NTSB: Brief warning to crew preceded derailment in Ohio
EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — The crew operating a freight train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, didn’t get much warning before dozens of cars went off the tracks, and there is no indication that crew members did anything wrong, federal investigators said Thursday as they released a preliminary report into the fiery wreck that prompted a toxic chemical release and an evacuation.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg made his first visit to the crash site and took shots at former President Donald Trump, who had visited the day before and criticized the federal response. Their back-and-forth was the latest sign that the East Palestine wreck has become a hot-button political issue, prompting a rebuke from the head of the National Transportation Safety Board.
“Enough with the politics. I don’t understand why this has gotten so political,” safety board Chair Jennifer Homendy, clearly exasperated, said at a briefing in Washington on Thursday. “This is a community that is suffering. This is not about politics. This is about addressing their needs, their concerns.”
The NTSB report, which laid out the facts that investigators have gathered to date, said crew members had no indication the train was in trouble until an alarm sounded just before it went off the tracks.
An engineer slowed and stopped the train after getting a “critical audible alarm message” that signaled an overheated axle, according to the report. The three-person crew then saw fire and smoke and alerted dispatch, the report said.
“We have no evidence that the crew did anything wrong,” said Homendy, who announced a rare investigatory field hearing to be conducted in East Palestine this spring as officials seek to get to the bottom of the derailment’s cause and build consensus on how to prevent similar wrecks.
Investigators said the temperature of the failed wheel bearing increased by 215 degrees in a span of 30 miles, but did not reach the temperature threshold that railroad company Norfolk Southern had set for an alarm to go off until just before the wreck.
The train was going about 47 mph, under the speed limit of 50 mph, according to investigators.
As NTSB released its preliminary findings, Buttigieg — who had been criticized for not coming to East Palestine earlier — went on a tour of the crash site and defended the Biden administration’s response to the Feb. 3 derailment, which Trump had portrayed as indifferent and a “betrayal.”
Buttigieg told reporters that if the former president — and current Republican presidential candidate — felt strongly about increased rail safety efforts, “one thing he could do is express support for reversing the deregulation that happened on his watch.”
The White House is also calling on congressional Republicans to increase the fines levied on rail companies for safety violations.
There are still safety and health concerns among residents of East Palestine after dozens of train cars being pulled by Norfolk Southern went off the tracks and released chemicals into the area.
“The test will be whether Republicans work with the Biden-Harris administration to restore safety protections and pass legislation increasing fines on rail companies when they cause accidents like this,” said White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates. “Do they stand with us and communities like East Palestine or are they still owned by the rail lobby?”