.

The investigation determined that the train derailed when one or more rail breaks occurred in the high rail as the train travelled through the curve in the Gainford siding. Numerous defects were found along the length of the high rail in the curve. A rail flaw detection test through the area 2 months earlier had not identified these defects. In March 2013, the low rail had been replaced with a new rail that reduced the curve’s superelevation. In this situation, more stress was placed on the high rail, increasing the risk of rail defect development and failure.

One of the DOT 112 tank cars carrying LPG was punctured in the underside by the coupler from another car. This caused it to release its load and explode. DOT 112 tank cars have increased protection on each end to withstand impacts and are equipped with double shelf couplers designed to keep derailed tank cars together during derailments. However, tank cars that come apart during a derailment and jackknife across the track are vulnerable to impacts from following cars. None of the DOT 111 tank cars, which were built to the CPC-1232 standard, released petroleum crude oil, as the cars derailed in a line on their sides and did not suffer secondary impacts.

Following the occurrence, CN conducted walking inspections and rail flaw detection re-testing on all 25 mph sidings. Speed was reduced to 15 mph in these sidings until they were retested. Rail grinding within these sidings was also programmed to remove rail surface defects.

TSB is investigating a landing accident that occurred at Sault Ste. Marie Airport, Ontario

Richmond Hill, Ontario, 26 February 2015 
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) is investigating a landing accident involving a Jazz DHC8-100 aircraft, that occurred on 24 February 2015 at Sault Ste. Marie Airport, Ontario. 

There were no reported injuries and the aircraft damage is being assessed.

APPROACH-AND-LANDING ACCIDENTS CONTINUE TO OCCUR AT CANADIAN AIRPORTS

Background

Every year, millions of successful landings occur on Canadian runways. However, there is a risk that accidents resulting in loss of life, injury, and aircraft damage can occur during the landing phase of flight. These accidents include runway overruns, runway excursions, landings short of the runway, and tail strikes.Footnote 1 Operators, regulators, and air navigation service providers need to take more action to prevent approach-and-landing accidents, and to minimize the risks of adverse consequences if a runway overrun occurs.

Stable approaches significantly increase the chances of a safe landing. 

ResearchFootnote 2 indicates that 3.5% to 4% of approaches are unstable. Of these, 97% are continued to a landing, with only 3% resulting in a go-around. Without improvements in stable-approach policy compliance, most unstable approaches will continue to a landing, increasing the risk of approach-and-landing accidents.

Additionally, pilots must calculate the landing distance required, so they need timely and accurate runway surface condition information to make correct calculations, as snow, rain, or ice can affect landing distance.

When a runway overrun occurs, it is important that an aircraft have an adequate safety area beyond the runway’s end. At some airports, these have not yet been implemented, and the terrain beyond the end of the runway could contribute to aircraft damage and injuries to passengers and crew. This area, therefore, must be sufficiently clear of obstacles and properly graded. There is currently no requirement in Canada requiring runways to meet international standards and recommended practices for safety areas.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has investigated a number of landing accidents that have highlighted the need for runway end safety areas, and improved runway surface condition reporting. In Canada, from 2009 to 2013, Canadian-registered aircraft were involved in an average of 150 approach-and-landing accidents every year, of which 6% were runway overrun accidents. 

There has been some progress since this issue was included on the Watchlist in 2010. Some airports have improved runway surfaces and safety areas. NAV CANADA has taken measures to improve runway surface condition reporting for pilots, and now provides guidance for stabilized descents in its approach procedures. Transport Canada (TC) is conducting a risk-based analysis to revise its runway safety area standards. However, the number of landing accidents and runway overruns has not decreased, so until TC completes its risk analysis and revises its standards, the risk to the public remains.

Solution

Transport Canada and operators must do more to reduce the number of unstable approaches that are continued to a landing.

Transport Canada also must complete its risk-based analysis and move forward with regulatory changes.

Airports must develop tailored solutions to lengthen runway end safety areas or install other engineered systems and structures to safely stop planes that overrun runways.

Footnote 1

1.   Recent TSB aviation investigation reports include: A10H0004, A11A0035, A11H0002, A11H0003, A11O0098, A12A0082, A12W0004, A12O0005, A12P0034, A12Q0161, and A12W0004

Footnote 2

2.   Flight Safety Foundation, "Failure to Mitigate," AeroSafety World (February 2013)