NTSB: Derailment came after axle heat warning

The crew of a Norfolk Southern train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, became aware of an overheated axle just moments before the wreck and tried to stop the train, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.

The board released initial findings from its investigation three weeks after a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed and spilled chemicals into the air, water and soil. Five of the derailed cars contained vinyl chloride, which Norfolk Southern officials discharged through a controlled release to prevent an explosion.

Residents and local leaders are worried about the longtime health consequences of the train crash, fire and spill. But experts and national authorities largely minimized the health concerns, essentially saying the derailment and toxic spill on Feb. 3 isn’t a full- scale environmental disaster such as Love Canal or the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

“I can tell you this much: This was 100% preventable,” NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said during a news conference Thursday.

What the NTSB’s preliminary report says

As the train traveled through East

Palestine on Feb. 3, a hot bearing detector along the railroad issued an alarm instructing the crew to slow down and stop to inspect a hot axle, according to the NTSB report. The train was traveling about 47 mph at the time of the derailment, below the maximum speed of 50 mph.

The report says:

● An axle had been heating up as the train went down the tracks.

● The warning threshold was not previously met: It was not hot enough to prompt a warning to stop the train for an inspection until just before the derailment.

● Crew members tried to slow the train down and automatic brakes kicked in.

Investigators obtained local surveillance footage that showed the bearing on the brink of failure before the derailment.

The report released Thursday is just preliminary.

NTSB officials will continue to investigate the incident, with a focus on the wheel bearing, tank car design and accident response, including the venting and burning of vinyl chloride.

Investigators will also look into Norfolk Southern’s use of defect detectors and how they inspect their trains.

BROOKE LAVALLEY/ USA TODAY NETWORK Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, center, visits with Department of Transportation Investigators at the site of the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.