Train crash aftermath
Two damaged train cars sit on flatbed trailers Tuesday after being taken from the scene of an Amtrak train crash in DuPont, Wash. Federal investigators say they don’t yet know why the Amtrak train was traveling 50 mph over the speed limit when it derailed Monday south of Seattle.
DUPONT, Wash. — Investigators are looking into whether the Amtrak engineer whose speeding train plunged off an overpass, killing at least three people, was distracted by the presence of an employeein-training next to him in the locomotive, a federal official said Tuesday.
The official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said investigators want to know whether the engineer lost “situational awareness” because of the second person in the cab.
The train was hurtling at 80 mph in a 30 mph zone Monday morning when it ran off the rails along a curve south of Seattle, sending some of its cars plummeting onto an interstate highway below, National Transportation Safety Board member Bella Dinh-Zarr said late Monday, citing data from the locomotive’s event recorder.
Dinh-Zarr said it is not yet known what caused the train to derail and too early to say why it was going so fast. She said investigators will talk to the engineer and other crew members.
In previous wrecks, investigators looked at whether the engineer was distracted or incapacitated.
The engineer, whose name was not released, was bleeding from
the head after the wreck, and his eyes were swollen shut, according to radio transmissions from a crew member. The transmissions mentioned a second person in the front of the train who was also hurt.
The train, with 85 passengers and crew members, was making the inaugural run along a fast new bypass route was created by refurbishing freight tracks alongside Interstate 5. The 15-mile, $180.7 million project was aimed at speeding up service by bypassing a route with a number of curves, single-track tunnels and freight traffic.
Positive train control — technology
that can automatically slow or stop a speeding train — wasn’t in use on that stretch of track. Track sensors and other PTC components have been installed, but the system isn’t expected to be completed until the spring, transit officials said.
The 7:34 a.m. accident left mangled train cars up on top of each other, with one hanging precariously over the freeway. The screech and clang of metal was followed by silence, then screams, as the injured cried out to rescuers and motorists who rushed to help.
In addition to those killed, more than 70 people were injured, 10 of them seriously.